KRONN

Real Name: Kronn

Class: Atlantean

Occupation: Would-be ruler of Atlantis

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Atlantis

First Appearance: Adventure Comcis I #308 (May, 1963)

Powers: Kronn, like all Atlanteans, could breathe underwater and possessed superhuman durability that allowed his body to withstand the water pressure of the deep sea. He possessed the power of telepathy had access to advanced Atlantean weaponry including a mass hallucination transmitter.

History: (Adventure Comics I #308) - Kronn was a renegade Atlantean who wanted to conquer Atlantis. He used remote viewscreens to monitor criminal Lex Luthor, who was dedicated to destroying Superboy, the hero of Smallville. Kronn contacted him telepathically, striking a bargain where he’d help Lex destroy Superboy if Lex helped him conquer Atlantis. Lex Luthor was given permission to build a prison radio station to broadcast music to Smallville, and on a day pass he visited Pa Kent’s general store for some radio parts. He assured Pa he had no hard feelings even though Pa was on the board that turned down his parole. An oil field was built outside Smallville, and when the oil driller hit a gusher it kicked a boulder into the air. Superboy smashed the boulder, preventing it from hitting a plane flying overhead. The rock turned out to be red kryptonite, and Lana Lang and Pete Ross collected the fragments and handed them over to Chief Parker so the kryptonite couldn’t harm Superboy. The Kents listened to Lex’s first broadcast on WPEN, and he dedicated a song to Chief Parker, who Lex said was a big man. Chief Parker grew to an enormous size, bursting through his police car. He soon shrank back to normal size, and asked Superboy if the red-k affected him, which puzzled Superboy, since red-k usually only affected Kryptonians. Luthor dedicated “Smoke Gets in Your eyes” to Pete Ross who started breathing fire in chemistry class, and “Reaching for the Moon” to Lana Lang who gained temporary super-stretching powers. Clark told the Kents he suspected Lex of being behind the red kryptonite virus spreading through town, but they thought he was jumping to conclusions. Luthor dedicated “It’s a Small World” to the Kents, who shrunk down to the size of dolls for a time, and “There’ll be some Changes Made” to Clark who showed up to school to find a Bizarro Clark Kent had taken his place in class. Superboy visited Lex who said he had nothing to do with the virus, his songs just predicted the red-k’s effects and said the song he picked for Superboy “Yoiu Leave Me Breathless” predicted that red-k radiation from Superboy’s body would destroy all of Earth’s oxygen. Lex said his one hope was to find a rare undersea plant that would eliminate the red-k virus, and gave Superboy undersea coordinated. Lex was actually using Kronn’s Atlantean mass hallucination transmitter during WPEN’s broadcasts to simulate the red-k plague, even the red-k kicked up from the oil rig was an illusion. Superboy suspected the truth since a Bizarro Kent had turned up at his school instead of him being transformed into a Bizarro. He used his x-ray vision on Lex’s headset and discovered the transmitter. Superboy copied the transmitter, creating an illusion of Superboy discovering the undersea plant, and Kronn sprung his trap, having placed clamshells filled with green kryptonite around the plant. Kronn saw the illusory Superboy die and sent a telepathic message to Lex, telling him he was safe to break out of prison. Superboy turned Kronn over to the Atlantean police, and returned to Smallville. Superboy and Chief Parker caught Lex escaping prison, and sent him right back to his cell.

Comments: Created by an unnamed writer & George Papp.