Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #501
Published July 1983
Frequency monthly
Cover Price 1.25 USD
Pages 100
Editing Nicola Cuti

Cover Details

Characters Superboy; Chameleon Boy; Saturn Girl; Brainiac 5; Sun Boy; Lightning Lad; Ultra Boy; Adolf Hitler; Emperor Nero; John Dillinger
Genre superhero
Pencils Ed Hannigan (signed)
Inks Paris Cullins (signed)

8 page Plastic Man story "Codename: Pinkeye!"

Characters Plastic Man; Woozy Winks; Pinkeye [Alex Pinkus]; Police Chief Branner; Trixie Vixon
Synopsis Agent Pinkeye is revealed as the killer of Dimitri Dervish and is captured by Plas and Woozy.
Genre superhero
Script Martin Pasko
Pencils Joe Staton
Inks Bob Smith
Colors Nansi Hoolahan
Letters Todd Klein
Editing Len Wein (original story)
Reprinted from Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series) #469 (March 1980)

7 page Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes story "Part I: The Super-Villains of All Ages!"

Characters Saturn Girl; Lightning Lad; Bouncing Boy; Sun Boy; Mon-El; Superboy; Ultra-Boy; Ronn Kar (applicant); Alaktor (applicant); Emperor Nero; John Dillinger; Adolf Hitler
Synopsis Rejected applicant Alaktor steals a Time Bubble and recruits the help of Nero, Dillinger, and Hitler to battle the Legion.
Genre superhero
Script Edmond Hamilton
Pencils John Forte
Inks John Forte
Letters Milton Snapinn
Editing Mort Weisinger (original story)
Reprinted fron Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series) #314 (November 1963)

8 page Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes story "Part 2: The Civil War of the Legion!"

Characters Saturn Girl; Lightning Lad; Bouncing Boy; Sun Boy; Mon-El; Superboy; Ultra-Boy; Invisible Kid; Shrinking Violet; Chameleon Boy; Alaktor; Emperor Nero; John Dillinger; Adolf Hitler
Synopsis Alaktor projects Hitler's, Nero's, and Dillinger's minds into Superboy's, Mon-El's, and Ultra-Boy's bodies. Saturn Girl tricks them into defeating each other, and the Legion forces Alaktor to undo the process.
Genre superhero
Script Edmond Hamilton
Pencils John Forte
Inks John Forte
Letters Milton Snapinn
Editing Mort Weisinger (original story)
Reprinted from Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series) #314 (November 1963)

1 page Legion of Super-Heroes illustration "Ultra Boy"

Characters Ultra Boy
Genre superhero
Notes pin-up

7 page Captain Marvel story "The Chameleon Stone!"

Characters Captain Marvel [also appears as Billy Batson]; Ravar; Cranshaw Jeffers
Synopsis The Chameleon Stone, a magical artifact that can change its shape to anything its holder desires, is stolen by Ravar and used to fight Captain Marvel.
Genre superhero
Script William Woolfolk
Pencils C. C. Beck
Inks C. C. Beck
Editing Wendell Crowley (original story)
Reprinted from Captain Marvel Adventures (Fawcett, 1941 series) #91 (December 1948)

14 page Spectre story "The Ghost that Haunted Money!"

Characters The Spectre; Jim Corrigan; Frankie Barron
Synopsis When bank robber Frankie Barron is killed by a security guard during a holdup, he returns as a ghost to help other crooks rob the same bank.
Genre superhero; occult
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Jerry Grandenetti
Inks Murphy Anderson
Editing Julius Schwartz (original story)
Reprinted from Spectre, The (DC, 1967 series) #7 (November-December 1968)

9 page Ray story "Hey, Happy, am I payin' you to read newspapers..."

Characters Ray [also appears as Happy Terrill]; Stradivous; Mr. Jennings
Synopsis The musician Stradivous, who can hypnotize anyone with his clarinet, works with Jennings to hijack a shipment of gold.
Genre superhero
Script Will Eisner ?
Pencils Lou Fine [as E. Lectron]
Inks Lou Fine
Editing Ed Cronin (original story)
Reprinted from Smash Comics (Quality Comics, 1939 series) #17 (December 1940)

23 page Aquaman story "As the Seas Die"

Characters Aquaman; Aqualad; Mera; Vulko; Ocean Master; Phil Darson; Professor Dan Davidson; Miles Leland
Synopsis Aquaman and Aqualad pursue a masked saboteur who is targeting the Leland Factory for polluting the ocean. Meanwhile, in Atlantis, the Ocean Master wants to contact Aquaman.
Genre superhero
Script Steve Skeates
Pencils Jim Aparo
Inks Jim Aparo
Letters Jim Aparo
Editing Dick Giordano (original story)
Reprinted from Aquaman (DC, 1962 series) #49 (January-February 1970)

7 page Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes story "Part I: The Legionnaires' Super-Contest!"

Characters Superboy, Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy, Lightning Lad; Sun Boy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Cosmic Boy; Legion of Substitute Heroes [Night Girl, Stone Boy, Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, Polar Boy]
Synopsis The Legion of Super-Heroes finds out about the Subs, and holds a contest to induct the winner into the Legion of Super-Heroes. Polar Boy passes the first test.
Genre superhero
Script Edmond Hamilton
Pencils John Forte
Inks John Forte
Letters Joe Letterese (splash only); ?
Editing Mort Weisinger (original story)
Notes Bouncing Boy misidentified as Bouncing Girl in Roll Call on splash page.
Reprinted from Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series) #315 (December 1963)

7 page Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes story "Part II: The Winner of the Super-Tests!"

Characters Superboy; Saturn Girl; Bouncing Boy; Lightning Lad; Sun Boy; Brainiac 5; Chameleon Boy; Cosmic Boy; Legion of Substitute Heroes [Night Girl; Stone Boy; Fire Lad; Chlorophyll Kid; Polar Boy]; Sun Woman
Synopsis Night Girl defeats the tryant Sun Woman, and the other Subs succeed at their tasks, except Stone Boy, who quits. But when Saturn Girl reveals that he only quit in order to keep bystanders from being injured, Stone Boy wins the contest. He surprises everyone by refusing the honor, not wanting to leave his friends in the Subs.
Genre superhero
Script Edmond Hamilton
Pencils John Forte
Inks John Forte
Letters Joe Letterese
Editing Motrt Weisinger (original story)
Reprinted from Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series) #315 (December 1963)

1 page Legion of Super-Heroes illustration "Legion of Substitute Heroes"

Characters Polar Boy; Night Girl; Color Kid; Stone Boy; Fire Lad; Chlorophyll Kid
Genre superhero
Notes pin-up

1 page text article "The Story Behind the Stories"

Script Paul Levitz
Letters typeset
Notes Levitz discusses the two Legion stories reprinted in this issue.

1 page Legion of Super-Heroes; Shazam; Aquaman; Ray; Spectre; Plastic Man illustration

Characters Legion of Substitute Heroes [Night Girl; Stone Boy; Polar Boy; Fire Lad; Chlorophyll Kid]; Captain Marvel; Ravar; Aquaman; the Ray; the Spectre; Frankie Barron; Plastic Man; Pinkeye
Genre superhero
Pencils Howard Bender (signed)
Inks Paris Cullins (signed)
Notes back cover