Adventure Comics #253 is an issue of the series Adventure Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1958.
Synopsis for Superboy: " ... Meets Robin the Boy Wonder"
Superman is inside his Fortress of Solitude when a Kryptonite bomb hidden within an old trophy explodes. He stumbles out of the cave where he finds Robin, the Boy Wonder. He explains that the bomb was concealed inside of a clock-trophy he once received at a science fair exhibit as Superboy. Superman is fading fast, and it won't be long until he dies.
Robin goes to see Professor Carter Nichols, who uses his Time-Ray to send him backwards in time. He arrives in Smallville and introduces himself to Superboy. He warns him of the hidden bomb and the two begin investigating all potential suspects. They concentrate their efforts on three aging scientists, all of whom are donating materials to the Smallville Science Fair.
Over the next few days, Robin spends time at the Kent home and the family general store. Superboy and he go on patrol together and encounter several thugs using highly advanced equipment to pull off daring robberies. They know that the criminals aren't intelligent enough to develop these super-weapons on their own, and they ultimately trace their construction back to Lex Luthor. They seize Luthor in the midst of a bank robbery and take him to prison.
Later, they attend the Smallville Science Fair, where Superboy receives a number of gifts including a suspicious-looking clock. Superboy springs into action to destroy the, and when he returns from catapulting the timepiece into space he discovers Pete Groff hiding inside a prop robot with a deadly piece of Kryptonite. Groff knocks Robin down with a robotic arm, and uses the Kryptonite to weaken Superboy. Groff exits the robot and attempts to escape, but Superboy crawls over to Robin and opens his utility belt. He removes a miniature microscope and uses its mirror to reflect the sun, temporarily blinding Groff. Groff runs into a telephone pole and knocks himself senseless. Once the Kryptonite is out of harms way, the two heroes revive and take Groff to prison, and Robin returns to his present, 1958.
Appearing in Superboy: " ... Meets Robin the Boy Wonder"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Robin (Flashback and main story)
- Batman (Flashback only)
- Carter Nichols (Flashback only)
- Jonathan Kent
- Martha Kent
- Superman (Flashback only)
Antagonists:
- Pete Groff (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Luthor
- Professor Higgins (Single appearance)
- Professor Wilcox (Single appearance)
- Professor Wolfe (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Green Arrow: "Prisoners of Dimension Zero!"
Green Arrow and Speedy stare into the maw of the dimensional portal, only to find oversized arrows flying towards them from within. They tie themselves to a length of cable, and travel through the portal only to arrive in Dimension Zero. They discover that two giant-sized children are the ones repsonsible for slinging the arrows through the warp.
Green Arrow and Speedy leave the scene and explore more of this strange new world. They eventually encounter an alien who calls himself Xeen Arrow. Like Ollie, Xeen Arrow professes to be a heroic adventurer, and even maintains his own Arrowcave. The three bowmen team-up to stop a group of alien criminals. Afterwards, Xeen leads them back towards the dimensional rift and helps them to return home.
Appearing in Green Arrow: "Prisoners of Dimension Zero!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Two unnamed thieves in Dimension Zero (Single appearance) (See Notes)
Other Characters:
- Xeen Arrow (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Aquaman: "The Ocean of 1,000,000 B.C."
Aquaman discovers a dimensional portal, and travels through it, arriving one million years in Earth's past. He encounters a friendly cave man, as well as a few dinosaurs. The animals of this era prove too primal for his telepathic abilities to have any effect over, so he hastily avoids their attacks until he can get back towards the dimensional rift. Aquaman arrives back in his proper time period, and discovers that the cave man he encountered had created a cave painting depicting Aquaman's adventures in 1,000,000 BC.
Appearing in Aquaman: "The Ocean of 1,000,000 B.C."
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- None
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Caveman (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Unknown
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- None
Notes
- "Superboy Meets Robin, the Boy Wonder" is reprinted in Superboy #133, Teen Titans #36, The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told and Superboy: The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told.
- Ideally, Lex Luthor should be approximately the same age as Superboy in this issue. However, he is shown to be several years older than Superboy and even has a few stray locks of black hair. Lex Luthor's hair is supposed to be red, not black.
- "Prisoners of Dimension Zero!" is reprinted in Action Comics #449, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #23, and The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told.
- "Prisoners of Dimension Zero!" is the second part of a storyline that began last issue.
- One of the unnamed Dimension Zero thieves in this issue later served as the basis for the character Glorigold DeGrand.
Trivia
- This issue features one-page "Little Pete" and "Jerry Jitterbug" humor strips by Henry Boltinoff.
- This issue provides one of the few Aquaman back-up stories, that does not include Topo the Octopus.
- In "The Ocean of 1,000,000 B.C." Aquaman encounters several dinosaurs, despite the fact that dinosaurs would have long been extinct by that time era.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Superboy Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- Superboy (Volume 1)
- Superboy (Volume 2)
- Superboy (Volume 4)
- Superboy (Volume 5)
- Superboy (Volume 6)
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Superboy and the Ravers (Volume 1)
- Young Justice (Volume 1)
- Young Justice (Volume 3)
- Teen Titans (Volume 3)
- Teen Titans (Volume 4)
- Green Arrow Recommended Reading
- More Fun Comics (Volume 1): More Fun Comics #73–107
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1): Adventure Comics #246–269
- World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Action Comics (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 1): Detective Comics #521–567
- Green Lantern (Volume 2): Green Lantern (Volume 2) #76–124
- The Flash (Volume 1): The Flash #217–219
- Green Arrow (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow (Volume 2)
- Green Arrow: The Wonder Year (Volume 1)
- Green Arrow (Volume 3)
- Black Canary (Volume 3)
- Green Arrow and Black Canary (Volume 1)
- Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood (Volume 1)
- Justice League: Rise and Fall
- Green Arrow (Volume 4)
- Green Arrow (Volume 5)
- Green Arrow (Volume 6)
- Event Leviathan
- Justice League (Volume 4) #59-75
- Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League - Green Arrow
- Green Arrow (Volume 7)
- Green Arrow: Year One (Volume 1)
- Black Canary (Volume 1)
- Black Canary (Volume 2)