| Garth Ranzz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Garth Ranzz as Lightning Lad, as depicted inFinal Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1 (August 2008). Art byGeorge Pérez. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) |
| Created by | Otto Binder Al Plastino |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Garth Ranzz |
| Species | Winathian |
| Place of origin | Winath |
| Team affiliations | Legion of Super-Heroes Workforce Legion Rescue Squad |
| Notable aliases | Lightning Boy, Live Wire |
| Abilities | Powers:
Abilities:
Equipment:
|
Garth Ranzz, also known asLive Wire andLightning Lad, is asuperhero appearing in media published byDC Comics, usually those featuring theLegion of Super-Heroes, a 30th and 31st century group of which he is a founding member.[1] He has thesuperhuman ability to generateelectricity, usually in the form oflightning bolts.
Garth Ranzz as Lightning Lad has appeared in various media outside comics, primarily those featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes. He is voiced byAndy Milder inLegion of Super Heroes (2006) and portrayed byCalum Worthy inSmallville.
The character first appeared inAdventure Comics #247 (April 1958), and was created byOtto Binder andAl Plastino.[2]
Lightning Lad is a Winathian and founding member of theLegion of Super-Heroes along withSaturn Girl andCosmic Boy.[3] He is the older twin brother of fellow LegionnaireAyla Ranzz (Lightning Lass), the younger brother of thesupervillain Mekt Ranzz (Lightning Lord), and the father of two sets of twins; sons Garridan and Graym and daughters Dacey and Dorrit.[4] The Ranzz siblings gained electrical superpowers after being attacked byLightning Beasts on the planetoid Korbal. When they attacked the siblings, the Beasts inadvertently transferred their electricity into them, an effect which Mekt likens to an infectious disease.[5]
Early in the Legion's history, Garth is killed battling Zaryan the Conqueror and resurrected following the sacrifice ofProty,Chameleon Boy's shapeshifting pet.[6][7][8] A laterretcon revealed that Proty's mind had taken over Lightning Lad's body, but this has since been eliminated from continuity.[9][10]
At one point, Lightning Lad loses his right arm to a monster dubbed the "Moby Dick of space", replacing it with a bionic appendage.[11] He eventually has his arm regrown; in the interim, scientist Lars Hanscom hypnotizes Lightning Lad into becoming the criminalStarfinger under the pretense of developing an organicprosthetic arm for him.[12][13] Following the events ofThe Great Darkness Saga, Garth's son Garridan is abducted byDarkseid and transformed intoValidus.[14]
During the"Five Year Gap" following the Magic Wars, Earth falls under the control of theDominators and withdraws from theUnited Planets. A few years later, the Dominators' "Batch SW6", temporal clones of the Legionnaires, escape captivity. After Earth is destroyed, a few dozen surviving cities and their inhabitants reconstitute their world as New Earth, and the SW6 Lightning Lad assumes the code nameLive Wire.[15]
After theZero Hour: Crisis in Time! miniseries, Legion history was rebooted. In this version of events, the Ranzz siblings gained their electric powers after being stranded on the barren planetoid Korbal and attempting to use the Lightning Beasts to recharge their cruiser. After being attacked by the Beasts, the Ranzzes were rendered comatose for several months.[16]
Months later, Garth and Ayla awake simultaneously to find that Mekt had awoken around a week earlier, gained electrical powers similar to those of the Lightning Beasts, and vanished. After hearing this, Garth and Ayla keep the fact that they had developed similar powers secret, thinking that the lightning had corrupted Mekt and would soon corrupt them. They refuse to believe that Mekt become sociopathic, and run away from home to find him.
Hearing that Mekt may be on Earth, Garth gets on a shuttle bound for Earth viaTitan, and meetsRokk Krinn andImra Ardeen. When Imra discovers that four "maintenance men" on the ship are actually assassins targetingR. J. Brande, the three work together to stop them. Shortly after, Garth is involved in a bar-room brawl and arrested. As his cellmates are about to beat him,Triad arrives and bails him out. Brande convinces Garth, Rokk, and Imra to found the Legion of Super-Heroes, with Garth taking the codenameLive Wire.[17]
Garth later reunites with Mekt as he is scheming to enhance his powers by killing Lightning Beasts. Mekt, now more powerful than both of his siblings, attacks Garth and vaporizes his right arm. Ayla grabs Mekt's laser pistol and shoots him in the leg, delaying him while Garth's woundcauterizes. As Mekt prepares to finish them off, Garth and Ayla combine their powers to stop him. Mekt is arrested by theScience Police soon afterward.[18]
In the "Legion Lost" storyline, Garth is killed in battle withElement Lad, who has become insane and assumed the name Progenitor after being lost in space. After the Progenitor is killed, he leaves behind several crystals thatKid Quantum takes to the graveyardShanghalla. Garth's essence survives in the crystals and uses them to create a humanoid crystal body that resembles Progenitor and retains his transmutation powers in addition to Garth's electricity powers.[19] InFinal Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, Garth regains his original body using a lightning rod created byBrainiac 5, which enhances his transmutation and enables him to transform his own body.[20]
In theThreeboot continuity, Garth Ranzz (again as Lightning Lad) remains a charter member of the galactic youth movement the Legion has become. Made acting leader of the Legion following the group's battle with Praetor Lemnos, Garth signs an accord which officially names the Legion as an arm of the United Planets and prevents the Legionnaires from beingdeported by the Science Police.[21]
The events of "Infinite Crisis" restore an analogue of the pre-Crisis Legion to continuity. Lightning Lad is among the Legion's ranks and is still married to Saturn Girl.[22] Lightning Lad later escorts Superman back to the present, where the two take time to reminisce on certain teenage misadventures in theFortress of Solitude. The two are then joined byBatman, who reveals that the bodies ofKarate Kid andUna were found inGotham City. Lightning Lad and Batman react with hostility towards one another, given Batman's distrust of time travelers. Garth goes back to the 31st century with Karate Kid and Una's bodies, but not before giving Superman a new flight ring and giving Batman a veiled warning aboutupcoming struggles.[23] Lightning Lad makes a further appearance in the storylineDoomsday Clock, whereDoctor Manhattan erases him and the Legion from existence beforeSuperman convinces him to restore them.[24]
Lightning Lad has the ability to generate electricity within his own body without harming himself. This electricity he is able to discharge in the form of potent "lightning bolts". He can also create flashing lettering which can be seen from great distances. He has occasionally displayed limited control of the weather. In more recent versions of the character, Garth is also able to direct his electric powers internally so as to move at superhuman speed, with his top speed being approximately one-third thespeed of light. Lightning Lad is immune to the harmful effects of electric currents, not only those currents that he himself generates.
As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Garth is provided a Legion Flight Ring, which allows him to fly and protects him from the vacuum of space and other dangerous environments.
