Who's This? The Legion Flight Ring's inventor.
The facts: The original Invisible Kid, Lyle Norg, makes his debut in Action Comics #267 (August 1960) by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. Pegged as the Legion's best scientist after Brainiac 5, Lyle also served on the Legion Espionage Squad on account of his powers. Fan lore would have it that he was gay and for a time in a relationship with Chemical King, a perhaps easy thing to say since both Legionnaires tragically died. Invisible Kid was killed by Validus in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #203 (1974). But it wasn't the end. He was a prominent member of the Reboot Legion (and previously, the SW6 team), where he invented the Legion Flight Ring (I don't think anyone got the credit in the original continuity, so it could still be him). He was also in the Threeboot.
How you could have heard of him: Dead Legionnaires tend to have sticking power, so Invisible Kid's statue is often shown, and of course, his legacy lived on in a second Invisible Kid.
Example story: Adventure Comics #358 (July 1967) "The Hunter" by Jim Shooter and George Papp
The Hunter is a Kraven-like villain who got bored hunting animals and decided to turn to the next natural step - hunting Legionnaires. He plans to use the beasts he's captured and not stuffed, ready to be deployed by his fleet of ships (Kraven really has to up his game). The lure: A threat to the Legion that they should surrender lest he destroy the Earth. That should have them chomping at the bit! Current Legion leader Invisible Kid is mostly impressed with the Hunter's skywriting, however.
As Legionnaires fight alien creatures all over the world, the question WE want to ask is how a simple invisible scientist is faring. Not well, unless it's in his spot-on animal identification.
It seems there's an animal to counter each of the Legionnaires' powers, even a kryptonite beast to take care of Superboy. And so the Legion HAS to surrender. Hunter has them captured, but that's not the hunt he wants. He'll release them on his planet, THEN hunt them down! Invisible Kid mostly uses his leadership skills, telling Legionnaires what to do so they can get out of this bind. He's the sharpest tool in the shed, and his words cut through the noise!
Writer Jim Shooter will grow up to be just like him, except the Legionnaires follow orders without getting all pissy (well, it's Shooter's fantasy). But one by one, the Legionnaires all get caught, until you realize this is going to be one of those underdog stories where the weakest member of the team will prevail.
And can I just say? I think we underestimate Lyle's physical prowess.
His goal? Get to the totem signpost Hunter has designated as the safe zone. It's on top of a big rock, and the Hunter's not going to let him get there easily!
That's the Hunter's ship exploding, because he wanted a real thrill and booby-trapped his own gear. If a Legionnaire reached the totem, it would all blow up. It HAD to be a life or death struggle, and well, Legionnaires don't kill. The Kid declares him dead at the scene. His henchman cries over him and takes the body away... But he returns as a member of the Legion of Super-Villains, doesn't he? Noooo, Siskoid. This was Otto Orion. The guy you're talking about is ADAM Orion, his SON, who transferred his revenge impulse on the entire Legion since Invisible Kid was no longer available. It's true, the other guy had lots of HAIR.
Lyle acquits himself quite well here, and I think characters like this make great leaders (see also the second Kid in the 5YL era and the Invisible Woman in the Fantastic Four, although she has more powers). Invisibility isn't the flashiest power, but it does the job, and making them leader puts the spotlight on them where the power set normally wouldn't. I liked his a lot in the Reboot, too.
Who's Next? The pride of the Ivory Coast.
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