History: (Adventure Comics I #306) - Like all natives of Tharr, Brek possessed cold-based powers, and created the superhero identity of Polar Boy. He had dreams of making it big and traveled to Earth to apply for membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes, but was rejected because of his poor control over his powers. He met up with several other rejected Legionnaire hopefuls, after giving them a pep talk, they decided that even though they weren’t Legion material, they could still use their powers to help people. They formed the Legion of Substitute Heroes, vowing to help people and, if need be, the Legion of Super-Heroes in their time of need. They built their own clubhouse in the side of a mountain as well as a spaceship and Science Police monitoring system. They got a warning about giant evolved sea creatures that had escaped from the Ocean Research Laboratory, and were quick to respond, but the LOSH were already on the scene wrangling the beasts. The next Science Police alert came when scientists who’d built a domed city in the Arctic went rogue. They secretly built an atomic power plant under the dome, propelling the city into space, and delivered an ultimatum that they’d use the advanced weaponry they’d built to attack Earth unless they were given tribute. The Substitute Heroes flew into space, but Sun Boy of the Legion streaked through space near the domed city, and fearing they were about to be hit by a meteorite the scientists piloted their city back to Earth where they were apprehended by Colossal Boy and Cosmic Boy. Robot-ships attacked Earth and Polar Boy offered the Legion back-up, but Brainiac 5 refused him, saying the mission was too dangerous for untrained civilians. The Substitute Heroes’ anxieties finally got to them, and they decided they were no help as a team after all and prepared to disband. Chlorophyll Kid spotted seeds that had rained down from space, and used his plant growth powers on one. The seed grew into a plant man that attacked him, and the Substitute Heroes defeated it, and Fire-Lad incinerated the rest of the seeds. They learned from their monitor system that the seeds had come from a distant planet that had also sent the robot-ships. The robot-ships were meant to divert the Legion while the planet rocketed more seeds to Earth to conquer the planet. The Substitutes traveled to the planet, found the warehouse storing millions of seeds, and Chlorophyll Kid used his powers to prematurely grow them to plant men. The planet was now burdened with a population explosion, and had to cease its’ plans of invasion. The Substitutes decided to stay together after all, and were pleased to keep their victory a secret amongst themselves, and attended a parade for the Legion celebrating their defeat of the robot-ships.

(DC Comics Presents #59) - Ambush Bug broke out of jail and decided to annoy Superman, teleporting on his back and wrapping his cape around his head as he was traveling through time. Superman had an errand to run in the 40th Century, but couldn't bring the Bug, so he stopped by the 30th century and dropped him by the Legion of Substitute Heroes, who were subbing for the MIA Legion. Polar Boy put him in a holding cell, and assured Superman everything would be okay. Superman ran his errand only to find Ambush Bug had escaped the heroes' custody. Chlorophyll Kid admitted that their holding cell was broken, so they had Bug in an aquarium tank. The Science Police alerted Superman to the chaos Bug was causing, and he was currently running through the Superman Museum. Superman dreaded Ambush Bug discovering his secret identity, and flew to the museum with the Substitute Heroes. He tried frying all the bugs he used to teleport, but Ambush Bug had more stored in his antennae. Superman reasoned that Ambush Bug could be tricked by putting up signs telling him not to enter a room, and not to push a button, and as soon as the signs were up Ambush Bug activated a Phantom Zone projector, trapping him. Superman gave the Subs a pep talk, telling them they'd make their own legends one day.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #4) - The Legion of Super-Villains invaded Orando and captured Queen Projecta and Karate Kid. On Earth Cosmic Boy agreed to keep watch on the planet while Element Lad assembled the rest of the Legion to fly a ship to Orando. Cosmic Lad felt some sense of relief when night Girl sent him a video message offering the support of the Legion of Substitute Heroes. The Legion of Super-Villains warped Orando to a space between dimensions, inadvertently taking several Legionnaires with them. The LSV planned on finding other worlds where there was no Legion to foil them and conquering them. Dream Girl, acting as deputy leader with Element Lad on Orando, called Cosmic Boy to check in on Earth. Cosmic Boy now had the back-up of reservists Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel, the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Legion Academy.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #14) - The Legion interviewed applicants during their membership drive after the retirement of their founding members and had them demonstrate their powers. The Legion Academy all tried out, with Bouncing Boy on hand to cheer them on. Mentalla applied for membership, saying she’d be a valuable addition because her powers were similar to Saturn Girl, although her telepathy was used to control minds instead of reading them. Comet Queen, Magnetic Kid and Tellus all made it to the second round, and were given a trial by fire, joining the Legion on a mission to find out why the bridges and drainage systems of the California Coastal District were breaking down. Brainiac 5 led the mission, and had Mon-El team up with Magnetic Kid to use their powers to raise the newly sunken sections of California. Comet Queen rescued civilians in danger of drowning and Tellus picked up the thought-patterns of someone with sabotage on their mind. At Legion hq Energy Boy demonstrated he ability to create nuclo-globes when Polar Boy interrupted him by freezing his nuclo-globe and hands to show the Legion that he’d gotten much better at controlling his powers. He told the Legion he’d dissolved the Subs, and asked that they waive their old rule that new applicants had to be under 18 to consider him. Tellus led his teammates to the northern cost, where he sensed the thought-patterns coming from. The coast buckled and Mon-El went to investigate, finding Dev-Em on the scene. Dev-Em was now working for the U.P.’s Counter-Intelligence Corps and was also investigating the damage being done to California. Dev-Em made it very clear he was not impressed with the new would-be Legionnaires, and said the Legion would be better off if they offered him membership again. Dev-Em said the Corps had learned that the Dark Circle left behind a few stragglers on Earth to commit acts of sabotage, and Tellus tracked down the saboteur, an Ontiir clone. The clone sat in a weapon-chair and was set off another destructive device that caused a tidal wave. Mon-El used his heat vision to evaporate the tidal wave while his teammates tried to pierce the clone’s forcefield. Quislet, an adventurer from a microscopic dimension flying in a miniatures Trans-D Vessel, joined the fray in an attempt to impress the Legion. Quislet could animate inanimate matter, and took control of the clone’s weapon-chair, using it to defeat him. Quislet returned to his Vessel, and the weapon-chair crumbled to dust, as was usually the case for any matter Quislet possessed. The Legion inducted Magnetic Kid, Polar Boy, Quislet and Tellus as new members. Saturn Girl said she had a recruit with an excellent reason to join the team, Sensor Girl. She wouldn’t reveal anything about Sensor Girl, but asked the Legion to trust her, much like they trusted her telepathy when she recommended Element Lad as a member, and the Legion welcomed Sensor Girl to their ranks.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #15) - Wildfire took the new Legion recruits on a training course aboard a Legion cruiser, but a solar flare hit their vessel. Wildfire’s containment suit was destroyed, and he had to return to a Legion storage tesseract to get a new suit, grumbling that Brainiac 5 was unable to mass produce suits that gave him consistent powers. The beacon that lured spacefaring dragons away from Imsk while migrating malfunctioned, and Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Shadow Lass and Mon-El went to deal with the situation. Sun Boy used his solar powers to keep the dragons away from Imsk until the beacon was repaired. Element Lad contacted them via holo-screen and told them the new recruits were missing, and sent them to investigate. He assembled Blok, Dawnstar, Lightning Lass, White Witch and Ultra Boy to act as backup if needed. Dream Girl questioned his leadership abilities, asking why he was spreading the Legion so thin without going on the mission himself, and Star Boy told him to ignore her.  The Legion went to the quadrant where the rookies were last seen and came across a star that shot solar flares at them, dragging them to a nearby asteroid. The Legion realized that a beam from the asteroid was guiding the solar flares. Dr. Regulus was behind the attacks and revealed his captives. He was being aided by the burning ones, flame creatures that lived on the asteroid, and promised to free his hostages if Sun Boy fought him in one-on-one combat. Regulus’ quest for vengeance had driven him near madness, and he still blamed Sun Boy for costing him his job. The Legionnaires left Sun Boy to his confrontation with his nemesis, and although Regulus had the upper hand with the Burning Ones at his side Sun Boy slipped his Legion flight ring on Regulus, causing him to fly upward and knock himself out against a cavern wall.

Comments: Created by Edmond Hamilton & John Forte.