Light Lass
	Name: Ayla Ranzz Home Planet: Winath (a.k.a. Amarta) Super-Power: Making objects super-lightweight Member Since: 2963

Origin | Super-Power | Personal Data | Membership Record

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"Lightning Lad and Light Lass, the twin Legionnaires, were born on the far-off planet Amarta, to a family named Ranzz. The future Lightning Lad was christened Garth; his sister was called Ayla. Neither they nor their older brother, Mekt, had super-powers at birth. But one day, when the three were returning from a party on another world, their space-flier ran out of power near Korbal, a wild planet with no human inhabitants. Garth recalled that one of the chief life-forms on Korbal was the lightning-monsters, and the trio devised a scheme to get them to recharge the flier's energy cells. After landing, they rigged up an antenna on the ship; then they tried to get the monsters to discharge their bolts at it. But instead, they surrounded the three and bombarded them with lightning, which created an electrical field and endowed the three with the power to generate even greater lightning than the beasts. They first used this new ability to recharge the energy cells."

"Lightning Lad was the first Legionnaire to die in action, killed by a freeze ray while battling a villain called Zaryan. When Ayla heard of her brother's death, she disguised herself as him and pretended to have revived, so she could carry on his work in the Legion. Sun Boy discovered her impersonation when he noticed her neck was not tanned, proving her long hair had recently been cut. But she was inducted into the Legion as Lightning Lass. Later, Mon-El discovered a real way to revive Lightning Lad.

"It was to save the electrical twins and five other Legionnaires that Dream Girl first joined the Legion. Her ability to see the future had warned her that they would be killed in an explosion, so she determined to prevent this by getting them out of the Legion. She rigged a huge dynamo so it would destroy Lightning Lass' power - which naturally got her expelled. However, it was later learned that Dream Girl had used her scientific skills to give Ayla a different ability - the power to make objects super-lightweight. So she was taken back into the Legion as Light Lass. As a result, she changed the emblem on her costume. She now took a lightweight symbol representing her new power - a feather."

- Adventure Comics No. 354 (Mar. 1967) "Meet the Legionnaires - Lightning Lad & Light Lass"

Comments: Dream Girl also renamed Ayla "Light Lass" (Adventure Comics No. 317). To represent her new power, Light Lass had originally changed the symbol on her costume to a cloud (322), but to avoid confusion among Legion fans (338 "The Legion Outpost"), she then changed it to a feather (327).

Garth and Ayla both decided to never reveal that she had acquired the same power of super-lightning, lest evil men try to force her to help them in their crimes. After her brother's death, Ayla took her brother's crypt to Korbal (Adventure Comics No. 308).

First Appearance: (as Lightning Lass) Adventure Comics No. 308 (written by Edmond Hamilton, drawn by John Forte); (as Light Lass) Adventure Comics No. 317 (written by Edmond Hamilton, drawn by John Forte)

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Light Lass originally had the same super-lightning power as her brother Garth (see Lightning Lad entry for details) and was called Lightning Lass. Currently, as a result of her power being altered by Naltorian science, she has the power to make people or objects super-lightweight (Adventure Comics No. 317).

She can use her power to make things light enough to lift with ease (Adventure Comics No. 317, 323), or float (318). She can also make things super-light, causing them to hurl upwards from the ground, as if acted on by reverse- or anti-gravity (326, 347). She has used her power on people, buildings (317), and spaceships (318, 347).

Light Lass can use just enough power to lessen the impact of a falling object, but still have the object drift down to Earth (Adventure Comics No. 359).

When the damaged pumps of the famous Reversed Waterfalls were too weak to force the water up over the cliff, Light Lass reduced the water's weight so the pumps could lift the lighter water over the cliff, and stayed there making each new volume of water lighter until the damaged pumps were repaired (Adventure Comics No. 336).

The effect of her power is only temporary and will wear off over time (Adventure Comics No. 318) or, if she chooses to, so she can cancel the effect of her rays at will (363).

As weight is the result of gravity on a given mass, Light Lass' ability is to affect the pull between an object and the planet it is on. In other words, her weight-reducing rays affect gravimetric pull, and not the mass of the target object.

She can either make a given mass weightless, as if in zero-gravity, or she can make it super-weightless, as in the case of anti-gravity. Her weight-reducing rays are powerful enough to produce a negative gravimetric force sufficient enough to send a spaceship hurtling out of Earth's atmosphere and into space (Adventure Comics No. 347).

Once, while in space, Cosmic Boy used his magnetic power to pull their lifeboat behind a meteor. Light Lass made his job easier when she used her power on the ship. While the craft was already weightless in space, she lessened the resistance by making it super-light weight in gravimetric relation to the meteor (Adventure Comics No. 318).

Light Lass can use her power on objects of specific size, without having to actually see the object. For example, she once used her power to make all objects the size of Lana Lang's bio-ring, within range, become lighter than air and rise. Superboy's cape rose, but only because it contained the ring hidden in its pouch (Adventure Comics No. 355/2). She also once saved the planet Rxzm from being blown up by making a super-bomb that was planted underground there super-light, causing it to flash up and away from the planet, though she only saw it on an x-probe monitor (329).

Limitations and Weaknesses: Typically, the effects of her rays are only temporary and the anti-gravitational fields she produces fade away after a time.

Once, Light Lass made Element Lad's boots so super-lightweight that he floated up to a mountain peak. He countered the effect by transforming his boots into a heavier element - in fact, neutronium, the heaviest element in the universe. Light Lass then had to use her power a second time in order to compensate for the added mass. Because there was no heavier element for Element Lad to change his boots into, Light Lass' power was effectively "locked in" (Adventure Comics No. 326).

Normally, Light Lass' anti-weight rays have a range of less than a dozen yards. Once, however, when her powers were increased dramatically, her range was extended greatly to span an entire city block (about 220 yards), and she felt powerful enough to raise an entire city.

Speculative Explanation of Power: Dream Girl's Naltorian science altered Ayla's ability to manipulate electric force and tied it in to gravity, another of the fundamental forces, so instead of using her ability to create electric fields, Light Lass can now affect gravitoelectric fields. Gravity is connected to electricity on a quantum level, and, just as electricity has electrons to generate electric fields, gravity has the elementary particle called a graviton to generate gravitational fields. How Light Lass can use one field to affect the other is demonstrated as follows:

In 1992, Russian engineer Eugene Podkletnov conducted gravity shielding experiments in which any object, magnetic or non-magnetic, placed above a rotating superconducting disk would lose up to 2% of its weight. He concluded that the Earth's gravitational field was being weakened directly above the disc.

This gravitational shielding effect is made possible because a superconductor disk is made up of large, tightly packed atoms so as to allow electrons on its surface to move more readily - to superconduct electricity. With its dense atomic structure bombarded by radiofrequency energy, the fast moving electrons were able to block off more gravitational waves than if they were moving slower. Partially shielding itself from the Earth's and its own gravitational field resulted in the object achieving a lighter weight.

By manipulating the gravitoelectric fields about objects, Light Lass can lessen the weight of any mass to any degree. She can cancel an object's weight entirely or reverse the field, creating anti-gravity.

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Physical Description: Ayla has short red hair, brushed back from her high forehead. She has an oval face with almond-shaped eyes that lift at the corners, and small, delicate features.

Personality: Ayla is very caring (Adventure Comics No. 327, 347), ladylike (354), and feminine (368). She gets along well with children and enjoys playing games with them (318). She is concerned about her appearance and has a cellular trim ray in her apartment (326). Communication and teamwork are extremely important to her. She is capable of great courage and daring, and has a fierce determination to help those she loves (Action Comics No. 378/2).

Skills: Ayla has a talent for sculpting (Adventure Comics No. 317).

Interests: Ayla appreciates art (Adventure Comics No. 362) and enjoys decorating (368).

Relationships: Ayla has been romantically involved with Timber Wolf since the day they first met in 2964 (Adventure Comics No. 327). She believes in their love and trusts him with her life, and she is the only person he will open up to (Action Comics No. 378/2). Before she met Brin, she had a mild crush on Sun Boy, attracted by his forceful and protective nature (Adventure Comics No. 308, 312). Cosmic Boy, on the other hand, is more like another big brother to her (317, 318) and he sometimes escorts her on friendly dates (350). Ayla is friends with Duo Damsel (317, Jimmy Olsen No. 76), Saturn Girl (76), and Star Boy (Adventure Comics No. 318).

Known Relatives: Garth Ranzz/Lightning Lad (twin brother), Mekt Ranzz/Lightning Lord (older brother), parents living on Winath.

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Application: Ayla disguised herself as her deceased twin brother Lightning Lad, come back to life, in order to carry on his work. Eventually, Sun Boy exposed her ruse. Induction: Being the sister of their deceased friend, Ayla was voted into the team and given a warm welcome. She was named Lightning Lass by Saturn Girl and other girl members of the Super-Heroes (Adventure Comics No. 308). Aliases Used: Ayla called herself Lightning Lad when she was disguised as him (Adventure Comics No. 308); billionairess Carina Walter (Action Comics No. 382/2)

Career Highlights:

Adventure Comics No. 308 (May 1963) "The Return of Lightning Lad"

Ayla Ranzz, disguised as her deceased brother, Lightning Lad, journeyed to Thieves' Planet with the Legionnaires, who suspected that the "revived" Lightning Lad had lost his power. Thanks to this mistaken belief, the Master of Thieves' Planet was surprised and defeated by her lightning power, which she had received at the same time as her brother. After Sun Boy revealed her to be Lightning Lad's twin sister, the Legionnaires welcomed her into the team as Lightning Lass.

Adventure Comics No. 312 (Sept. 1963) "The Super-Sacrifice of the Legionnaires"

Lightning Lass was one of the six Legionnaires who gathered to risk their lives in order to revive the frozen Lightning Lad. Proty substituted himself for Saturn Girl and, using a duralim metal wand to attract the lightning, sacrificed his life essence to restore Lightning Lad.

Adventure Comics No. 317 (Feb. 1964) "The Menace of Dream Girl"

After mysteriously losing her super-lightning power, Lightning Lass was expelled from the Legion of Super-Heroes at the insistence of new member, Dream Girl. When it was revealed that her intention was to save the Legionnaires, Dream Girl explained that she changed Lightning Lass's "redundant" power using Naltorian science. Since Ayla could now make anything temporarily super-light, Dream Girl dubbed her "Light Lass".

Adventure Comics No. 318 (Mar. 1964) "The Mutiny of the Legionnaires"

Light Lass was one of the crew manning the space-ark from Xenn. Mutinying against the power-mad Sun Boy, she and her castaway comrades survived many ordeals before returning home. An invaluable crewmate, Light Lass helped make their space lifeboat super-light when Cosmic Boy magnetically "attached" it to a passing meteor for transportation. Her power also permitted her teammates to walk around on the heavy-gravity world they were stranded on, and to lift old-fashioned rockets they found to assemble to their own craft. Finally, by using her power on the Xennian space-ark, she helped Cosmic Boy magnetically pull it out of the vortex, setting in back on course.

Adventure Comics No. 327 (Dec. 1964) "The Lone Wolf Legionnaire"

While monitoring the opening of the Interplanetary Circus in Metropolis, Light Lass was dazzled by the heroic youth who acrobatically swung in to stop a camelephant stampede. She invited "Karth Arn" to apply for Legion membership, but the reticent Lone Wolf refused and walked away. Later, the Legion suspected him of being a super-thief and Light Lass was sent with the team to investigate a series of robberies on Zoon. After Lone Wolf saved their lives, Light Lass kissed the unconscious boy, who then told her he wasn't human. Despite being distraught over the news, Light Lass was still convinced of his innocence. Soon it was revealed that Lone Wolf was neither the thief that committed the crimes nor an android. She hoped Brin Londo would join the Legion of Super-Heroes, but the former Lone Wolf needed some time to adjust, emotionally and socially.

Adventure Comics No. 335/336 (Aug./Sept. 1965) "Starfinger" / "The True Identity of Starfinger"

Starfinger (really her brother Lightning Lad, brainwashed and disguised) used his neutralizer ray in combination with his other powers to make Light Lass super-heavy and sink into the ground. Later, after Brainiac 5's normalizer ray restored her, Light Lass was part of the team assigned to guard the fifth wonder of the 30th century, the Reversed Waterfalls. When Starfinger damaged the pump mechanism, Light Lass used her power to reduce the weight of the water so the weakened pumps were still able to force the lighter water over the cliff.

Action Comics No. 378 (July 1969) "The Forbidden Fruit"

For information concerning Light Lass after 2969, click here.

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