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"Challengers of the Unknown: "Contract on a Champ!"": The synopsis for this issue has not yet been written.

Adventure Comics #494 is an issue of the series Adventure Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1982.

Synopsis for Challengers of the Unknown: "Contract on a Champ!"


Appearing in Challengers of the Unknown: "Contract on a Champ!"

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Synopsis for Superboy: "Superboy's Big Brother"

This story is reprinted from Superboy #89.

While out with Ma and Pa Kent, Clark notices a rocket crashing to Earth. Investigating it as Superboy, the Boy of Steel is shocked to find an occupant inside that has a star chart and a medallion around his neck from Jor-El, his own father, about his apparent son. Believing that this person is a previously unknown and long lost brother, Superboy is disappointed to find that the occupant has amnesia. Taking him in with the Kents, they decide to name him Mon-El, based partially on the day of the week he landed on Earth (Monday) and on Kryptonian names. Pa Kent also sets Mon-El up with a civilian guise of Bob Cobb so that Mon-El can assume a civilian life in Smallville, as a brush salesman.

However, Superboy beings to get suspicious of Mon-El's true nature, and begins to doubt his origins when he realizes the buckle on Mon-El's belt is not made of any Kryptonian metal, and Krypto doesn't recognize Mon-El. As a final test, Superboy tries to expose Mon-El to Green Kryptonite as the boy sleeps and is shocked that it has no effect.

The next day, after Mon-El tries to show up Clark for Lana Lang's affections, Superboy decides to trick Mon-El into "revealing" himself by orchestrating a Kryptonite meteor hoax while they're playing. To do so, Superboy paints lead meteors to resemble Kryptonite and throws them into space so that they land on Earth at the right time.

Superboy is shocked to find that Mon-El is effected by the lead meteors just as Superboy would have been effected by real Kryptonite. This causes Mon-El's memories to return, and he reveals that his real name is Lar Gand, who was from the planet Daxam, and landed on Krypton just before its destruction and befriended Jor-El before departing the planet, and that the crash really did cause him to have amnesia. As lead being the Daxarian's weakness, Mon-El is about to die, however Superboy comes up with a solution to save Mon-El's life, by sending him to the Phantom Zone until he can find a cure for Mon-El's lead poisoning.

Appearing in Superboy: "Superboy's Big Brother"

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Synopsis for Aquaman: "To WIn is to Lose"

This story is reprinted from Aquaman #43.

While Aquaman encounters a race of slow-moving giants and is taken in by Phil Darson, a surface man in a submarine, Aqualad recovers from his wound and attempts to track down Aquaman, first going to the site of the Sorcerers' city. But the city has faded into another realm, and the young hero is taken captive by hostile purple beings, the Elfdurans, who force him to fight in their arena as a gladiator. Aqualad fights valorously, but is eventually kayoed. The Elfduran ruler believes Aqualad may be strong enough to defeat the Bugala, a monster that has killed many of their people. Meanwhile, in Atlantis, the populace suffers an earthquake.

Appearing in Aquaman: "To WIn is to Lose"

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Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Faces Fear"

This story is reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures #89.

We are greeted by the Concept of Fear, which looks like a white cloak that talks with a human hand sticking out of it sometimes, beckoning us to see what it can do to someone. We’re shown Dr. Carl de Reine, an inventor, who charges a young blond boy with delivering a package to the “Nuclear Society” and definitely don’t drop it! Looking at it, the boy sees it has an atomic engine in it and freaks out, thinking it’s a bomb and drops it in a trash can while running and screaming into Billy Batson as Fear declares that this will spread fear like wildfire! Billy basically calls SHAZAM as a reaction to summon Captain Marvel and grab the kid by the pants to find out what he’s actually talking about. Captain Marvel then easily just flies him back to Dr. de Reine’s lab where he explains it cannot kill anyone and is harmless, however news suddenly spreads so hard that it causes riots in the streets as the News Daily destroys their own company by printing “ATOM BOMB ON THE LOOSE!” due to the word of a young boy with no actual way to declare this is an emergency at all. Billy actively tells people over the radio that the bomb doesn’t exist and isn’t there at all, but Mr. Morris just leans in and says it’s not working. Billy calls SHAZAM, hoping that Captain Marvel can figure this out and helps some people from trampling each other getting on to a bus all at once. Captain Marvel entirely explains that just because it’s called an “atomic engine” doesn’t mean it is dangerous or will go off, but the bus leaving backfires exhaust, which a random man declares is the bomb going off, prompting everyone to run away. Captain Marvel soon notes that the Concept of Fear seems to be nearby and chases it down, only to be terrified at the face he sees in its hood and Fear leaves, saying no Mortal can deny its power.
However, his emotional paralysis soon ends and Captain Marvel questions aloud to no one that he doesn’t know why he stopped. Captain Marvel reasons he was momentarily shocked and goes off to find the atomic engine so he can negate this nonsense. Elsewhere, at the dump where the atomic engine has landed, an unhoused man named Roderick finds it and is so terrified he drops his monocle and starts running around like a crazy person screaming about the bomb. Captain Marvel hears about this from Roderick and shows that the atomic engine is just a small engine run by atomic energy and that it’s perfectly fine, looking more like a camera than a bomb and Roderick is convinced. Fear is shocked that Captain Marvel may be too dangerous an opponent. Captain Marvel punches Fear in wherever its face should exist and asks what its deal is, but Fear merely points out that he only exists when people don’t know the truth and those who know better… know he doesn’t exist, whereupon he just stops existing. Later, Billy has a radio interview with Dr. Carl de Reine about the atomic engine, who explains that fear leads to ignorance of fact and, in the presence of fact, fear is meaningless and disappears!

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Captain Marvel Faces Fear"

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  • Dr. Carl de Reine

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  • Fear

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  • Roderick

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  • The Atomic Engine

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Synopsis for Superman: "The Legion of Super-Villains"

This story is reprinted from Superman #147.

Having earned the right to do repair work in prison, Lex Luthor secretly steals components to build a device that allows him to send messages into the future. Having heard of Superman's previous exploits with the Legion of Super-Heroes in his youth, Luthor deduces that if there is a Legion of Super-Heroes, there must be a Legion of Super-Villains which he could contact to help him break out of prison. Lex's plan works and devices from the future to help break him out of jail are sent from the future, Luthor breaks out and is soon met with the 31st Century's Legion of Super-Villains:

Cosmic King, who can transmute matter with his eye beams; Lightning Lord, brother of the Legion's Lightning Lad who also was bombarded with the lightning powers of an alien beast; and finally Saturn Queen hailing from Saturn just like the Legion's Saturn Girl and has the powers of telepathy, who one day turned evil after years of being an non-criminal on Saturn.

The group team up with Luthor to get revenge on Superman, who at that time was helping build Orphan City, for a bunch of orphans to live in. After the Legion of Super-Villains terrorized the celebrations, they lure Superman into a trap on a planet in the future where he is captured and sentenced to death.

However, before Luthor and the Legion of Super-Villains can pull the lever, the now adult Legion of Super-Heroes arrive and battle their evil counterparts. When the fight comes to a draw, the Legion offers one of their own to die in Superman's place, Saturn Woman volunteering to take his place. As a last wish she asks that Superman create a ring around the planet they are on just like her home world of Saturn. With a ring around the planet, Saturn Queen suddenly becomes good and uses her mental powers to subdue her fellow evil Legionaries and Luthor. Superman reveals to the others that when Saturn Queen revealed why she became evil, Superman deduced that it was possibly due to the fact that she was away from Saturn's rings which has a special property that made Saturians incapable of criminal or evil activity. With the criminals defeated, the good Legion takes their evil counterparts into custody while Superman returns to the present to bring Lex back to the authorities to finish his prison term and he's sure that future court laws will be lenient of Saturn Woman. Luthor attempts to contact the future villains once more, but they are unable to help as they are jailed too.

Appearing in Superman: "The Legion of Super-Villains"

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Synopsis for Spectre: "The Sinister Lives of Captain Skull"

This story is reprinted from Spectre #1.

Appearing in Spectre: "The Sinister Lives of Captain Skull"

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  • Cap'n Skull

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See Also


Links and References

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Look at how sad this is making Batman. You did this.
Superboy Vol 4 69
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