Adventure Comics #335
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAdventure Comics #335 marks the debut of Starfinger, one of the more enduring recurring antagonists in the Silver Age Legion of Super-Heroes rogues' gallery — a villain who proved durable enough to be reused across multiple continuities and adapted into animation decades later. The issue is also notable for being the first multi-part Legion story structured as a genuine mystery-thriller: writer Edmond Hamilton planted the clue that the masked Starfinger is secretly a Legionnaire, a traitor-in-the-ranks plot device that was genuinely novel for team books in 1965 and gave the story a tension the Legion's earlier done-in-one adventures rarely achieved. The issue further introduced Pol Krinn, Cosmic Boy's younger brother, whose eventual career as Magnetic Kid and later heroic death during the Magic Wars would make this brief cameo unexpectedly significant to Legion history. It also appears to contain an early — possibly first — reference to the 'United Planets,' the interplanetary governing body that would become a cornerstone of the Legion's 30th-century political setting.
"Part I: Starfinger!" kicks off in Adventure Comics #335 (1965), a 12-cent dive into the Legion of Super-Heroes' far-flung future, where the mysterious Starfinger menaces the Seven Wonders of the 30th Century to force the Legion to surrender the rejuvium. Written by Edmond Hamilton and brought to life by John Forte’s art, Sheldon Moldoff’s inks, and Milt Snapinn’s letters, the story takes a sharp turn when Saturn Girl, during a tense confrontation, catches a fleeting glimpse of Starfinger’s mind—revealing a shocking truth about his identity. The cover, by Curt Swan and George Klein, captures the moment with striking clarity.
In "Part I: Starfinger!", the Legionnaires race to protect the rare mineral rejuvium from the menacing Starfinger, whose threats escalate as he targets the Seven Wonders of the 30th Century. When Saturn Girl briefly reads his mind, a shocking revelation stirs—Starfinger might not be an outsider, but one of their own.
In "Part II: Starfinger against the Legion!", the Legion of Super-Heroes faces a dire threat as the mysterious Starfinger targets the Seven Wonders of the 30th Century, demanding the Legion surrender the rejuvium. When Saturn Girl briefly glimpses his thoughts during the confrontation, she makes a shocking realization—Starfinger is one of their own.
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The lead story, 'Starfinger!,' was written by Edmond Hamilton — the veteran science-fiction author who anchored the Legion's Adventure Comics run through much of the mid-1960s 'Hamilton Era' — and drawn by penciller John Forte, inked by Sheldon Moldoff. The cover was by Curt Swan and George Klein, the principal artistic team defining the Superman family's look during the Silver Age. The issue was edited by Mort Weisinger, whose tight editorial control over DC's Superman-family titles shaped the Legion's tone and continuity throughout this period. The story was explicitly inspired by the James Bond film franchise; the cover itself calls out the Goldfinger reference, and Hamilton structured Starfinger's demands around a Bond-style extortion plot against the United Planets.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Starfinger (the villain identity is occupied in this issue by Lightning Lad/Garth Ranzz, who has been hypnotized by Dr. Lars Hanscom); created by writer Edmond Hamilton and penciller John Forte.
- First appearance of Pol Krinn, Cosmic Boy's younger brother, seen briefly in a family-visit scene — a character who would later become the Legionnaire known as Magnetic Kid.
- The story is Part 1 of a two-part arc, continued and concluded in Adventure Comics #336 (September 1965), where Lightning Lad is unmasked as Starfinger.
- Starfinger wields five different energy powers — one per finger of his right hand — including a neutralizing ray, super-lightning, a force-thrust ray, a heat ray, and a freezing ray.
- The issue may contain one of the earliest references to the 'United Planets,' the interplanetary government that becomes a central institution in the Legion's 30th-century setting.
- The backup story, 'Superboy's Underground Exile,' is a reprint from Superboy #59.
- The lead story 'Starfinger!' was later reprinted in The Best of DC #67, Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 4, and Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2.
- The Starfinger character was adapted for animation in the Legion of Super Heroes animated series episode 'The Substitutes,' voiced by Taylor Negron, with a substantially re-imagined power set.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Superboy #59 (1957)
Reprinted in Gigant #4/1966 (1966), Adventure Double Double Comics #[nn] (1967), The Best of DC #67 (1985), The Legion of Super-Heroes Archives #4 (1994), Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes #2 (2008), Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age Omnibus #2 (2018)
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