Superboy #147

SUPERBOY 147 (1968)
by E. Nelson Bridwell & Pete Costanza
cover by Curt Swan

Ten years after their first story, the Legion of Super-Heroes gets its origin story.

We begin with Garth Ranzz (the future Lightning Lad) leaving his planet to look for his supervillain brother.

He’s going to Earth, and that’s where he meets Rokk Krinn (the future Cosmic Boy) who las left his homeworld in search for work because at 14 he’s considered an adult on his planet.

He doesn’t have much to say about his origin since everyone on Braal has magnetic powers, while Lightning Lad tells him about his origin.

Note that, once again, the lightning beasts of Korbal have a completely different design from previous retellings of this exact scene.

It’s interesting that Lightning Lad told Cosmic Boy about his siblings, because when we first met his sister the rest of the Legion had no clue about her.

The ship stops at Saturn, where they meet R.J.Brande and the future Saturn Girl.

Unlike the boys, we are not told why she’s traveling to Earth.

Once the ship lands in Metropolis, R.J.Brande is the target of an assassination attempt…

…easily stopped by the future Legionnaires.
Since R.J.Brande is supposed to be the richest person in the Galaxy it’s kind of surprising that he doesn’t have any sort of security around him. Maybe he was flying on a low budget ship and thought it would be enough? Otherwise it’d be weird having him take the same ship of a couple of unemployed teenagers.

Brande is so impressed with them that he suggests creating a team of teenage super-heroes, inspired by Superboy and Supergirl.

Brande is also responsible for the codenames and the costumes.
Luckily we retcon the awful costumes that the Legionnaires wore during their first story!

On the other hand, Brande is also responsible for the construction of the team’s first headquarters, the iconic upside-down rocket. You win some, you lose some.
(the original HQ has at least three completely contradictory origins, but this is the first one)

The team’s first leader is decided by a computer. (!!!)

We also have a look at the creation of the Legion Constitution, which is neat.
I wonder if some of the more ridiculous original rules, like “you must be under 18 to be a member” and “if you get married you have to leave” were already there.

So far everything was pretty believable. But the idea that this team of three teenagers who have stopped ONE crime are immediately granted galaxy-wide recognition is laughable.
Then again, R.J.Brande is rich enough to buy every single lobbyist in the universe, so who knows.

Surprisingly enough we don’t transition to the recruitment of Superboy: it turns out that Triplicate Girl was actually the fourth member!

Phantom Girl also explicitly pre-dates Superboy’s membership.
Not only that, but before Superboy was recruited, the team had a majority of female members: three girls and two boys.

Superboy doesn’t even get an appearance, because this is already the end of the story!

The story is surprisingly short despite this being a “80 page giant issue” because it also reprints Superboy #98,  Adventure Comics #293, Action Comics #276, Adventure Comics #290 and Superman #147.

Legion significance: 10/10
It’s arguably even more influential than the Legion’s first appearance.

Silver Age-ness: 2/10
The Legion being hailed as galactic heroes from day one and the computer assigning the leadership role are the only obviously Silver Age parts.

Does it stand the test of time? 5/10
The core idea (these specific three teenagers save the life of R.J.Brande) is consistent throughout multiple continuities, so THAT part obviously stands the test of time.
Taking the whole story, however… it feels more like a synopsis than a complete story. We’re also not shown why the earliest Legion would be given so much power and influence right from the start, and there is barely any characterization or action.