Color Kid

Here are some thoughts on Ulu Vakk from a past mailing of Apa-LSH when Color Kid was one of the subjects of the mailing.. I always liked Color Kid and was glad to see him phase from being just another quickly rejected applicant to a mainstay in the Subs. I’m guessing that his ascension was a gift from E. Nelson Bridwell, who I believe tossed Ulu into the Subs in the “Devil’s Dozen” story. It would certainly be like Nelson to be aware of a relatively viable recent applicant to add to the Subs team. And it was quite an innovation – at that point every single other member of the Subs was a part of the original team. (And for the very first time, I’m realizing that Nelson also included an enormous clue as to the identity of Sir Prize and Miss Terious in that story – Star Boy and Dream Girl should have been shown among the Subs in their subplot in that Adventure #351 story since last we’d seen of them, the Subs had become their home after Star Boy’s expulsion for killing Kenz Nuhor. But of cource Nura & Thom couldn’t share the Subs’ mission because they were wearing their lead-lined armor and gallivanting with the varsity squad.) It was always interesting to show Color Kid accomplish big things with his seemingly humble power, though in that sense he exemplified an endemic problem with super-heroes -- that they tend to stretch their powers to solve whatever impossible jam they might find themselves in this month and before long, they’ve accumulated so many exceptional applications of their powers that you spend half the comic explaining why all those great tactics don’t apply this month so the new jam they’re in can demand a surprising new solution. For example, Ulu’s ability to defuse the threat of Green K by changing its color was a quick end-of-story twist that implied capacities to the Color Kid power set that were probably best left unused in the future. (It occurred to me recently for the first time that Bridwell may have specifically added Color Kid to the Subs in this story specifically so he could pull the twist at the end of the story to defuse the threat of the Kryptonite cloud.) I enjoyed it when we were able to ratchet up Ulu’s powers during the Terra Mosaic (where he created an explosive light show of colors to dazzle and temporarily blind the Dominator opposition). And that’s a pretty logical extension of his power that wouldn’t have been too difficult to work into future Subs battles. I myself never had a strong feeling about Color Kid’s personality. He seemed like a pretty straightforward, pretty typical Sub – dedicated, hard-working, no ego to speak of. As with other supporting cast that we only briefly touched on, I’m guessing we’d have filled his personality out somewhat if we’d spent a lot of time with him, but for now, he’s a pretty open canvas to me, which isn’t a bad thing. I like a Legion cast that’s got plenty of characters that fit comfortably into the background until and unless they get some time in the spotlight.