Can anyone give me the context for this panel from an old Legion of Superheros?

Cafe Society
1

This has been bugging me for a while, and although context may kill the humor value, I gotta to know what the hell is up with this:

http://ape-law.com/GAF/Page40/04.html

Hitler?

2

damn, that’s a blast from my past! I recall having that issue in the early 60’s, I believe.

Basically somehow evil villains from the past had been re-animated and put into super-hero bodies. Note a reference to not just Hitler, but Dillinger.

I don’t recall much more than that.

3

I’m not sure of the specifics either, but Dillenger, Nero and Hitler take over the bodies of Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy.

That story kind of formalized those three as the most powerful Legionaires.

4

The villain of the piece (who’s name I can’t remember) time traveled, contacted Nero, Hitler, and Dillinger, and transfered their minds into the bodies of Superboy, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy. The other Legionnaires had to use Kryptonite, Lead, and ‘Radiation’ (Ultra Boy’s utterly non-specific weakness) to soften the 3 up so the evil brains could be transfered out.

Building the details of it slowly. >_>

5

The villain’s name was Alkator. The precise issue was Adventure Comics # 314.

And the resolution of the story is that the Legionnaires got the three villains (who had already betrayed Alkator) paranoid of one another, so it was they who used the Kryptonite, etc to weaken one another.

Tengu, it was always my opinion that Ultra Boy doesn’t really have a weakness for radiation, but rather, that keeping radiation around him forces him to stick to invulnerability as his power (otherwise, he risks radiation poisoning), rendering him unable to switch to one of his offensive powers.

6

Alkator. Al Kator. Kator… Kate-uh… Kayda… Al Qaeda!

Obviously, I haven’t had enough coffee yet this morning.