Lar Gand

For the EC Comics publication, see Valor (EC Comics).

Lar Gand, known mainly as Mon-El (and alternatively as Valor and M'Onel), is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, and Superman. The character has been reinterpreted over the years, but in all versions serves as a hero with abilities similar to those of Superman, sometimes serving as a substitute for him.

Lar Gand
Lar Gand as depicted in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 6) #4 (October 2010). Art by Jim Lee.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superboy #89 (June 1961)
Created by	Robert Bernstein George Papp (based upon Superboy by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)
In-story information
Full name	Lar Gand (Mon-El)
Species	Daxamite
Place of origin	Daxam (21st century)
Team affiliations	Science Police (21st century) Justice League Green Lantern Corps Legion of Super-Heroes Titans Superman Family
Notable aliases	Bob Cobb, Marvel Lad (aka "Legionnaire Lemon"), Valor, M'Onel, Champion, Jonathan Kent, Mike Matthews, Phantom King
Abilities	See list Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, durability, and reflexes Solar energy radiation absorption Molecular acceleration Longevity Invulnerability Flight Superhuman Vision Electromagnetic spectrum vision Telescopic vision Microscopic vision X-ray vision Infrared vision Ultraviolet vision Heat vision Thermal vision Superhuman breath Freezing breath Wind breath Super-Hearing Genius-level intellect Photographic memory Indomitable will Basic hand-to-hand combatant

Mon-El appears in the second season of Supergirl, portrayed by Chris Wood. Additionally, Superman X, a character loosely based on Mon-El, appears in the animated series Legion of Super Heroes, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.

Publication history

A precursor to the Lar Gand character appeared in the story "Superman's Big Brother", in Superman #80 (February 1953). He was named Halk Kar,^[1] and had a logo-less costume almost identical to Superman's, but with the red and blue colors reversed. He was created by Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino.^[2]

Lar Gand first appeared in Superboy #89 and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp.

Fictional character biography

Halk Kar

Halk Kar crash-lands on Earth in a rocketship and is rescued by Superman, who discovers that Halk Kar suffers from amnesia. Discovering that Halk Kar has a note from Jor-El (Superman's father) mentioning his son, Superman assumes that Halk Kar must not only be from his own planet Krypton, but he must be a son of Jor-El and thus also his own older brother.^[3]

Superman quickly realizes that Halk Kar is less powerful than he is and – instead of subjecting him to embarrassment over the fact that he may be weaker than his younger brother – opts to use his own powers to cover for Halk Kar's deficiencies. This plan backfires, as Halk Kar begins to assume a superior attitude to Superman and even begins to make romantic advances on Superman's girlfriend, Lois Lane.^[4]

Finally, Halk Kar recovers his memory, and explains that he is from the planet Thoron, which is in the same star system as Krypton. Years ago, while on a pioneer voyage into space, he landed on Krypton with his damaged rocketship. There he met Jor-El, who explained that Krypton's destruction was imminent and repaired Halk Kar's rocketship, sending him away with the note which had a map from Krypton to Earth on it. Krypton exploded shortly afterward, causing Halk Kar to be put into suspended animation until he drifted to Earth to meet Superman, the grown-up son of Jor-El referred to in the note. Halk Kar returns to Thoron in his repaired rocketship, leaving Superman with the experience of briefly having had a brother.^[4]

Mon-El

The Halk Kar plot was reused in Superboy #89 (June 1961), in a story set during Superman's career as Superboy. The character's name was changed to Lar Gand, his homeworld was changed to Daxam, and he was made younger to roughly match Superboy's age.^[5] Unlike Halk Kar, Gand sustains amnesia after landing on Earth, with Superboy assuming that he is his brother and giving him the Kryptonian name Mon-El. After accidentally exposing Gand to lead, which is fatal to him and other Daxamites, Superboy transports him to the Phantom Zone to save his life.^[6]

This provided for a means to use the character in contemporary stories set in the 30th century with the Legion of Super-Heroes. In these stories, Legion members Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 create an antidote to Mon-El's lead poisoning, allowing him to be released from the Phantom Zone and join the Legion.^[7][8]

Mon-El is killed by the Time Trapper during the Magic Wars.^[9] The Time Trapper later revives Mon-El, who kills him and alters the timeline in the process. The Time Trapper identity is taken by Glorith, the Time Trapper's former assistant.^[10]

Valor

Valor
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date	November 1992 – September 1994
No. of issues	23
Main character(s)	Lar Gand
Creative team
Written by	Robert Loren Fleming Mark Waid Kurt Busiek
Penciller(s)	M. D. Bright Jeffrey Moore Paris Cullins Colleen Doran
Editor(s)	KC Carlson

In the "Glorithverse", Lar Gand replaces Superboy as the inspiration for the Legion. In the 20th century, Gand stopped the Dominators' planned invasion of Earth and freed thousands of humans who were experimented on by the Dominators and given metahuman powers. These metahumans went on to colonize many of the worlds that would join the United Planets. Gand is later placed in the Phantom Zone by Glorith, to be rescued by the Legion in the 30th century.^[11]

After being freed, Gand briefly joins L.E.G.I.O.N., where Vril Dox cures his lead poisoning. He also received a self-titled series where he explored the universe alongside the artificial intelligence Babbage.

Glorith later alters the timeline, resurrecting the original Time Trapper and killing Lar Gand. She then summons a duplicate Valor to take Gand's place in an attempt to repair her damage to the timeline.

M'Onel

M'Onel. Art by Jeff Moy and W.C. Carani.

Mon-El reappears following Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!, which reboots the Legion's continuity. Having sustained amnesia, he is tricked into fighting Superboy (Conner Kent). When Superboy notices that Valor is sick due to Vril Dox's anti-lead serum wearing off, he places him in the Phantom Zone, where he remains for a thousand years before being released and cured. Valor assumes the name M'Onel, which R. J. Brande claims to be Martian for "He Who Wanders".

2004 "Threeboot" continuity

The character is reintroduced following another reboot of Legion history in 2004. Mon-El is reintroduced with a similar history to his previous counterparts, but does not remember who placed him in the Phantom Zone.^[12]

Post-"Infinite Crisis"

Mon-El in his costume honoring Superman. Art by Jamal Igle.

In post-"Infinite Crisis" continuity, Mon-El is the descendant of the Daxamite Bal Gand and an unnamed man who she had an affair with while visiting Earth. Gand is born on Daxam, but chooses to leave the planet and is brought by his ancestor's ship to Central America.^[13] There, Gand encounters Clark Kent, who inadvertently poisons him with lead and places him in the Phantom Zone.^[14]

Superman later releases Mon-El from the Phantom Zone to save him from its collapse. Mon-El is cured of his lead poisoning by a cure left anonymously for him by the Legion. He adopts the human alias of Clark's cousin Jonathan Kent and acts as protector of Metropolis while Superman is operating on New Krypton. Mon-El also briefly joins the Science Police.^[15]

Following a battle with Atomic Skull, Mon-El is invited to join the Justice League of America by Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi).^[16] However, Mon-El begins dying after developing an immunity to the lead antidote and is returned to the Phantom Zone, where he remains until he is rescued by the Legion 1,000 years later.^[17]

Post-"Infinite Crisis" Legion

Mon-El in his Green Lantern costume

The events of Infinite Crisis restore an analogue of the pre-Crisis Legion to continuity, including Mon-El.

In the Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds miniseries, which follows after Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Mon-El is rescued from the Phantom Zone and given an anti-lead antidote by Brainiac 5.^[18] Later on, Mon-El is chosen to become a Green Lantern by Dyogene, a creature living inside the planet Oa.^[19]

The New 52

In The New 52 continuity reboot, Gand appears as the field leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes.^[20] It is further revealed that this version, as the entire Legion, is possibly the original one from before the Flashpoint event as they are even aware of these reality-altering events.^[21]

In Doomsday Clock, Mon-El is erased from existence when Doctor Manhattan alters the timeline. However, he is restored when Superman convinces Manhattan to undo his actions.^[22]

Powers and abilities

See also: Superman § Powers and abilities

Generally, the abilities of Lar Gand and other Daxamites are similar to those of Superman and other natives of the planet Krypton (super-strength; speed; flight; x-ray vision, heat vision, microscopic and telescopic vision powers; invulnerability; and super hearing). However, he is vulnerable to the inert element lead, rather than the radioactive element Kryptonite.

Other versions

A separate, contemporary character named Mon-El appears in DC All In as the Phantom King, the ruler of the Phantom Zone.^[23]

In other media

Television

Chris Wood as Mon-El as he appears in Supergirl.

• Elements of Lar Gand are incorporated in a clone of Superman named Kell-El / Superman X, who appears in Legion of Super Heroes (2006), voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.^[24] According to series producer James Tucker, Superman X was created to fill Mon-El's role due to Warner Bros. executives believing the latter to be too similar to Superman.^[25]
• Mon-El appears in TV series set in the Arrowverse, portrayed by Chris Wood.^[26]
  • Primarily appearing in Supergirl, this version is a prince and son of Lar Gand (portrayed by Kevin Sorbo) and Rhea (portrayed by Teri Hatcher), though he initially believed that he was the prince's bodyguard.^[27] Introduced in the second season, Mon-El crash-lands on Earth and enters a coma sometime prior to the series. Upon awaking in the present, he battles Supergirl due in part to an ancient feud between Krypton and Daxam until she reveals that Daxam was destroyed alongside Krypton. After the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO) release Mon-El into Supergirl's custody, she helps him integrate into Earth's society and use his powers for good. He adopts the alias Mike Matthews and eventually becomes a bartender at an alien bar. After Mon-El's parents come to Earth to retrieve him, he reluctantly goes with them due to Rhea's machinations until Lar Gand allows him to stay on Earth with Supergirl.^[28] Refusing to accept this, Rhea kills Lar Gand and attempts to conquer Earth, only to be foiled by Lena Luthor, who uses her brother Lex Luthor's equipment to lace Earth's atmosphere with a mixture of Kryptonite and lead to make the planet uninhabitable for Daxamites.^[29] Following the deaths of Rhea and several Daxamites, Mon-El leaves for deep space, where he enters a time portal, ends up in the 31st century, becomes a founding member of the Legion, and marries fellow Legionnaire Imra Ardeen over the course of seven years.^[30] After returning to the present to help Supergirl defeat Reign,^[31] Mon-El breaks up with Ardeen and brings Winn Schott to the 31st century to induct him into the Legion.^[32]
    • Additionally, two alternate timeline versions of Mon-El appear in the episode "It's a Super Life".^[33]
  • Mon-El appears in The Flash episode "Duet".^[34][35]

Film

• Mon-El makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five.^[36]
• Lar Gand appears in Legion of Super-Heroes (2023), voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.^[37][38][36] This version is a member of the Dark Circle who infiltrates the Legion Academy to seize the Miracle Machine, during which he adopted the Mon-El alias due to being a self-proclaimed fan of Kryptonian culture.

Video games

Mon-El appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[39]