One panel of the Legion Annual revealed a new group of heroes to me in the Legion universe.

Over time I would come to discover that these heroes are The Legion of Substitute-Heroes who are supposed to take over for the Legion when the real Legion are off on another case and no other heroes are available.

The Subs are made up of a group of heroes who applied for Legion membership but for whatever reason they were rejected for membership. In the Silver Age of comics, Legion member tryouts were similar to American Idol. A ton of people would show up for consideration with the vast majority being deemed unfit for membership. Some would be heroes showed up and used machinery to simulate powers or even tried to pay for admission to the elite club.

A few of these candidates had powers but were deemed either not useful enough or too inexperienced for Legion membership. Five of these stalwarts formed the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

Chlorophyll Kid, Fire Lad, Polar Boy, Night Girl, and Stone Boy declare war on their idols.

Polar Boy is Brek Bannin of the planet Tharr. Tharr is an extremely hot world where the inhabitants have evolved to be able to exude cold and ice from their bodies to combat the harsh conditions on their home world. Unfortunately in his try out Polar Boy nearly froze Sun Boy to death.

Night Girl is Lydda Jath of the planet Kathoon. Night Girl’s father gave her super-strength but her planet of Kathoon is bathed in eternal night and Night Girl loses her strength in sunlight. Now why did Lydda want super powers? Well, she just finds Cosmic Boy dreamy… can you say “interstellar superhero stalker”? I knew you could. Eventually Cosmic Boy and Night Girl become a Legion couple, awwwwww.

Fire Lad is Staq Mavlen of Shwar who has the ability to breathe fire, unfortunately Staq lacks something in terms of control. And in some interpretations, he suffers from allergies.

Chlorophyll Kid is Ral Benem of Mardru and when he was a child he fell into a vat of experimental plant growth formula, lo and behold, he gained the ability to control plants. Ral is slightly delusional as he believes that he can speak with plants as well, but the plants do not talk back… yet.

Stone Boy is Dag Wentim of Zwen, the planet Zwen has such a long night that its inhabitants developed the ability to go into a suspended animation state and turn their bodies to immovable stone.

Soon the Subs are joined by additional members…

Color Kid is Ulu Vakk of Lupra has the ability to change the color of any object, not terribly helpful.

Porcupine Pete is Peter Dursin of Earth who has grown spines all over his body and when he concentrates he can expel the spines. Again, aim is an issue.

Infectious Lass is Drura Sehpt of Somahtur and has the ability to spread all sorts of nasty cooties to other individuals as a bonus she is immune to her powers, however her teammates.. are not so lucky and control is an issue.

Double-Header is Frenk and Dyvud Retzun of the planet Janus. Native Janites reproduce by splitting into two separate beings, very slowly. Currently Frenk and Dyvud share the same body with two necks and really has no super-powers to speak of except for the fact that he has double the strength of a normal person. Unfortunately, Frenk and Dyvud don’t get along. Think along the lines of the cooperation level of the Three Stooges.

While the Subs are amusing to say the least, they do prove the point that powers do not make the hero. What makes the hero is their character and their drive to do good despite the odds.

The Subs evolve after we note them briefly in this story, but I did want to give a little treatment to their background before we dove into the Subs in other Legion stories.

When we meet the Subs they are merely a footnote here in the Legion Annual, spending most of their time trying to persuade the Science Police to let them through the barricade to help the real Legion. The Subs will play a role in the Darkness to come so you will see them again.

Next time: We pick up the Legion Annual and see if the Legionnaires can get out of their own headquarters.