Legion of Substitute Heroes
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The Legion of Substitute Heroes is a group of fictional characters in the future of the DC Comics universe. The "Subs", as they are often called, are a group of rejected applicants to the Legion of Super-Heroes who banded together, hoping to prove to the Legion that their powers were not as useless as the Legionnaires claimed. They first appeared in Adventure Comics #306.
Several of the Subs went on to join the Legion proper; these members include Dream Girl, Night Girl and Polar Boy. Star Boy was also a member for a time, after he was forced out of the Legion.
Other members of the Legion of Substitute Heroes include:
- Antenna Lad, who has the power to tune into any broadcast from any era but mostly at random.
- Chlorophyll Kid, Ral Benem from the planet Mardru has the power to make plants grow super fast. He gained this power after falling into a vat of super plant growth formula as a small child.
- Color Kid, Ulu Vakk, Lupra can change the color of objects. Gained his power after being struck by a ray from another dimension (Adventure Comics #365 – Meet the Legion)
- Double-Header, who has two heads
- Fire Lad, Stag Mavlen from the planet Schwar. Gained the power to breathe fire (often accidentally, as he suffers from allergies that cause him to sneeze)after inhaling vapors from a crashing meteor
- Infectious Lass, who spontaneously generates infectious diseases (and once became Infectious Lad, after giving himself a case of Granderian Gender Reversal Germs)
- Porcupine Pete, who has quills
- Stone Boy, Dag Wentim from the planet Zwen. The people of Zwen gained the power to turn into stone as a way of hibernation on a planet whose night is six months long. At first Stone Boy would transform into an inanimate, insensate stone statue; however, over time he was able to stay conscious during his transformation.
After a colorful, if not exactly impressive, career, the Substitute Heroes were disbanded by Polar Boy, who went on to attain full membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes. Many of the remaining members would eventually join the Legion as well, during the Five Year Gap.
During the V4 Legion of Super Heroes, the "Subs" came into their own as an insurgent group that was helping the Terran resistance to the Dominators. This pleased many of the Substitute Legion's many fans that felt they deserved full status as heroes. Night Girl had been a continual character in this volume of Legion Lore, appearing as Cosmic Boy's wife.
[edit] Post Zero Hour
Following the Zero Hour reboot, the Subs appeared in issue #43 during Legion tryouts. Infectious Lass, Fire Lad, & Color Kid were seen on the cover, while Stone Boy, Chlorophyll Kid, Night Girl, and Polar Boy all tried out. Night Girl knew very well that the Legion wouldn't accept her because of her power's backdraw, but she was really planning on meeting Cosmic Boy who, at the time, was on a secret mission.
