Name: Newsboy Legion
Universe: Earth-2
First Appearance: Star Spangled Comics #7

History:
The full names of the four members of the original Newsboy Legion have never been revealed. We do know that they were orphaned kids trying to make their way in the streets of Suicide Slum (in York City, according to the origin story, though later texts place it in Metropolis). They tried making an honest living by selling newspapers, but when business was slow, they took to getting money in any way they could – largely by stripping cars and selling the parts to Frankie the Fence.

Short of cash and needing to fix up the shack in which they lived, the boys decided to get tools by robbing a hardware store. However, they were captured by police officer Jim Harper, put on trial, and convicted. As they already had a string of offenses, the judge was ready to send them to a reform school until they came of age. But Jim spoke up for them, and the judge released them in his custody. From then on, Jim was their guardian as well as being The Guardian in his other identity.

The original members of the Newsboy Legion included:

Tommy, a handsome kid who was the leader of the group.

Big Words, tallest of the four, who read whatever he could get his hands on and had a brilliant mind. His extensive vocabulary provided his nom de guerre (as he himself might have said).

Scrapper, a tough-talking kid who liked nothing better than a good fight.

Gabby, a small boy with a big mouth that he seldom shut.

What finally put them on the right track was, oddly enough, Frankie the Fence. He got them to do some sidewalk entertaining for whatever money passersby would give – but this drew a crowd that served as cover for the robbery of a store. Jim Harper was present, but could not shoot at the escaping thugs, who themselves killed the storekeeper and a bystander, without endangering others.

In time, the boys grew up, went to college, and all became brilliant scientists. They all married and had sons who more or less resembled them. The former Newsboys became members of the team that started the government’s top-secret DNA Project, which broke the genetic code and began creating clones.

When Jim Harper was killed by a member of the Inter-Gang, a mob controlled by Darkseid, thescientists took living tissue from the dying man and used it to clone an exact replica, the Golden Guardian.

Meanwhile, the sons of the original NL had teamed up with Flipper Dipper (later called simply Flip), son of another Project scientist, to form a new Newsboy Legion. This time, they were gathering news for Galaxy Communications. Ultimately they battled menaces created in the Evil Factory (Darkseid’s equivalent of The Project).

Powers:
The original Newsboy Legion relied on their wits and knuckles. Their sons have the Whiz Wagon, which can go on land, underwater, or in the air, and is fitted with news-gathering equipment as well as such weapons as cannons and torpedoes.