Night Girl
	Name: Lydda Jath Home Planet: Kathoon Super-Power: Super-strength in darkness Substitute Member Since: 2963

Origin | Super-Power | Personal Data | Membership Record

Legion of Substitute Heroes | Membership

"Night Girl (Lydda Jath) was born on the dark planet, Kathoon. Her father created a vitalizing ray which gave her super-strength - but only in deep shadows or at night. Direct sunlight robs her of her power." - Adventure Comics No. 365 (Feb. 1968) "Origins and Powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes" First Appearance: Adventure Comics No. 306 (written by Edmond Hamilton, drawn by John Forte)

Back to Top

Night Girl possesses super-strength that at one time only Superboy and Mon-El could top (Adventure Comics No. 306) but only if she stays out of direct sunlight. It is a simple feat for her to balance a ton of weight on each finger (351).

Starlight is too distant to affect her strength, and the reflected sunlight from the moon cannot diminish her strength. It is only direct sunlight that robs her of super-strength. which she retains in deep shadow (Adventure Comics No. 331 "The Legion Outpost").

It is also important to note that Night Girl retains her super-strength under artificial lighting conditions, such as would be present inside a building or other structure (Adventure Comics No. 337, 351).

Note: Night Girl once spoke of herself as possessing x-ray vision that is blocked by lead (Adventure Comics No. 319). This is a misnomer on her part, since she does not possess x-ray vision akin to Supergirl's. In truth, living on a sunless world, Kathoonians would have had to naturally develop the ability to see outside of the visible spectrum of light and into the infrared and ultraviolet ranges. A heat sense would explain how Night Girl was able to accurately sense the location of the underground rebels of Vannar, as well as Sun-Woman (315), and the pair of zany old men in the citidel of Throon (319), through many feet of rock. Evidentally this sense is also defeated by lead. Night Girl tends to think herself as possessing super-powers (plural) because of this natural ability, though it is never listed on any text profiles in the chronology - probably because it is a subtle ability common on her world.

Limitations and Weaknesses: Because her power was given to her by her scientist father on the sunless world of Kathoon (331 "The Legion Outpost"), Night Girl's great strength fades suddenly in direct sunlight (Adventure Comics No. 365 "The Legion Outpost").

To counter this inherent weakness, Night Girl has carried "shadow-bombs" to create limited areas of blackout for her power to work inside (331).

While she is super-strong, Night Girl is not invulnerable, and like Ultra Boy, she can tire, pull a muscle, or get a charley-horse (Adventure Comics No. 371 "The Legion Outpost").

Since she comes from a sunless world, Night Girl can be blinded by sudden bursts of brilliant light, afterwhich she has to spend time in a lightless room in order to regain her sight (Action Comics No. 386/2). Lydda probably wears a dark costume that covers most of her skin in order to protect herself from the sun's rays, which she is not used to.

Back to Top

Physical Description: Lydda is an attractive brunette, who wears her black tresses up in a "beehive" hairdo. Even her earrings are like stylized beehives.

Personality: Lydda is a sympathetic (Adventure Comics No. 306) and imaginative person (319). She is a romantic, who was once driven by her secret fantasies and (at one time) unrequited love for Cosmic Boy. In fact, her dream to acquire a super-power and apply for membership in the Legion all stemmed from her desire to be near Cosmic Boy, whom she thinks of as "cute" (311, 315).

Skills: Good at working with her hands and not afraid to get dirty, Lydda helped build the team's mountain clubhouse and space ship (Adventure Comics No. 306).

Interests: Lydda collects Cosmic Boy memorabilia - including photos of the Legionnaire and a helmet he once wore (Adventure Comics No. 311).

Previous Occupations: None known

Nicknames: None

Relationships: Lydda is close to all her teammates in the Subs, and to former Sub members Dream Girl and Star Boy. She is currently dating Cosmic Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes (Action Comics No. 386/2).

Known Relatives: Her father is living on Kathoon (Adventure Comics No. 306).

Back to Top

Application: Although Lydda knew she wouldn't retain her power of super-strength in daylight, it didn't diminish her enthusiam for applying to Legion of Super-Heroes (Adventure Comics No. 315, 306). He weakness was considered too limiting and she was rejected and it was her "ideal" Cosmic Boy who gave her a flying belt as a consolation prize (311).

Induction (Subs): After meeting the dejected Polar Boy at Cosmic Boy's statue on the Avenue of Heroes, he talked her into forming their own Substitute Legion and she took him to where she knew some of the other rejected applicants were (Adventure Comics No. 306).

Induction (LSH): In 2964, the Subs were finally recognized by the Legion of Super-Heroes for their help and made an official branch of the Legion Reserve, to be called upon for help when needed (322, 326 "The Legion Constitution - Part Two").

Positions Held: None

Aliases Used: None

Career Highlights:

Adventure Comics No. 306 (Mar. 1963) "The Legion of Substitute Heroes"

After forming the Subs with her fellow rejected applicants, Night Girl helped to repell an invasion of plant men.

Adventure Comics No. 311 (Aug. 1963) "The War Between the Substitute Heroes and the Legionnaires"

When the Legion of Super-Heroes discovered the Substitute Legion they tried to force them to disband. Night Girl snuck away from the other Subs and, sure that her idol Cosmic Boy could not really hate them, tried to talk him out of fighting against them. Although Cosmic Boy had promised not to, he and the other Legionnaires followed her back to the Subs' new hide-out to destroy them. As it turned out, it wasn't really Cosmic Boy and the rest of the Legion that had been fighting the Subs, but really raiders from Zyzan that had used disguise-illusions to pose as the Legionnaires while they secretly planned to steal rare ores from Earth. The Subs dispatched the impostors back to their own world, then freed the real Legionnaires from the space-warp they were imprisoned in.

Adventure Comics No. 313 (Oct. 1963) "The Condemned Legionnaires"

When the girl Legionnaires had suddenly fallen ill, Polar Boy suggested that Night Girl care for them, not knowing that she too would succumb to the mysterious "crimson virus". She and the Legion girls were taken to Quarantine World, where they were to spend their last days, unless a cure could be found. Sad that her life would end in this way, and regretting never having told Cosmic Boy how she felt about him, Night Girl prepared for the worst. When Cosmic Boy did come to protect the girls from Satan Girl, Lydda couldn't bring herself to tell him of her feelings as he stood by her wheelchair. Following Satan Girl's defeat, Night Girl went back to the Subs to keep the team's existence, and her own feelings, secret from the Legion.

Adventure No. 315 (Dec. 1963) "The Legionnaires' Super-Contest"

After the Substitute Heroes defeated alien glass-raiders, their existence was discovered by Superboy. They were brought back to the Super-Hero Clubhouse, and told the Legionnaires of their mission to help them whenever they could. The Legion was touched by the Subs devotion to them and, in gratitude, held a contest. Sponsored by Superboy, Night Girl's test was to bring the dictator, Sun Woman, to justice. On the one-sided world of Vannar, Sun Woman's solar-harness provided her with super-strength on the constantly lit side and Night Girl had to teach the citizens the technology of coal burning in order to blanket the sky with thick black smoke. With Sun Woman's source of strength cut off, and Night Girl's in full force, Lydda accomplished her test and won 121 points, tying with Polar Boy for second place.

Adventure Comics No. 319 (Apr. 1964) "The Legion's Suicide Squad"

When the entire Legion was defeated during the attack on the Citadel of Throon, the Subs sprang into action and conceived a plan whereby Night Girl was shot from a missile-launcher through the dark-side of the planetoid and drilled through to the other side. Up through the citadel's dungeons she crashed until she discovered that the "army" inside was merely two old men who wanted their privacy. She destroyed their machines, promising that they would be left in peace. As a reward, the Legion of Substitute Heroes were honored with a parade down the Avenue of Heroes welcoming them with public recognition.

Adventure Comics No. 337 (Oct. 1965) "The Weddings That Wrecked the Legion"

Night Girl and Chlorophyll Kid posed as applicants as part of the Legion's plan to locate the home world of the Murran spies.

Adventure Comics No. 351 (Dec. 1966) "The Forgotten Legion"

The Subs were called into action when the Legion needed them to go back into time to Supergirl's era to get the imprint of an enchanted shoe... Comet's. Due to the influence of a Green-K capsule in her brain, she failed to recognize the Subs and the change in her personality caused her to get the Super-Pets to attack them. Night Girl helped the Subs achieve their goal by using a piece of sidewalk as a shield against Comet's super-hooves, which gave them the prints they needed.

Action Comics No. 386 (Mar. 1970) "Zap Goes the Legion"

While on a date with Cosmic Boy, and double-dating with Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, the foursome is attacked by a vengeful Uli Algor. Lydda is blinded by bright lights produced by Uli's belt and becomes hysterical. Although blind and kept in a dark room to recover, Lydda recovers the presence of mind to tell the other Legionnaires about the villainess.

For information concerning Night Girl after 2968, click here.

Back to Top

Legion of Substitute Heroes | Membership