Adventure 323 – Legion leadership is left up to Proty II

OK, sure, Saturn Girl rigged the first leadership election the Legion held, so I can see that she would not suggest another one at the end of her term.  But leaving it up to who can figure out a bizarre puzzle by Proty II?  May as well use the Planetary Chance Machine.

Nevertheless, that is what happens in Adventure 323 (Aug 64), in a story by by Jerry Siegel.

First off, we get two more Legion rejects, though.  Spider Girl and Double Header are turned away, despite Spider Girl having a far more useful power than some of the other members of the Legion, even if she needs to hone control of it.  Spider Girl would return later in the Adventure run, while Double Header would not be seen again until the 80s.

Now, to be fair, Saturn Girl does suggest having a computer pick the new leader, and while one cannot fault Brainiac 5 for modestly suggesting that would give him an unfair advantage, allowing Proty II to play his weird game hardly seem like he best possible solution.

After writing his name backwards and impersonating a Bizarro, Proty II sends various Legion members out on a variety of tasks.  Some are extremely dangerous, like having Element Lad stand next to a big block of uranium.

Others are just odd, like having Jimmy Olsen take his Elastic Lad serum and entertain the team.

Honourary member Pete Ross makes one of his rare appearances with the team, but none of these unusual challenges seem to have much of a purpose, or even be clues to a puzzle.

In the end, it’s Saturn Girl who “figures out” that it’s a giant word game.  But seriously, could anyone have figured this out?  Isn’t it far more likely that she simply read Proty II’s mind, and scammed her way into a second term as Legion leader?