Superboy 125

SUPERBOY 125 (1965)
by Otto Binder & George Papp

Despite the goofy cover, it promises a hero who has a power that even Superboy envies but that will make you cry. Now THAT’S a way to entice a reader!

We begin with a kid wearing strange clothes walking into the Kent’s store.
It’s not particularly odd for modern day standards, but a jumpsuit and a turban in 1960s? That’s pretty much alien.

Proving that Smallville is one of the most dangerous places to live, the kid almost walks into a power cable that is about to blow up a cargo of nitroglycerine. (!!!)

This is Kid Psycho, and he demonstrates that he has a mysterious power.

If you thought that I was harsh about Smallville, on the same day this happens:

Kid Psycho saves the day again. We’re not explicitly told WHAT his power is, but it’s blatantly a force field.

This was just an appetizer, however, because Superboy also have to deal with bank robbers with a tank that shoots Kryptonite. (!!!)

Only now Kid Psycho’s power is revealed to be a force field. We were supposed to be amazed by this, but it was pretty clear the other times he used it.

We then learn that Kid Psycho wears that turban to hide his giant head, and that he’s an alien mutant.

Specifically, he’s the son of astronauts who defeated A GIANT SPACE OCTOPUS.

Who was then turned into the coolest constellation in the universe!

It’s a crazy Silver Age detail that has no impact on the rest of Kid Psycho’s origin, because otherwise it’s almost exactly the origin story of most X-Men.

And then his home world explodes! Just… just explodes. No reason given, no backstory, no explanation on why he’s the only one to survive other than “my parents managed to shoot me away”. What, they are the only ones who can do it because they were astronauts!?!?

Rather awkwardly, Kid Psycho tells us that this happened in the future: he’s actually here because he was rejected by the Legion!

Weirdly enough, he wasn’t told WHY he was rejected.

It must’ve been pretty serious since Kid Psycho’s powers are so great that he can TRAVEL THROUGH TIME WITH TELEKINESIS!!!

If you were hoping it was a silly reason… this time it’s not: Kid Psycho loses a year of his life every time he uses his powers!

That’s great that you didn’t get him into the Legion because of your concern for his health, but WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL HIM?!?!?!?

Thanks to this he has already lost FIVE YEARS!!!
1) when he travels back in time with his powers
2) when he stops the wire from exploding the nitro
3) when he stops the snakes
4) when he stops the robbers
5) when he travels back to the future

The ONLY way this can POSSIBLY make sense without turning the Legionnaires into criminals is if Kid Psycho already knew that using his powers shortened his life.

The fact that he volunteers to be the Legion’s secret weapon is impressive enough to make the Legion change their minds about him.

And so Kid Psycho is allowed to join as part of the Legion Reserve.

Technically speaking Bouncing Boy is already in the Reserve, but Kid Psycho will never leave that role until he dies during Crisis of Infinite Earths.

 

Legion significance: 1/10
Kid Psycho has barely any appearances. Mostly he’s just a cameo in occasions where we see the entire Legion roster. And that’s really a shame because his gimmick (or rather his curse) would’ve made for some interesting stories. Instead, this is the most famous Kid Psycho story… and the second one his is cameo during Crisis of Infinite Earths where he dies. And even that is just a couple of panels! You would expect at least his mutant origins to be used in the reboot, but no, he’s never used in later continuities.

Silver Age-ness: 7/10
The idea of a hero whose powers are killing him is very modern. Unfortunately for everything else… Kid Psycho being an alien from the future has no impact on the story, everything happening in Smallville is ridiculous, and the resolution is waaaay too fast.

Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
In concept it’s a 10/10 (if we allow the interpretation that the Legion didn’t hide things from Kid Psycho). In execution… it’s pretty bad. The short length really hurts it: we spend way too much time watching Kid Psycho doing basic stuff, we only get 1.5 pages about his origin, 1.5 pages about the Legion and it’s already over!

 We are legion
7 Legionnaires active in this story: Superboy, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Chameleon Boy, Lightning Lad, Star Boy, Brainiac 5. Well, relatively speaking, since Superboy is the only one doing anything.
12 not shown but officially members
2 reserve members: Bouncing Boy and Kid Psycho
2 resigned members: Dream Girl, Command Kid
1 honorary member: Elastic Lad
1 deceased member: Dynamo Boy

How much Legion is too much?
The Legion has 19 active members.  With the addition of Kid Psycho, the total number of characters who have been members is 25.

Legion rejects: 26
No change in the number: rejects are counted only when they don’t immediately join in the same story.

Kryptonite, baby!
Already in Superboy’s time, Kryptonite is so abundant on Earth that bank robbers from a small town can own a huge meteorite made of the stuff!