Rann

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Rann is a fictional planet in the Polaris star system (formerly the Alpha Centauri system) of the DC Comics universe. Rann is most famous for being the adopted planet of the Earth explorer and hero Adam Strange and for their teleportation device called the Zeta Beam. The planet Rann, along with her famous non-native son, first appeared in Showcase #17 (November-December 1958).

1 Natives of Rann
2 Noted Rannians
3 Rann Technology
4 Rann and Thanagar
5 Trivia

[edit] Natives of Rann

Natives of Rann, known as Rannians, are for all intents and purposes the same as Earth-based humans. However, years of reclusive living and apathy brought on by reliance upon their technologically advanced machinery resulted in a society which had stagnated. While entirely apt to continue for some time, Rannians found their gene pool to have deteriorated, resulting in a sterile culture. For decades, no children were born, until Adam Strange fathered a child with Alanna, daughter of Sardath, the man who invented the Zeta Beam. Their daughter, Aleea, remained on Rann with her mother. Along with the humanoid Rannians, a sentient tornado also lived on Rann. First appearing in Mystery in Space #61, the tornado was a malicious entity named Ulthoon, the Tornado Tyrant of Rann. He was defeated after challenging Adam Strange while Strange was on Rann. After having lost to Strange, he contemplated the nature of good and evil, and decided that good was superior to evil. Following this, he split into two entities. One, a benevolent being, called himself the Tornado Champion. The other, a malicious entity, called himself the Tornado Tyrant. Both would encounter the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America before being merged into the android shell of the second Red Tornado. Rann's prehistoric creatures, seen during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, are large, dinosaur-like creatures, albeit more exotic than the normal Earth varieties (such as four-eyed creatures). In the 22nd Century, a descendant of Adam Strange, also named Adam Strange, will assist the Space Ranger and Cryll in defeating Yarrok, Wizard of the Cosmos. While originally a pre-Crisis tale featured in Mystery in Space #94 and 98, Hourman #11 confirmed the story as canon with a pair of statues honoring both the second Adam Strange and Space Ranger. The above Hourman issue also features the first appearance of Rann Prime and the Adam Stranger in the 853rd Century.

[edit] Noted Rannians

Among the many humanoid Rannians, several have stood out for their actions. Sardath, chief scientist of Rann, is noted as the inventor of both the Zeta Beam and the Omega Beam technology. His daughter, Alanna, is an energetic and fierce woman, the wife of Adam Strange and mother to the first Rannian (or more accurately, half-Rannian) child born in decades. That child, Aleea, represents the hope of the Rannian people to once again prosper rather than fade into extinction. Vath Sarn became the Green Lantern of the sector which Rann is in.

[edit] Rann Technology

The most famous pieces of Rann technology are Sardath's Zeta Beam and the resulting variations. The Zeta Beam is a teleportation device, which boasts an extreme long range capability that can transport a human-sized target over light-years of distance. The Omega Beam acts as a Zeta Beam for planetary sized targets.

The Zeta Beam has undergone several stages. At first, the effects of a Zeta Beam would only last temporarily, resulting in Adam Strange having to return to Earth, at the point where he last teleported (in the southern hemisphere, the only part of Earth where Alpha Centauri is visible). Later, Sardath improved the Zeta Beam so that the effects would become permanent. The amount of radiation which the Zeta Beam produces would also be reduced, as shown in the Rann-Thanagar War mini-series, when Tigorr of the Omega Men, having used an older Zeta Beam model, is shown to have a large amount of ambient radiation from the teleportation.

Zeta Beamers, highly coveted by other races like the Thanagarians, are few and far between. Most are situated on Rann; Adam Strange later received a personal Zeta Beamer from Sardath. Throneworld, home of Prince Gayvn (Starman), received a Zeta Beamer as a gift from Rann.

The term zeta beam (or zee beam, as young Aleea said) can also be used as a verb. When one uses a Zeta Beamer, one is zeta beaming, etc.

The Zeta Beam relies on clear line of sight in order to teleport; any sort of interference would produce disastrous results. This was shown in James Robinson's Starman, when a villain attempts to use the Zeta Beam, only to be crushed against a shell of darkness at greater than light speeds. JLA: The Nail also has a dead Adam Strange, killed when he was trapped in space by a force shield surrounding Earth. The worst example of a Zeta Beam malfunction is shown in 52, when a Zeta Beam redirected through a portal created by Mal Duncan essentially splintered into several different beams. One caused Supergirl to be transported to the 31st century; one caused Adam Strange, Starfire, and Animal Man to be transported to an unknown planet and caused Adam to lose both of his eyes; one caused Alan Scott to lose both of his eyes and gain one of someone else's (likely one of Adam's); one caused the Red Tornado to explode and some of his circuitry to fuse into Mal Duncan's body; one caused Firestorm and Cyborg to fuse physically; and one caused Bumblebee to shrink to six inches in height and Hawkgirl to grow to twenty-five feet. The beam also caused the heroes to be trapped in some sort of limbo for over a month, until Halo (comics) and the Challengers of the Unknown are able to locate and rescue them.

The Omega Beam was used only twice; once to teleport Rann into an empty parallel universe to hide it from Starbreaker, then again to return it to the DC Comics universe, albeit in the Polaris system. Unfortunately, all Omega Beams were destroyed in the course of their use.

Rann also utilizes various futuristic robots, flying cars, and the like. One notable mode of transportation on Rann is jetpack. Adam Strange himself would feature a jetpack as part of his standard costume. Blasters and other plasma weapons are commonplace. Sardath, as a parting gift, gave Adam an upgraded version of his standard costume which allows for interplanetary travel as well as hard-light plasma weapons.

[edit] Rann and Thanagar

When Rann was transported into Thanagar’s system, tensions between the old adversaries were already high. Matters were made worse with the intervention of Superboy Prime. Acting under orders from Alexander Luthor, Jr. he shifted Thanagar’s orbit closer to the sun, making the planet unlivable.

At first, Rann attempted to save as many of the Thanagarians as they could, with the assistance of the Omega Men and L.E.G.I.O.N. Sardath offered Rann as a refuge for the Thanagarians, but many, believing that the arrival of Rann in the system is what caused their planet’s destruction, would not take the assistance of their old enemy. Once as many of the willing as possible were evacuated, Rann found itself in a very tense situation. The planet was full of Thanagarian refugees, and ripe for war. The Cult of Seven Devils, a death cult which worshipped Starbreaker and Onimar Synn, seized the opportunity and started a war between the Thanagarians and the Rannians.

Rann found allies in the Thanagarian-linked heroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl and later the Thanagarian soldier Shayera Thal, known as Hawkwoman. Throneworld, with the Prince Gayvn/Will Payton Starman, also allied with Rann, as well as Tigorr and his Omega Men. The Warlords of Okaara, the Dominion, and Colu also allied with Rann. Mercenaries from Khund are eventually persuaded by Tigorr to fight for Rann, although they were dispatched by the Cult of Seven Devils to scour for Nth Metal. Blackfire allied herself with the heroes of Rann after an attack on Polara resulted in a significant Thanagar loss. Thanagar received aid from the Psions, enemies of the Omega Men and of the Vega system in general. The shapeshifters of Durla and the Citadel, another Vega system menace, also allied with the Thanagarians. Blackfire and the Tamaraneans (or Tamaranians) allied themselves with the Thanagarians initially, although Blackfire is merely playing both sides in a bid for power and a search for a new homeworld, the past ones being destroyed by the Psions, a Sun Eater, and Imperiex, respectively. The Khunds were originally hired by the Cult of Seven Devils to scour for Nth Metal, but were bought off by Tigorr and fought for the Rannian forces.

After fighting off both the Thangarians and the threat of a resurrected Onimar Synn, Rann found itself again in conflict when the Tamaraneans and Thanagarian remnants took over Polara, while a space-time rift appeared near the Polaris system.

Later Thanagar's orbit was corrected by members of the Green Lantern Corps and its surface was repaired through terraforming.