MATTER-EATER LAD (Tenzil Kem)
Created By: Jerry Siegel & John Forte
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #303 (Dec. 1962)
Home Planet: Bismoll
Origin of Powers: Racial Abilities
Eras: All Three (as Team Chef & Government Agent in latter two)
Relationships: Shrinking Violet (Unrequited Crush)
Role: Joke Superhero, Deliberately-Silly Hero
PL 7 (103), PL 10 (103) to Objects
STRENGTH 2
STAMINA 3
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7
DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1
AWARENESS 1
PRESENCE 2
Skills:
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Chef) 8 (+9)
Expertise (Civics) 2 (+3)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 5 (+6)
Perception 2 (+3)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Advantages:
Benefit (Fame), Equipment 10 (Legion Gear), Ranged Attack 2
Powers:
"Bismollian Physiology"
"Super-Bite" Damage 6 (Extras: Penetrating 12) (Flaws: Limited to Small Bite-Sized Chunks) [15]
Linked to
"Matter Eating" Weaken Toughness 12 (Flaws: Limited to Small Bite-Sized Chunks, Limited to Objects) [3]
"Can Eat Anything" Immunity 2 (Poison, Radiation) (Flaws: Limited to When Eaten) [1]
Immunity 1 (Over-Eating) [1]
Equipment:
"Legion Gear"
"Telepathic Ear Plug" Comprehend 3 (Languages) (6)
"Legion Flight Ring"
Flight 7 (250 mph) (14)
Immunity 7 (Hot, Cold, Vacuum, Pressure, Radiation, Suffocation 2) (7)
Movement 1 (Space Travel 1) (2)
Communication 5 (Flaws: Fifth Rank is only towards Legionnaires) (18)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Bite +7 (+6 Damage & +Weaken 12, DC 21 & 22)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +6
Complications:
Reputation (Simply Bizarre)- People can have difficulty taking Matter-Eater Lad seriously.
Responsibility (Fame)- He's kind of a rock star in some continuities.
Responsibility (Public Office)- Bismoll often forces Tenzil to return home to serve in the public sector due to his fame as a Legionnaire.
Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 14 (103)
Matter-Eater Lad- Most Problematic of Legionnaires:
-Horsenhero mighta said it best, last time I posted the Legion:
Matter-Eater Lad...sigh. Together with some of the powers trotted out during "Legion try-outs", he exemplifies the reasons most readers who might've started picking up the Legion titles...didn't.
Not that I'm against silly characters...but even I have limits.
-Poor ol' Matter-Eater Lad pretty much slam-dunks the title of Worst Superhero Name in History without even really trying, and as such, the fifteenth member to join the Legion has had a love/hate relationship with the team and DC comics for decades now. His name is basically the living embodiment of Silver Age goofy-ass storytelling and asspulls, which is either great or awful depending on which side of the fence you sit. I mean, I can understand the glee and joy of those bizarre stories, but as an adult, you cannot read comics with a guy featuring this name and power set and enjoy it on a natural level, especially when parts of the story are supposed to be taken seriously. I mean, he comes from a world where the people evolved the ability to eat stuff because all their food became poisonous somehow. IT'S SILLY. Sometimes that's a glorious thing, and can make for some fun stories when they embrace it, but like Horsenhero said... it's hard to convince people to pick up
Legion of Super-Heroes comics, when you have to drop names like "Matter-Eater Lad".
Silver Age Matter-Eater Lad:
-Matter-Eater Lad joined the Legion shortly after Bouncing Boy did, and has an unrequited crush on Shrinking Violet for the duration of his time on the book. He appears only rarely, as the writers clearly struggled with using his idiotic powers in regular situations. One method of writing him out was that his native Bismollians would constantly draft him into political office thanks to the fame being a Legionnaire brought him. Eventually, one of the writers just got sick of him entirely (He was TOO STUPID... For SILVER AGE COMICS), and he went insane after eating the supposedly-indestructible Miracle Machine. For years, he was considered one of Brainiac-5's "White Whales", as he just could not be cured of the insanity, no matter what.
-Eventually, Brainy managed to cure Tenzil, and he saved Bismoll from a hostile takeover, alongside the Legion of Substitute Heroes. Keith Giffen, no stranger to goofy comic books, decided to have fun with the character once he got sole running of the series, turning Tenzil into a rebellious multi-media celebrity, who is constantly re-elected despite wasting taxpayer money on extravagant vacations. "Trust me, I'm a senator" is a constant refrain. I dunno... whatever sense of humor Giffen has, it's the opposite of what I got.
-Tenzil eventually rejoins the Legion in the "Five Years Later" era, helping free the team from the Dominators and their control of Earth. He even seduces and later marries the villainess Saturn Queen (!!). This continuity eventually dies, after Tenzil meets the Matter-Eater Lad of the "SW6" Clones.
Later Matter-Eater Lads:
-Tenzil reappears in the "Reboot" era, but only as "Support Staff", generally under-powered and never on missions. Here, he is the team's personal chef. Probably an ideal role for someone with such silly powers. Here, he could spit acid. In "Threeboot", he appears as a minor Legionnaire, but does manage to bite the pointer finger off of Lightning Lord out of spite. In the Post-
Infinite Crisis rendition, he appears a couple of times, acting undercover on Earth to help out Mon-El in Metropolis, as well as being part of R.J. Brande's team sent to the 21st Century to save the future.
Matter-Eating As Powers:
-Not much of a fighter or super-hero, Matter-Eater Lad could be upgraded easily just by making his "Bite" power more devastating. As it is, he can basically tear through almost any material easily, BUT can only do it to small bite-sized chunks. It's essentially a Weaken Toughness power on inanimate objects. Of course, he can also bite off fingers if necessary, which makes him an offensively-balanced PL 7. He's a bit low on everything (and if it wasn't for that Flight Ring, he'd be ULTRA cheap), but not ENTIRELY useless. In the "Reboot" era, he could Spit Acid (Ranged Weaken Toughness & Damage 4- Secondary Effect, both have Diminished Range), but was a non-combatant.