Ferro Lad

Original Ferro Lad

Luiza Karamante was a famous actress when she married Andrew Douglas Nolan. The couple became pregnant with twins, who were named after their father. One might have expected their children to be quite good-looking, but the boys were born horribly deformed faces. Their father died in a spaceship crash — some say it was a suicide — not long after, and the twins were named after their father. Notes: Ferro Lad's real name and the existence of his brother were first revealed in Adventure Comics #354 (Mar. 1967). His brother, Douglas Nolan, first appeared in that same Adult Legion story, in Adventure #354-355 (1967). The identity of their mother was established in Who's Who in the Legion #2 (June 1988), their father in Secret Origins #47 (Feb. 1990).

The two children, who were raised in secrecy, were nothing alike. Andrew was very outgoing and wished to experience everything that life could possibly offer. He craved attention, and would do anything to get it. Douglas, on the other hand, was quiet and introverted. It therefore made sense, when the two discovered that they had the power to turn into living iron, it was Andrew who went out and became Ferro Lad. (Secret Origins #47)

He joined the Legion on the eve of the second Khundish invasion of Earth, together with Nemesis Kid, Karate Kid and Princess Projectra. (Adventure #346) His mother feared that when his existence was discovered by the public, that his freakish appearance would turn public sentiment against her and destroy her acting career; instead, her masked son had become a beloved hero, only helping her out.

His Legion career, though, was regrettably brief. Just four months after he joined, he was one of the five Legionnaires on Earth when the Sun-Eater approached. When all other attempts to destroy it or divert it failed, Tharok of the newly-formed Fatal Five created a bomb that would absorb all of its energies, destroying it, but had to be delivered in person. Sensing that Superboy was weakened from the Sun-Eater's emission of red-sun radiation, Ferro Lad snatched the bomb and sacrificed himself to the killer cloud. (Just before his death, it was predicted by the White Witch, who claimed his fate was "too dreadful" to reveal. [ #351]) He was buried with honors on Shanghalla (#353), and his mother established a series of "Ferro Lad" action-adventure films in his memory. (Secret Origins #47)

After his death, there were several incidents which led some Legionnaires to believe that the ghost of Ferro Lad wandered the halls of the Legion headquarters. Right after his death, Superboy was captured by the Controller who created the Sun-Eater. Superboy was saved by some mysterious force, which he guessed was Andrew's ghost. The renegade Controller, incidentally, died after being startled by some unseen force. (#357)

And in another eerie predictor of fate, Invisible Kid and the young Chemical King, (Legionnaires who would also meet early ends) defeated a member of the Taurus Gang with the aid of mysterious force — Ferro Lad's ghost. (Legion vol. 3 #59)

At this point in the 30th century, humanoid cloning had not been perfected, but it didn't stop Brainiac 5 from trying. The Legion kept a bank of their members' cell tissue, and Brainy experimented with creating clones of both Ferro Lad and Invisible Kid. He, Mon-El and Saturn Girl sent these clones on a mission to meet Superboy in Smallville. It was a success but as feared, these clones were stable foronly 48 hours; their bodies exploded upon returning to the 30th century. (Superboy vol. 1 #206)

As for Ferro Lad's brother Douglas, he withdrew from social contact, preferring to live inside a delusional existence. His mother ultimately put him in the care of Brainiac 5 and Rond Vidar, who followed Douglas through various visions of alternate realities. In one, Douglas dreamt that he succeeded his brother in the Legion as Ferro Lad. Somehow, upon discovering this "heavenly place," Douglas' body vanished. (Legion vol. 2 #300)

Ferro: Glorith Reality (Legion vol. 4)

In Glorith Reality continuity, there was a "chronal duplicate" of Ferro Lad in the so-called SW6 Legionnaires. He shortened his code-name to "Ferro" and served on the New Earth team of Legionnaires. (Legion vol. 4 #24)

Notes

Writer Jim Shooter, who created Ferro Lad, purposely showed him memorialized before his own introduction. He had also intended on revealing Ferro Lad as black, but when his editor, Mort Weisinger, blocked that idea, Shooter was angered and killed off Ferro Lad with pleasure. —The Legion Companion

Tom & Mary Bierbaum on Ferro Lad: "Being a repulsive freak of nature has given Andrew a devil-may-care streak that almost borders on fatalism. There seems to be a death wish lurking somewhere in there, and a determination to have as much fun and shake up his teammates as much as possible until the inevitable end comes." —Interlac (2000)

Powers

Ferro Lad could transform his entire body into iron. In this state, he is completely mobile. However, when he is injured in his iron state, he risks injury upon reversion to human form.

Appearances + References