Barry - Matt - Hal - Namor, Nick :: My Eclectic Collection

Adventure Comics # 503 Final Issue of the 1938 series cover by Ross Andru and Joe Rubinstein - FEATURING The Legion of Super-Heroes!

Artists: Ross Andru (Penciller) , Joe Rubinstein (Inker)

4 Comments - 1,469 Views - 2 Likes

Adventure Comics # 503 Final Issue of the 1938 series cover by Ross Andru and Joe Rubinstein - FEATURING The Legion of Super-Heroes! Comic Art

Click Image to View Full Size

Previous Item:
HULK VS. SUB-MARINER PORTFOLIO PAINTING by Fastner and Larson - from Famous 1980 Portfolio

Next Item:
Action Comics #843 Superman Cover by THE Dave Gibbons!

Artwork Details

Title:	Adventure Comics # 503 Final Issue of the 1938 series cover by Ross Andru and Joe Rubinstein - FEATURING The Legion of Super-Heroes!
Artist:	Ross Andru (Penciller)
Artist:	Joe Rubinstein (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Cover
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,469
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	4
Added to Site:	3/4/2018
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Final issue of the original 1938 series!

Adventure Comics was the birthplace of the Legion and its longtime home. After almost 500 issues of publication, it became primarily a series of reprints. Featured each month was a chronological re-presentation of the Legion's earliest tales, two in each issue, beginning with their first appearance.

This issue marks the end of the Adventure Comics series, at that time DC's longest running comic title. However, the Legion reprints were continued in scattered issues of The Best of DC, another digest format comic.

The Story Behind the Stories
The two Legion reprints included in each issue of the digest-sized Adventure Comics were the feature attraction. As an added bonus to Legion fans, a running commentary about that issue's reprinted Legion stories was provided each month by Paul Levitz, who was the writer of the Legion's current series while the Adventure digests were being produced. Years later, these commentaries are the primary point of interest (other than the reprinted stories themselves), so the full text is provided below:

The chronological reprinting of the Legion's adventures rolls onward this month, and we come to one of the more difficult columns of commentary to date in this series. And the reason for that is a simple one...there isn't all that much to say about this issue's tales.
"The Mutiny of the Legionniares" from ADVENTURE COMICS #318 (March, 1964) was standard fare for the Ed Hamilton-John Forte period of the LSH. It is perhaps most noteworthy for beginning the tradition of "adapting" classic novels premises to the Legion, and giving significant roles to a number of Legionnaires who had played relatively minor roles in most stories. Part of the reason for this is that Superboy doesn't appear at all in the story, a fairly rare event now that the Legion had become the regular lead/cover feature in ADVENTURE. In the early sixties, any comic with Superman in it far outsold any other DC, with LOIS LANE in her own comic outselling the nearest non-Superman title by almost two to one, for example. Therefore Superboy had been on every ADVENTURE cover since the Legion series started - either as one of the most prominently featured Legionnaires or with a scene from his own story from that issue.
Now, however, the Superboy tales were reprints, and therefore presumably editor Mort Weisinger was not anxious to put them on the cover (in fact, he only did that once - with #327). This meant that Superboy would have to play more prominent roles in the Legion stories, and that began to change the tenor of the scripts - making villains more powerful and generally enlarging the scope of the stories. But that change was in the works but not ready, and this story sort of snuck in...leaving Superboy condemned to appear in a small caption on the cover pluging his "Hall of Fame" reprint.
Two other items of note: the shadowy figure of the Time Trapper hiding behind his "Iron Curtain" of time is revealed here for the first time (ouch), and the story's missionary theme of saving the population of a world about to be destroyed would be echoed later in the LSH canons, as this writer used it for the basis of "A Day in the Death of a World" in SUPERBOY/LEGION #231 over a decade later.
"Elastic Lad Jimmy and His Legion Romances" from JIMMY OLSEN #76 (April, 1964) by Jerry Seigel and John Forte is almost a "survival" of earlier, pre-series LSH guest appearances in Superman family titles. There's no fascinating secrets behind this story, at least none that I can discover.
Our first baker's dozen ADVENTURE DIGEST issues have now taken us through the first 34 Legion tales, firmly entrenching the group in its universe, establishing the logic of the 30th Century and inducting 20 of the 33 members introduced to today.
And if you haven't already, please check out the Legion's current epics in their own title.
� Paul Levitz

Appearing in Legion of Super-Heroes: "The Mutiny of the Legionnaires!"
Featured Characters:

Legion of Super-Heroes
Cosmic Boy
Light Lass
Lightning Lad
Matter Eater Lad
Mon-El
Star Boy
Sun Boy
Superboy
Triplicate Girl
Supporting Characters:

Villains:

Time Trapper

Social/Sharing

About the Owner

	Nick - Barry - Matt - Hal - Namor ( 10 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	June 2015
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Nick -'s Classifieds Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

Contact the Owner

Use can use a contact form to send an email to this gallery owner,
but, you must be logged in to use this feature.

Comments on this Artwork

You must be logged in to make comments.

Ted Latner
Member Since 2005

Posted on 3/4/2018

Historic Legion cover! Congrats!!

Fred's CAF Gallery
Member Since 2003

Posted on 3/5/2018

Fantastic! The LSH Lives! :-)

Al Gordon
Member Since 2006

Posted on 9/18/2018

I wonder if this is from a Layout or Sketch by Carmine? Sure looks like it.

Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy
Member Since 2005

Posted on 1/12/2020

End of an era to be sure !!

All
	Greedy Collector 9/7/2025 10:35:00 PM
	Will Gabri-El 9/7/2025 10:28:00 PM
	Mike Pf 9/7/2025 10:11:00 PM
	Lee P 9/7/2025 10:07:00 PM
	Robert C 9/7/2025 9:52:00 PM
View All


	Alberto Gonzalez 9/7/2025 9:02:00 PM
	Jason Baccus 9/7/2025 9:01:00 PM
	Daily Planet Gallery 9/7/2025 8:52:00 PM
	STUDIO COMICS 9/7/2025 8:40:00 PM
	alan moorefield 9/7/2025 8:28:00 PM