Ayla Ranzz

Ayla Ranzz is a female extraterrestrial comic superhero who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Pre-Crisis

Lightning Lass in Legion of the Super-Heroes v3 #6.

Ayla Ranzz

She accompanied her brother as their ship went through space when its energy cells were close to depletion. They decided to land on the wild planet of Korbal where they hoped to use the native lightning-monsters to replenish the power supply of the ship. The beasts, however, surrounded the pair and unleashed their electrical attacks but the proximity of the many beasts caused the energy to simply surround the twins thus giving them electrical powers. Her brother decided to use his abilities to become a superhero but they decided to keep her new powers a secret lest criminals attempt to target her. Thus, her existence was mostly unknown to anyone and she lived her life secretly. (Adventure Comics v1 #308)

Following the death of her twin brother, she decided to secretly transport his body to Lightning World so that he could find peace there. She then masqueraded as Lightning Lad and pretended to revive to continue his role as a superhero in order to maintain the Legion of Super-Heroes’ roster. She joined the team in battle against Zaryan the Conqueror, projecting devastating electrical blasts to shatter his forces’ equipment and disable their offensive capabilities. When Zaryan launched a direct attack, she unleashed a concentrated lightning strike that overloaded his ship’s systems, forcing a retreat. Her deception as 'Lightning Lad' was uncovered by the Legion soon afterward, but her actions directly protected the team and prevented Zaryan’s assault from succeeding. The Legion of Super-Heroes came to uncover this and instead had her join their ranks where she took the name of Lightning Lass. (Adventure Comics v1 #308)

As Lightning Lass, Ayla participated in the Legion’s defense against the Time Trapper. When the villain attempted to trap the Legionnaires in a temporal stasis field, she countered by blasting apart the devices generating the field with streams of electrical energy. During the skirmish, she struck multiple of the Trapper’s henchmen, knocking them unconscious with arcs of lightning and preventing reinforcements from overwhelming her teammates. She also redirected her lightning into a communications hub, shorting out the Trapper’s ability to coordinate his forces. Her aggressive use of energy projection allowed the Legion to advance against the villain’s stronghold. (Adventure Comics v1 #327)

Ayla fought against the Fatal Five alongside the Legion. Facing the Emerald Empress, she channeled her lightning against the Eye of Ekron, forcing it to divert its destructive energy to shield itself from her blasts. When Mano attempted to breach the Legion’s defenses, she stunned him with a crackling strike that sent him crashing into the battlefield. Later, when Validus attacked, she struck him repeatedly with lightning to slow his advance, buying time for her allies to regroup. Though her energy alone could not permanently disable the Fatal Five, her constant projection of electricity disrupted their coordination and prevented them from overwhelming the Legionnaires in combat (Adventure Comics v1 #351)

Post-Zero Hour

Spark in Legends of the Legion v1 #2.

Ayla gained her powers when she was stranded on Korbal along with her two brothers Garth and Mekt, and was supercharged with electricity in an accident with the local Lightning Beasts. When Garth left Winath to look for Mekt, who had run away from home, Ayla was largely ostracized by her peers for not having a twin. But when she revealed her lightning powers to the world during a terrorist's attempted kidnapping of the Winathian Presidents, she gained popularity and renown on her planet for her abilities. (Legends of the Legion v1 #2)

When the United Planets instituted a draft program for the recently created Legion of Super-Heroes, she was Winath's natural choice for representative. When the Legion of Super-Heroes was formed, Winath sent Ayla as their representative. Although Garth had been a founding member of the group, as Live Wire, Winath's government considered him a runaway minor. She joined the team as Spark and was accepting by the Legionnaires. (Legionnaires v1 #20)

Garth eventually came to accept Ayla's status in the Legion. She helped him defeat Mekt, who had become the criminal Lightning Lord. This battle destroyed what idol-worship remained in Garth for his big brother. (Legionnaires v1 #30)

They were unable to work side by side until R.J. Brande, the Legion's financier, became President of the United Planets and changed the Legion into a volunteer organization. (Legionnaires v1 #37)

She was one of the Legion members stranded in the 21st century for a time by the Emerald Eye of Ekron. Her team helped the modern superheroes during The Final Night event, where Earth's sun was slowly being devoured. Some time after the sun is restored, Ayla travels into the Source, which replaces her electrical powers with anti-gravity powers. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #97)

Upon returning to the 31st century and reuniting with her brother, Ayla begins experiencing debilitating headaches when using her powers, which are diagnosed as psychosomatic. Apparently, she is unable to handle having different powers than her brother. In a desperate attempt to restore her old powers, Ayla returns to Korbal and goads a Lightning Beast into shocking her, but is killed due to having lost her immunity to electricity. Garth resurrects Ayla by channeling electricity into her, which restores her original powers. (Legion of Super-Heroes v4 #101)

Threeboot

Ayla Ranzz in Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #40.

Post-Infinite Crisis

Ayla and her brother Garth with Imra in Legion of Super-Heroes v6 #4.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Ayla Ranzz was introduced as a youthful woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, bright eyes, and a slender but athletic physique typical of early Legionnaires. Her original Lightning Lass costume consisted of a blue bodysuit accented with white gloves, boots, and a cape, bearing a lightning-bolt insignia across her chest that mirrored her brother Garth’s. After joining the Legion of Super-Heroes, she was given the codename Lightning Lass. (Adventure Comics v1 #308)

In personality, Ayla was consistently portrayed as independent, strong-willed, and compassionate. Unlike her hot-tempered brother Garth, she often displayed a calmer demeanor, though she was no less brave in battle. She balanced determination with empathy, often serving as both a fighter and an emotional anchor within the Legion. (Adventure Comics v1 #327)

Powers and abilities

Ranzz from Winath in Legion Worlds v1 #2.

Much like her brothers, she also gained electrical powers after being attacked by a Lightning Beast on the planetoid Korbal. (Superman v1 #147) In powers, Ayla originally shared her brother’s ability to generate and project bioelectricity. She could unleash blasts of lightning capable of stunning, incapacitating, or destroying machinery, as well as create wide-area arcs to strike multiple opponents at once. (Adventure Comics v1 #308)

Notes

• Lightning Lass was created by Edmond Hamilton and John Forte where she made her first appearance in Adventure Comics v1 #308 (May, 1963).
• She became the fifth female character to join the Legion and the 19th Legionnaire overall.
• In Comics Buyer's Guide Presents (2011), the Ayla Ranzz was ranked 47th in their "100 Sexiest Women in Comics".

In other media

Television

• In Superman: The Animated Series, Ayla Ranzz as Lightning Lass made a non-speaking cameo appearance in the setting of the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe in the episode "New Kids In Town". She was shown briefly along with other Legionnaires when a younger Superman (Clark Kent) was brought to Legion headquarters in the 30th century. Her costume resembled the Light Lass costume from original continuity, though it had sleeves instead of being sleeveless.
• In Legion of Super-Heroes, Ayla Ranzz appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Kari Wahlgren. Ayla Ranzz and her twin brother Garth Ranzz were the second and third child born to the Ranzz family on the planet Winath. They were preceded by an older sibling named Mekt Ranzz. In the late 30th century, the Ranzz siblings were returning home from another planet when their shuttle craft began malfunctioning. They were forced to crash-land on the planet Korbal, a barren, desolate world populated by fierce Lightning Beasts. Mekt theorized that if he could lure the beasts towards their ship, he could goad them into using their lightning powers to recharge the shuttle's engines. While Mekt dealt with the animals, Garth and Ayla hid behind a pile of rocks. The plan failed however, and the animals' electrical discharge struck the siblings rather than the ship. Her two brothers thought Ayla was dead. Garth had a bitter sweet reunion with his brother Mekt. Mekt's guilt over the loss of their sister poisoned him emotionally, and he became a bitter and competitive rival to Garth. Later the Legion learned that Imperiex was constructing a tachyon cannon inside of an electrical cloud and that Mekt Ranzz was now working for Imperiex. They flew to the nebula to stop the construction of the cannon and Mekt and Garth clashed once again. In the midst of conflict, both brothers saw an image of Ayla coalesce in the center of the lightning cloud. They began to suspect that their sister might be lost somewhere within the cloud. Garth returned to Legion Headquarters where his ruined arm was replaced with a cybernetic enhancement. He discovered that Ayla had actually been transformed into a being of pure energy. She wasn't merely lost in the electric cloud. She was the cloud. Mekt learned of this and pleaded with Imperiex to help him save his sister, but Imperiex refused. Mekt betrayed Imperiex and opted to help the Legion destroy the tachyon cannon. Brainiac 5 theorized that if they were to recreate the incident that first gave them their powers, then they might be able to reconstitute Ayla's body. The plan worked, and Ayla was reunited with her brothers.
• In Supergirl, Ayla Ranzz made a brief cameo appearance in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse where she was portrayed by an unknown actress. She was shown as a Winathian in the 31st century who was a close friend and ally of the Legion. When her home planet, Winath, went dark, Ayla went to investigate and discovered it had been consumed by the Blight. Shortly after arriving from 2018 to the 31st century, Winn Schott met Ayla and later married her, and they had a daughter named Mary. Two years later, Ayla found herself defending her husband when the time police came by, accusing him of traveling back in time to murder Chester Dunholtz. Winn then escaped to the 21st century to clear him of the crimes that his criminal doppelgänger committed, as his own arrest would affect the timeline and prevent him from meeting Ayla. This timeline was ultimately and successfully, prevented from happening.

Films

• In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, Ayla Ranzz made a cameo appearance in the setting of the animated film.

Appearances

• Adventure Comics v1: #308 (1963)
• Legion of Super-Heroes v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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