He has the ability to generate internal solar energy to whatever degree he wishes, from enough to light a single candle to enough to melt nearly any obstacle.

Sun Boy first appeared in Action Comics #276 (as a cameo in a Supergirl story) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney.

He tries to gain revenge on Dirk by throwing him in an atomic reactor, which instead gives him powers due to his "one-in-a-million genetic structure".

During the "Five Year Gap" following the Magic Wars, Sun Boy becomes leader of the Legion and a public relations liaison to Earthgov.

He temporarily gains pyrokinetic abilities on two occasions after being injected with radioactive gold by Doctor Regulus and possessed by the elemental spirit Ph'yr.

[9][10] Sun Boy is a metahuman with the ability to generate vast amounts of electromagnetic radiation, heat, and light.