With the recent introduction of the Legion of Super-Heroes into the CW Supergirl tv show, it seems like an apt time to review Supergirl’s early history with the Legion. It’s a bizarre tale of teen friendship, pedantic adherence to rules, lax health and safety standards at fairgrounds, and an almost Orwellian ability to rewrite history when convenient.

Young Supergirl’s adventures hadn’t been running long in the back pages of Action Comics when Jerry Siegel (the father of Superman) decided to give her some super-friends to play with. Action Comics #267 (Jul 1960) opens with the kids of Midvale Orphanage being treated to a local Superman theme park. Along for the ride is Kryptonian orphan Linda Lee, aka Kara from Argo City. aka Supergirl – Superman’s secret-weapon in his fight against injustice. (At this early juncture in her adventures, Supergirl’s existence was hidden from the public.)

Linda and her orphan pals enthusiastically wander the park admiring the various Superman-themed rides and exhibits, which include models of Krypton, and the door of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude (replete with giant key, exposing its disguise as an innocent Arctic aircraft marker.)

Naturally, this being 1960s Midvale, health and safety isn’t a priority for the park owners, and a succession of the amusements fail in life-threatening ways that demand the special skills of the Girl of Steel. But as Linda attempts to covertly avert one disaster after another, she becomes aware of two teenage strangers who also seem to possess incredible powers. And worse, the pair delight in dropping hints about knowing Supergirl existence and her secret identity!

Thankfully the teasing teens are members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who’ve travelled back in time from the 30th Century to meet Kara. No, not that Legion of Super-Heroes (the one that Superboy joined), another Legion of Super-heroes!

Although they look identical, and have the same names, this Legion of Super-Heroes – it seems – is in fact made up of the children of Superboy’s Legion friends. (Confused? So are the writers, as we’ll see later.)

A thrilled Supergirl immediately speeds herself faster-than-time into the 30th Century, so that she can apply for Legion membership. All she has to do to win a seat at the Legion table (and an impressive plaque boasting her name and a handy reminder of her super powers) is perform an incredible super feat. She chooses to create a tunnel linking one side of Earth to the other, and quickly churns her way through vast quantities of rock at super speed to complete the task.

With the job finished, Supergirl is confident that Legion membership is a shoe-in, but a forlorn Cosmic Boy explains that the Legion has strict rules against allowing anyone aged 18 or over in their membership.

Supergirl is baffled – she’s only 15 years old..! But it seems that during her stint as a supercharged navvy, Supergirl strayed too close to a buried chunk of Red Kryptonite, and the pesky ruby rock had temporarily aged her a few years into adulthood. Rules are rules(!), and so regrettably the Legion are forced to reject Supergirl’s application, leaving the dejected Girl of Steel no option but to shuffle off back to the 20th Century, disappointed, to wait for the next Legion membership call to open in a year’s time.

The effects of the Red-K wear off just an hour later, but by then it is too late – coz, y'know, rules are rules! (Why couldn’t she just super-speed one year ahead? Don’t ask awkward questions!)

And so concluded the story… except there’s one final curiosity to note about this landmark tale: if you’re following along with the above action using a reprint of the strip, you may have noticed something rather odd. Bizarrely, when the tale was reprinted in Action Comics #334 (Mar 1966), key parts of the dialogue had been edited to make the Legion cast one generation younger.

Yup, the reprints retcon’ed the action so that Supergirl met the original Legion (the Superboy Legion), not their children. Why? Who knows? Presumably Uncle Mort Weisinger (Super-titles editor at DC back then) decided to break the habit of a lifetime and make Superman’s continuity less convoluted for once..!

