Invisible Kid

Two Legionnaires have gone by the name "Invisible Kid." The original was Lyle Norg, one of the first Legionnaires introduced, in Action Comics #267 (Aug. 1960). He became a legendary hero and served with distinction, but suffered an early death at the hands of Validus (Superboy #203, July/Aug. 1974).

Years after that, in Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 Annual #1 (1982), Jacques Foccart gained Lyle's super-powers and became the new Invisible Kid. In some latter incarnations of the Legion (in comics and animation), Invisible Kid has been the Jacques version.

Original Invisible Kid

Lyle Norg was a boy genius who earned a degree in biochemistry from Metropolis University at age twelve. He was employed by a number of laboratories while working privately on a pet project: a serum to make himself invisible. After a few years, he succeeded. He used Element 271 to make his sweat glands produce a compound that rendered him invisible to the human eye. The formula was closely tailored to Lyle's own physiology and could produce a fatal allergic reaction in others. (Superboy vol. 1 #176, Legion vol. 3 #17) Note: Invisible Kid's real name was first revealed in Superman Annual #4 (1961). His parents first appeared in Adventure #356 (1967; they were never named).

He first encountered the newly formed Legion of Super-Heroes via their benefactor, R.J. Brande, who hired Lyle as his bodyguard. An invisible protector was a wise move — Lyle stopped a gunman. (Legion: Secret Origin #3)

Very soon after this, Lyle decided to play a practical joke on the Legion (which had five members), hiding in their clubhouse invisibly and making it seem haunted. After the prank was exposed, he was inducted together with Colossal Boy and Chameleon Boy. Invisible Kid's intelligence was regarded as second only to Brainiac 5's, and his stealth as valuable as Chameleon Boy's. Lyle was humbled by this chance to challenge himself, (Legion: Secret Origin #4) and the Legionnaires recognized his worth by electing him as the fourth Legion leader. (Adventure Comics #348)

At the request of Jimmy Olsen, Invisible Kid, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl visited the 20th century and imbued Superman with their powers after Superman had temporarily lost his own. (Superman #172)

Lyle became the mentor to the young Condo Arlik, a boy whose elemental powers also led him to study science. Lyle adapted the chemistry of his own serum to help Condo control his powers and enrolled him in the Legion Academy, as Chemical King. (Secret Origins #47)

Lyle and Condo became best friends and teamed up on missions. In an eerie predictor of their fates, they defeated a member of the Taurus Gang with the unseen aid of a mysterious force — the ghost of the fallen Ferro Lad. (Legion vol. 3 #59) Invisible Kid and Chemical King also teamed to defeat the "Invisible Invader," a thief who had duplicated Invisible Kid's invisibility formula. (Superboy vol. 1 #176)

At some point, Lyle discovered that using his powers made him sensitive to the existence of some "invisible realm." There he met and became infatuated with a woman named Myla. He believed that he was passing over to her world when he became invisible, but she was actually a ghost. When the monster Validus attacked Legion headquarters, Lyle found the way to stop the monster. But just as he succeeded, Validus crushed Invisible Kid to death. He was buried with honors on Shanghalla. There the Legionnaires were surprised by a visit from Myla herself. She promised to accompany Lyle's spirit in the afterlife. (Superboy vol. 1 #203)

Posthumous Appearances

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 succeeded in creating clones of both Invisible Kid and Ferro Lad. He, Mon-El and Saturn Girl sent these clones on a mission to meet Superboy in Smallville. Despite the success, these clones were stable for only 48 hours and their bodies exploded upon returning to the 30th century. (Superboy vol. 1 #206)

Lyle's invisibility serum was safeguarded by Brainiac 5, and years later used in an emergency by the young Jacques Foccart. Jacques survived the ingestion of the potentially fatal potion and joined the Legion as Invisible Kid II. (Legion vol. 2 Annual #1)

Soon after his transformation, Jacques experienced some side effects of the invisibility powers. It was perhaps similar to Lyle's meeting with Myla; in a moment of panic, Jacques teleported into another dimension. There he met a person appearing to be Lyle Norg! (Legion vol. 2 #299) This "Lyle" managed to come to Earth (#310), but he was exposed as the Dream Demon, the master of that dimension. After defeating the creature, Jacques and Wildfire lit an eternal flame on Shanghalla as a tribute to Lyle. (#316–317)

When the entity called Parallax brought about crisis in time called "Zero Hour," the original Legion's timeline came to an end (leading to the Reboot). Just before the collapse of the 31st century, the Fatal Five (from an early point in their existence) escaped in a Legion Time Bubble to the 21st century... with Invisible Kid as a stowaway! In the past, Lyle freed Waverider, who explained that they were inside a splinter universe created by Parallax after his defeat. But it was Waverider's duty to bring this timeline to an end. Despite the efforts of Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, he did just that. That universe also ceased to exist; did Lyle escape again? (Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special #1)

Glorith Reality: The Batch SW6 Invisible Kid (III)

In the Legion's earlier days, the Time Trapper had created duplicates of the Legionnaires and stored them in suspended animation below Metropolis. These so-called Batch SW6 Legionnaires were true duplicates of the originals — and included the original Invisible Kid. (Legion vol. 4 #24)

The teen Legionnaires were unearthed by a geological upheaval, reestablished themselves on Earth, and operated simultaneously with their adult counterparts. Lyle's peers chose to continue with him as their leader (as he was around the time they were cloned). (#25) This Lyle was unexpectedly reunited with his parents, who were understandably shocked to see their son alive again after more than a decade. (#41)

He adopted a new black uniform, in remembrance of three Legionnaires who died while executing Lyle's orders. (Legionnaires #1)

Invisible Kid was a gifted scientist who helped Rond Vidar investigate disturbances in the timestream. Their attempts to fix time were unsuccessful and the SW6 Invisible Kid vanished during Zero Hour. (Legion vol. 4 #61)

Notes

Tom and Mary Bierbaum on Invisible Kid: "Extremely intelligent, quiet, possibly gay. Very much prefers to quietly blend into the ranks, but is also very capable of asserting himself as a leader when called upon."

Tom Bierbaum on Invisible Kid (Lyle): "Based on implications of Robert Fleming's excellent Secret Origin of Chemical King (#47), we lean toward Invisible Kid being gay, but I don't think we ever had the reason or opportunity to even hint much at that." —It's OK I'm a Senator

Powers

Invisible Kid produces a chemical on his skin that renders him undetectable on any electromagnetic wavelength. However, he can be "found" by infrared or olfactory sensors.

Appearances + References