Adventure Comics #353
Adventure Comics #353
Cover Credits
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: George Klein

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Title: "The Doomed Legionnaire"
Pages: 23

Feature(s):
Legion of Super-Heroes (of Earth-1)

Writer: James Shooter
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: George Klein

Reprinted In:
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 6 HC (1997)
Legion of Super-Heroes:The Life and Death of Ferro Lad HC (2009)
Showcase Presents:Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3 TPB (2009)
Legion of Super-Heroes:The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 HC (2018)

Feature Character(s)

Villain(s)

Cameo Appearance(s)

  • Eight heroes of unnamed planets and a United Planets Emergency Force agent (in flashback to Adventure Comics #352)

Comments:
Part 2: "Slain by the Sun-Eater"

Shanghalla is misspelled Shanghalia in this story.

This story is continued from Adventure Comics #352.

Synopsis:
The five Legionnaires gather with the five villains on Tharok's ship. That night, Mano visits the Emerald Empress in her room to suggest treachery. She refuses, and tosses him out with her Emerald Eye. She then proposes the same scheme to Superboy, and produces Green Kryptonite to persuade him, but Cosmic Boy appears, and the Kryptonite is hidden as he summons them to Tharok's conference room.

There, Tharok announces his scheme to destroy the Sun-Eater. Sun Boy will lure it to one side with his power, the Persuader will divide it into eight sections with his axe, and the others will each destroy one of those sections. As even their combined might is insufficient to battle the creature, Tharok treats them with his intensifier, which temporarily increases their abilities. Unknown to the others, Validus's cabinet is specially wired so that he is put under Tharok's mental control.

The next morning, the plan goes into effect as Sun Boy lures the Sun-Eater into their trap with his increased power. The Persuader's atomic axe slices the Sub-Eater into eight segments. Validus wades into the cloudy mass of his section but is soon overcome. Superboy, too, is defeated when it blasts him with red sun rays. Cosmic Boy and Emerald Empress similarly fail, but survive. Princess Projectra's illusions have no effect, and she is almost consumed by the nimbus, but she is rescued by Validus, who saves her despite his own injuries. Mano's hand has no effect on his segment, while Ferro Lad turns to iron to penetrate the heart of the creature and discover its core, the life-force which controls it. It blasts him back, and he fails.

As Tharok watches the segments reform, he summons all to the ship to announce that he has built and absorbatron bomb to destroy the Sun-Eater once and for all. Since the bomb has no propulsion system or timing device, Superboy volunteers to carry it into the Sun-Eater despite his weakness from its red sun barrage.

Ferro Lad suddenly changes into iron, punches Superboy, and grabs the bomb. Flying through an airlock into space, he soars into the heart of the creature and sets off the bomb, completely destroying both the Sun-Eater and himself.

As the heart-broken Legionnaires prepare to depart, they are quickly captured by the Fatal Five and put in chains. Tharok then orders Validus to destroy the heroes, and as he prepares to obey, Princess Projectra exhorts him to fight off Tharok's influence. He slowly does, and as he flashes a bolt of mental lightning at the villains, the Persuader's axe counters it. The resulting impact causes the Five to vanish in a blinding flash.

The Legionnaires build a rocket memorial to Ferro Lad, and program it to land on the cemetery satellite for heroes, Shanghalla.

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