Adventure Comics #342
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAdventure Comics #342 marks one of the most morally serious stories the Legion of Super-Heroes had yet told: Star Boy kills an armed attacker in self-defense and is expelled by a 10-to-9 vote — a genuinely ambiguous outcome that forced readers to grapple with whether a superhero team's absolute prohibition on killing can be justified. Reviewers across multiple fan and critical sites have noted that the story stands apart from the fanciful Silver Age fare surrounding it, concentrating almost entirely on characterization and the ethics of self-defense rather than action sequences. The issue simultaneously introduced Color Kid — a character whose power (changing the color of any object) was deemed too limited for the Legion — making him the first non-charter member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes and a fan-created concept brought to official life. These two threads together mark a quiet turning point in the series' maturity: a hero is punished not for villainy but for a defensible choice, and a rejected applicant finds belonging elsewhere, both ideas the Legion would continue to revisit for decades.
In "Part I: The Legionnaire Who Killed!", Super-Turtle makes a daring rescue beneath the waves, pulling a stranded scuba diver from the kelp while fending off a pair of menacing octopuses with quick thinking and a clever knot trick. Written, drawn, and inked by Henry Boltinoff, this 1966 Adventure Comics tale blends underwater suspense with the hero’s trademark mix of humor and heroism, all rendered in the dynamic style of Curt Swan and George Klein on the cover.
In "Part I: The Legionnaire Who Killed!", Star Boy faces a trial that shakes the very foundation of the Legion of Super-Heroes after he kills Kenz Nuhor in self-defense, violating their strict code against taking lives. Condemned by his peers and expelled from the ranks, he walks away from the life he knew, only to find himself drawn into the shadowy world of the Legion Subs.
In "Part II: The Verdict of the Legion!", Star Boy faces a harrowing trial before the Legion after killing Kenz Nuhor in self-defense, forcing him to confront the rigid code he once swore to uphold. Accused of violating the Legion's sacred rule against killing, he's expelled and cast out—only to find himself drawn into the shadowy ranks of the Legion Subs, where loyalty and justice are no longer so clearly defined.
In this lighthearted 1966 tale from Adventure Comics #342, Super-Turtle springs into action when he spots a scuba diver in trouble beneath the waves. With quick thinking and a touch of comic flair, he untangles the situation—literally—by knotting up two mischievous octopuses to save the day.
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The script was written by Edmond Hamilton, the science-fiction pulp veteran who had served as one of the Legion feature's primary writers since 1962 and who created the Legion of Substitute Heroes, the Time Trapper, and Timber Wolf during his tenure. Pencils fell to Curt Swan — the definitive Legion artist of the era — with inking split between Sheldon Moldoff (pages 1–8) and George Klein (pages 9–16), under editor Mort Weisinger with E. Nelson Bridwell as uncredited assistant editor. Issue #342 appeared near the end of Hamilton's career: by 1966 he was preparing to retire from DC entirely, and his final comics story appeared later that year in World's Finest Comics #159. One small piece of fan-driven history attaches to the issue as well: Color Kid had originally been suggested by a reader named Jeff Greenberg in the letters column of Adventure Comics #309, and the GCD notes the character's debut here acknowledges that suggestion — an unusually direct line from fan letter to published debut.
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- Main story: 'The Legionnaire Who Killed!' — script by Edmond Hamilton, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Sheldon Moldoff (pages 1–8) and George Klein (pages 9–16). Cover pencilled by Curt Swan, inked by George Klein.
- Star Boy kills Kenz Nuhor (a jealous ex-suitor of Dream Girl's) in self-defense, is tried by the Legion, and is expelled by a 10-to-9 vote — a landmark moment in Legion continuity that later led to the Legion Constitution being amended to permit lethal force in self-defense.
- First appearance of Color Kid (Ulu Vakk of Lupra), who is rejected as a Legion applicant and subsequently joins the Legion of Substitute Heroes as their first non-charter member. The character was originally conceived by reader Jeff Greenberg, whose suggestion appeared in Adventure Comics #309's letters column.
- Second appearance of Dream Girl, who joins the Legion of Substitute Heroes alongside the expelled Star Boy at the issue's close.
- Backup story: 'The Boy Who Betrayed Clark Kent!' (script attributed to Robert Bernstein per some sources, Leo Dorfman per others — see Flagged), art by George Papp — the introduction of Pete Ross, the boy who discovers Clark Kent is Superboy.
- Reprinted in: Superboy #202 (May–June 1974); The Amazing World of DC Comics #9 (Nov–Dec 1975, cover story only); Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 5 (1994); Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2 (2008); Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (2018).
- Color Kid later appeared in the Legion of Super-Heroes animated series (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), and was referenced in Geoff Johns' 'Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes' arc as having been blinded by Earth-Man.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Superboy #86 (1961)
Reprinted in Superboy #10/1967 (1967), Lynvingen #12/1967 (1967), Stålpojken #2/1968 (1968), Superboy #18 (1968), Superboy #202 (1974), Superboy #12/1974 (1974), The Amazing World of DC Comics #9 (1975), The Legion of Super-Heroes Archives #5 (1994), Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes #2 (2008), Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age Omnibus #2 (2018), Lançamento (2ª Série) [A Legião dos Super-Heróis] #2
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