In the 30th century nobody has any doubt about how important heroes can be. 
Cosmic Boy #1 is an issue of the series Cosmic Boy (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1986.
Synopsis for "Those Who Will Not Learn the Lessons of History"
Cosmic Boy is attacked by crowds.
Cosmic Boy stumbles away from Titans Tower in the aftermath of his fight with Brimstone.[1] The local crowd is angry at super-heroes. They begin harassing him, and somebody throws a rock at his head. Cosmic Boy collapses, and Night Girl arrives to catch him. The police try to stop her, but she flies off carrying Cosmic Boy with her flight ring. Night Girl expresses annoyance at vacationing in the 20th Century, where the people are small-minded and everything is dirty or cramped. Cosmic Boy drifts in and out of consciousness.
Night Girl remembers her origins on the planet Kathoon. She first saw Cosmic Boy with the Legion of Super-Heroes on her holo-monitor and instantly fell in love with his deep blue eyes. Her mother was dead, and her father was a theoretical bio-engineer. She persuaded her father to find a way to give her super-powers, and he developed a ray that gave her super-strength. Kathoon was a planet of eternal night, and, when she got to Earth, she found herself powerless in the daylight. That was when she took the name Night Girl.
Night Girl rescues Cosmic Boy.
Cosmic Boy wakes up and remembers the events that lead them here. They borrowed a Time Bubble from the Time Institute to go on vacation and found that the timestream was stormier than usual. They arrived in the 20th Century, and he fought Brimstone with the Justice League while exploring New York City. When he woke up after that fight, the League was gone and Superman had arrived. Shockingly, Superman did not recognize Cosmic Boy. Cosmic Boy has known Superman since he was Superboy, so this makes no sense. Cosmic Boy spends two days asleep, recuperating from his fight. When he wakes up, Gwyneth Tate announces on TV that a presidential order has forbidden all superhero activity.
Night Girl excitedly shows Cosmic Boy the antique clothing she's found, and they put on new clothes to fit in with the local era. Cosmic Boy tells her that he believes there is something wrong with time itself, and only they have the perspective to fix it. The heroes of this time are too focused on dealing with G. Gordon Godfrey. The 20th Century is supposed to be famous for conquering nuclear power and launching safe space travel. He is horrified to learn of Hiroshima, Chernobyl, and the Challenger explosion. Cosmic Boy believes that someone has rewritten Earth's entire history. Night Girl suggests that historians might have gotten things wrong, but Cosmic Boy says that would be impossible on this scale. They have also visited the 20th Century many times before. Night Girl wonders if maybe their Time Bubble caused this disruption, and Cosmic Boy says that it's never caused a problem before.
Cosmic Boy flees the government.
Cosmic Boy learns that NASA is planning to launch an atomic payload into space orbit. This era is when humanity should be colonizing the stars, and it's possible that his future might never come to pass. They decide to intervene. Night Girl will get the Time Bubble ready, and Cosmic Boy will go to the launch at Cape Canaveral. The rocket explodes, and Cosmic Boy arrives in time to contain the nuclear fallout. The local authorities immediately try to arrest him. He tries to explain himself, and they start shooting when he gestures his hands. Cosmic Boy stops most of the bullets, but they graze him, and he flies away. He crash-lands on a beach, weak from getting shot. Cosmic Boy wonders how he can possibly solve this problem without the Legion here to help.
Appearing in "Those Who Will Not Learn the Lessons of History"
Featured Characters:
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Cosmic Boy (Flashback and main story)
- Night Girl (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Superman (Flashback only)
Antagonists:
- G. Gordon Godfrey (On a TV or computer screen)
Other Characters:
- Brimstone (Flashback only)
- Doctor Gym'll (Mentioned only)
- Element Lad (Flashback only)
- Justice League of America (Flashback only)
- NASA
- Night Girl's father (Flashback only)
- Shvaughn Erin (Flashback only)
- Tommy (helicopter pilot)
- WHIZ TV
- Gwyneth Tate (On a TV or computer screen)
Locations:
- 20th Century
- 30th Century (Flashback only)
- Timestream
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This is "chapter 4" of the Legends crossover. The previous chapter was Green Lantern Corps #207. The next chapter is Justice League of America #258.
- Cosmic Boy has already appeared in the first two issues of Legends.[2][1] This issue takes place during and after Legends #2.
Trivia
- Cosmic Boy and Night Girl were seen leaving for vacation in the Legion of Super-Heroes series.[3]
- Cosmic Boy learns that Superman was never Superboy. This is a retcon to history made in John Byrne's The Man of Steel.[4]
- Cosmic Boy says "the seeds of the great colonization should be starting now." This is later seen in the aftermath of Invasion!.[5]
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Legion of Super-Heroes Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- Adventure Comics (Volume 2)
- The Legion (Volume 1)
- Legion Lost (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 2)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 3)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 4)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 5)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 6)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 7)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 8)
- Legionnaires (Volume 1)
- Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
Links and References
  Legends Crossover Core Issues
Tie-Ins
Batman #401 • Detective Comics #568 • Green Lantern Corps #207 • Cosmic Boy #1 • Justice League of America #258 • Secret Origins (Volume 2) #10 • Firestorm (Volume 2) #55 • Cosmic Boy #2 • Justice League of America #259 • Firestorm (Volume 2) #56 • Blue Beetle (Volume 6) #9 • Warlord #114 • Cosmic Boy #3 • Justice League of America #260 • Blue Beetle (Volume 6) #10 • Warlord #115 • Superman (Volume 2) #3 • Adventures of Superman #426 • Action Comics #586 • Cosmic Boy #4 • Justice League of America #261 • Secret Origins (Volume 2) #14 |