Lightning Lass
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This page discusses both the pre-Zero Hour and post-Zero Hour versions of the character.
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[edit] Pre-Zero Hour
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Ayla Ranzz, also known as Lightning Lass, and at different times in her history as Light Lass, is a fictional character, a superheroine in the future of the DC Comics universe. She is a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
[edit] Fictional biography
Ayla Ranzz (of the planet Winath, where twinning is normal) first appeared in Adventure Comics #308, (May 1963). She is the twin sister of fellow Legionnaire Lightning Lad and the younger sister of the villainous Lightning Lord. All three gained their lightning powers after being attacked by creatures called lightning beasts on the 'lightning world' of Korbal. She originally joined the Legion disguised as her brother Lightning Lad, claiming to be her brother back from the dead, after Lightning Lad's apparent death at the hands of Zaryan. Her imposture was soon discovered, but she was admitted into the Legion as Lightning Lass.
For many years she was called Light Lass, after Dream Girl used the science of her homeworld Naltor to change Ayla's lightning powers with the ability to make objects super-lightweight, or anti-gravity powers. (The Light Lass powers were explained both ways over the years.) The SW6 Ayla Ranzz with the Anti-Gravity powers took the code name Gossamer.
Ayla regained her lightning powers in a battle with Lightning Lord, this occurred after Ayla had left the Legion for a time, disillusioned with her Legion career and having just broken up a lengthy romance with fellow Legionnaire Timber Wolf. She broke up with him following a misunderstanding when she saw Timber Wolf embracing her sister-in-law Saturn Girl when both were stranded on a frozen asteroid. Later Ayla entered into a relationship with Shrinking Violet.
[edit] Powers and abilities
As Lightning Lass, Ayla Ranzz has the superhuman ability to generate electricity, usually in the form of lightning bolts. As Light Lass, she has the power to cancel gravity.
[edit] Other media
In Superman: The Animated Series, Lightning Lass made a cameo appearance in the episode "New Kids In Town".
[edit] Post-Zero Hour
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Ayla Ranzz, codenamed Spark, is a fictional character, a superheroine in the future of the DC Comics universe, and a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
[edit] Fictional Biography
Ayla originally joined the Legion as a replacement for her twin brother Live Wire, as their planet Winath decided to choose her rather than Garth, who had been classified as a runaway. Eventually, the "one member per planet" restriction was lifted, and he rejoined.
She was one of the Legion members stranded in the 21st Century for a time as a result of the Emerald Eye's machinations. While there, she travelled into the Source, which replaced her electrical powers with anti-gravity powers (although she did not change her codename). Upon returning to her native 31st Century and reuniting with her brother, however, she began to experience debilitating headaches when using her powers; the headaches were diagnosed as psychosomatic. Apparently, she couldn't handle having different powers than her brother. In a desperate attempt to restore her old powers, she returned to Korbal, the planet where she and her brothers originally gained their powers after being shocked by a "Lightning Beast" (which, at the time, had left them in a coma for months). Her altered genetic structure left her unable to take another blast however, and she was killed. Shortly afterward, her brother and some of their teammates, who had followed her, arrived. In grief, he let off a huge blast which temporarily revived her, and Doctor Gym'll theorised that a greater blast could properly revive her and restore her electrical powers. By channelling a huge amount of atmospheric electricity, Garth succeeded. Shortly afterward, she became romantically associated with fellow Legionnaire Chameleon, who had a longstanding crush on her.
Later, the Legion was disbanded after the apparent death of several of her teammates (including her brother and Chameleon) and she returned to Winath. However, when these teammates returned, Garth was not among them, having apparently sacrificed himself so the rest could return home. After Chameleon broke this news to her, she apparently did not resume her relationship with him. She briefly took the name Live Wire after this, but shortly before his return, she was convinced by the second Kid Quantum that she'd be better honouring her brother by being herself.
[edit] Powers
Spark has the ability to generate electricity, and direct bolts of it accurately (the exact mechanism in her power which prevents the bolts taking the path of least resistance to Earth is not understood), which she commonly refers to as "lightning." She briefly possessed the ability to reduce objects' density, but has shown no sign of this since the restoration of her electrical powers.
