Silver Age Andrew Nolan is a
metahuman with the power to transform himself into living
iron. He has a twin brother named Douglas who has the same power. Both twins have deformed faces as a side effect of the
mutation that gave them their powers, which they hide with iron masks. Ferro Lad is only a Legionnaire for a short time before sacrificing himself to destroy the alien
Sun-Eater with a bomb. His self-sacrifice to save the galaxy made him legendary, despite his short tenure as a Legionnaire. Many later Silver Age stories include references to his death, and a statue erected in his memory is often seen in the Legion's headquarters. Following the Magic Wars, Earth falls under the control of the
Dominators and withdraws from the
United Planets. Some time thereafter, the members of the Dominators' "Batch SW6" escape captivity. Batch SW6 are initially believed to be genetic clones of the Legionnaires, but are later revealed to be temporal duplicates. After Earth is destroyed, a few dozen surviving cities and their inhabitants reconstitute their world as New Earth. The SW6 Legionnaires remain, and their version of Ferro Lad shortens his code name to Ferro.
Post-Zero Hour In post-
Zero Hour continuity, he is known as Ferro and comes from 20th-century Earth. He and his twin brother, Douglas, are the sons of actress Nancy Nolan, who abandoned them because of their facial deformities. Left in the care of unscrupulous scientist Doc 30, Andrew escaped while Douglas remained behind. When Earth was dying due to the sun being extinguished in
The Final Night event, Ferro helps
Perry White, who is determined to not miss a single day of delivery at the
Daily Planet. He becomes involved with the Legion of Super-Heroes, who were stranded in the present day. The Legion joins with dozens of other superheroes to save Earth. Ferro attempts to sacrifice himself to stop the Sun-Eater, but is saved by
Hal Jordan, who sacrifices himself instead.
The Lightning Saga The events of the
Infinite Crisis miniseries restore a close analogue of the pre-
Crisis Legion to continuity. Andrew is depicted as a member of this version of the team in
Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #5 (June 2007), and
Action Comics #858 (December 2007). However, this incarnation of the Legion shares roughly the same history as the original Legion up to the events of
Crisis on Infinite Earths. Therefore, this version of Andrew is presumably deceased. ==Powers and abilities==