Invisible Kid
	Name: Lyle Norg Home Planet: Earth Super-Power: Can become invisible Member Since: 2962

Origin | Super-Power | Personal Data | Membership Record

Monitor Board

"Lyle Norg is a young genius who invented a serum which enables him to become invisible..."

- Adventure Comics No. 316 (Mar. 1967) "The Origins and Powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes"

First Appearance: Action Comics No. 267 (written by Jerry Siegel, drawn by Jim Mooney)

Back to Top

Invisible Kid can turn himself and his clothing invisible at will. The process to turn invisible is gradual and takes a few seconds to complete. Sometimes he starts the fade to invisibility from his feet up (Adventure Comics No. 338); other times it is from the head down (343) or all at once (348).

Limitations and Weaknesses: Invisible Kid's power only works on the visible spectrum of light. He can be "seen" in the higher and lower frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as ultraviolet or infrared.

He can be located by means of radar (Adventure Comics No. 345, 358), hyper-sensitive hearing (324), or by being covered in fluorescent dust (335).

He cannot turn objects he is carrying invisible (339).

Once, Nardo used a force-gun to neutralize his super-power (345). Presumably, Invisible Kid had to take his invisibility serum again to restore his power.

Even though he is invisible, he can still leave fingerprints marks on objects he has touched or handled, providing proof that he was present at a scene.

Speculative Explanation of Power: The serum Lyle took enables him to generate and an aura around his body (and clothes) that redirects light waves around his body, from all sides, to merge seemlessly on the opposite side. This results in him becoming invisible to the human eye, casting no shadow or reflection.

Stage magicians use a simpler system of refracting light between mirrors to prevent parts of people or entire objects in their act from being seen by the audience.

Technologists are currently working on materials that similarly bend light around objects to render them invisible.

Back to Top

Physical Description: Lyle has wavy dark-brown hair, brushed back, and held in place by a headband. He has a rounded jaw and high cheekbones.

Personality: Lyle enjoys conducting scientific experiments with Brainiac 5 (Adventure Comics No. 362). At first, Lyle was a fairly easy-going Legionnaire, and liked to joke around (Action Comics No. 267), even during elections (Adventure Comics No. 304), and has engaged in kissing games (342). According to his mother he also had "a way of disappearing when their were chores to be done" (356).

After winning the leadership election in 2966, however, Lyle gained a new sense of responsibility (358). He proved to be a down-to-business, no-nonsense leader who was not above knocking some sense, literally, into anyone unwilling to follow orders (358, 351). Determined to be "worth his salt" as a good leader, Lyle took it upon himself to build up his physique by training hard in the family gym (359).

Lyle is a romantic person; he once showed Triplicate Girl around an exhibit of "Romance Valley of Planet R-K528" (Adventure Comics No. 326). But while he enjoys the romance part of it, he feels he is too young to actually get married. After taking a girl named Markita to the Romances of History Museum, Lyle was afraid to kiss her then because he could tell that she wanted him to get serious about their relationship (338). Lyle can be overly cautious to the point of pessimism (324, 345). He enjoys juggling (321) and is slightly superstitious (343).

Skills: While he is no Brainiac 5, he is a scientist, and once diagramed construction of a spaceship using chalk on a piece of slate (380). Apart from being a genius in the lab, Lyle is quite an accomplished athlete and gymnast (Adventure Comics No. 358).

Interests: Astronomy is a hobby of his; he designed and built the clubhouse's celestial chamber, which contains rotating accurate models of the planets his Legionnaire teammates come from (Adventure Comics No. 328).

Nicknames: "Kid" (Adventure Comics No. 362, 359, 368)

Relationships: Lyle is attracted to Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel and talks and jokes with her often (Adventure Comics No. 342, 304). He also has been a source of comfort for Shrinking Violet (343, Superman No. 156). He once dated a girl named Markita (338). Brainiac 5 is his closest friend in the Legion, mainly because of their mutual interests in science and inventing (362).

Known Relatives: Lyle lives with his parents in Metropolis (Adventure Comics No. 359).

Back to Top

Application: Lyle tried out for the Legion in 2962, no doubt displaying his amazing power to turn invisible.

Induction: While it was not shown in the chronicles, it seems as though he joined the team shortly after Chameleon Boy and Colossal Boy did. (That is the order, from left to right, in which they were first seen - in Action Comics No. 276 - but also, in Superboy No. 93, his statuette can not be seen on the Boy of Steel's desk but you can see statuettes of the three charters followed by Chameleon Boy and Colossal Boy).

Positions Held: Leader for the 5th term (1966-67); permanent member of the Legion Espionage Squad (Adventure Comics No. 347 "The Legion Outpost")

Career Highlights:

Adventure Comics No. 307 (Apr. 1963) "The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero"

After learning that the space-raiders the Legionnaires were hunting down recognized their new member, Mystery Lad, Invisible Kid grew suspicious. When Mystery Lad volunteered to go ahead of the rest of the team, Invisible Kid followed him, unseen. He trailed him to Roxxas' space-ship in time to learn that the raiders had been hunting the lad down in order to try to force him to help them. When Mystery Lad turned the raiders' ship into gas, even though he himself would suffocate for lack of air, Invisible Kid saved his life by reattaching his spacesuit's helmet.

Adventure Comics No. 343 (Apr. 1966) "The Evil Hand of the Luck Lords"

Invisible Kid and Shrinking Violet were hypnotized into not using their powers by the Luck Lords' "jinx" ray. Invisible Kid was stuck in invisible form while Shrinking Violet couldn't shrink.

Adventure Comics No. 344/345 (May/June 1966) "The Super-Stalag of Space" / "The Execution of Matter-Eater Lad"

On a rescue mission to spring Brainiac 5 from a "cosmic clink", the Legionnaires quickly found themselves prisoners in Nardo's stalag as well. As punishment for turning invisible and trying to escape, Nardo used a force-gun on Invisible Kid that neutralized his super-power, and then he shrunk him down to a height of less than two inches for a six-hour period.

Adventure Comics No. 348 (Sept. 1966) "Target - 21 Legionnaires"

Invisible Kid was elected leader just before Dr. Regulus made his attack on Sun Boy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. After Sun Boy got amnesia and fled from his team-mates, Invisible Kid had to make the difficult decision to let the police search for Sun Boy while the rest of the Legionnaires went to investigate their missing clubhouse.

Adventure Comics No. 350/351 (Nov./Dec. 1966) "The Outcast Super-Heroes" / "The Forgotten Legion"

As leader, Invisible Kid made the decision to honorably discharge Superboy and Supergirl due to the presence of a Green Kryptonite cloud encircling the Earth. Before they left, he agreed to their plea to name their own replacements, and so allowed the masked Sir Prize and Miss Terious to join the team without giving them the usual tests and also promising for the team that they wouldn't try to learn their true identities. When Ultra Boy, growing suspicious of the new members, started to use his penetra-vision to look under their lead masks, Invisible Kid stopped him with a slug in the jaw. He further proved his trust in the super-cousins' choice by going on an undisclosed mission alone with Sir Prize.

Adventure Comics No. 358 (Aug. 1967) "The Hunter"

After the Legion was blackmailed into being hunted by Otto Orion, Invisible Kid was the only member to make it through the dangers - avoiding flying scanners, patrolling air-cars equipped with radar and sensor dogs. He even swung shirtless like a futuristic Tarzan through the jungles of Simballi. Finally, he determinedly climbed up a towering hill in a struggle to avoid Orion's energy barrage and reach the totem, which would end the hunt. Upon touching the totem pole, Orion lost the "game" and a pre-arranged explosive in his belt went off, killing him.

Adventure Comics No. 359/360 (Aug./Sept. 1967) "The Outlawed Legionnaires" / "The Legion Chain Gang"

The Legionnaires returned to Earth to find that the team was to be disbanded by a new "Anti-Legion Act". After Invisible Kid discovered that his own parents had been spying on him, he led his comrades on an underground mission to discover how the mind of everyone on the planet was being controlled. Along the way, they had to spring their captive buddies from the Metropolis Jail and then plan to free the others who were being worked on a chain gang on Takron-Galtos.

Adventure Comics No. 368 (May 1968) "The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines"

As Legion leader, Invisible Kid quarantined the girl members after they began to display increased abilities, not knowing that Ambassador Thora was secretly influencing them. Later, after being kicked out of the HQ, Invisible Kid continued Legion operations using one of their space-cruisers as a temporary base of operations until the crisis was over.

Adventure Comics No. 380 (May 1969) "The Legion's Space Odyssey"

When a number of Legionnaires were mysteriously stranded on a distant planet, Invisible Kid came up with the plans for a makeshift spaceship to carry them home. Working with Ultra Boy, he also came up with the idea for them to travel the end part of their journey through another continuum, where distances were shorter, so they could return home more quickly.

For information concerning Invisible Kid after 2969, click here.

Back to Top

Monitor Board