Pre-Zero Hour

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Garth Ranzz, his twin sister Ayla and their brother Mekt were joyriding between planets when their ship lost power and came down on the world of Korbal. They devised a scheme to recharge their ship's energy cells using the electrical energy of Korbal's lightning beasts, a rhino-like animal that could shoot bolts of lightning from its horn. They underestimated the beasts' power, though, and were all bathed in an incalculable amount of bio-electric energy.

After their return from Korbal with newfound powers, Mekt disappeared from their homestead on Winath. Garth left home to look for his older brother, to no avail. He was, however, in the right place at the right time to help two other superpowered teenagers foil the assassination of philanthropist R.J. Brande. Brande admired their teamwork and suggested they form a team - the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Lightning Lad's long career with the Legion was an eventful one. He sacrificed his life to save the Legion, only to be resurrected by Proty, the shapeshifting pet of Chameleon Boy. The Legion learned, much, later, that Proty actually took Garth's form and, somehow, his powers, and spent the rest of his days believing that he was Garth Ranzz.

He also lost his right arm to a giant space whale, and had to get a cybernetic replacement. Perhaps the worst event was the loss of one of his sons to the evil god Darkseid, who raised and twisted the boy and sent him back in time to become one of the Legion's most dangerous foes, Validus.

Saturn Girl

Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl were the model couple for the Legion, and stayed together through countless tragedies, adventures and trips through time. They eventually married and, abiding by the the Legion charter, quit the group. They remained a part of the Legion's extended family, however.

Post Zero-Hour

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The origin of Lightning Lad after the Zero Hour "reboot" is much the same, except that this time he chose the name Live Wire. In his search for his brother Mekt he had made himself something of a police fugitive. When his sister arrived to join the Legion, he was told to quit the group. The planet of Winath did not want a criminal to represent them in the Legion, and wanted his sister instead.

Garth quit the Legion and went to work for the industrialist Leland Macauley. Macauley was a rival of R.J. Brande, and tried to create his own version of the Legion - Work Force. Garth had hoped to make some money to look for his brother, but quit the team soon after due to Macauley's complete lack of morals. He worked with the Legion again for a short time when the Daxamites attacked Earth.

Despite his aid against the Daxamites, Garth was still not allowed to rejoin the team, so he went off again to find his brother. It cost him nearly every credit he had, but he did eventually find Mekt. His brother's mind had snapped, and he was a deadly criminal. Mekt abducted Garth and took him to Korbal, where he began his systematic slaughter of lightning beasts. He would have killed Garth too, if not for the intervention of their sister, Ayla. She arrived in time to save Garth's life, but not his right arm, which Mekt destroyed. Working together, the twins brought Mekt under control and into United Planet custody.

After recovering from his battle with Mekt, Garth worked with a newly formed Espionage Squad to uncover the corruption of the UP President Chu. She was impeached, and Brande was made president in her place. His first act as President was to eliminate the membership restrictions on the Legion, finally allowing Garth to rejoin the team he had founded.

Element Lad

After the attack on Earth by the Blight and the subsequent shutdown of the stargate system, Garth was one of those Legionnaires who was lost in a universe outside our own. He apparently died fighting their former teammate, Element Lad, who had spent billions of years becoming a mad god. Garth's spirit, however, was stored in the living crystals of Element Lad's corpse, and he was able to return to the Legion.

Current Continuity

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Garth Ranzz, Lightning Lad once more, was one of the founders of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and coined their first battle cry: "Eat it, Grandpa!" He is dating Saturn Girl, and says that the only way to successfully date a telepath is to be "way honest."

The Current LL

Powers and Abilities

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Lightning Lad has the ability to generate electricity and direct bolts of electricity accurately. He is also able to generate and manipulate electricity, he can also apply the electricity internally to his own body and muscles, allowing himself to move at a top speed of one third the speed of light (the speed of lightning) and range anywhere in between that and normal human speed. Lightning Lad can use his power destructively, such as to short-circuit electrical items, split boulders, burn objects with precision or shatter walls.

Lightning Lad in Action

Other Media

Appears as one of the main characters on the CW's Legion of Superheroes.