FIRE LAD

Real Name: Staq Mavlen

Class: Extraterrestrial (Shwar) mutate

Occupation: Substitute Legionnaire

Group Affiliation: Legion of Substitute Heroes

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Metropolis, 30th Century.

First Appearance:  Adventure Comics I #306 (March 1963)

Powers: Fire Lad breathed fire, but had little control over his power.

History: (Adventure Comics I #306) - Staq Mavlen was born on the planet Shwar, and gained superpowers when, as a youth, he inhaled the fumes of a meteorite. He took the identity of Fire-Lad, and traveled to Earth to apply for membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes, but was rejected because his powers were hard for him to reliably control. He met up with several other rejected Legionnaire hopefuls, and encouraged by Polar Boy, decided that even though they weren’t Legion material, they could still use their powers to help people. They formed the Legion of Substitute Heroes, vowing to help people and, if need be, the Legion of Super-Heroes in their time of need. They built their own clubhouse in the side of a mountain as well as a spaceship and Science Police monitoring system. They got a warning about giant evolved sea creatures that had escaped from the Ocean Research Laboratory, and were quick to respond, but the LOSH were already on the scene wrangling the beasts. The next Science Police alert came when scientists who’d built a domed city in the Arctic went rogue. They secretly built an atomic power plant under the dome, propelling the city into space, and delivered an ultimatum that they’d use the advanced weaponry they’d built to attack Earth unless they were given tribute. The Substitute Heroes flew into space, but Sun Boy of the Legion streaked through space near the domed city, and fearing they were about to be hit by a meteorite the scientists piloted their city back to Earth where they were apprehended by Colossal Boy and Cosmic Boy. Robot-ships attacked Earth and Polar Boy offered the Legion back-up, but Brainiac 5 refused him, saying the mission was too dangerous for untrained civilians. The Substitute Heroes’ anxieties finally got to them, and they decided they were no help as a team after all and prepared to disband. Chlorophyll Kid spotted seeds that had rained down from space, and used his plant growth powers on one. The seed grew into a plant man that attacked him, and the Substitute Heroes defeated it, and Fire-Lad incinerated the rest of the seeds. They learned from their monitor system that the seeds had come from a distant planet that had also sent the robot-ships. The robot-ships were meant to divert the Legion while the planet rocketed more seeds to Earth to conquer the planet. The Substitutes traveled to the planet, found the warehouse storing millions of seeds, and Chlorophyll Kid used his powers to prematurely grow them to plant men. The planet was now burdened with a population explosion, and had to cease its’ plans of invasion. The Substitutes decided to stay together after all, and were pleased to keep their victory a secret amongst themselves, and attended a parade for the Legion celebrating their defeat of the robot-ships.

Comments: Created by Edmond Hamilton & John Forte.