Ayla Ranzz, also known as Lightning Lass, Light Lass, Gossamer, and Spark, is a character appearing in media published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. She is a member of the

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...

in the 30th and 31st centuries, as well as the sister of

Lightning Lad Garth Ranzz, also known as Live Wire and Lightning Lad, is a superhero appearing in media published by DC Comics, usually those featuring the Legion of Superheroes, a 30th and 31st century group of which he is a founding member. He has the supe ...

and

Lightning Lord The Legion of Super-Villains is a team of supervillains who appear in comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes. They first appeared in ''Superman'' #147 (Aug 1961). The team originated at a time when ...

. There have been three versions of Ayla since her original debut; these versions are separated by the events of both the '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'' and ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'' limited series. Ayla has made limited appearances in media outside comics, including the animated series '' Superman: The Animated Series'' and '' Legion of Super Heroes'' and the animated film '' Justice League vs. the Fatal Five''.

Fictional character biography

Silver Age

Ayla Ranzz first appeared in ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' #308 (May 1963). She is the younger twin sister of Garth Ranzz (

) and the younger sister of Mekt Ranzz (

). All three gained electric powers after being attacked by Lightning Beasts on the planetoid Korbal. Ayla originally joins the Legion disguised as Garth after he is killed by the

Khund The Khunds are a fictional alien race in the DC Universe, notable for extreme violence. They first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #346 (July 1966), as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century. Fictional history The Khunds contro ...

Zaryan. She is exposed as an imposter, but is allowed to join the Legion as Lightning Lass. Ayla gains gravity manipulation powers from Dream Girl, which replace her electric abilities. However, she later regains her original abilities and assumes the alias of Lightning Lass. During the "Five Year Later" storyline, Ayla is revealed to be in a relationship with Shrinking Violet. A temporal clone of Ayla from "Batch SW6" appears in the "Five Year Gap" following the Magic Wars.

Post-Zero Hour (Spark)

Following the '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'' event, the Legion's continuity is rebooted. Ayla Ranzz, known as Spark, joins the Legion as a replacement for her twin brother Live Wire. Eventually, the "one member per planet" restriction is lifted and Live Wire rejoins the Legion. Some time after ''

The Final Night ''The Final Night'' is a 1996 comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics that ran through a weekly self-titled limited series and a score of tie-in issues spanning most of DC's ongoing titles in the month of September 1996 (cover-dat ...

'' event, Ayla travels into the Source, which replaces her electrical powers with anti-gravity powers.

Threeboot (Light Lass)

Following another reboot of Legion continuity, Ayla Ranzz is again called Light Lass, and has gravity nullifying powers. In ''Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #26, it is revealed that she, like her siblings, had previously gained lightning powers after the accident on Korbal before another unspecified accident gave her gravitational powers.

Post-Infinite Crisis - Return of original Lightning Lass

The events of the ''

'' miniseries restored an analogue of the pre-''

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

'' Legion of Super-Heroes to continuity. Ayla Ranzz is reintroduced in "

The Lightning Saga "The Lightning Saga" is a comic book crossover story arc that took place in DC Comics' two flagship team books: ''Justice League of America'' and ''Justice Society of America''. It was written by Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns, and illustrated by ...

" story arc, possessing her original powers as Lightning Lass.

Powers and abilities

Depending on the continuity, Ayla Ranzz possesses either the ability to manipulate electricity or gravity. 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.

Reception

Ayla Ranzz was ranked 47th in ''

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...

's'' "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

In other media

Television

* Ayla Ranzz as Lightning Lass makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the '' Superman: The Animated Series'' episode "New Kids In Town". * Ayla Ranzz appears in the '' Legion of Super Heroes'' episode "Chained Lightning", voiced by

Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American voice actress who has provided English-language roles for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as List of FLCL characters#Haruko Haruhara, Haruko H ...

. This version was transformed into an incorporeal energy being and presumed dead during the incident that gave her brothers Garth and Mekt their powers. In the present, Imperiex attempts to use Ayla to power a

tachyon A tachyon () or tachyonic particle is a hypothetical particle that always travels Faster-than-light, faster than light. Physicists posit that faster-than-light particles cannot exist because they are inconsistent with the known Scientific law#L ...

cannon, but Mekt and Garth work together to restore her.

Film

Ayla Ranzz as Lightning Lass appears in a photograph in '' Justice League vs. the Fatal Five''.

Video games

Ayla Ranzz as Lightning Lass appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Miscellaneous

* Ayla Ranzz as Spark appears in ''

Adventures in the DC Universe While Batman and Superman had their own animated series and comic book follow-ups, the rest of the characters in the appeared in the following comics often. ''The Batman Adventures'' ''The Batman Adventures'' was created as a comic book tie-in ...

'' #10. * Ayla Ranzz as Lightning Lass appears in ''

Batman '66 ''Batman '66'' is an American superhero comic book series published by DC Comics featuring Batman as a continuation of the 1966–1968 television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin. The series was written primarily by ...

Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes''.

References

External links

Gay League Profile

A Hero History Of Lightning Lass
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranzz, Ayla Characters created by Edmond Hamilton Characters created by John Forte Comics characters introduced in 1963 DC Comics aliens DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics LGBTQ superheroes Fictional bisexual women Fictional characters with electric or magnetic abilities Fictional characters with gravity abilities Legion of Super-Heroes members Twin characters in comics