He was the greatest hero of them all.
- -- Cosmic Boy
Appearing in "The Greatest Hero Of Them All"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Night Girl
- Lana Lang (Pocket Universe)
- Pete Ross (Pocket Universe)
- Martha Kent (Pocket Universe)
- Jonathan Kent (Pocket Universe)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Supergirl (Statue only)
- Ferro Lad (Statue only)
- Karate Kid (Statue only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Greatest Hero Of Them All"
Superboy and the Legion decide to directly attack the Time Trapper in a direct assault and go to the Smallville High School gym where the Time Trapper is waiting for Superboy to deliver the immobilized Legion members to him. As the Legion attack the Trapper reveals his hold over Superboy to the assembled Legion members "This never was your past, Legionnaire. Only a whispery possibility I connected you to when you were presumptuous enough to try to travel through time. Each time you 'broke' the time barrier, I sent you here ... until this Earth began to fall apart and the jest paled." With that the time Trapper damaged the machinery that held back the destructive energies of the Crisis and left.
Once again the red skies began assaulting the Pocket Universe. As the heroes tried to repair the machine, Superboy realized that the only way to repair the machine is to find some way to channel its energies. Lacking the time to find a proper insulators to the enormous energies needed to safeguard an entire universe, Superboy jumps into the machine to act as the insulator and allows the universal energies to pass through him. He endures until the pocket universe is moved away from energy waves of the Crisis to some unknown safe locale in the cosmos. With the world safe, Superboy finally allows himself to collapse. Ma and Pa Kent watch in horror as the Legionnaires try to save the injured Superboy by taking him back to the 30th century. But arriving in the safeguarded future, Superboy dies from his injuries.
Notes
- This issue was reprinted in Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 4.
- This concludes the Superboy story started in Superman (vol. 2) #8 and continued in Action Comics #591.
- Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Compendium classifies part of this issue as happening on Earth-Twenty-Three
Trivia
- During the funeral can be seen statues of all deceased Legionnaires, including Supergirl despite having been exiled from continuity two years earlier.
See Also
- Write your own review of this comic!
- Discuss Legion of Super-Heroes Vol 3 38 on the forums
- Cover gallery for the Legion of Super-Heroes series
Recommended Reading
- Legion of Super-Heroes Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- Adventure Comics (Volume 2)
- The Legion (Volume 1)
- Legion Lost (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 4)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 5)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 7)
- Legionnaires (Volume 1)
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
Links and References
| Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes (1987) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Part I: Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3) #37 | Part II: Superman (Volume 2) #8 | |
| Part III: Action Comics #591 | Part IV: Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3) #38 | |
