Saturn Girl
| Saturn Girl | |
|---|---|
| File:Saturngirlsilverage.jpg Saturn Girl in her second Silver Age uniform. Art by Gary Frank | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics # 247 (April, 1958) |
| Created by | Otto Binder Al Plastino |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Imra Ardeen |
| Species | Metahuman (post-Zero Hour) |
| Place of origin | Titan, Saturn |
| Team affiliations | Legion of Super-Heroes |
| Abilities | Telepathy |
Imra Ardeen, known as Saturn Girl, is a comic book fictional character, a DC Comics super heroine, a telepath and a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, an organization of teenage heroes that exists one thousand years in a future universe. She comes from Titan, the moon of Saturn. She first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958).
There have been three version of Imra since her original debut; these versions are separated by the events of both the Zero Hour and Infinite Crisis limited series.
Silver Age
During the Silver Age of comics, Saturn Girl was the 30th century hero Imra Ardeen of Titan, a planet (moon) of powerful telepaths. She, Lightning Lad (whom she later married), and Cosmic Boy were the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, an organization of teenage heroes formed to honor the legacy of Superboy. She is the first female character to head a group of superheroes.
Saturn Girl's design has fluctuated over the course of various series reboots. Her first design featured a yellow blouse with black trim, a "Saturn" planet design, her code-name "Saturn Girl" written on the front, and a green skirt and boots. Her second and most familiar design was the red and white blouse with a yellow planet Saturn, red skirt and leggings, and white boots. At the end of the "Legion of Super-Heroes" run in Action Comics #467, a pink cutaway swimsuit design sent in by a fan named K. Haven Metzger appeared and became her costume until 1982, when she returned to the familiar red and white costume.
Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad had twins, Graym and another one they did not become aware of because he was stolen at birth by Darkseid and transported into the past, where he was transformed into the monster Validus. Validus fought the Legion on numerous occasions (and even killed one of the comrades, the first Invisible Kid), but was eventually returned as a normal infant to his parents by Darkseid.
During the "Five Year Gap" following the Magic Wars, Earth fell under the covert control of the Dominators, and withdrew from the United Planets. A few years later, the members of the Dominators' highly classified "Batch SW6" escaped captivity. Originally, Batch SW6 appeared to be a group of teenage Legionnaire clones, created from samples apparently taken just prior to Ferro Lad's death at the hands of the Sun-Eater. Later, they were revealed to be time-paradox duplicates, every bit as legitimate as their older counterparts. After Earth was destroyed in a disaster reminiscent of the destruction of Krypton over a millennium earlier,[1] a few dozen surviving cities and their inhabitants reconstituted their world as New Earth. The SW6 Legionnaires -- including their version of Saturn Girl -- remained.
Post-Zero Hour
After the reboot of the Legion in the Zero Hour series, Imra remained known as Saturn Girl, and a founder of the Legion along with Cosmic Boy and the renamed Live Wire. Her design was changed from previous versions, combining some elements from past uniforms. The top and pants of her uniform are similar in design her red and white uniform, but now colored pink instead of red, and has the familiar Saturn logo.
She was initially torn between her two fellow founders romantically, after she was left catatonic from shutting down the Composite Man's mind, and her mentor Aven was only able to restore her to an infant-like state, she demanded Garth, and it was only after he told her he needed her that she was restored to normal.
Later, controversially, after half the Legion, herself included, were stranded in the past by the Emerald Eye, she would unconsciously animate the comatose Cosmic Boy and almost married him in that state before her subconscious mind rebelled, turning Cos into Garth until she shut down the link and Cosmic Boy was properly awakened.
After Invisible Kid's resignation, she became Legion leader, and stationed Garth as part of a second group of Legionnaires on a space-station known as the Legion Outpost to avoid the appearance of nepotism; this fact irritated him for some time until the three founders went on a mission together against a corrupt regime using their identities and the Legion's symbols to prop up his regime, during which they cleared the air. Shortly thereafter, Garth proposed to her and she assented.
Unfortunately, both of them were among a group of Legionnaires stranded in another galaxy (Legion Lost) by a collapsing rift, during which time Imra also created a psychic projection of Apparition to stabilize Ultra Boy. When the deception was discovered, it severely strained her relationships with most of the other "Lost" Legionnaires. She resigned as leader, and soon thereafter Garth sacrificed himself to stop the mad Element Lad and allow the others to return home safely.
On their return home, her mind was strained by what she had gone through, and returned to her home moon of Titan to undergo psychic therapy. Universo then trapped her in an illusion where she had never impersonated Apparition, Element Lad was not a villain, and Live Wire had never died, to prevent her interfering as he absorbed most of the galaxy into a hivemind with himself at the center. Depressed and angry, when Sensor broke her free, she used her anger to trap Universo in a similar illusion.
Shortly thereafter, when she and Cosmic Boy visited Element Lad's home planet of Trom, they found a resurrected Garth in a crystalline version of Element Lad's body, recreated from electrified crystals Spark had found and placed there. Uncertain of how to react to him, it was some time before they reconciled properly.
"Threeboot"
With the 2005 revamp of the Legion, Imra's personal history has stayed largely the same, although her powers (and those of the Titanian race) have now changed drastically. The Titanians only communicate telepathically, having lost use of their vocal cords due to centuries of evolution. It's stated, in the case of another Titanian, that somehow this type of telepathy can mimic the likeness of verbal communication, rendering a mute Titanian able to make some tongue-in-cheek humor, or change the "tone" of his telepathy according to the situation.
As a result, Imra only "talks" by broadcasting her thoughts to her fellow Legion members. She is still able to read minds, but cannot express herself in spoken language, which puts her at a disadvantage in those situations where her telepathy is useless.
Irma's appearance has again changed slightly. Her new uniform is similar to her Post Zero Hour uniform in design, but colored red instead of pink. This uniform is later changed again by M'rissey.
Imra has always been portrayed as cold[citation needed], but this latest revamp further exaggerates this personality trait. She engages in emotional isolation, and has a very serious, introverted demeanor. This may, in part, be caused by shame over her muteness, which she managed to keep secret from the Legion (with the exception of Lightning Lad) for quite some time. In fact, Lightning Lad seems to be the only one Imra feels comfortable opening up to, a nod to their Pre-Crisis relationship. Her mother holds a high position in the UP Council, and was instrumental in forging the current alliance between the UP and the Legion.
Her coldness however is shown to hide much deeper insecurities. Neglected by Lightning Lad, utterly devoting himself to the Legion cause, she always harbors feelings of inadequacy, putting all the blame in her failing relationship to her perceived lack of attractiveness, her plain personality and her "handicap". When Ultra Boy tries to comfort her, Imra shares a moment of passion, soon discovered by her teammates, of which Lightning Lad isn't informed.
Using her telepathy, Imra was instrumental in locating the wraith-like form of Mon-El, hearing his telepathic pleas for help. She currently pursues a warm relationship with Garth, and still keeps contact with her mother, even knowing that the strained relationships between the UP and the Legion mean that her mother puts her career to risk whenether she accepts to meet her own daughter.
It's mentioned that her Legion Ring is modified to reroute mental impulses, enabling her to benefit from the improved range of communication and reply telepathically to spoken radio communication.
Post-Infinite Crisis
The events of the Infinite Crisis miniseries have apparently restored a close analogue of the Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Legion to continuity, as seen in "The Lightning Saga" story arc in Justice League of America and Justice Society of America, and in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc in Action Comics. Saturn Girl is included in their number.
Comics writer, Geoff Johns, commented on the character stating[2],
Saturn Girl is the heart and soul of the Legion of Super-Heroes. When everybody's saying, 'Legion doesn't work anymore. There's too much xenophobia. You can't change people.' Saturn Girl says, 'Yes, you can.' Then suddenly, you realize she can read people's minds. She knows everyone's deepest darkest secrets. If she has faith, then at the base level, human beings and aliens and everybody can reach that goal, can reach achievement and have that goodness inside them. I believe her. I'm with her. And that's why Saturn Girl is so important to the Legion. She's at the epicention of truth for the entire universe for me.
Powers and abilities
- Saturn Girl's powers in her initial Silver Age appearances appeared to be limitless: she could summon distant people; probe human, electronic, and animal minds; "push" weakened minds, and even directly control others' thoughts and emotions. In later years, her abilities were portrayed more conservatively: her telepathy was used most often for communication or sensing surface thoughts, while her ability to influence and probe minds was usually limited to minds that had already been weakened in some way, such as by fatigue or a villain's mind control.
- Saturn Girl post Zero Hour was again a telepath, able to alter, manipulate, and read minds. She could communicate mentally, as well as cast illusions and maintain them indefinitely, including pseudo-tactile contact, while the illusions could display a personality different from her own and she would be aware of all interactions the illusory figure was involved in at all times.
- The extent of her powers after the "Threeboot", though unknown, is substantially more limited. Although she's retained the "soothing" effect of her powers from her Pre-Crisis incarnation, she is unable to probe shielded minds, and must concentrate to exert direct influence on an opponent's brain (such as disrupting an opponent's amygdala). Her mother, (a United Planet ambassador) seems more skilled than her daughter, able to instinctively sense when Imra is using her telepathy. Titanians may choose an "open broadcast" system of communication, enabling everyone, even non-telepathic as a species, to "hear" their thoughts, or a "closed broadcast", creating a sort of "astral plane" in which they can "speak" completely undetected and in absolute privacy. Imra is able to modulate her telepathic voice in various mode, including a "telepathic scream", overwhelming and compelling as a voiced one.
Elseworlds and other appearances of Saturn Girl
In Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Saturn Girl appears in the form of a young, precognitive girl befriended by Catgirl. She uses the name Saturn Girl, "on account of she's not born yet". She is a stony-eye figure who is at first keen to join Batman's growing army but then turns the offer down when she foresees the vicious attack on Kelley by a Joker-like villain.
Appearances in other media
Saturn Girl appeared in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series with Chameleon Boy and Cosmic Boy. She was voiced by Melissa Joan Hart. She also appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Far From Home."
Another version of her is a regular character on the Legion of Super-Heroes animated series, voiced by Kari Wahlgren (who also provides the voice of Triplicate Girl). This version of the character is closer in abilities to the original Action Comics incarnation, except that she looks somewhat more alien. Besides her telepathic abilities, she displays advanced hand-to-hand combat skills.
Saturn Girl appeared briefly in the season 2 premiere before being put into a coma during a battle with Esper. She has since returned to action in the episode In The Beginning. It appears that she may like Lightning Lad as in "Chain of Command" the two briefly gazed at each other before Lightning Lad is reunited with his parents; they may have romantic feelings for each other, or perhaps just a very strong and close friendship.
Saturn Girl, along with Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad, will make her live-action debut in the eleventh episode of the eighth season of the CW's series Smallville, entitled "Legion." It has been confirmed that she will be portrayed by actress/singer Alexz Johnson. Her Instant Star co-star Laura Vandervoort played Kara/Supergirl in season seven of the show.
