Matter-Eater Lad

Born on the planet Bismoll, where all inhabitants evolved the ability to eat any substance after microbes rendered their food inedible, Tenzil Kem joined the Legion of Super-Heroes as Matter-Eater Lad, using his power to bite and digest any matter as a unique weapon.

Few Silver Age concepts swing as boldly as Matter-Eater Lad, who burst onto the scene in Adventure Comics #304 in 1963, courtesy of Legion architects Jerry Siegel and John Forte. With a power premise that is genuinely, gloriously unlike anything else in superhero comics, this DC original has kept readers grinning — and occasionally scratching their heads — across an extraordinary six-decade run stretching all the way to 2025. He shares his adventures with some of the Legion's brightest stars, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, and Ultra Boy, and his place in the canon is cemented by six key collector issues that prove even the most delightfully offbeat characters earn their legends. If you're browsing the sprawling tapestry of the Legion era and want a character who embodies the Silver Age's fearless, anything-goes imagination, Matter-Eater Lad is absolutely worth your time.