Lar Gand was an explorer from the planet Daxam who sacrificed himself to save Earth. Lar, whom came to be known as Mon-El, was a member of the Justice League and friend of Superman in the modern era and is a member of the Legion of Superheroes in the future.
Beginnings[]
When Superman was still just young Clark Kent, a rocket containing a boy with powers much like his own crash landed in Smallville. The boy awoke with no memories of who he was, but he spoke Kryptonian. Believing the boy to be a survivor of Krypton like himself, Clark gave him the name Mon-El which means "Mon" because he landed on Earth on a Monday and "El" from Clark's Kryptonian family name. Mon-El adopted a human secret identity Bob Cobb to integrate into Superboy's hometown of Smallville. However, when Mon-El failed to experience pain during an unnoticed inadvertent exposure to kryptonite, Superboy suspected Mon-El was deliberately pretending to be a Kryptonian for some nefarious purpose.
Superboy created a fake kryptonite meteorite made of lead, when Mon-El is exposed to lead cause him collapsed in pain and he also regains his memories. Mon-El explained to Clark that he was from the planet Daxam. Clark found out that unlike Kryptonite poisoning, lead poisoning could not be reversed. To save his friend's life, Clark placed Mon-El in the Phantom Zone until a cure for him could be found. At on point General Zod and his associates are freed from the Phantom Zone by Alura-El, Zod has the Phantom Zone destroyed and, in an effort to save his life, Superman releases Mon-El before the it collapses. Superman finds an antidote for Mon-El that was left behind by the Legion during The Lightning Saga. Mon-El ingests it and is instantly cured.
Powers and abilities[]
Generally, the abilities of Lar Gand (and other Daxamites) are identical to those of Superman and other natives of the planet Krypton (super-strength; speed; flight; x-ray, heat, microscopic and telescopic vision powers; invulnerability; and super hearing), with three major exceptions:
He is vulnerable to the inert element lead, instead of the radioactive element Kryptonite.
Lead poisoning is fatal to Daxamites, and Lar is kept alive only through regular ingestion of anti-lead serum, such as the one modified by Brainiac 5.
As a side-effect of the anti-lead serum, the radiation of a red star will not rob him of his powers, as it would with most Daxamites and Kryptonians.
Trivia[]
Lar Gand is considered to be one of the most powerful member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
In the Post-Rebrith, Mon-El is re-written as being a Human/Kryptonian hybrid and a descendant of Lois Lane and Clark Kent
Comics Teams Justice League |
Justice League of America |
Justice League Dark |
Justice League Europe |
Justice League Incarnate |
Justice League International |
Justice League Task Force |
Justice League Queer |
Super Buddies
Heroes
