Legion of Super-Heroes:The Silver Age Vol. 1 TPB
Legion of Super-Heroes:The Silver Age Vol. 1 TPB
Cover Credits
Artist: Evan Shaner

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Title: "Supergirl's Greatest Challenge"
Pages: 14

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

Writer: Jerry Siegel
Artist: Jim Mooney

Reprinted From:
Action Comics #287 (1962)

Feature Character(s)

Guest Star(s)

Supporting Character(s)

Villain(s)

  • Positive Man and Negative Creature (no further appearances)
  • The Chameleon Men (no further appearances)

Guest Appearance(s)

Other Character(s)

  • Robot thieves and an unnamed masked thief (no further appearances)
  • Whizzy (a 30th century descendant of Streaky; no further appearances)
  • Members of the Midvale Chapter of the Superman Fan Club (Margie and Ethel named; no further appearances)
  • Three forest rangers (Joe named; no further appearances)
  • Lon Duryal (chief scientist at the Android Factory; no further appearances)
  • Tree-Men (creatures of planet Arbro; no further appearances)
  • Citizens of 30th century Metropolis (no further appearances)

Cameo Appearance(s)

Comments:
The Legion is incorrectly said to exist in the 21st century in this story.

The Science Police are called the Earth Police in this story.

Positive Man and Negative Creature may have been hurled into another dimension, but certainly are not destroyed when they vanish in this story, since Supergirl would never deliberately destroy life.

Supergirl incorrectly assumes that no inhabitants remain in the Phantom Zone in the Legion’s era in this story. Actually, Mon-El still remains in the Zone, as seen in the first story of Adventure Comics #300, as does "the Mighty Gazor," as revealed in the first story of Adventure Comics #323. Due to the vastness of the Phantom Zone, however, Supergirl does not encounter any of its remaining inhabitants, and leaps to an incorrect conclusion.

Following this story, Phantom Girl presents Supergirl with a commemorative Supergirl statuette in the second story of Action Comics #290.

Synopsis:
The Legion of Super-Heroes summons Supergirl to defeat the Positive Man, a once-human changed into a massive destructive force by the explosion of his home planet. As they watch from their spaceship, the Maid of Might lures a Negative Creature, created by the same explosion, toward the Positive Man, and the resulting explosion causes both to vanish.

Upon returning to Earth, the Legionnaires learn that this explosion has also erased their powers. Supergirl decides to stay with them, and, working behind the scenes with Whizzy, the telepathic descendant of Streaky (aka Super-Cat), helps the Legion deceive criminals into thinking that they still possess their abilities.

However, the real reason that the Legionnaires are powerless is that they are actually members of an alien chameleon-like race who, in the aftermath of the positive-negative explosion, imprisoned the real Super-Heroes and took their places. Having fooled Supergirl and Whizzy, they project them into the Phantom Zone.

From here, the phantom heroes mentally command a scientist at an android factory to construct a bogus chameleon man, who infiltrates the Legion imposters and releases Supergirl and Whizzy from the Zone. Supergirl captures the aliens and rescues the real Legion.

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