Saturn Girl

Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen) is a superheroine appearing in comics published by DC Comics. A talented telepath from the 30th century, Saturn Girl is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Imra's "Saturn Girl" title refers to her homeworld of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. There have been three versions of Imra since her original debut, separated by the events of the limited series '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'' and ''Infinite Crisis''.

Saturn Girl has appeared in various media outside comics, primarily those featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes. Kari Wahlgren voiced her in the animated series '' Legion of Super Heroes'' (2006), and reprised the role in '' Young Justice''. In live-action, Saturn Girl has been portrayed by Alexz Johnson and Amy Jackson in ''Smallville'' and ''Supergirl'' respectively.

Publication history

Saturn Girl first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #247 (April 1958), and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.

Fictional character biography

Silver Age

During the Silver Age of comics, 30th-century Earth is a member of the United Planets and home to its military branch, the Science Police. As a teenager, Imra Ardeen leaves Titan to join the Police, during which she, Rokk Krinn, and Garth Ranzz foil an assassination attempt on fellow passenger and billionaire R. J. Brande. At Brande's urging, the three form the Legion of Super-Heroes, inspired by the legacy of Superboy, who they later recruit from the 20th century.''Superboy'' #147 (May–June 1968)

As a Legionnaire, Imra gains a reputation for self-sacrifice; just prior to the leadership elections of 2975, she learns that a Legionnaire will die during an attack on Earth and decides to take on the responsibility herself. However, Lightning Lad defies her orders and dies instead. Saturn Girl later attempts to sacrifice herself to resurrect Lightning Lad, but Proty does so instead. Despite this series of events, Imra's leadership is valued in the Legion, and her position as leader, despite its means of acquisition, is allowed to stand. She earned a second term the following year.

Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad later marry and have two children, Graym and Garridan. The latter is kidnapped by Darkseid shortly after birth and transformed into Validus. Validus becomes an enemy of the Legion as a member of the Fatal Five before Darkseid returns him to normal.

Saturn Girl rejoins the Legion after helping stop Universo from conquering Earth. During the "Five Year Gap", Earth's government becomes hostile to the Legion, and Garth is incapacitated by a Winathian plague. Disillusioned by the government and feeling needed more at home, Imra resigns from the Legion and returns to Winath to become a farmer. She and Garth have two additional children, daughters Dacey and Dorritt.

Post-Zero Hour

After the reboot of the Legion in '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'', Imra remains known as Saturn Girl, and a founder of the Legion along with Cosmic Boy and Live Wire. Her design was changed from previous versions, combining some elements from past uniforms. The top and pants of her uniform are similar in design to her red and white uniform, but now colored pink instead of red, and has the familiar Saturn logo.

Following Invisible Kid's resignation, Saturn Girl becomes the leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Later, following Lightning Lad's death, she resigns and returns to Titan to undergo therapy before Lightning Lad is resurrected in a crystal clone of Element Lad's body.

"Threeboot"

In the 2005 revamp of the Legion, Saturn Girl and other Titanians solely using telepathy to communicate and lack vocal cords. Her mother holds a high position in the United Planets and helped create the current alliance between them and the Legion.''Legion of Super-Heroes'' #47 (December 2008)

Post-Infinite Crisis

The events of ''Infinite Crisis'' restore an analogue of the pre-''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' Legion to continuity. Writer Geoff Johns commented on the character:

DC Rebirth

In ''DC Rebirth'', Saturn Girl travels to the present day and is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum after being deemed insane. During the '' Doomsday Clock'' storyline, Saturn Girl and Rorschach escape Arkham before Doctor Manhattan alters the timeline, erasing the former from existence. However, Superman convinces Manhattan to undo his alterations to the timeline, restoring Saturn Girl and the Legion.

Powers and abilities

Saturn Girl is a Titanian who possesses innate telepathic abilities, enabling her to sense and manipulate minds and generate illusions and blasts of psychic energy. As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, she is provided a Legion Flight Ring, which allows her to fly and protects her from the vacuum of space and other dangerous environments.

Other versions

*An unnamed girl inspired by Saturn Girl appears in '' The Dark Knight Strikes Again''.
*Psi-Girl, a fusion of Saturn Girl and Marvel Comics character Psylocke, appears in the Amalgam Comics one-shot Spider-Boy Team-Up.

Reception

Accolades

* In 2011, '' Comics Buyer's Guide'' ranked Saturn Girl 50th in their "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
* In 2019, '' CBR'' ranked Saturn Girl 3rd in their "10 Most Powerful Telepaths" list, the highest rank for a female character.
* In 2022, ''Sportskeeda'' ranked Saturn Girl 5th in their "5 most powerful comic book characters with telepathic abilities" list.

In other media

Television

* Saturn Girl appears in the '' Superman: The Animated Series'' episode "New Kids in Town", voiced by Melissa Joan Hart. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
* Saturn Girl appears in the ''Smallville'' episode "Legion", portrayed by Alexz Johnson.
* Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking appearance in the ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "Far From Home".
* Saturn Girl appears in ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' (2006), voiced by Kari Wahlgren. This version sports pink eyes and the additional ability to enter a healing trance while unconscious.
* Saturn Girl appears in '' Young Justice'', voiced again by Kari Wahlgren.
* Imra Ardeen appears in the third season of ''Supergirl'', portrayed by Amy Jackson. This version possesses telekinesis in addition to telepathy, had a sister named Preya who was killed by a Worldkiller called Blight, and married Mon-El to secure an alliance between Earth and Titan before they eventually break up.

Film

* Saturn Girl appears in '' Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash'', voiced again by Kari Wahlgren. This version comes from a future Earth that Brainiac conquered by the year 2116.
* Saturn Girl appears in '' Justice League vs. the Fatal Five'', voiced by Tara Strong.
* Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' (2023).
* The ''Legion of Super Heroes'' (2006) incarnation of Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in '' Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!''.

Video games

* Saturn Girl appears in '' DC Universe Online''.
* Saturn Girl appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.
* Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Brainiac's ending in '' Injustice 2''.

Miscellaneous

* Saturn Girl appears in '' Adventures in the DC Universe'' #10.
* Saturn Girl appears in the one-shot comic '' Batman '66 Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes''.

References

{{Otto Binder
Characters created by Otto Binder
Comics characters introduced in 1958
DC Comics aliens
DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes
DC Comics female superheroes
DC Comics psychics
DC Comics telepaths
Fictional empaths
Fictional extraterrestrial characters from the Solar System
Fictional mute characters
Legion of Super-Heroes members
Superman characters