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Click on any Substitute Hero below to access their profile page:
 Branch Established: The team of
rejected applicants formed in 2963 and acted as secret
helpers to the Legion of Super-Heroes (Adventure
Comics No. 306). In 2964, the Subs were
recognized by the Super-Heroes for their help and made
the team a part of their Legion Reserve, calling upon
them for help when needed (Adventure
Comics No. 322, Adventure
Comics No. 326 "The Legion
Constitution - Part Two").
Origin: "Many young
people have tried unsuccessfully to join the Legion of
Super-Heroes, for it is no easy matter to be admitted to
the mightiest crime-fighting group in the 30th century.
But Brek Bannin, known as Polar Boy, was one reject who
would not accept defeat. Contacting four other worthy
applicants who, upon being turned down, had been given
anti-gravity belts as 'consolation prizes', he formed
with them the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a group ready
to take over whenever an emergency arose which the
Super-Heroes could not handle."
- Adventure Comics
No. 323 (Aug 1964) "Origin of the Legion of
Substitute Heroes"
Criteria for Membership: There is no
official set of criteria needed to join the Subs. They
are more than willing to accept applicants that the
Legion has rejected, or even expelled, if they consider
them to be hard working and dedicated to helping others.
Member Privileges: Although the
Substitute Heroes are a branch of the Legion Reserve, the
team retains its own autonomous set of rules, which are
distinct from the Legion's Constitution (Adventure
Comics No. 342). As worthy but rejected
applicants, each of the Subs were given an anti-gravity
flying belt (Adventure
Comics No. 306) and, later, a flight-ring (Adventure
Comics No. 374).
 Base of Operations: The Substitute
Heroes meet in a hollowed-out mountain peak just outside
of Metropolis. Inside, there is no direct sunlight to
take away Night Girl's power. The Subs made the clubhouse
cave themselves, with Polar Boy turning the rock cold so
it would be easier for Night Girl' to use her
super-strength to smash it into shape.
The
clubhouse has multiple rooms, including a hanger for
their spaceship (Adventure Comics
No. 306) and a large room in which to practice their
super-powers (Adventure Comics
No. 351). The Substitute Heroes hold their
meetings around a table like the real Legionnaires do,
complete with nameplates (Adventure Comics No. 306. Each member has a locker
for their personal belongings (Adventure Comics No. 311).
Note:
For a brief time, the Subs also had a base in an ancient,
abandoned, city within Earth's moon (Adventure Comics No. 311).
Equipment: The
Legion of Substitute Heroes uses a warning wall monitor
to alert them of emergencies. The monitor consists of a
star map, which shows a red light in the area of the
disaster, and a screen showing the disaster itself.
The
team also has smaller monitors with which they can pick
up (Adventure Comics
No. 306) and
send broadcasts (Adventure Comics
No. 311). They also have computers for
research (Adventure Comics
No. 306), and, on one bank of computers, a single
light above a special two-way communication screen
flashes whenever the Legion of Super-Heroes is trying to
contact them (Adventure Comics
No. 351).
The
Subs also have spacesuits equipped with helmet-radios.
Fire Lad's suit is specially made so that his fire-breath
can be diverted from his helmet, down his sleeves, and
out through his gloves while he is wearing it (Adventure
Comics No. 319).
Transportation: The
spaceship used by the Substitute Heroes was also built by
them. Fire Lad used his breath to melt the ores, and
Night Girl molded the still-hot metal using her
super-strength. The ship is equipped with monitors that
can pick up events occuring in distant space (Adventure Comics No. 306) and a missile launcher (Adventure Comics No. 319).
Tbe
Substitute Heroes are also permitted access to the
Legion's time-bubbles when the need arises (Adventure
Comics No. 351, Superboy No. 148).
Comments
*Dream Girl had originally quit the
Legion due to her joining under false pretenses, even
though her intentions had been good (Adventure Comics No. 317). After she foresaw Star Boy's
expulsion from the Legion of Super-Heroes, she joined the
Substitute Heroes and later urged him to join as well so
they could be together and still carry on with hero work
(Adventure Comics No. 342). The two were later re-admitted into the Legion
(see next paragraph, Adventure
Comics No. 350-Adventure
Comics No. 351).
**Star Boy was expelled from active duty
in the Legion because it was shown that he had killed a
rogue unneccessarily, even though it was in self-defense.
He joined the Substitute Heroes along with Dream Girl (Adventure Comics No. 342). Later, as part of a plan to
rescue Dream Girl's sister, the White Witch, they
disguised themselves in lead armor as Sir Prize and Miss
Terious and, in those guises, were re-admitted into the
Legion. When their true identites were revealed, the two
were allowed to retain their full memberships (Adventure
Comics No. 350-Adventure
Comics No. 351).
Chronology of Appearances
Adventure Comics No. 306 (Mar. 1963) "The Legion of Substitute Heroes"
Brek Bannin had
travelled a long way from his home world of Tharr to
come to Earth and apply for the Legion of
Super-Heroes. After he demonstrated his power of
super-cold to the Legion he was, sadly, rejected.
Walking the Avenue of Heroes, dejected, he met Night Girl, another rejected applicant. Brek was determined
to not let their futures be hopeless and together
they found three other rejected teens - Chlorophyll
Kid, Stone Boy, and Fire Lad - and formed the Legion
of Substitute Heroes. Their offers to help the busy
Legion were rejected and just as they were about to
disband their club they witnessed the start of an
alien invasion of plant men. With themselves as the
Earth's only hope of defense, the Subs travelled to
the plant men's planet and ended the threat. From
then on, they vowed to help the Legionnaires secretly
and without the need for recognition.
Adventure Comics No. 311 (Aug. 1963) "The War Between the Substitute Heroes and the Legionnaires"
 When alien machines began landing
on Earth to steal its minerals, the Subs alerted
the Legion of Super-Heroes. Instead of being
thanked, the Legionnaires were angry at them for
interfering. Later, the Subs built a defensive
robot to give to the Legion but it was only
scoffed at for being clumsy looking and the
Legionnaires sent their force vortex to wreck the
Subs' mountain clubhouse. Fleeing Earth, the Subs
set up a base of operations in an ancient city
beneath the surface of the Moon. The Legionnaires
then sent robots to hunt them down. Eventually,
the Substitute Heroes discovered that the real
Legionnaires were actually imprisoned in a
space-warp prison and their impostors were
natives of Zyzan using disguise-projectors.
Jimmy Olsen No. 72 (Oct. 1963) "The World of Doomed Olsens"
The Subs attended
the induction ceremony that swore Jimmy
Olsen in as an Honorary member.
Adventure Comics No. 313 (Oct. 1963) "The Condemned Legionnaires"
When the girl
Legionnaires began to succumb to a mysterious crimson
virus, Night Girl volunteered to care for the
stricken girls, only to succumb to the disease
herself. She and the girl Legionnaires were then sent
to Quarantine World until a cure could be found.
Eventually, it was discovered that Satan Girl was
behind it all and that she was really a red
kryptonite-created double of Supergirl attempting to
survive past her 48-hour lifespan by siphoning the
effect into the girls. When she faded from existence,
the girls recovered.
Adventure Comics No. 315 (Dec. 1963) "The Legionnaire's Super-Contest"
After saving Earth
a third time, the Subs' existence was discovered by
the Legionnaires and as a reward a contest was held
with the winning Subsitute Hero accepted into the
Legion as the prize. Although Stone Boy thought he
fared the worst because he gave up rather than risk
villagers being hurt by a rantak, it turned out that
he scored the highest because of his spirit of
self-sacrifice. Rather than risk breaking up the
Subs, however, Stone Boy turned down the offer to
join the Legion.
Lois Lane No. 47 (Feb. 1964) "The Super-Life of Lois Lane"
In an alternate
reality (or "imaginary story"), Night Girl
took the place of Krypton Girl (Lois Lane) to help
keep her secret identity safe from Clark Kent.
Adventure Comics No. 319 (Apr. 1964) "The Legion's Suicide Squad"
When
all the Legionnaires were struck down on the planet
Throon, the Subs came to their rescue and defeated
the pair of zany old men who had upset Earth's
interstellar trade routes. They finally recevied
their due praise and were given a parade on the
Avenue of Heroes with the Legionnaires cheering for
them.
Adventure Comics No. 322 (Jul. 1964) "The Super-Tests of the Super-Pets"
The Subs,
called the Legion's "greatest allies"are
called on to help the Super-Heroes build scientific
weapons they hoped would crack the Time Trapper's
"Iron Curtain of Time".
Adventure Comics No. 331 (Apr. 1965) "Triumph of the Super-Villains"
 When the Legion of Super-Villains
joined Dynamo-Boy's Legion, the Subs were on hand
to foil their plans. After a brief battle with
Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, and Saturn Queen,
the Subs were told to get lost by Dynamo-Boy, who
chastised them for interfering in matters that
didn't concern them.
Not a highlight, for either the
Subs or the Legion, but the heroes' aberrant
behavior can be attributed to hypnotic control by
Saturn Queen.
Adventure Comics No. 337 (Oct. 1965) "The Weddings That Wrecked the Legion"
As part of the
Legion's "Plan-R", Night Girl and
Chlorophyll
Kid pretended to be applicants in order
to make the team's need for replacement members seem
more believable to the invading spies from Murra.
Adventure Comics No. 342 (Mar. 1966) "The Legionnaire Who Killed"
After Color Kid is
rejected from the Legion, he is referred to the Subs.
When Star Boy was put on trial for killing a rogue in
self-defense, Dream Girl joined the Subs. After Star Boy was expelled from the Legion, the Subs accepted
him into their team as well.
Adventure Comics No. 351 (Dec. 1966) "The Forgotten Legion"
The Subs were
called upon to journey to Supergirl's time to get one
of the magical ingredients needed to restore the
White Witch to her normal self. After a hostile
reception by the amnesiac Supergirl, Night Girl
accidentally got a sample of Comet's enchanted
hoofprints, thus completing their mission. Miss
Terious and Sir Prize later revealed themselves to be
Dream Girl and Star Boy. Because they were allowed to
stay in the Legion, they left the Substitute Heroes.
Color Kid ultimately saved the day when he altered
the cloud of green kryptonite surrounding Earth,
turning it blue, which allowed Superboy and Supergirl
to rejoin the Legion as well.
Adventure Comics No. 374 (Nov. 1968) "Mission: Diabolical"
The Subs
joined forces with the Science Police in order to
foil rival gang actions between Taurus and Scorpius
at the Brande Industrial Complex. After they spotted
some of the missing Legionnaires, coerced into
working for the Scorpius gang, the Subs did some
detective work. They located the secret base of
Scorpius just in time to save the lives of all the
Legionnaires.
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