TOS: Adventure Comics #346

Adventure Comics #346 (July 1966)
title: "One Of Us Is A Traitor!"

writer: Jim Shooter

layouts: Jim Shooter
finisher: Sheldon Moldoff

letterer: Milton Snapinn
editor: Mort Weisinger

cover: Curt Swan & George Klein

reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage and Mike "Nostalgic Kid" Lane

Mission Monitor Board:  
Cosmic Boy, Superboy, Shrinking Violet, Chameleon Boy, Phantom Girl, Lighting Lad, Light Lass, and brand-new Legionnaires Princess Projectra, Ferro Lad, Karate Kid, and Nemesis Kid

Opponents: 
The Khunds, Warlord Garlak, traitorous Legionnaire

Cosmic Boy is on his way to a Legion meeting when he has to stop and save the life of a construction worker who has fallen off a scaffolding. When he arrives at the meeting, Superboy scolds him for being late. 

Russell: Seems kind of heavy-handed to be yelled at for saving somebody's life. Calm down, Clark! And do we really need a nearly full page shot of the back of Cosmic Boy's head?
Mike: I am really surprised at the lack of safety measures at construction sites in the 30th Century. You would think workers walking around up high like that would be wearing anti-gravity belts or something. Come to think of it I am kind of surprised there are still construction workers and the whole thing isn't automated. I am just going to assume he is there supervising the robot builders. Anyways, back to the actual story...

Superboy as acting leader introduces four new applicants who have made it past the initial tests. Princess Projectra is first to demonstrate her abilities. Concentrating, she makes all of the Legionnaires believe they are underwater or out in space. She reveals that she can cast realistic illusions. She is voted in unanimously. 

Russell: This page is incredibly impressive. I did not read this story until many years after Projectra's debut and even after the debut of Sensor Girl. I wonder why she was never shown using this level of illusions again...!
Mike: Those were some fun panels and show how the ability to project illusions actually makes a character pretty powerful. There is also a great panel following this that has a very shocked Superboy in the background, and you can really see the confusion on his face. Showing their most powerful member get thrown off like that was a nice touch.

The next applicant is Nemesis Kid, who has used his alchemical skills to allow his body to adapt instantly to react to any one opponent. He faces down an atomic robot, turning his body into Neutronium, which absorbs all of the robot's energy. Nemesis Kid is voted in unanimously, too. 

Russell: This seems like a really cool power. I hope we get to see Nemesis Kid battling all sorts of different characters.
Mike: Yeah, feels like we can really expect big things from that guy.

Ferro Lad is next. He tells the Legion that he is a mutant with the ability to turn his body into living iron. He, too, is admitted. 

Russell: Okay, I don't want any hateful comments but Ferro Lad compared to Projectra and Nemesis Kid doesn't seem quite as impressive. Kind of a mix between Stone Boy and Blok, don't you think? And I love Ferro Lad as a character, but as a Legionnaire what does he do that someone like Mon-El or Ultra Boy doesn't already do? Maybe I'm just overly impressed with the previous applicants.
Mike: This has to be the most successful series of tryouts in Legion history up till now. "You get a membership! And you get a membership! And you get a membership!" I also like Ferro Lad a great deal, but you make a good point, super strength and invulnerability certainly are not unique in the Legion. On the other hand, they are very useful.

Lastly, Karate Kid boasts that he is a master of all fighting styles, and to prove it he challenges Superboy to a duel. Superboy reluctantly agrees, initially fearful that he would harm Karate Kid. 

However, he is surprised when Karate Kid manages to hold his own against him for several seconds. Superboy himself vouches for Karate Kid and asks that he be made a member of the Legion. 

Russell: As I said earlier, I read this story years after it was first published so I knew Karate Kid was a Legionnaire. Still, this scene is pretty impressive. I agree that Karate Kid by the nature of the Legion's by-laws really shouldn't have been admitted, BUT fighting Superboy to a stand-still IS impressive as hell. So I'm torn here.
Mike: I cannot recall ever seeing a single fight scene stretch out even remotely this long in any other Legion story up to this point. If you think about the conventional story-telling style at DC at this time, including three and a half pages of two characters fighting is a fairly bold move on Shooter's part, especially with the variety of panel layouts he used. Very effective though, so I am glad they kept it.

After the four new members are sworn in, Superboy begins telling everyone their newest assignment. The United Planets has asked the Legion to investigate a newly-discovered planet called Khund. suddenly, Warlord Garlak breaks into the communications line and tells the Legion that his forces will attack Earth in less than one hour. He presents an ultimatum: hand over the Earth or be destroyed. 

Superboy tells the others that Earth is protected by Electro Towers, which can destroy any invasive fleet. He orders a team to each of the three towers in order to protect them, and he will go on patrol all around the world. 

Russell: The debut of the Khunds, and I can't help think that they are a mixture of the Klingons and the Mongols. Doesn't Warlord Garlak sort of resemble Genghis Khan?
Anyway, the idea that there are Electro Towers set up to protect Earth seems childish in the extreme. Are there no standing armies on Earth? I'm not a big fan of important plot points just getting tossed to us casually.
Mike: I have to admit that I am less than impressed with Warlord Garlak here. You are right that there is a definite Genghis Khan vibe, but the overall look just felt dull to me. The Khunds definitely evolved for the better in later years.
It is interesting that you describe the Electro Towers as childish because Garlak's ultimatum felt that way to me as well.

At the Alaskan site, Cosmic Boy, Phantom Girl, and Karate Kid are guarding the Electro Tower when a huge explosion catches their attention. Cosmic Boy goes off to investigate. 

Russell: I like the idea of smaller groups working to protect the Electro Towers. We spend the rest of the story with Cosmic Boy's team but I hope we get to see the others in action next issue.
Mike: The story does take a bit of an upswing here and we get to see a lot of action over the next few pages, which I enjoyed.

Next, a space-craft flies in the distance, and Karate Kid suggests that Phantom Girl investigate it. She does, but when it explodes the shock waves knock her unconscious. Cosmic Boy has to put on a burst of speed to catch her in mid-air. 

Russell: Phantom Girl was always one of my favorite Legionnaires, but she seems a bit shrill here. Although, I have been in meetings where newer co-workers "tell" me what to do and I don't like it, either. So I do like the interchange here. I just think it's a bit heavy-handed. And just on a characterization note, did she REALLY need Cosmic Boy to save her? Come on, Tinya, you're better than that!
Mike: Tinya is uncharacteristically abrasive towards Karate Kid for sure. Perhaps Shooter is trying to inject a little Marvel-style conflict or tension here? If so, it is too abrupt and out of character to really be effective. That's probably also what he was going for early on when Superboy yelled at Cosmic Boy.
I actually liked the idea that the blast could not harm her but the shockwave of the explosion could. Not sure of the science of it, or if it's in any way consistent with the use of her power before or since, but it did add some suspense to the story.

Cosmic Boy and Phantom Girl return to the Electro Tower to find it destroyed and all of the guards and Karate Kid unconscious.  

Phantom Girl suspects Karate Kid because someone used super-strength to get into the arsenal, steal their defensive gas, and use it to knock out all of the guards out so that he could destroy the Electro Tower. The commandant admits that Karate Kid was on-guard at the arsenal, and that he was found elsewhere after the tower was destroyed. Cosmic Boy understands Phantom Girl's suspicions, but reminds her that Karate Kid is innocent until proven guilty. 

Russell: I like the idea that the traitor is not revealed in this story. And I've read enough mysteries to know that the main suspect is usually not the actual culprit. So I'm *pretty* sure Karate Kid is innocent. But that being said, I don't see how anybody else could have broken in. Do any of the other new members have super-speed or super-strength? Hmm....
Mike: Yeah, I think even young kids reading this story back then probably had a pretty good idea Karate Kid was not the true culprit. But at least the story probably still left them wanting to come back and find out who is.

Russell: So, overall, not a great story but not terrible, either. Knowing what I know, I can see that this was a work of a newbie who didn't really know what he was doing, haha.
What I mean by that is, the flow of the story seems off in places (specifically the beginning where Superboy yells at Cosmic Boy for being late) and the characterizations seem over-done (Garlak is about to twirl his mustache as he contemplates invading Earth, and Phantom Girl doesn't trust Karate Kid a little bit TOO strongly.)
Mike: There are certainly some childish tendencies here, as you pointed out earlier. I found the story ok, but never really that engaging either. There are definitely some nice moments in here that point to Shooter's potential, but it's far too inconsistent in tone and I just find Garlak too silly.

Russell: As a younger fan of the Legion I never understood why I couldn't find a reprint of this story arc. It was referenced all over the place, but was not in any of the 100 Page Super-Spectaculars that I could find. When I finally read it in the Legion Archives, I understood why it wasn't "reprint worthy." The art by Sheldon Moldoff is acceptable, but not memorable. The inking and coloring in particular seem rushed; Princess Projectra's uniform is mis-colored as red throughout the story, and Cosmic Boy's boot-lines disappear and re-appear during the course of the story. It's just not as good a piece of work as the stories that came before it (Computo, Star Boy's Trial, the Super Stalag) and ones that came after it (Universo, Sun-Eater, etc) that WERE reprinted.
Mike: I hate to be so repetitive in just agreeing with you again and again, but I think your criticisms on this one are all good ones.

Russell: Shall we talk about the new Legionnaires? I think it's safe to say that everyone reading this review knows the final fates of most of these characters, but just in case you don't, let's try to be respectful. We won't reveal the traitor until next issue.
That being said, I like these four characters. Princess Projectra seems much more powerful than she was ever shown to be before....as was Nemesis Kid, if you think about it. The idea the his body would somehow alter itself OR that he would be able to whip up a steel wall for protection in an instant....that's pretty awesome. Karate Kid and Ferro Lad are clearly the "physical" members, those members who do more than, to paraphrase writer Jim Shooter, just stand there and wave their hands for magnetism or lightning. Is it okay to say that I do not care for the look of Karate Kid here, though? As a caucasian calling himself "Karate Kid" he just rubs me the wrong way. Kinda like "Bwana Beast" or something. Eventually of course we'll learn that his father was Japanese, but he isn't drawn that way here. That is my one gripe with Silver Age Karate Kid. I didn't really start to like him until he started looking like he was half-Japanese.
Mike: Although my first introduction to the Legion was from reading the first couple Archives, I did not get this far into those collections until I had already jumped ahead and read single issues from the 70s and 80s, so when I finally saw this version of Karate Kid he did look a bit ridiculous. I do like the character though, I just also much prefer the later version.
Despite some inconsistencies between the characters in their first appearance here and how they evolved, my favorite part of this issue was seeing the introduction of so many new Legionnaires all in one story. Especially knowing how significant they would all go on to be in Legion lore. Between all of the new Legionnaires and the level of action, I can certainly see why kids would like this issue, despite all of its faults.

Russell: Lastly, take a look at the Declaration of Ownership for Adventure Comics. It had an average press run of 757,000 per month for the year. The most recent data available at filing is listed in the right-hand column....788,000 printed that month. It had a total paid circulation of 510,000 for this month, with nearly 10,000 people subscribing. Yowza!

Science Police Notes:  

• Princess Projectra is wearing an all-red uniform in this issue. She will switch to her more traditional royal blue/royal violet uniform in the midst of the action next issue.   
• Karate Kid is drawn as non-Asian, with curly brown hair. In later interviews, writer Jim Shooter has said that he intended Karate Kid to be Asian.  
• "Karate" is a Japanese word meaning "empty hand." 
• No reason is given for why Ferro Lad is wearing a mask. In later interviews, writer Jim Shooter has said that he intended Ferro Lad to be the Legion's first African-American Legionnaire, and that he was hiding his identity behind his mask. Editor Mort Weisinger nixed that idea. The Legion would have to wait ten more years to get a black Legionnaire. 

Status: 
This issue has been reprinted in The Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol 5, Showcase Presents: The Legion Vol. 2, and The Life and Death of Ferro Lad.

Milestone: 
This issue is the debut of writer Jim Shooter, who is given the most credit for expanding and strengthening the Legion universe. He would work his creative magic on this series for the next three years.
He starts off with a bang here, writing the debuts of four new Legionnaires and creating the Khunds, arguably the Legion's greatest long-term enemies.