Who's This? The Boy of Steel (not that one).
The facts: A Jim Shooter creation first appearing in Adventure Comics #346 (July 1968), he was intended to be black, but editor Mort Weisinger vetoed the idea, famously saying "we'll lose our distribution in the South". So Shooter killed him off in protest when the Sun-Eater came along (7 issues later). He then basically became "that Legionnaire who died", his statue appearing often as a reminder of what could happen, and Ferro Lad stories being about his ghost, his twin brother or some other convenience (and a couple flashbacks). In the 5YL era, he was resurrected as one of the Batch SW6 Legionnaires (kind of a signpost for when they were temporally cloned). In the Reboot, he was a mutant from the 20th Century who was brought forward by the Legion after surviving Final Night and ITS Sun-Eater. He had a long career with this version of the team. He was not used by later reboots.
How you could have heard of him: That statue (never forget). But for animated series fans, he does appear on that show and once again sacrifices himself to destroy the Sun-Eater. He was voiced by Dave Wittenberg.
Example story: Adventure Comics #357 (June 1967), "The Ghost of Ferro Lad!" by Jim Shooter, Curt Swan and George Klein
Is this a hoax, a Silver Age manipulation, or is it really the last chronological appearance of the original Ferro Lad? At this point, he's been dead all of four issues, and his statue has yet to be established (Shooter would do that in an "Adult Legion" story to make sure he stayed dead), but there IS a Ferro Lad memorial room at the HQ, and the Legionnaires are still visiting his grave.
Superboy is particularly affected, because Ferro Lad died in his place, but his survivor's guilt is nothing compared to how Cosmic Boy is (perhaps literally) haunted by his former team mate, a glowing ghost blaming him for letting him die. Cos is awakened by a priority alert soon finds Superboy being attacked by a poltergeist... Ferro Lad? The Boy of Steel is downed by the kryptonite flung at him and the rest of the team doesn't fare too well either.
The crashing pieces of machinery cause an explosion that the Legionnaires barely crawl out of alive. And etched on the wall, a message: "Each time I come, I get stronger." It's signed with Colossal Boy's symbol, but that's got to be a mistake. Cos reads it as Ferro Lad's (maybe it was changed later). He calls in more Legionnaires and Brainiac 5 is incensed that Cos would believe in ghosts. He and Saturn Girl think the team is under some kind of hysteria and Brainy particularly suspects Princess Projectra, who could have the power to simulate a ghost. He sabotages her powers with a psychic image disruptor, and when she claims to see the ghost and he doesn't, his suspicions seem to be confirmed.
But the other Legionnaires see it too. In fact, it's gigantic and it attacks them!
Brainy still doesn't see anything. Neither does Saturn Girl, but she does sense an angry presence, so angry she passes out. In the wake of the attack, Ferro's belongings, used as psychic bait, are burning. Proof!? Here, the narrator asks if YOU, dear reader, believe in the ghost. It's the Silver Age, so I'd say no. It's the era of hoaxes. But what if this is a double hoax? Time for a seance, and Projectra is kind of a medium on the side.
But wait, accusatory Ferro Lad! We just saw Brainiac 5 remove the illusion disruptor from Projecta's cape. She could totally be doing this, if we could only explain why. And if it's really his ghost out for revenge, why isn't he haunting some Controllers somewhere. Four of the Legion's power houses accept the ultimatum and quit the team. Brainy throws up his hands in defeat and disbands the team. (Did someone check the Constitution?) Oh, but did I mention the Controllers?
The "Last Controller" grabs Superboy and reveals his plans to him. That the Sun-Eater was HIS weapon with which to police his sector of the universe. That the other Controllers eventually abandoned their mission, but he stayed and mad with power, decided to destroy a whole galaxy to show he's the bawsss. The Legion ruined his plans, but now he wants to trade up. Use the team as his new weapon. So he secreted a psychic projector in the Legion Clubhouse and used it to simulate the haunting. He has mind control technology, but it only works on demoralized minds. And now haunted and disbanded, that's what the Legion is - demoralized, and ripe for control. In a stasis field, Superboy can't even use his Legion ring to warn his friends, and yet...
The team shows up, the Controller runs, he's about to hit a lever that will destroy the room they're in... when he hears a voice say "Don't touch it!" He recoils in fear. No, it's not possible! Get away! And then the Legionnaires find him dead from a heart attack. And so yes, this IS the last chronological appearance of Ferro Lad.
Spoooooky... Ferro Lad of course had potential, and the fact that he got to live on in the Reboot era especially did wonders for a character who was notable mostly for being dead (like Uncle Ben or Bruce Wayne's parents, or for a while there, Bucky and Barry Allen). Shooter had a story to tell with him that he never got to, and while it was a bit of a tantrum that killed him off, heroes didn't often die in those days, so it was a shock. And if you can't tell the human story you want to tell with the character, he becomes just another hero with super strength and invulnerability, which the Legion has plenty of already. I predict that had he survived, he would have been mostly sidelined even by Shooter's successors.
Who's Next? A malicious musician.
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