Adventure Comics #252 (1958)
by Dave Wood & Jack Kirby
When I reviewed Adventure Comics #250 as a Patreon request, I came across this two-part story that is just too delightfully bonkers to skip.
It’s also an introduction for writer Dave Wood, who we’ll get familiar with once I begin the “Dial H for HERO” retrospective.
Ah, now THIS is what I expected to see in a story with Jack Kirby artwork!
This looks like a job for Green Arrow because… uhm… you see, he’s the only one who can… ehm… I’ve got nothing.
This is just an excuse to let Jack Kirby go nuts, isn’t it? Not that I’m complaining, I’ve seen far worse pitches.
Okay, all jokes aside: while it doesn’t make much sense, Green Arrow is very effective here.
With a strong emphasis on “not making sense”, of course.
This is SLIGHTLY out of Green Arrow’s expertise, but luckily he knows a scientist whose Cosmo-Radar™ has conveniently discovered the plot.
Well it’s the 50s, it could ONLY be aliens or another dimension.
This leads Green Arrow and Speedy to investigate an arrow that DIDN’T hit the target…
For a moment I was ready to see the arrow being pulled away to another planet, so the fact that it’s another dimension is somewhat disappointing.
Adventure Comics #253 (1958)
by Ed Herron & Jack Kirby
I wonder what Dave Wood had in mind for the story, because it’s continued by Ed Herron.
We begin with some drama, with Green Arrow being worried about missing what he loves the most about Earth… merchandising.
This would not feel out of place in one of the pre-Marvel monster stories that Kirby used to draw.
The real star of the show is Xeen Arrow, the alien Green Arrow. I guess he missed the invitation to the gathering of other Green Arrows!
Xeen Arrow even has his own supervillain, who is honestly is far more interesting than any villains who faced Green Arrow.
However even Xeen Arrow needs some help with the… Balloon Arrows, of all things.
I really don’t want to know what Xeen Arrow puts in his arrows.
Xeen Arrow telepathically explains that the giant arrows that hit Earth were actually toy arrows used by random children of his dimension.
Sounds legit.
There’s only half a page left to close the story, so Xeen Arrow just shoots them back to Earth thanks to the Bulls##t Comet passing by.
And that is the origin of the giant arrow that is kept in the Arrow Cave. Which would be significant if anyone in the history of comics ever gave a crap about the Arrow Cave.
Historical significance: 
/10
The first and only appearance of both Xeen Arrow and Dimension Zero.
Silver Age-ness: 
/10
Don’t even try to make sense of ANY of this. ESPECIALLY the scale of anything.
Does it stand the test of time? /10
The first story is 6 pages and the second is 5 ½ pages. Put them together and they don’t even come close to being a ¼ of a story. At least Kirby is allowed to go nuts, which is always nice.
Bonus: Adventure Comics #252 has the first appearance of Red Kryptonite!
Apparently it has “ten times the radiation power of ordinary Kryptonite”. Which checks out: the severity of any exposure to green Kryptonite was WILDLY inconsistent for years, but red Kryptonite blows its inconsistencies out of the park.
LITERALLY.
Superboy spends nearly the entire story sitting in one spot.
Throughout the story I thought this was just the first of the random effects of Red Kryptonite.
But no, it’s too early for that: this time it doesn’t cause ANY transformation.
The kind of Red Kryptonite that cause random transformations will be introduced later… on this very series, in issue #255!!!