Cosmic Boy

Cosmic Boy
Cover art for Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3 (February 2009), art by George Pérez.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958)
Created by	Otto Binder Al Plastino
In-story information
Alter ego	Rokk Krinn
Species	Braalian
Place of origin	Braal
Team affiliations	Legion of Super-Heroes
Notable aliases	Polestar, Time Trapper
Abilities	Powers: Magnetism manipulation Magnetic field / force manipulation Magnetic pulse Geomagnetic link Abilities: Basic hand-to-hand combatant Enhanced intellect Gifted leader Equipment: Legion flight ring

Cosmic Boy (Rokk Krinn) is a superhero appearing in comics published by DC Comics. He is from the 31st century, and is a founding member and original leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Cosmic Boy made his live-action debut in an episode of Smallville, portrayed by Ryan Kennedy.

Publication history

Main article: Publication history of the Legion of Super-Heroes

Cosmic Boy first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.

Fictional character biography

Original

Main article: Legion of Super-Heroes (1958 team)

Cosmic Boy is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, along with Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl who possesses the innate ability to generate magnetic fields. Cosmic Boy's brother Pol joins the Legion as Magnetic Kid before being killed during the "Magic Wars".

In the pre-Zero Hour Legion, Cosmic Boy is romantically involved with Night Girl (Lydda Jath), who he eventually marries. During the "Five Year Gap" following the Magic Wars, he loses his powers during a war between Braal and Imsk and leaves the Legion.

Rokk later returns to the Legion as Polestar, using special gauntlets to recreate his old abilities.

Post-Zero Hour

Main article: Legion of Super-Heroes (1994 team)

In the post-Zero Hour Legion, Rokk Krinn came from a poor family but became a superstar in the Braallian sport of Magnoball, earning the nickname "Cosmic Boy" after winning the Magnoball Cosmic Games. After cutting ties with his corrupt manager, Alex Cuspin, Rokk joins the Legion of Super-Heroes as Cosmic Boy.

Cosmic Boy later becomes the leader of the Legion before stepping down. He is among the Legionnaires sent to the 21st century by the Emerald Eye of Ekron.

"Threeboot" continuity

Main article: Legion of Super-Heroes (2004 team)

Part of the cover art for Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5, #9 (October 2005), art by Barry Kitson.

In Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5, #1, Cosmic Boy is the leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes. After seemingly destroying the Dominators' homeworld (he actually sends it to the Phantom Zone), Cosmic Boy is voted out of office, being replaced by Supergirl. He then joins a superhero team from the 41st century, who come back in time to offer him membership.

Post-Infinite Crisis

Cosmic Boy is re-introduced following Infinite Crisis, which restores an analogue of the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Legion to continuity.

Comics writer Geoff Johns said about the characters:

Cosmic Boy is like the all-around leader who puts it all on his shoulders, but he's magnetic. His powers are all about magnetics, and so it carries over to his personality. And he struggles to bring all the Legion back together. He's like, 'We can do this. We can bring it together'. It comes naturally to him.

Post-Rebirth

In Doomsday Clock, Cosmic Boy is among the Legionnaires who appear in the present after Doctor Manhattan undoes his alterations to the timeline, restoring the Legion and the Justice Society of America.

In The New Golden Age, Cosmic Boy is among the Legion of Super-Heroes members who arrive in the present and confront the Justice Society over their decision to recruit Legionnaire, a young, heroic incarnation of Mordru.

Limited series

Cosmic Boy
Cosmic Boy #1 (December 1986), art by Steve Lightle.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Miniseries
Publication date	December 1986 – March 1987
No. of issues	4
Main character(s)	Cosmic Boy Night Girl Time Trapper
Creative team
Written by	Paul Levitz
Penciller(s)	Keith Giffen Ernie Colón Bob Smith
Editor(s)	Karen Berger

Cosmic Boy was featured in a four-part limited series, cover dated December 1986 through March 1987. A tie-in to the Legends limited series, it was written by Paul Levitz, with art by Keith Giffen, Ernie Colón, and Bob Smith.

In the series, Cosmic Boy and Night Girl have traveled from the 30th century to enjoy a vacation in the 20th century. They find themselves threatened by many citizens and residents of the United States, who have been manipulated by Glorious Godfrey as part of Darkseid's scheme to discredit Earth's superhero community. Soon after arriving, Cosmic Boy encounters Superman, who does not recognize him—even though Superboy was a member of the Legion for years. He and Night Girl review videotapes of recent history, including references to the bombing of Hiroshima, the explosion of the American space shuttle Challenger, and the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but no mention of Superman's early career as Superboy. Cosmic Boy, a 20th-century Earth history buff, insists that none of these events are correct. As theirs is one of the first journeys through time since the Crisis, the couple fears that something is terribly wrong with history. The future could be in serious danger, since many of the worlds in the United Planets were colonized by settlers from Earth. A space shuttle mission carrying a satellite crucial to Earth's future development of space travel goes awry, with the shuttle exploding. Cosmic Boy magnetically catches the payload and sends the debris harmlessly toward the ocean, but American soldiers assume that he is a foreign spy. They attack him, implementing President Ronald Reagan's directive outlawing all superhero activity.

Seeking to protect the satellite, Cosmic Boy and Night Girl travel to NASA facilities in Houston where they meet Jason, one of the astronauts who designed the shuttle. They help to quell a riot that breaks out when demonstrators break down the gates at NASA, and Cosmic Boy becomes convinced that some unseen enemy is deliberately trying to prevent the mission. As they depart, the couple notes that both of their families are from worlds settled during the Great Emigration from Earth. They are unaware that the last name of Jason — the astronaut they just met — is Krinnski, which implies that he may be a distant ancestor of Cosmic Boy, whose real name is Rokk Krinn.

Cosmic Boy and Night Girl return to the 30th century, where time travel experts Brainiac 5 and Circadia Senius may be able to determine the problem. Upon entering the timestream, their Time Bubble encounters a storm and shakes violently. They are forced to return to the 20th century. They turn to Jason Krinnski for assistance, who does his best to help them repair the Time Bubble. However, their second attempt to leave fails, as if there was a barrier blocking them. Realizing that they need a massive power source to propel the Bubble to the 30th century, Cosmic Boy harnesses energy from Earth's magnetic field. They breach the barrier but are propelled to the end of time, where they confront the Time Trapper.

The Trapper toys with the couple, giving them an hour to find their way back to the 30th century. They eventually make their way through the Trapper's Citadel to their Time Bubble, just as the last grains in the hourglass are about to fall. Cosmic Boy uses his power to warp the hourglass, closing it so that the last grain will never fall. Amused, the Trapper allows them to leave. He directs the Time Bubble to the 30th century, placing it right in front of Legion Headquarters. He warns the couple that this will be their final journey through time, and that "the next occasion when a Legionnaire dares break the time barrier will be the last". As the two of them race to warn the Legion about what has occurred, the Trapper realizes that the Legionnaires will be returning for him. He finds this quite satisfying, as he looks at statues of Superboy and his dog Krypto.

The events of this series are continued in the story arc "The Greatest Hero of Them All", published in Superman vol. 2, #8; Action Comics #591; and Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 3, #37-38 (August–September 1987).

Powers and abilities

Cosmic Boy's superpower is super-magnetism. He can manipulate, repel or attract metal objects of varying sizes. Naturally, the more metal is in an object the easier it is for him to affect magnetically. Cosmic Boy has been known to pull large iron meteors and satellites down from space with minimal effort. He can use his magnetic power on rocks that contain iron ore to pull or use them as projectiles. He can also magnetize metal objects so that they become magnets themselves and make them stick to other metal objects. His power cannot affect non-metals, such as organic substances like wood or flesh. His control is such that he can manipulate electronic records or the iron in blood. He has been known to use a uniform with ferrous fibres so he can fly with his own powers, but usually relies on a Legion flight ring.

Equipment

As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Cosmic Boy is provided a Legion Flight Ring. It allows him to fly and protects him from the vacuum of space and other dangerous environments.

Costume

Cosmic Boy's original costume was pink with black at the sides, with four white circles, the code-name "Cosmic Boy" written on the chest, and a plastic bubble space helmet. After his first appearance, the helmet and the codename were replaced with white epaulets. For a period in the late 1970s, he was portrayed in a costume designed by Mike Grell which was essentially a black bustier with black gloves and boots, with bare arms, shoulders, chest, and legs. Cosmic Boy returned to a close variation on the original costume a few years later. As Polestar, he wore a black and purple bodysuit with a stripe up the side and a black cowl. In the post-Zero Hour Legion, he wore a version of his original costume with lavender as the primary color instead of pink. On this version of the costume, the four circles on the chest were actually discs that he could magnetically manipulate and use as weapons. The "Threeboot" version is a similar pattern, with blue as the primary color and black circles instead of white.

In other media

Television

Ryan Kennedy as Rokk/Cosmic Boy on Smallville.

• Cosmic Boy appears in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "New Kids in Town", voiced by Chad Lowe.
• Cosmic Boy makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Far From Home".
• Cosmic Boy appears in Legion of Super Heroes (2006), voiced by Wil Wheaton. This version is often busy traveling the universe and maintaining the Legion's reputation, which strains his relationship with them, particularly Lightning Lad. As a result, Bouncing Boy temporarily replaces him as the Legion's leader after Lightning Lad calls for a new leader to be elected.
• Rokk / Cosmic Boy appears in Smallville, portrayed by Ryan Kennedy. This version rarely speaks and displays the most determination of his teammates. In the episode "Legion", he, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad travel back in time to rescue Clark Kent from Persuader and Brainiac, though Rokk nearly kills Chloe Sullivan while she was possessed by Brainiac. After Kent inspires him to never resort to murder and helps the Legion defeat Brainiac while saving Sullivan, Rokk updates the Legion's rules accordingly and warns Kent of his future battle with Doomsday before he and his team return to the future to reprogram Brainiac. In the episode "Doomsday", Rokk returns to the present to give Kent a new Legion flight ring and asks him to send Doomsday to the 31st century as the Legion is better equipped to fight it.

Film

• Cosmic Boy appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. This version comes from a future Earth that Brainiac conquered by the year 2116. As the only Legionnaires left, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad assist Batman in fighting Brainiac before helping the former return to the present.
• Cosmic Boy appears in Legion of Super-Heroes (2023), voiced by Eric Lopez.
• The Legion of Super Heroes (2006) incarnation of Cosmic Boy makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!.

Video games

• Cosmic Boy appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.
• Cosmic Boy makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Brainiac's ending in Injustice 2.

Miscellaneous

• Cosmic Boy appears in Adventures in the DC Universe #10.
• Cosmic Boy appears in the one-shot comic Batman '66 Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes.

External links

• COSMIC BOY at the LEGION Collection
• Cosmic Boy at the DC Database Project
• Cosmic Boy at the Big Comic Book Database