Ultra Boy
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Ultra Boy (Jo Nah of the planet Rimbor) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in DC Comics. He is a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century of the DC Universe. He has the powers of superhuman strength, flight, penetra-vision (similar to Superboy's x-ray vision, except penetra-vision can see through lead), flash vision (his version of heat vision), invulnerability, and ultra-speed. All of these powers seemed to be at the same level as Superboy but he could only use one at a time. Because of this he could not use his ultra speed to break the "time barrier" since the stress would destroy his non-invulnerable body. With his Legion flight ring or earlier flight belt he can use another power while flying. Like all Legionnaires had also wore a transparent space suit allowing him to survive in space.
Ultra Boy gained these powers when the space-speedster he was flying was swallowed by an ultra-energy beast (a "space whale"), exposing him to radiation while inside. His real name is derived from the story of the biblical Jonah who was the original literary character to survive being swallowed by a whale.
Ultra Boy's costume features an emblem standing for this beast on his chest. It has no cape, yet originally was the busiest of all the Legionnaires' costumes, with a red top, striped cuffs, tan weight belt with three slots, dark shorts, green leggings, and red-topped boots with a crenelated fringe.
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[edit] Pre-Crisis
Ultra Boy first appeared in Superboy #98 (1962), in which he was sent back in time to Superboy's home town of Smallville to prove himself worthy of joining the Legion by learning Superboy's secret identity. In his first adventure he only demonstrated his vision powers. Later he was romantically linked for many years with fellow Legionnaire Phantom Girl. He was considered one of the Legion's 'big 3' (along wth Superboy and Mon-el) and served two terms as leader.
The names of his parents are Crav and Mytra Nah. His girlfriend on Rimbor before he joined the Legion was An Ryd; she was later murdered by Brainiac 5 who framed Ultra Boy for the crime. An early extension of his backstory made him the equivalent of a "hot-rodder," that is, of lower social class than many of the other Legionnaires.
Ultra Boy was a skilled actor, this, combined with his rough background on Rimbor and social standing helped him infiltrate criminal groups where he appeared to "go bad". This skill also made him a valuable member of the Legion Espionage Squad; the only member without overt "spy" powers.
[edit] Volume 4 Legion
During the V4 Legion, the Legion had broken up during a '5 year gap' where the storyline advanced 5 years off camera. During this time he proposed to Phantom Girl but she was apparently killed in an accident. Ultra Boy, now known simply as Jo Nah had become a smuggler and an outlaw on his homeworld of Rimbor. He rejoined the Legion after assassins destroyed an entire apartment building trying to kill him.
A later storyline in the V4 Legion Annual #1 showed his acting skills. It was shown that for years Ultra Boy had played "dumber" than he was, to not give away any advantage to his foes. When the Time-Sorceress Glorith began manipulating Legion history, she figured only the smarter legionnaires might notice her manipulations, and thus acted to neutralize ones like Braniac 5. She never suspected Ultra Boy would figure out her plan, which involved provoking a battle between the Legion and Mordru at the zenith of his power, which would destroy or weaken both, allowing her to pick up the pieces. Realizing what this would mean, Ultra Boy first (in a fake diplomatic blunder) prevented the Legion from attacking Mordru, then, in disguise, visited Mordru and instead provoked him into attacking Glorith. This proved successful, leaving both Mordru and Glorith severely weakened. Years later Glorith finally figured out who was responsible and in revenge sent Phantom Girl into the past, leaving Ultra Boy believing her dead.
Later still the Legion found themselves on the wrong side of the law and Ultra Boy adopted a new identity as Green Dragon. During this time another Ultra Boy (apprently a younger clone of the original) was also operating.
[edit] Post-Zero Hour
In post-Zero Hour continuity, his background was very similar to the original. He was eaten by an Ultra Energy beast and got his powers from eating the creature's flesh. He initially did not joint the Legion and joined a rival group called Work Force before finally joining the Legion.
He was also romantically linked with Phantom Girl's counterpart in that reality, Apparition. They eventually married and had a son together named Cub just before the Legion's reality was rebooted for the third time.
[edit] 2005 Reboot
The Legion was rebooted again in 2005. Ultra Boy in this version seems much the same as his previous versions but does not (yet) have a romantic link with Phantom Girl. Trained by Karate Kid in a more responsible and tactical use of his superpowers, it's known by at least for Triplicate Girl that on Rimbor, "he is charged for a crime he never committed", but refuses to say more on the question.
[edit] Elseworlds and other versions of Ultra Boy
Ultra Boy appeared in the DC/Marvel Comics Amalgam book Spider-Boy Team-Up merged with Marvel's Captain Universe to form the character Universe Boy. He was a member of the Legion Of Galactic Guardians 2099.
In Alan Davis's Superboy's Legion Ultra Boy was a key character. As usual he was shown as a borderline outlaw with a heart of gold.
[edit] Other media
In Superman: The Animated Series, Ultra Boy made a cameo appearance in the 1998 episode "New Kids In Town". He later reappeared in a 2006 episode of Justice League Unlimited titled "Far From Home".
In episode 1.05 of the Legion of Super Heroes animated series (2006), Jo Nah appeared as a participant in the Intergalactic Games, an Olympics-like event in which Lightning Lad also competes. When the Fatal Five attack the games, Jo, along with Kem of Bismoll, helps the Legion defeat them, calling out the names of four of his various ultra-powers as he activates them ("Super strength!" "Invulnerability!" "Super-speed!" "Freezing breath!"). Phantom Girl compliments his skills (and thinks to herself that he's cute), but there's nothing in the episode about him being offered Legion membership, and his code name is not used. Jo Nah was voiced by James Arnold Taylor.
In the Champions (role-playing game), the term "Ultra Slot" is used to describe one of the powers within a framework in which only one power can be used at a time. The multipower framework is based directly on Ultra Boy and in fact was originally called the "Ultra" (hence "Ultra Slot").
