Who's This? A technicolor hero.
The facts: Not one of the original Subs, Color Kid was a suggestion from reader Jeff Greenberg in the Adventure Comics #309 who finally tried out for the Legion of Super-Heroes three years later in Adventure #342 (March 1966). Rejected, he next appeared as a member of the Subs in Adventure #351. He stayed the team thereafter, through the Giffen era where he was one of the bigger jokes, through the 5YL era where he was part of Earth's Resistance, but not beyond. In Geoff Johns' retroboot, we were told he'd been blinded by Earth Man and replaced by Rainbow Girl. Booo.
How you could have heard of him: He did appear in the Legion Animated Series, again joining the Subs, and appearing in 5 episodes.
Example story: Adventure Comics #351 (December 1966) "The Forgotten Legion!" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Curt Swan and George Klein
There's a lot happening in Color Kid's first Substitute mission - Evillo and his Devil's Dozen (there are 4 of them), the Legion of Super-Pets, an amnesiac Supergirl, White Witch's first appearance, Mr. Mxyzptlk getting a haircut... - so we'll stick with Color Kid's bits, if you don't mind. Let's answer the big question: Is a guy whose power is to change the color of things at all useful?! Let's catch up to the Subs in their secret cave HQ...
Is Color Kid the reason I can get purple carrots and golden beets? It's not really useful in a superhero capacity, but who doesn't love presentation variety in their salads? The Subs are then given a mission to go back in time and get a print from a magic horseshoe as part of a spell that'll turn the Hag back into Dream Girl's sister... or something. Still with me? Supergirl has an enchanted horse, so couldn't she call Comet to help? Except both Superboy and Supergirl have had their memories erased in the previous issue after quitting the Legion on account of a green kryptonite cloud in 30th-Century Earth's atmosphere said to last a couple years. So she doesn't know the Subs, and doesn't trust them, and calls the entire Legion of Super-Pets on them.
Wisely, Color Kid stands at the back. Time to do a thing, Ulu! Well, how about making the two Kryptonian members of the team think Stone Boy is made of Green K?
It works! (Chlorophyll Kid making catnip for Streaky is also a fun bit.) After the Subs have tricked Comet into giving them its hoof prints, they go home and Mysa is indeed restored. And then Superboy and Supergirl walk in like nothing's happened. What's up? Color Kid, that's what!
Our boy has turned the Greek K cloud into a Blue K cloud, apparently changing the kryptonite's entire radiation profile as a result. Status quo restored! (Had I been the Supers, I would have just flown past the two irradiated years, and skipped a lot of Silver Age madness, but that's me.)
At this point in their history, the Subs weren't incompetent, just low-powered, and it was fun to see them find ways to make their abilities actually useful. They would drop to the bottom of the barrel (Color Kid especially) in the 80s, but bounce back up eventually. Color Kid as a resistance fighter turning people's corneas opaque kept him in the game. Very unfortunate that later writers didn't see the value, though his elimination from the team was probably triggered by Night Girl making good and the group needing a new female member.
Who's Next? The biggest Legionnaire.
Comments