Comic Title: Adventure Comics #171
Publisher: DC (National Comics Publications, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: December 1951
Approx. On Sale Date: October 12, 1951 Copyright Date October 10, 1951
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1951
Until 1958 DC did not report actual on sale dates to the copyright office
The publication dates listed in LoC records are NOT release dates.

Frequency: Monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 40
Editor: Jack Schiff

Title: "Superboy's Toughest Tasks"
Pages: 10

Feature(s):
Superboy (of Earth-1)

Writer: Don Cameron
Artist: John Sikela

Feature Character(s)

• Superboy (last appearance in Superman #136; next appearance in Adventure Comics #172)

Villain(s)

• Tops Tremont and Owl Anders (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• The president of a power company (no further appearances)
• Representatives of the American Boat Builders Association (no further appearances)
• J.B. and his unnamed partner (barbers; no further appearances)
• The mayor of Smallville (no further appearances)
• Leaders of the transportation industry (no further appearances)

Comments:
This story represents the first time that Kryptonite is used in a Superboy story. It also indicates that the Boy of Steel does not yet know that lead blocks Kryptonite radiation. The Kryptonite in this story is colored gray instead of green as it will commonly be shown in future stories.

Synopsis:
Superboy is the guest of honor at the annual Smallville Superboy Day celebration. When the Boy of Steel takes the stage to speak, several people in the audience express disappointment that he has refused to help them with their problems or business ventures. Superboy tries to explain that he can't help everyone, and that fixing some problems would cause chaos. The people remain unconvinced, so the Boy of Steel promises to fulfill the first five requests he receives via telegram.

Quickly the requests begin to pile up. Superboy selects five including one that he knows will put himself in personal danger. First he builds a giant barber's pole miles high. However, the wind almost immediately causes it to topple over endangering people. Next he creates a fantastic billboard to promote boating, but the advertisers quickly realize that the sign overshadows the real experience and would backfire on their promotion efforts.

Despite Superboy's efforts, the requests of the planners fail. The next two requests involve constructing a giant lightbulb and building a tunnel to China. Both jobs are catastrophes as Superboy warned. For the final mission, Superboy is asked to move a boulder on meteor mountain. However, he is forewarned that the boulder is made of Kryptonite. Crooks have set him up to be killed. Superboy outsmarted them by causing a meteor strike on the mountain which results in the Kryptonite boulder being launched into space. He then apprehends the crooks.

Despite all of Superboy's efforts to prove that his help can sometimes lead to disaster, some people are still willing to accept the risk to achieve personal gain.