Adventure Comics 333
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Contents
"The War Between Krypton and Earth"
While working on an archaeological project, several Legionnaires come across an ancient tablet written in “the language of Krypton/Pre-Crisis.” The tablet describes an ancient war between Superboy home planet and the people of Earth. Intrigued, the Legionnaires divide into two teams and take two time bubbles into the past to investigate: Superboy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Element Lad, and Colossal Boy head to ancient Krypton, while Brainiac 5, Star Boy, Light Lass, Phantom Girl, and Chameleon Boy go to ancient Earth.
Superboy’s team arrives on Krypton millions of years in the past, where they encounter Zat-El, possibly a distant ancestor of Superboy’s and leader of a renegade band of scientists who plan to leave Krypton because science has been outlawed during this period in its history. The Legionnaires help the scientists complete work on their space ark and even round up large Kryptonian lizards for the journey, secretly aware that these will become Earth’s first dinosaurs. Superboy thinks that the Kryptonians will be in for a surprise when they reach their intended destination, Earth, as Earth’s yellow sun will grant them amazing super-powers. But when the space ark reaches Earth, Superboy is dismayed to learn that the planet’s young sun is red – meaning he as well as the Kryptonians will have no powers.
On Earth, the Kryptonians discover that a city has already been built by aliens from the star system Vruun. A woman from the city, Leta Lal, has already encountered Brainiac 5's team and told them that the name of the city is Atlantis. The Legionnaires realize that they are witnessing the origin of the underwater city of Atlantis, though it exists on the surface at this point. Brainiac 5's team helps the Atlanteans complete work on the city, but when Superboy’s team arrives, the Legionnaires disagree on whether the Kryptonians or the Atlanteans have the right to settle Earth. The two teams go their separate ways, knowing there will surely be war.
Part 2: “The Civil War of the Legion”
As the Atlanteans and Kryptonians prepare for battle, each team of Legionnaires agrees to help its respective side, but only if they use “stun-ray projectors” instead of lethal weapons. In the air, the Legionnaires fight each other while Kryptonian troops engage the Atlanteans on the ground. But after the initial battle is over, the Kryptonians discover that some of their troops have, in fact, been killed. The Kryptonians decide to retaliate by building a missile to destroy Atlantis. But Superboy secretly sneaks into Atlantis and meets with Leta Lal, with whom he’s smitten.
Saturn Girl sends Superboy a telepathic message to warn him that the Kryptonians are about to launch the missile against Atlantis. But when the bomb reaches its destination, it is caught by Superboy, who has mysteriously regained his powers under the red sun. This, however, turns out to be Mon-El, who has followed the Legionnaires into the past and maintains his powers under a red sun (though it is never explained how), and who switched costumes with Superboy to make it appear that he caught the missile.
Brainiac 5 then explains that the Atlanteans never meant to kill the Kryptonian soldiers, but that a difference in the two races’ physiology made the Atlantean weapons deadly to Kryptonians. Brainiac 5 also reveals that the element Xenon, found in Earth’s atmosphere, will kill the Atlanteans in time, so he uses “artificial evolution” to transform the Atlanteans into mermaids and mermen, and Star Boy uses his power to make Atlantis so heavy, the city sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Leta Lal bids Superboy goodbye and leaves with her people. The Kryptonians are at last free to colonize the surface world.
Later, Superboy returns to the 20th century and finds the mountain crypt where the Kryptonians stored their records. He is dismayed to learn that the dinosaurs eventually became wild and attacked the colony, wiping it out.
Critique
Fans sometimes dismiss this story for its fanciful origin of Atlantis (which contradicts other DC Universe stories) and for certain logic problems (i.e., just how powerful does Star Boy have to be in order to sink an entire city? How does Mon-El maintain his powers under a red sun)? But despite such obvious errors, the story is one of the more sophisticated of the entire Adventure run. It vividly illustrates how two societies can have competing claims to a planet (or a patch of land, if one chooses to see this story as a metaphor for real-world problems), and how wars can escalate due to tragic misunderstandings. None of the characters involved are villains, per se; yet the war happens and people die anyway. The story offers no easy answers to such conflicts.
The ending of the story is bittersweet. The Kryptonians win the right to colonize the surface of Earth, but their victory is short-lived. This makes creative and effective use of the dinosaurs subplot. It also leaves the reader with a sense of the futility of war: the Kryptonians’ hard-won victory ultimately amounts to nothing. (One wonders that if they had made friends with the Atlanteans instead of fighting them, could the Atlanteans have helped their colony survive?)
Fans also deride the story for its clichéd romance between Superboy and Leta Lal. While this subplot does feel contrived, it serves a purpose by giving Superboy a credible reason for being in Atlantis when the missile is launched. Although it isn’t overtly stated in the story, the appearance of Superboy (a Kryptonian) saving Atlantis from destruction no doubt causes both sides to come to their senses and end the war.
Roll Call
The Legionnaires
The team that sides with the Kryptonians:
The team that sides with Atlantis:
Other:
- Mon-El (2 panels; one disguised as Superboy)
- Triplicate Girl (1 panel)
- Legionnaires shown on Mission Monitor Board:
- Shrinking Violet
- Bouncing Boy (?; anomalous; as he is a Reservist during this time)
- Ultra Boy
Villains
None; see Critique above.
Other Characters
- Zat-El (leader of the Kryptonian scientists; possibly an ancestor of Superboy)
- Leta Lal (an Atlantean woman; ancestor of Lori Lemaris)
- Jhor Lal (leader of Atlantis)
Notes
Places of Interest
- The Jewel Mountains of Krypton
- Atlantis
