Pete Ross
	Super-Hero Name: None (but often doubles for Superboy) Home Planet: Earth (20th c. Earth) Super-Power: None Member Since: 2963

Origin | Personal Data | Membership Record

Honorary Members | Membership

When Clark Kent was bullied out of his place in line out front of the movie theatre, Pete Ross, a boy new to Smallville, stood up for him and chased off the two bullies. The two became fast friends, though Clark was worried for a time that Pete was trying to prove he was Superboy (Superboy No. 86/2).

Some days later, the best friends went on an overnight hike, and during the night, Clark was forced to make the switch to Superboy. As a terrific flash of lightning illuminated the tent, Pete caught sight of Clark switching to Superboy. Pete vowed never to betray his friend's secret nor even tell Clark that he knew, lest it disturb or hamper him in any way. The next day, Pete used his detective skills to ensure that he hadn't imagined what he saw, and discovered Superboy's secret tunnel, along with his Superboy and Clark Kent robots. Making his own Superboy costume, Pete decided to carry it along with him in his school bag in case an occasion arose where he could do some good by impersonating the Boy of Steel. His opportunity came soon enough when one of Superboy's robots malfunctioned and Pete had to trick some criminals into surrendering (Superboy No. 90/3).

First Appearance: Superboy No. 86/2 (written by Robert Bernstein, drawn by George Papp)

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Physical Description: Pete has blond hair, brushed back from the forehead, and his cheeks are freckled.

Personality: Pete is a mature, logical, brave, and talented person. He is a loyal friend to Clark Kent and defends him fiercely in all situations.

Skills: Pete is a skilled amateur detective (Superboy No. 86/2, 90/3). Pete can also drive a car (98/2).

Interests: Pete considers acting his first hobby and he has a collection of playbills and autographed pictures of famous actors, including Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. Pete is part of the drama group at Smallville High and has written, produced, cast, and directed a Superboy Pageant (Superboy No. 86/2). Pete himself has acted in school productions of "Jack and the Beanstalk", with himself in the lead role of Jack (Adventure Comics No. 315/2).

Pete also enjoys sporting activities such as hiking (Superboy No. 86/2), camping, rollerskating (90/3), and skiing (94/1).

Pete is always gaining a new hobby and one of his latest is collecting sounds on his new tape recorder (Superboy No. 100/2).

Pete also enjoys rock collecting and will often spend hours exploring old mines for new mineral samples (Superboy No. 90/3). This hobby will eventually turn into a career, as the adult Pete Ross is a world-traveling geologist (Action Comics No. 309/1).

Previous Occupations: Pete works part-time at the Kent General Store (Superboy No. 98/2).

Relationships: Pete is both Clark Kent and Superboy's best friend. As a reward for his loyal friendship, Superboy has promised Pete that he will take over for him as the next Superboy should anything happen to him, once he has perfected a serum to give permanent super-powers (Superboy No. 106/1). Pete also gets along well with his schoolmate, Lana Lang.

Of the 30th century Legionnaires, Pete is closest to Ultra Boy, who was the first to discover that he knew Superboy's secret (Superboy No. 98/2). He was also Pete's biggest supporter when the Legion saw him masquerading as one of Superboy's robots (100/2). Ultra Boy once skipped out on a Legion meeting, sending a robot in his place, so he could help Superboy celebrate Pete's birthday (Adventure Comics No. 302/2).

Known Relatives: Pete's mother and father live in Smallville. His father has worked in a police lab (Superboy No. 86/2) and an engineering firm. It should be noted that both of Pete's parents also know that Superboy is really Clark Kent. Pete told them only after he thought that Superboy had died and he was selected by the Boy of Steel to replace him (106/1). Pete also has an uncle living in England who works for Scotland Yard, and his grandfather was a top Secret Service agent (86/2).

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Application: Pete never applied for membership in the Legion. After Ultra Boy discovered that Pete was loyally keeping Superboy's identity a secret, Marla, Senior Advisor to the Legion, gave Pete a special coin that would serve as his pass to the Super-Heroes Clubhouse whenever the Legion met (Superboy No. 98/2).

Induction: When Superboy left for the future, leaving one robot in case of emergency, Pete was tempted to go down the Boy of Steel's secret tunnel and explore his trophy room. When Pete tried on an anti-gravity belt, he crashed into a Superboy robot and damaged its controls. Unable to repair the damage, Pete borrowed the belt and posed as the robot and performed several super-feats. The Legionnaires, watching from their monitor, were very impressed with the way Pete handled himself during this "test". When Mr. Kent called for the robot to put out a small fire in the kitchen, Pete thought he was sunk until Ultra Boy appeared in the basement inside a time-bubble and fixed the robot for him (Superboy No. 100/2). Pete was soon sworn in as an honorary member of the Legion (Superboy No. 102 "Smallville Mailsack").

Pete has a Legion flight-ring (Adventure Comics No. 370).

Positions Held: None

Aliases Used: None

Significant Legion Appearances:

Superboy No. 98 (July 1962) "The Boy With Ultra-Powers"

When Legion applicant Ultra Boy travelled to Smallville to try to deduce Superboy's secret identity, he originally suspected Pete Ross as being the Boy of Steel. When Pete got a safety deposit box for his diary, which contains the entry in which he learned Superboy's identity, he accidentally got locked in the vault and Ultra Boy freed him. After Ultra Boy read the diary and found out about Pete's devotion to keeping Superboy's indentity a secret, the Legion's senior advisor, Marla, gave Pete a coin which would serve as a pass to a Legion meeting, and promised to have Superboy take him into the future to attend.

Superboy No. 100 (Oct. 1962) "The Day Pete Ross Became a Robot"

While Superboy was away in the future with all but one of his robots, Pete took the opportunity to sneak a peek at the Boy of Steel's trophy room. While there, Pete accidentally broke the one remaining Superboy robot, forcing him to use his wits to masquerade as Superboy and cover for any emergencies. The Legionnaires observed his ingenuity and Ultra Boy made a quick trip to the present in order to fix the robot before Superboy returned so that the Boy of Steel would not discover that Pete Ross knows his secret.

Action Comics No. 309 (Feb. 1964) "The Superman Super-Spectacular"

The adult Pete Ross, who has grown up to be a wealthy geologist, appeared on a television show honoring Superman along with several Legionnaires.

Note: It is not stated if the adult Pete Ross continues to be an honorary member, though it is doubtful, since honorary members must participate in Legion activities twice a year to retain their membership and, since this is the only instance we see the adult Pete, it is doubtful he has.

Adventure Comics No. 323 (Aug. 1964) "The Eight Impossible Missions"

Pete Ross attended the Legion meeting where Proty II devised a puzzle to determine the next leader. When Proty asked Pete to do something "super," he used his wits and pretended to have the power to read minds by writing down Superboy's secret identity on a lead plate, showing it to the Legionnaires, and erasing it before Superboy could see that he did, indeed, know his secret.

Adventure Comics No. 370 (July 1968) "The Devil's Jury"

When Mordru took over Smallville in the 20th century, forcing four Legionnaires - Superboy, Duo Damsel, Mon-El and Shadow Lass - into hiding, Superboy used an hypnosis machine to make them forget their memories of being Legionnaires and to change their personalities into non-heroic teens. When the amnesia failed to wear off and Smallville was invaded by Mordru's armies, Pete Ross secretly met with Lana and told her that Clark Kent was Superboy so she could use her Insect Queen power to kidnap Clark in his sleep. Together they proved to him that he really was the Boy of Steel. Together, the six Legionnaires fought back against Mordru's invading armies, with Pete disguised as Superboy as part of a plan. When they were all captured by Mordru, Pete defended the Legionnaires in a sham villainous court. Pete's eloquent speech against Mordru managed to snap Wraithor out of the sorcerer's spell. Wraithor then gave his life trying to save them from execution. Eventually, Mordru's wrath destroyed himself, and the Legionnaires emerged triumphant. Superboy hypnotized Lana into forgetting his identity but before he could do the same to Pete, Mon-El stepped in and removed the Boy of Steel's knowledge that Pete knew his identity. Mon-El had discovered that one day Pete was fated to save Superman's life because of that knowledge.

For more information about Pete Ross, click here.

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Honorary Members | Membership