Lightning Lad

Original Lightning Lad

Mekt Ranzz was a reckless teenager who one day took his younger twin siblings Garth and Ayla Ranzz, on a ride in a spacecraft. When Mekt's piloting skills got them into trouble, Garth managed to guide their ship to land on the planetoid Korbal. In order to repower the spaceship, Garth suggested they try to attract the native lightning beasts toward the ship. Instead of recharging the ship, the beasts attacked siblings with lightning energies. The Ranzzes survived, and gained the power to discharge electricity. (Superboy #147, Superboy #172, Legion vol. 3 #45) Notes: Superman #147 (Aug. 1961) teased that the adult Lightning Lord was Garth's brother, and they were empowered on Korbal. Lightning Lad's real name was first revealed in Superman Annual #4 (1961). A text feature in Adventure #354 (1967) story detailed Ranzzes' origin and named their homeworld as Amarta, rather than Winath.

After they returned home to their parents, Luc and Perla Ranzz, Mekt ran off and became a criminal. Garth followed a tip that his brother had gone to Earth, and set out to bring him to his senses.

But Garth's route to Earth took an unexpected turn. He became part of a trio of teenagers who foiled an assassin's plot to kill the tycoon R. J. Brande. Brande was inspired by the heroics of Garth, Rokk Krinn and Imra Ardeen, and convinced them to form a Legion of Super-Heroes. They became Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl. (Superboy vol. 1 #147) Note: In his first appearance, Garth was called "Lightning Boy."

They Legionnaires quickly added to their ranks and began traveling through time. They met their hero, Superboy, and returned to visit him often. (Adventure Comics #247, 267) Lightning Lad saved Superboy from Lex Luthor's "living Kryptonite men," (Superboy #86) and he and Cosmic Boy made an appearance at a 20th century parade in Superman's honor. (Superman #157)

Garth was an unlucky Legionnaire. When he and Sun Boy were hospitalized following a cruiser crash, they were victimized by Dr. Landro. The doctor implanted the heroes with a miniaturized spy-master called Meglaro. (Adventure Comics #303)

Lightning Lad was enamored of his fellow founder, Saturn Girl, but he didn't really show it. When Imra received a prediction that a Legionnaire would die battling the Khund called Zaryan, she took drastic measures to ensure it would be she who died. She rigged the Legion's first leader election so that she would win, and then suspended the other Legionnaires. Despite her efforts, Lightning Lad intervened; he died protecting Saturn Girl and Earth from the Khundish fleet. Garth was the first Legionnaire to die in the line of duty. (#304) NOTES: Garth's interest in Imra was not explored prior to this, though an "Adult Legion" story from Action Comics #289 (June 1962) suggested that they would one day marry.

Not long afterward, the Legionnaires were stunned when "Garth" walked right into their clubhouse, apparently restored to life! This turned out to be a masquerade put on by his sister, Ayla Ranzz, who was admitted to the Legion as Lightning Lass. (#308)

The Legion continued to search for a way to revive Garth. Their chosen method came with the price: the life of another. Several Legionnaires volunteered to return to Korbal, where they held special lightning rods to channel the electicity into Garth's preserved remains. Behind the scenes, the Legion's friend, Proty, had incapacitated and impersonated Saturn Girl. He was the one to ultimately pay the price — but it apparently worked! — Lightning Lad was restored to life while Proty perished. (#312)

Which was the story everyone believed.

Proty's noble sacrifice disguised one of the Legion's most shocking secrets. During the ritual on Korbal, Garth Ranzz did not truly return from the dead. Instead, Proty's consciousness (who loved Saturn Girl as well) was transferred into Garth's body. Proty revealed this to no one and quietly assumed the life of Lightning Lad. If Imra ever suspected the truth, she said nothing. Only decades later did he confess the truth to his sister Ayla. (Legion vol. 4 Annual #3) NOTES: In the letters page of Legion vol. 4 #37, credit is given to Margie Spears Saaski, who had suggested Garth-as-Proty in The Legion Outpost #5, in 1973.

Lightning Lad had a new lease on life but misfortune continued to dog him. He lost his arm in battle with a Dxaundii wingfish that was enlarged into a "Super-Moby-Dick" of space. (#332) The arm was soon grown back by Doctor Zan Orbal. (#351) Then Garth was hypnotized and framed for the crimes of Starfinger. (#336)

After his revival, he and Saturn Girl became much closer. In one case, the couple pretended to marry so that they would have to resign from the Legion. This was a ruse to combat alien spies who had infiltrated the team. Once they obtained the evidence they needed, the spies are exposed and expelled, and the "married" members return to duty. (#337)

Another great secret in Garth's life — one kept even from himself — was the fate of his own son. He and Imra were destined to have twin boys, one of whom would be kidnapped by Darkseid. This boy is transformed into the villainous monster called Validus, a member of the Fatal Five. (Tales of the Legion Annual #3) The Five's first meeting with the Legion was during the threat of the Sun-Eater, when the Legion was forced to work with the criminals. (Adventure Comics #352) The Legion clashed with Validus for years before the truth was revealed by Darkseid.

Brother Mekt Ranzz returned in a major way, as a founding member of the Legion of Super-Villains. This group was a formidable threat to the Legion, and Mekt became their driving force over time. (#372)

Adulthood

Garth's brother, Lightning Lord, reappeared several times. Each time the brothers fought violently but Garth sent Mekt back to prison. In one of their battles, Mekt's hair was turned white by the excess of electrical energy. (Superboy #172)

Garth's parents died tragically in a space cruiser crash when both he and Ayla were on duty with the Legion. The twins created a memorial at the site of their deaths, and one year Garth returned to honor them. Lightning Lord came as well, and the two barely managed to bury the hatchet. (Superboy #207) NOTES: Mekt and Garth Ranzz are erroneously depicted as twins in this story.

When Lightning Lad proposed to Saturn Girl for real, the two of them underwent a trail on her homeworld of Titan to determine their compatibility. (Superboy & the Legion #236) Theirs was the second Legion wedding (after Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel), and true to super-hero tradition it was upset by the Time Trapper. The Legionnaires traveled back and forth through time to confront the Trapper and reverse his changes to their timeline. (Limited Collector's Ed. #C-55)

Of course they knew that the Legion constitution forbade married Legionnaires from serving in active duty. In a ceremony on R.J. Brande's private asteroid estate, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl resigned their membership (Superboy & the Legion #237)

Their absence was very short-lived, as they were immediately called in as reservists during the so-called Earthwar. (Superboy & the Legion #245) After the war, the Legion's rules were changed to allow married members to serve. What's more, Garth was elected Legion leader, with Element Lad as his deputy. (#247)

Garth served with distinction as a leader, but the end of his term was marred by a mental and physical breakdown. First, he believed that Saturn Girl had been lost on a mission in space. (Legion vol. 2 #287) Then just as he resigned, he was diagnosed with an electrical brain disease. (#290)

Retirement

Lightning Lord struck again when Garth and Imra were on Medicus One, while preparing for Imra's pregnancy. Mekt was looking for Ayla, who had recently resigned from the Legion. (Legion vol. 2 #302) They soon announced Saturn Girl's pregnancy with twins. (#307)

Mekt was seeking Light Lass to invite her to a new incarnation of the Legion of Super-Villains. When she refused, she was imprisoned on Orando with other Legionnaires. This time out, the LSV's co-leader, Nemesis Kid, managed to kill a Legionnaire, Karate Kid. (Legion vol. 3 #1–4) Ayla rejoined the Legion after the villains were defeated. (#6)

The birth of Garth and Imra's child was clouded in an artificial darkness. This was crated by servants of the sorcerer Mordru. Their plot failed to free their master, but the effects of the darkness helped Darkseid to steal one of the Ranzz family's twins from them. After the birth of Graym Ranzz, Saturn Girl remarked that she was certain she sensed two thought patterns. She'd been right; Graym's twin was transported by Darkseid from Imra's womb, sent back in time, and transformed into Validus (a nonverbal monster with "mental lightning" powers). Garth and Imra remained totally unaware of this. (Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #3)

Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl took a leave of absence from active duty. (Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #316) During this time, they and Cosmic Boy decided to resign fully. (Legion vol. 3 #12) Their friends in the Legion attended Graym's baptism. (#16)

Garth dove headlong into parenthood and never returned to active Legion duty, but he, Imra and Rokk were swept up into a cross-time caper. The Time Trapper returned to play a game with Garth in particular. He kidnapped Graym in an attempt to drive Lightning Lad insane, but the hero proved his fortitude and the Trapper released him. (Legionnaires Three #1–4)

The next time the Legion battled Validus, Saturn Girl instinctively recognized the creature as her son. She plead with Darkseid, who admired her courage so much that he complied, restoring the boy to his normal age and place. (Legion vol. 3 Annual #2)

Being a Legionnaire invited a lot of undue attention. The Luck Lords of Ventura also took an interest in Garth's life, and gambled on the outcome of a rematch between Garth and Mekt. They released Mekt from Labyrinth prison and as always, Lightning Lad prevailed. (Legion vol. 3 #45)

Glorith Reality (Legion vol. 4)

Saturn Girl had returned the Legion for a brief time (Legion vol. 3 #36) but Garth remained on his homeworld of Winath to raise their boys. When the Legion was railroaded toward disbanding, Imra retired to Winath as well.

Their happy life was again marred by the curse of Darkseid, who apparently left a secret killer within their second son (renamed Garridan Ranzz). Brainiac 5 identified Garridan as the carrier of the deadly Winathococcus Validus, the "Validus plague." Garth arm and leg were handicapped by the disease and it ravaged the population. Garridan was sent to live on an isolated medical planet called Quarantine and Brainiac vowed to cure the boy. (Legion vol. 4 #3)

Despite this tragedy, the Ranzz family established a prosperous agricultural business, the Lightning Ring Plantation. They even managed to rehabilitate Mekt Ranzz, and he was released to Garth and Imra's care to complete his outpatient therapy. (#3–4)

Garth maintained a positive outlook on life and their family was a rock among the Legionnaires. When several of them gathered on Winath, they were attacked by Roxxas, a rogue assassin hired by the government of Earth. (#10)

Once Roxxas was contained, Rokk and Chameleon Boy proposed the reforming of the Legion. Garth offered them the use of a space station on the asteroid Talus, and it became the site of the new Legion headquarters. (#14)

Imra and Garth remained detached from Legion activities. They expanded their family to include twin daughters, Dacey and Dorritt, who appeared to have inherited their mother's telepathic abilities. (#20, 50) Their christening was another opportunity for old friends to gather. (Legion vol. 4 Annual #3)

Though a cure was not found for Garridan, he made friends on Quarantine and even used his own lightning powers as part of an ad hoc "Li'l Legion." (Legion vol. 4 #13, 51)

Live Wire: Batch SW6

When Earth was overtaken by the Dominators, the ensuing war revealed a cache of Legion clones, known as Batch SW6. (Legion vol. 4 #19–24) They were the creations of the Time Trapper, who created Garth Ranzz with cells from a time from before his death. When this Legion formally instated itself, Garth took a new code name: Live Wire. (Legion vol. 4 #41)

This time, his relationship with Saturn Girl was strained. She found his behavior immature, and they grew apart. His hotheadedness came to a head in Mexico, where the Legion was trying to quell food riots. Live Wire unleashed his power and accidentally fried Cosmic Boy. (Legionnaires #9)

Live Wire, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl were part of a handful of Legionnaires selected by the Time Trapper to try to avert a "crisis in time." They fought alongside the 20th century's heroes during that "Zero Hour," but when they returned to the 30th century, it was all for nothing. (Zero Hour #3–1)

They followed the Time Trapper's direction, and agreed to merge with their adult counterparts. This was an attempt to preserve their essence in the hopes that the 30th century would live on. (Legion vol. 4 #61)

Retroboot

In 2007, the Original Legion returned to the DC universe. Its continuity was more-or-less restored — with the exception of the events of Legion vol. 4 (the Glorith Reality), which were ignored. This meant that the Retroboot Lightning Lad was never Proty, never crippled, and never bore twin daughters. Also, Mekt Ranzz was never rehabilitated.

Some details were added to the story of the Legion's early years, especially those surrounding the activities of Zaryan, which led to Garth's death. (Adventure Comics vol. 3 #517–520)

In the Retroboot, the Legion was railroaded into disbanding by the increasingly corrupt and xenophobic government on Earth. Those who were not captured went underground. Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad stepped up to fight this existential enemy: Earth-Man and his "Justice League of Earth." While a team of Legionnaires sought help from Superman in the 21st century, Garth, Imra and Rokk were captured by Earth-Man's forces. (Action Comics #859) With Superman's help, Earth-Man was brought to heel. (#861–863)

Legion vol. 6

Lightning Lad was summoned by his brother, Mekt, to Takron-Galtos. Mekt claimed that their parents lied, that Mekt also had a twin. He asked Garth to find their lost sibling. (Adventure Comics vol. 3 #2 [505]) Garth and Ayla began a search of records on Winath, but it never bore fruit. (Legion vol. 6 #2) Mekt was soon released from prison by Saturn Queen, who reformed the Legion of Super-Villains. (Legion of Super-Villains #1, Legion vol. 6 #11–16)

Meanwhile, Saturn Girl had returned to Titan to visit her mentor, Doctor Aven. Just then, the moon was destroyed by events at the Time Institute and Imra barely managed to escape. As she rushed to save their sons, the boys vanished; she took a Time Bubble to find them. (Legion vol. 6 #1) Garth and Ayla joined Imra's search, which led to Avalon. There disciples of Darkseid hoped to sacrifice the boys in a scheme to earn the dark god's favor. (#3–4)

Legion vol. 7

After this, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl took a leave of absence (Legion vol. 6 #6) to settle their boys on Winath. (Legion vol. 7 #5) They returned to Earth for a happy night out with Cosmic Boy and Night Girl. (#8)

As always, the couple returned to Legion duty when a crisis called. This time, Tharok had created a new, monumentally powerful Fatal Five. He released some of his old allies — including Validus. (Legion vol. 7 #16–20) NOTE: In Legion vol. 6 #2 (Aug. 2010), Saturn Girl mentions Darkseid's involvement in Garridan's fate, but it's unclear how both Validus and Garridan could coexist in the same time period.

Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad arrived on Earth just in time to help turn the tide. (#21–22)

Notes

Jim Shooter on Lightning Lad: "One of the reasons for his sister's retiring personality. He is a showman, a proud, powerful exemplary hero. A confident, dominant man, man enough for the likes of Imra Ironass Ardeen. Certainly his revival from death has affected him. Doubtless he feels now that he has a great role to play—a mission. He is good. He knows it—he strives for it and will not be denied his place in the heroic limelight." —Interlac (1976)

Tom & Mary Bierbaum on Lightning Lad: "The original Garth was a charismatic bad boy who nobody was quite able or willing to straighten out. He finally found real valor in himself when he sacrificed his life for Imra. When the team tried to resurrect him, they instead gave him Proty's personality, which was the heroic, dedicated and slightly unbalanced Garth we knew during most of the Legion's run." —Interlac (2000)

Powers

Lightning Lad has masterful control over electrical energies. He can both absorb and generate lightning.

Appearances + References