Sparks
2974 - Ayla Ranzz is born on Winath
2989 - 15-year-old Ayla and her brothers Garth Ranzz & Mekt are stranded on the barren planet Kirbal, their parents dying in the crash. They battle rare lightning beasts & try to use them to send an SOS. They are rendered comatose, but awaken in hospital months later.
2990 - 16-year-old Ayla stays on Winath so Garth Ranzz can pursue their brother.
2997 - 23-year-old Ayla joins the Legion of Super Heroes in her Garth Ranzz's stead when he follows the lead she found on their brother's location, and stays as as Lightning Lass when he is imprisoned. She first meets Salu Digby.
2998 - 24-year-old Ayla stays with the Legion of Super Heroes after Garth Ranzz returns, largely because of Salu Digby. She takes the name Sparks.
3000 - 26-year-old Ayla returns to Winath after Garth Ranzz's death and the end of the Legion of Super Heroes.
3002 - 28-year-old Ayla goes to Imsk during the war with Braal, finding Salu Digby injured. She brings her back to Winath, nursing her back to health.
3005 - 31-year-old Ayla joins the reformed Legion of Super Heroes.
On the surface, a character that has the same powers and costume as one of the founding members of a superhero team, simply with a different gender... doesn't exactly feel it's going to be particularly interesting. Of course, that describes Supergirl, She-Hulk, Batgirl, X-23, Captain Marvel... That's a pretty fantastic club to be in.
She's had a LOT of different personalities over the years, but by a wide, wide margin... the absolute best story to come from her is her role in the very first queer relationship to ever be depicted in.... certainly mainstream comics, but I believe comics in GENERAL. While they didn't have any specific interaction that suggested that they were a couple until the mid eighties, you can read back to their introduction in the early 60's and find these incredibly enjoyable little clues of what might come someday. As far as her use in our story, it's obviously tied heavily into Garth's quest to find their brother. We cast her as the more level-headed of the twins, the one using more investigative means to find Mekt before she steps up to fill his role. We actually really enjoy her when she takes the name Livewire, but of course that's an existing character back in modern DC continuity now, so instead, when it was time for her to differentiate herself from her brother, we went with another one of her many superhero nick names. |