This page is for the original Invisible Kid, Lyle Norg.
For the current Invisible Kid, see: Jacques Foccart
Origin
Lyle Norg was a a genius and prodigy in biochemistry. He created a serum that allowed him to turn invisible, and earned a place in the Legion of Super-Heroes as one of its earliest members shortly after Colossal Boy and Chameleon Boy. A dedicated member, Lyle often engaged in regular exercise and combat training to make his contributions to the Legion greater. Though he often served covertly in the background, Lyle’s peers recognized his accomplishments and he was eventually elected the Legion’s fourth leader in the team’s fifth term.
Creation
Lyle Norg was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. Lyle was the first election where the readers were able to vote for Legion leader and Lyle’s success is largely attributed to the readership wanting to see him get more to do. Earth-247 Lyle was later revealed as gay, though this was only hinted at during his publication.
Character Evolution
Original Continuity: New Earth
Lyle was instrumental in helping the Legion win back Earth from its possession by Universo. Following his stint as leader, Lyle began to aid Legion cadet Chemical King in the use of his powers and the two became fast friends. After several years of service, Lyle began to be haunted by a ephemeral girl named Myla. Despite her intangibility, the two got along well and Lyle became romantically interested in her.
Reboot: Earth-247
The rebooted Lyle Norg was born on Earth-247 to scientist parents who often spent long periods of time away from home. As a result, young Lyle was predominantly raised by the Foccart family. A child prodigy, Lyle became interested in chemistry at an early age thanks to the Foccarts. Initially, he only created and patented things like new flavors of ice cream, but soon became more complex with his creations. His greatest invention was a serum that bent light around his body and clothing, rendering him invisible at will. EarthGov became interested in Lyle’s discovery and enlisted him to do some investigative work for them. He was joined by the powerless Jacques Foccart, whom Lyle considered a brother, and the young woman who would one day become the villainous Charma. Lyle’s knowledge of the Durlan language and close friendship with Chameleon suggests that he spent time on Durla during these days. On his last mission, Lyle was tricked into stealing his own formula. Jacques consumed it, but unlike Lyle he appeared to simply fade from existence. Disgusted, Lyle quit EarthGov and was instead drafted by Earth into the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Threeboot: Earth-Prime
Lyle was a child prodigy in this reality who was asked by his father and the government to create an invisibility serum. Upon learning that his father had planned to give it away for military use, Lyle decided to inject himself with the only sample so that it could never fall upon abusive hands. He lied about injecting himself, claiming instead the serum never worked. Lyle then contacted his colleague, Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes, for help in escaping from his parents who had registered him on public service. Lyle and Brainy had previously collaborated on the Legion flight rings. Brainy sponsored Lyle for Legion membership and he was accepted as Invisible Kid. At odds with his parents for running away, especially his military father, Lyle would later reconcile with the Norgs.
Retroboot: New Earth
The events of Infinite Crisis brought together the Legions of all three continuities. Afterward, the current Legion of Super-Heroes returned to being a close approximation of the original Pre-Crisis team, once again set on New Earth. Thus, Lyle Norg was deceased again. A statue continued to stand in his honor in the Legion’s memorial room. Invisible Kid II, also back in continuity, served still on the Legion in Lyle’s honor.
Major Story Arcs
Original Continuity: New Earth
The Death of Lyle Norg
When the villain Validus attacked Legion Headquarters to steal a device, Lyle was on invisible guard. He destroyed the device to prevent it from falling into enemy hands, but in the process was caught and crushed by Validus, killing Lyle. Myla then appeared to the Legion, revealing herself a ghost and promising to take care of Lyle in the afterlife. He was mourned by the Legion, especially Chemical King and Brainiac 5. Following Lyle’s death, his serum was protected by Brainy and was later used in a time of crisis to give powers to Jacques Foccart, who would go on to become Lyle’s successor as Invisible Kid.
Reboot: Earth-247
Legion Espionage Squad
Lyle was a stalwart member of the team and founder of the Legion Espionage Squad to do undercover work. He was instrumental in helping Cosmic Boy reveal that President Jeanne Chu was the mastermind behind the Braal-Titan War and helped Chameleon adapt to life on Earth. He even aided Cham in giving secret admirer gifts to Spark, who mistook them as being from Invisible Kid. When half the Legion was trapped in the 20th century, Lyle remained in the 30th and was elected leader by the membership. Though he didn’t want the job, Lyle proved adept at handling it. Months later, when the Legion was reunited, Lyle stepped down from leadership for private reasons and gave the job to Saturn Girl. Lyle was later captured by his old teammate Charma, seeking revenge on him. Lyle was freed by an unknown force, which he suspected may have been his lost “brother,” Jacques.
The Blight
When the Blight invaded Earth, Lyle was deemed a threat and had a choke-weed used on him that took him underground and used him as a living battery. He would have died if not for the Legion’s timely defeat of the Blight. The team was later disbanded and Lyle began covertly working with R.J. Brande to assemble Legion World. Lyle helped found the reformed team and served with them until they were lost in the timestream and Earth-247 was destroyed. He and his teammates are now part of the new Wanderers of the multiverse.
Threeboot: Earth-Prime
Leader of The Legion Espionage Squad
Lyle and the Legion helped the Wanderers fight the Dominators when the aliens invaded Earth. During the battle, Lyle’s flight ring blew up, and he lost his arm. He received an arm graft for a short period of time before a proper arm could be regrown for him. He developed feelings for time-lost member Supergirl, who didn’t reciprocate and ultimately left the team. On a mission to Triton, Lyle developed feelings for a local girl named Giselle who had been ridiculed by her people, but was afraid to show himself to her. To investigate matters that didn’t fall under the Legion’s proper jurisdiction, Lyle formed the top-secret Legion Espionage Squad and served as its leader. Eventually, Giselle joined the Legion as Gazelle. Lyle, still hiding from his crush, used virtual reality to make himself appear older and buffer than he truly was. Gazelle was fond of this form, but when Lyle’s ruse was uncovered she didn’t seem to mind the real Lyle either.
Powers and Abilities
Invisibility
Invisible Kid developed and consumed a serum that allowed him to turn any or all parts of his body invisible at will. In the post-boot reality, he could make others invisible though it took extreme concentration.
Equipment
As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Invisible Kid possesses a Legion Flight Ring. The ring gives its wearer the ability to fly, the speed and range of which is determined by the wearer’s willpower. It also acts as a long-range communicator (enabling constant vocal contact with other Legionnaires, even across vast distances of space), a signal device, and a navigational compass, all powered by a micro-computer built inside the ring.
Other Versions
Five Years Later: Batch SW6
At least a decade later, following the Five Year Later of the Magic Wars. The Dominators located time-displaced copies of the Legion of Super-Heroes from their younger days, including Invisible Kid. They were dubbed Batch SW6. The team in fact only had memories up until Invisible Kid’s time as leader, so the young Lyle became the defacto leader again and aided them in their survival on a dystopian Earth. These young Legionnaires eventually met up with their adult counterparts and Lyle was surprised to learn that he had died. He later met his parents, 17 years older than he remembered and who were ecstatic to see their son alive again. These young heroes went on to become the Legionnaires of New Earth, where Lyle protested another stint as leader and helped nominate Cosmic Boy. Lyle served as a Legionnaire until Zero Hour, where he and several other scientists discovered that the timestream was collapsing on their reality. Lyle was one of many causalities before this continuity was wiped from existence, having faded away in-between issues.