by Siskoid
Real Name: Laurel Gand (Leala Linder)
Super-Power(s): Super-strength, super-speed, super-invulnerability, various super vision powers, as per every Daxamite
Planet of Origin: Ricklef II, an asteroid in the Daxam system
Planet of Origin: Ricklef II, an asteroid in the Daxam system
Legion Seniority: Laurel Gand replaced Supergirl in post-Glorithverse continuity. As such, she joined at the same time as Brainiac 5 and is thus retroactively Legionnaire #9. Her first name was taken from Laurel Kent, a supposed descendent of Superman who went to Legion Academy, and who may also have been wiped from continuity post-Glorithverse.
Legion Log
Laurel Gand is a descendent of Lar Gand, AKA Valor, who, as a girl, saved her homeworld Daxam from a Khund invasion after her parents had been killed by Khund soldiers. Her cousin Eltro sent her to an orphanage on Earth to hide her from Khundish retaliation. After two lonely years as "Leala Linder", she was visited by three members of the Legion of Super-Heroes who offered her membership. During the try-out, she was digging towards the center of the Earth and hit a vein of lead, deathly poisonous to Daxamites. She was saved by a serum created by fellow applicant Brainiac 5, and after both joining, they struck up a long, but rocky, romantic relationship. If none of this sounds familiar, please refer to Who's Who: Supergirl.
During the so-called Five Year Gap, Laurel and Brainiac 5 split up. He returned to Colu and she joined the Anti-Khund Resistance Armies with Green Lantern Rond Vidar, with whom she fell in love and had a daughter, Lauren. When Rond was captured by Mordru, she tried to rescue him, bringing herself in contact with the re-forming Legion, where she frequently dealt with unresolved feelings for Brainiac 5. When the Legion went underground following Universo's frame-up, she was instrumental in stopping the Khunds from destroying Weber's World, but took a bomb-blast head-on during that mission, and was killed.
Laurel Gand was also one of the members of the SW6 Legionnaires, and appeared in Legionnaires when it was spun-off into its own series, taking the name Andromeda. Still in love with her Brainiac 5, she hopes to avoid the mistakes her older self made and keep the relationship strong. After her counterpart's death, she took part in the plan to save New Earth from Zero Hour by pulling it into another dimension, but it ultimately failed and the timeline collapsed.
After the Reboot, Andromeda grew up on Daxam, in a village run by the White Triangle cult, which was devoted to racial separation and purity. She was more than a little horrified, therefore, to find herself drafted by her government to join the Legion of Super-Heroes, the United Planets' living symbol of racial co-existence and harmony. Not pleased to have to deal with "lesser races," she was thankful for the fact that her transsuit that protected her from lead poisoning also protected her from the others' touch. Her attitude changed over time, but her fellow Legionnaires had trust issues with her. That changed when she apparently gave her life fighting Roxxas in a fusion reactor.
Though mourned as a hero, Andromeda actually survived and was imprisoned on "Planet Hell" after voluntarily (and secretly) turning herself in for having given Roxxas the cure for lead poisoning, leading to tragedy. Later redeemed and pardoned, she declined to rejoin the Legion, instead becoming a member of the Sisters of the Eternal Cosmos, dedicating her life to helping beings in trouble. Sister Andromeda worked with the Legion on a number of cases in that capacity. Coming into contact with the "Fires of Creation" on one such case left her with the ability to cast light and manipulate energy. Before her time line collapsed and she became one of the Wanderers of the multiverse, she had been helping the Durlans with their new commitment to tolerance in the wake of a Dark Circle attack.
After the Threeboot and Infinite Crisis, no version of Andromeda appears to exist, but as of Justice League United #8, she does seem to be working with team.
Andromeda has made a cameo appearance on the Superman Animated Series' episode "New Kids in Town".
Important Laurel Gand Stories:
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #6-7
Laurel Gand's first appearance brings her back into the Legion's fold
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #8
Laurel Gand introduces her daughter to the group
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #9
The secret origin of Laurel Gand
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) Annual #1
Laurel was part of the conspiracy to stop Glorith
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #25
Laurel Gand is a member of the SW6 Legion
Laurel Gand is a member of the SW6 Legion
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #26
Laurel is almost killed in battle with B.I.O.N., but never gives up
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #34
SW6 Laurel lands the last devastating blow to the Dominion occupation of Earth
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #39
Laurel Gand helps bring stability to New Earth
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #40
For SW6 Laurel, romance is complicated
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #41
SW6 Laurel becomes Andromeda
Legionnaires #8
SW6 Brainiac 5 thinks of leaving the team, but is brought back into the fold by Andromeda
SW6 Brainiac 5 thinks of leaving the team, but is brought back into the fold by Andromeda
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #54
Laurel Gand's look while the Legion is on the run
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #58
Laurel Gand is fatally wounded fighting the Khunds
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #59
Laurel's friends react to her death
Legionnaires #17
Andromeda goes to her namesake's funeral
Valor #22
Andromeda is part of the plan to save New Earth from Zero Hour
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #66
Reboot Andromeda joins the Legion against her will
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #70
Brainiac 5 saves Andromeda's life with a new cure for lead, which she will
later, mistakenly, give the criminal Roxxas
Legionnaires Annual #2
Andromeda is apparently killed in battle with Roxxas
Legionnaires #36
Andromeda returns from the dead in time to help fight the Fatal Five
Legionnaires #37
Though a free woman, Andromeda quits the Legion
Legionnaires #46
Laurel returns as Sister Andromeda
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #100
Sister Andromeda calls on the Legion when she discovers the Fires of Creation
Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #104
Sister Andromeda returns from the Fires of Creation a changed woman
Sister Andromeda returns from the Fires of Creation a changed woman
Legionnaires #65
Sister Andromeda decides to stay on Durla
Justice League United #8
Andromeda is apparently part of post-Flashpoint continuity
*swoon*
ReplyDeleteI loved the character. This is how they should have "fixed" post-Crisis Legion continuity in the first place. Plug in a new Supergirl and Superboy and move on.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the baby? I mean, obviously she was wiped out of continuity by Zero Hour, but did we see anything of her after her introduction in v4 #8?
ReplyDeleteAlso, minor language nitpicking: Up in the seniority section, you say Laurel's surname may have come from Laurel Kent, but Laurel Gand's surname is Gand.
Thanks, fixed it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Anj can tell us where the baby went... A lot of babysitting for Rond Vidar?
They did have that not-a-Dominator nanny,
ReplyDeleteI think it must have been a post Zero-hour retcon ... when I dropped the book!!
ReplyDeleteI think somewhere the Bierbaums said that her first name of Laurel was a sort of homage to Laurel Kent.
I met Giffen and the Bierbaums at a convention--- it took them a while to come up with a code name for Laurel. In honor of her thong they referred to her as "Flying Butress"...
ReplyDelete