| abstract | - Staq Mavlen, alias Fire Lad hails from the human colony of Shwar. The planet has a very low oxygen content which the people had to adapt to over many years. Staq gained his ability to breathe fire from a falling meteor which crashed into his home planet. When he went to investigate he inhaled the fumes form the fallen rock. The fumes mutated his body allowing the ability to breathe fire. Staq decided to put his powers to good use so travelled to Earth to try out for the Legion of Super-Heroes. When he tried to demonstrate his powers they went out of control, burning things on site. It was then that he realised that Earth had more oxygen in the atmosphere compared to Shwar so his powers were increased to dangerous levels. He was deemed too uncontrollable by the Legion. Along with four other refused applicants, Polar Boy, Night Girl, Stone Boy and Fire Lad, he helped form the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a.k.a 'the Subs'. This team repeatedly proved their effectiveness as heroes - frequently saving the day where the Legion of Super-Heroes had failed. In 'gratitude', the Legion condescendingly permitted them to continue to function, and accepted them as 'Legion Reservists'. During the five-year gap Fire Lad, along with most of the other Subs, was accepted as a full member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, although he did not remain a member for long. Instead, he - together with former Subs colleagues Stone Boy, Chlorophyll Kid, Color Kid, Infectious Lass and Porcupine Pete among others - formed an underground resistance group to fight against the Dominators' occupation of Earth. The so-called Strategic Underground Battle Squad (S.U.B.S) was again, highly effective. After Earth was freed, the S.U.B.S. were offered full Legion membership, but declined. Instead, they joined the United Planets Military Academy, under the leadership of Chuck (Bouncing Boy) Taine-Durgo and Luornu (Duo Damsel) Durgo-Taine. File:Staq-1.gif
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