Secret Origins v2 #46 (1989)
by Gerard Jones & Curt Swan
cover by Dick Giordano
The writer of the Legion story in the book was arrested in 2016 and spent six years in jail for something I don’t want to mention, so I won’t even name him.
Also there’s an unpublished alternate version of this story that has survived nearly intact and that I will cover separately.
But let’s not dwell into the darker stuff, because this is refreshingly a rather light-hearted story.
The issue was dedicated to the secret origins of superhero headquarters, so we flash back to the earliest days of the Legion where they’re looking for a place for their superhero club.
You might find it odd that they’re shopping for a place to stay when their benefactor is the richest man in the galaxy, but it’s actually addressed.
But this is also significant because it’s going to show the EARLIEST application ever!!!
This is going to add SEVEN rejected members, but only three receive names.
I’m still adding Contortionist Boy, Bird Lad, Flower Girl and Tentacle Kid.
It also has some pretty funny credits.
Only one of the potential recruits is well-remembered by the Legion fandom.
The man.
The legend.
Arm-Fall-Off-Boy.
Greatest superpower ever, no notes.
Even the Legion is speechless at his awesomeness.
Next is Mnemonic Kid. Who has the power to make a telepath forget how to spell.
And I’m only partially joking, because her power really is creating amnesia.
I’m a huge fan of superheroes having powers that are more suitable to supervillains, and having to balance the moral implications of “evil” powers.
Too bad Mnemonic Kid is a psycho.
You can see that the Legion tradition of completely ignoring the psychos that attend their auditions.
After they help the kid find his mom, they interview the last candidate: Fortress Lad, who is basically Stone Boy if he was useful.
The Legion is being really shortsighted here. None of them is invulnerable, so a teammate capable of turning into something that could protect them WOULD be useful!!!
Mnemonic Kid takes her revenge by making the Legionnaires remember who they are, or even their powers.
Thankfully Fortress Boy saves them by, as you may have guessed by his looks, turning into the original Legion headquarters.
As the Legion partially recover their memories, Mnemonic Kid mercilessly erases Fortress Boy’s as he makes a heroic last stand.
So once they get out of the base, all they see is Mnemonic Kid trying to shoot them.
And inexplicably she dies from the grenade she launched, despite being farther back than the Legionnaires.
The Legion DOES remember who Mnemonic Kid was…
…but not who Fortress Boy was, despite taking his corpse as their new base of operations.
Arm-Falls-Off-Boy is a fan-favorite. Although this is his only appearance in this continuity, alternate versions have popped up.
They play up his ridiculousness, in stark contrast to the original being kind of a jackass.
He was also the direct inspiration for TDK, “The Detachable Kid”, in James Gunn’s Suicide Squad movie. Allegedly the codename might have been changed with the intention to avoid giving Gerard Jones any credit for creating the original character. But I couldn’t find confirmation for this.
What IS confirmed is that Arm-Falls-Off-Boy was directly inspired by Ear-Fall-Off Floyd, a superhero parody from the fanzine Fandom Funnies created by Jay L. Zilber and Jim McPherson.
Interlac, the most historically significant Legion fanzine, picked up Ear-Fall-Off Floyd as a running joke. Gerard Jones apparently misremembered the name as Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, and a legend was born.
Legion significance: 4/10
The enduring legacy of Arm-Falls-Off-Boy begins. However I don’t think Fortress Lad has ever been mentioned again.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
She sheer ridiculousness of these powers…
Depression scale: 5/10
…balanced by the revelation that the Legion used to live inside the corpse of a boy they completely forgot saved their lives.
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
Very brief and doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is half the fun. Although there IS some pathos in Fortress Lad’s sacrifice, and Mnemonic Kid is one of the most deranged rejected members… WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING.
You have to turn off your brain to buy that the Legion NEVER finds out about Fortress Lad, but that’s half the fun of doing a Silver Age throwback.
We are legion
58 people have been rejected
I loved the subtle manner in which the sound effects of Fortress Lad’s story tell how his home planet got its name.
Is Fortress Lad a corpse? The last line of the story says Fortress Lad was left with only one thought: Never give up. Never give up. It implied to me that he lived on, essentially brain dead, while the Legion simply went about their business inside his body. Perhaps he finally died when the Fatal Five battered the clubhouse.
I really don’t like this story, even if it does introduce Arm-Fall-Off Boy.
And may someone who shall not be named burn in Hell.
I find that if I ever need to explain the most ridiculous super hero concept I lean on Arm-Fall-Off Boy time and time again (but it’s not “Falls”, show some respect to the legend, dammit!). He is the gift that keeps on giving … his arm!
But seriously, I had no idea why his name was changed, but I GEEKED THE F OUT when I saw him in the Suicide Squad. He died, but I expect him to be rebooted in James Gunn new DC film universe.or at least an origin story in Peacemaker season 2.