Rond Vidar

Rond Vidar is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #349 (October 1966), and was created by Jim Shooter, Mort Weisinger and Curt Swan.

Fictional character biography

Rond was the son of Universo, an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Sent to live with a family on Earth, Rond proved to be a genius at temporal theory, and won a prize at an early age for his invention of the Time Cube, a device which can transport its contents in time. The Time Cube later proved indispensable to the Legion, who used it to stop Universo from taking over the world.

Soon the Legion made Rond an honorary member and he continued his research, collaborating on many experiments with the super-intelligent Brainiac 5. While instrumental in many temporal advances, including the creation of the Time Beacon, allowing for safe travel through time, Rond's experiments took a disastrous turn when they threw Professor Jaxon Rugarth into a time loop, turning him into the Infinite Man.

Green Lantern Corps

At some point in Rond's career, the Guardians of the Universe recruited him to be a covert member of the Green Lantern Corps, since Green Lanterns were banned on Earth at the time (due to the actions of the last Earth-based Green Lantern, Universo).^[1] Rond kept this a secret, not even telling his friends in the Legion.

Considering his son (the only other person immune to his powers of hypnotism) a threat to his plans, Universo eventually "killed" Rond.^[2] Rond, however, survived the attack but chose to allow the rest of the world to believe he was dead, allowing him to work better undercover. Rond's survival (and secret identity) was revealed in when he helped save Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Duo Damsel, and Mon-El during an attack on the Time Trapper, a longtime foe whose manipulations had caused the death of Superboy.^[3] Due to Earth's ban on Green Lanterns, he left the planet, never to return.

Retirement

Late in his career, Rond formed a close bond with former Legionnaire Laurel Gand, eventually fathering a daughter by her. When Rond's Green Lantern ring was destroyed in a battle with the wizard Mordru, Rond retired from superheroism.

After the Legion was "rebooted" in 1994, Rond made occasional appearances as a time-travel researcher, but neither his status as a Green Lantern nor his parentage was ever addressed, and a very different Universo was later reintroduced. As a visual gag, the rebooted Rond occasionally wore outfits resembling the costumes worn by various incarnations of the Doctor in Doctor Who.

Post-Infinite Crisis

The events of the Infinite Crisis miniseries have restored a close analogue of the Pre-Crisis Legion continuity, as seen in "The Lightning Saga" story arc in Justice League of America and Justice Society of America, in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc in Action Comics.

In Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, Rond, as Green Lantern, was revealed as an active member of the Legion. He was also known as the last Green Lantern due to a defunct Corps and the absence of the Guardians of the Universe from a dead and decaying Oa. However, it is unconfirmed if Green Lanterns were still banned from Earth in this new continuity - the absence of a Rond Vidar statue in the Legion wing of the Superman Museum would indicate that the ban was still in effect, and that Rond was a covert member of the team.

Rond was part of a small team of Legionnaires who were rescuing the White Witch from the clutches of Mordru until they encountered the Legion of Super-Villains, who arrived to recruit Mordru. Vastly outnumbered, Rond sent his teammates back to Earth to warn the rest of the Legion and took on the Super-Villains himself to buy them time until he was subdued by Saturn Queen and Superboy-Prime. Rond's father Universo wanted the Green Lantern ring back, but Rond defiantly stated that his father would never have the ring and spat in his father's face before he was killed by Superboy-Prime. Upon Rond's death, the ring flew off into space looking for a new bearer, but was lost without Mogo to direct it and it returned to Oa, where it powered down for good. Rond's body was later retrieved and taken to Oa in a casket by Mon-El and Shadow Lass, where they encountered Sodam Yat, the last remaining Guardian.^[4] Yat conducted a ceremonial cremation for Rond before leaving with the Legionnaires to fight Superboy-Prime.

References

1. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #295 (January 1983)
2. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 3) #30 (January 1987)
3. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 3) #50 (September 1988)
4. ^ Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #2

External links

• Rond Vidar: Honorary Legionnaires Hero History at Major Spoilers
• DCU Guide: Rond Vidar
• GLCorps.org: Rond Vidar