Who was that other member? Who was Anti-Lad? 
- — Superboy
Superboy #204 is an issue of the series Superboy (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1974. It was published on August 25, 1974.
Synopsis for "The Legionnaire Nobody Remembered"
In the Legion HQ, the Legionnaires are gathered in front of a monitor and staring with puzzled expressions at a picture where the young founding trio is welcoming a Legionnaire called Anti-Lad into the Legion. But no one can ever remember him.
Into the 75th century, a young boy and his father realize a glitch in the time-stream caused the Legion to reject Superboy for membership. Such a change would throw History into chaos, so the youth goes back in time to audition for membership as Anti-Lad. He passes their preliminary tests easily, and an automated robotographer takes a picture of him. Still Brainiac 5 is suspicious as to why he never takes his visor off.
Brainiac manages to get his hands on the visor and analyze it, and finds out it's Anti-Lad's powers' true source. Cosmic Boy seizes his boots and Brainiac finds traces of Kryptonite on them. The Legion comes to the conclusion that Anti-Lad messed up Superboy's test.
His mission achieved, Anti-Lad activates his Timesmitter to transport him back to his era. He also programmed his visor to implant in the Legionnaires a post-hypnotic command to forget about him once he disappeared. They only remember they've got to give Superboy another initiation test. And a single picture left is the only evidence of the existence of Anti-Lad.
Appearing in "The Legionnaire Nobody Remembered"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Anti-Lad (First appearance)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Anti-Lad's Visor
- Time-Scanner
Vehicles:
Concepts:
Synopsis for "Brainiac 5's Secret Weakness!"
Brainiac 5, who has been putting in long hours and mooning over the absence of his love Supergirl, has created a Supergirl android in his sleep and programmed her to love him. When Brainiac and Star Boy go on vacation, the Supergirl android appears. Brainiac is convinced the android is the real Supergirl, and that she loves him, so he resigns from the Legion and heads into a radiation belt in space by accident.
He is rescued by the real Supergirl, but the android, who reveals herself to them, is destroyed by the radiation. Brainiac 5 rejoins the Legion. Supergirl tells him that she cannot cope with being a part-time Legionnaire until she gets her life straightened out, but she may someday return and maybe they can pick up where they left off.
Appearing in "Brainiac 5's Secret Weakness!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Supergirl android
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Legion of Super-Heroes Headquarters
- Recreation Asteroid 7
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 11.
Trivia
- In this issue, it's revealed that Brainiac 5 was a Legionnaire before Superboy became a member. Since Brainiac 5 joined the Legion together with Supergirl,[1] his presence here would indicate the Legion visited and recruited Supergirl prior to Superboy's induction.
- The record provided of Superboy's induction into the Legion of Super-Heroes (before Anti-Lad changes the timeline to retain internal consistency) is also flawed, seeming to indicate that Superboy passed his initiation tests and was instantly made a new member, when Adventure Comics #247 shows that Superboy flunked all three tests and was rejected before the Legionnaires changed their mind, the "true test" being a test of Superboy's character to assess how he would react in the face of failure. This is consistent with another inaccurate flashback to Superboy's induction as a Legionnaire in a Cary Bates-written story in Superboy #173.
See Also
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)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 8)
- Legionnaires (Volume 1)
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)