Element Lad
Element Lad is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Jan Arrah was a resident of the planet Trom, where the natives could transmute any element into another. The space pirate Roxxas and his crew learned of their world and raided it, wanting to force the Trommites to turn lead into uranium so they could create a doomsday weapon, the threat of which would let them conduct unopposed raids across the universe. The Trommites refused, fighting back and being slaughtered by Roxxas’ men. Jan was the final survivor and fled the planet, but Roxxas was determined to hound him across the universe until he captured him. During Roxxas’ search his crew raided the planet Oranz, stealing all their cold light globes. The Legion of Super-Heroes responded, with Sun Boy heating a mountain to white-hot temperatures to provide light for the natives until they could produce more cold light globes to light their cities. The Oranz shot down one of the pirate’s rocketships, which Brainiac 5 examined, declaring it capable of faster-than-light-travel. He immediately went about replicating the technology so the Legion could pursue Roxxas. With several members on offworld missions the Legion conducted an emergency membership drive. Jan Arrah approached them, saying he had an amazing power, but couldn’t reveal it to all of them. He did not want word of his powers getting out and alerting Roxxas. He showed his power to Saturn Girl, who promised not to reveal his power, but assured the Legion he’ would be a worthy member. Dubbed Mystery Lad, he accompanied the Legion using the faster-than-light rocketships Brainiac 5 duplicated to the waterworld of Vuruna, where Roxxas and his men had looted valuable colored pearls. Roxxas dropped z-bombs on the pontoons of a city in Vuruna, and Cosmic Boy used his magnetic powers to keep the city afloat until repairs could be made, but Roxxas managed to escape. Saturn Girl used her telepathic powers to follow the pirates to a dead world, and Mystery Lad helped them escape an ambush., The captured pirates recognized Mystery Lad, who looked guilty on meeting them, and Invisible Kid suspected he was secretly a space pirate. The Legion continued to pursue Roxxas and his crew, and Mystery Lad got out in front of them, surrendering himself to the pirates. Jan said he would rather die than help them, and turned the hull of their mothership into gas. The pirates had oxygen helmets and fled, only to be captured by the Legion. Invisible Kid, still suspicious of Jan being allied with the pirates, had followed him onboard Roxxas’ ship, and gave him an oxygen helmet, saving his life. Cosmic Boy welcomed Jan as a full member of the Legion, dubbed him Element Lad, and promised that the nature of his powers would still be kept a secret to everyone but the Legion. (Adventure Comics v1 #307)
With Ultra Boy absent on a mission Mon-El called a meeting of the Legion of Super-Heroes consisting of Dream Girl, Shadow Lass, Element Lad and Lightning Lad. The Legion computer alerted the team that one of them was an impostor, but before it could reveal who it was blown up through sabotage. Before the team could determine who the impostor was an alert went out that the criminal Sunburst was robbing the Metropolis Mint. When confronted Sunburst blasted the team with solar energy, knocking Mon-El for a loop. Lightning Lad and Element Lad both targeted the criminal with their powers, but missed, striking the mint and cracking it open. Shadow Lass blinded Sunburst with her shadow casting, allowing the revived Mon-El to knock out the criminal with one punch. The team started arguing about who was the imposter, with Mon-El being suspected because Sunburst’s powers had harmed him, but he replied that he had not taken his daily serum that gave him immunity to lead and red solar energy. Accusals fell on Element Lad and Lightning lad for striking the mint instead of Sunburst, but Mon-El told the team to stop arguing and pulled off 'Shadow Lass' mask, revealing her as the criminal Uli Algor. Mon-El said Sunburst’s powers would have made the real Shadow Lass powerless, and Uliu confessed, saying she had taken Shadow Lass’ place and conspired with Sunburst, hoping that by defeating him she’d prove herself as a genuine Legionnaire. She then intended to steal all of the Legion’s secrets and help her partner in crime escape prison. Uli led the Legion of Super-Heroes to Shadow Lass, who was momentarily jealous that Mon-El could have mistaken someone else for her, but he immediately reassured her that the imposter didn’t hold a candle to her. (Action Comics v1 #378)
Lightning Lord formed a new Legion of Super-Villains, with each of them swearing a blood oath to kill at least one Legionnaire. Lightning Lord swore on his oath to kill his brother Lightning Lad, which he said had been his destiny since he was born. Light Lass awoke in chains in a cell, and Lightning Lord promised her he wanted to help her, not hurt her. He said he loved her, and all the proof she needed was that she was still alive. He asked her to join the Legion of Super-Villains and help him kill Lightning Lad, saying he’d been talking to the storm, and the storm had assured him she’d come to him. Light Lass turned him down, saying he was more insane than ever. Element Lad tracked the resurgence of the Legion of Super-Villains across several planets, brief his team, and realized he was in for a major test of his leadership. The League of Super-Assassins joined with the Legion of Super-Villains, and Lightning Lord sent them and Magno Lad to M-17W, a manufacturing center in the galactic core, to steal the plant’s fusion powerspheres. Shvaugn Erin alerted the Legion, and Dawnstar and Wildfire responded first, but Lazon gave Dawnstar radiation sickness with his light powers, and Magno Lad ripped Wildfire’s containment suit apart. Shadow Lass, Mon-El, Ultra Boy, Chameleon Boy and Timber Wolf arrived as support, but the villains escaped using a dimensional rift opened by Zymyr. Shadow Lass treated Dawnstar, while Chameleon Boy brought Wildfire a new containment suit. They pursued the villains, but were ambushed by Terrus, who attacked their spaceship with a meteor shower. Cosmic Boy checked in with the Legion Academy, and alerted Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl about the danger. They were on Medicus One, with Saturn Girl receiving prenatal treatment and her delivery date fast approaching. Lightning Lad worried about the safety of his sister, not knowing she was already in captivity. Zymyr opened a spacewarp that stole the polymer screen around Earth that served environmental functions and controlled space traffic. Element Lad, Lightning Lad, and despite everyone else’s objections, Saturn Girl, responded. Saturn Girl went into labor, and Tyr was disappointed to be fighting a pregnant woman, but contented himself with the fact that she’d be easy to kill. Zymyr ended the confrontation, warping his teammates away, and Element Lad and Lightning Lad rushed Saturn Girl to the Medicus One Maternity Ward. Dr. Gym’ll told Lightning Lad he’d been paging him, and that if he was not planning on pulling any more moronic stunts it was time to get in the delivery room. Element Lad, who’d been pacing back and forth in worry, fainted. Queen Projects and Karate Kid flew back to Orando after their honeymoon, but the Legion of Super-Villains were waiting for them, and Magno Lad, Hunter and Mist Master brought their spaceship down. They took the heroes legion rings and sent out the alarm signal, saying the Legion would come running to their own doom. (Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #2)
The entire Legion of Super-Heroes held a quorum to deal with Legion business that’d been kicked down the road for months. Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl rejoined the team, and after the meeting they met with Cosmic Boy to reflect on their past. Cosmic Boy said they provided a sense of continuity since they were the original Legionnaires, and they all started to feel a little bit old. (Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #11) The Legionnaires held an election to determine their new leader with Element Lad running against Brainiac 5. Element Lad had the full support of Shvaughn, and she was pleased that he had the support of the original Legionnaires as well. The original Legionnaires, with Graym Ranzz in tow, announced they were leaving active duty, but wanted to share their ideas for the future of the Legion with Element Lad. Element Lad convinced them to become permanent rotating advisors that could be called form the reserves in an emergency or offer guidance to new members. The votes came in, and Element Lad prevailed. The Legion’s biggest fan, Flynt Brojj, awaited the news and came to Legion headquarters to hear it first. The original Legionnaires and Element Lad decided their fans always stuck with them through thick and thin, so they’d let Flynt be the first to hear. (Legion of Super-Heroes v3 #12)
Reboot
Jan Arrah was born to a race of element transmuters on the planet Trom in the latter half of the 30th century. Fearing the power of the Trom's inhabitants, the terrorist White Triangle destroyed the planet, leaving Jan the only survivor. After uncovering a deadly plot by President Chu of Earth, Jan joined the Legion of Super-Heroes as Element Lad.
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Jan Arrah
Overview
Personality and attributes
When he hunted down Roxxas, he initially took the name of Mystery Lad to hide the nature of his powers from others. After being accepted by the Legion, they gave him the name of Element Lad on account of his powers. (Adventure Comics v1 #307)
Powers and abilities
The unique radioactive properties of his homeworld gave some of its inhabitants unique powers to change the chemical elements of a substance from one state to another. This was achieved by mental radiation that allowed them to alter an objects atomic structure. (Adventure Comics v1 #307)
Notes
- Element Lad was created by Edmond Hamilton and John Forte where he made his first appearance in Adventure Comics v1 #307 (April, 1963).
Appearances
- Adventure Comics v1:
- Superboy v1:
External Links
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