MON-EL (Lar Gand, aka M’Onel, Valor)

Silver Age Mon-El:
-Mon-El, starting out as a “Superman has a BROTHER!” type of Silver Age Superboy “tease” story (“oh this awesome thing is totally happening OH WAIT WE TAKE IT BACK IT’S NOT!!”), and in fact was a re-write of ANOTHER story that’d come out earlier (featuring Halk Kar, an amnesiac alien from a planet near Krypton). He ended up being tossed into the Phantom Zone to stave off lead poisoning (brought on by some Superdickery on Clark’s part- when Lar Gand proved immune to Kryptonite, he wanted to “test” his reaction to a fake rock actually made of lead). Gand would take the name “Mon-El” for Kal-El’s family name, and the fact that he landed on Earth on a Monday.

Mon-El proved popular enough that fan demand returned him… and since Superboy was often dealing with the Legion of Super-Heroes, they used that as a way to place him without overshadowing Superboy! Since he never aged in the Phantom Zone, Mon-El simply had to wait several centuries before they cured his lead poisoning (… yikes. THAT had to suck), eventually being freed in the Legion’s timeline. Here, he would form a relationship with Shadow Lass, becoming a constant fixture in that book as its top-tier powerhouse, especially whenever Superboy wasn’t around.

Paul Levitz definitely loved Mon-El- he was EVERYWHERE in all the Trades I have featuring the team. Ultra Boy usually does dick-ass, but Mon-El is in a prominent position in absolutely every story (his higher durability helps). Me, I just think he’s way too powerful- it’s Superman WITHOUT the Kryptonite, for God’s sake! They even cured him of the lead weakness of Daxamites! But there he is, being Mr. Generic All-Encompassing Good Guy, being the most powerful, the toughest, the handsomest, the most heroic, etc. guy around. He makes the rest of the Legion look like turds. Most of the Legion stories I’ve read have featured the writer cheesily writing him out within the first few moments, lest he completely overpower the villain and save the day by himself- Ultra Boy & Superboy are much easier to write out.

Valor- New Era:
-Mon-El was recast as “Valor” after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, as his backstory with Superboy was now totally gone. Here, HE was the inspiration for the Legion, not Superboy (who was now no longer a thing). His lead poisoning is cured in this timeline by Vril Dox of L.E.G.I.O.N., and he gets his own solo book, but is accidentally killed by Glorith, who is then charged with taking a “Chronal duplicate” of the hero, trying to replicate all of his legendary feats. This destabilizes the timeline, leading towards Zero Hour and the “Legion Reboot”.

M’Onel- Reboot Era:
-Here, an amnesiac hero was placed in the Phantom Zone by Superboy, and his meeting with the Legion is intact. The Legion, that people would worship him, as Valor was worshipped as a religious figure by this point, got him to take the name “M’Onel”, Martian for “He Who Wanders”. He is a major part of this book as well, though I think a lot of people hated the Valor/M’Onel stuff- the endless Retcons of DC around this point were particularly harsh to certain people whose origins had to change- Mon-El, Donna Troy & the Justice Society all suffered greatly.

Mon-El appears in the Threeboot being very confused while trapped in the Phantom Zone- attacking Supergirl because of her familiar “S” logo, and being placed back in the Zone. He is thus not a major character in that version.

Post-Infinite Crisis:
Mon-El got a major push once Geoff Johns and others took control of DC, renewing the old Silver Age stuff. Here, it is retconned that he is the descendant of a human male with Bal Gand, a female Daxamite experiencing wanderlust. His own wanderlust in the future sent him away from Daxam. He is again poisoned by lead on Earth, but recovers in our timeline, where he becomes “Jonathan Kent” from London, and acts as the protector of Metropolis while Clark is dealing with the “New Krypton” thing- Mon-El thus takes over one of the Superman books, his largest push in a long time. However, shortly after being asked to join the Justice League by the female Dr. Light, he succumbs to lead poisoning after becoming immune to the antidote, where things take their “natural course” in the timeline, and he is rescued from the Phantom Zone by the LOSH centuries later. Here, he eventually becomes a Green Lantern before the New 52 happens- he is seen on that incarnation of the Legion as well.

Overall:
-His history’s been kind of ass for years thanks to constant reboots and retcons (He’s a religious symbol! He died and was replaced by a temporal duplicate by Glorith! No, he’s back to being a Phantom Zoner!), and they even got rid of his awesome relationship with Shadow Lass. I don’t think “Valor” is as bad a superhero name as others do, but it sure was disliked during the Reboot era. Not that “Mon-El” is a good name by any means.

Also, his costumes SUCK. Just a big red suit of pajamas with a blue cape. It’s like the most basic, plain Paragon knock-off imaginable. Dude has practically NEVER looked cool.

Daxam is kind of a weird thing in comics as well, as the SUPER-problematic situation of a bloody PLANET OF SUPERMAN-CLASS CHARACTERS spinning around in space is dealt with by making them xenophobic and crazy, and that huge weakness to a super-common element (lead) keeping them in check. But it lets various comics writers come up with little-thought-required super-powerful types at the drop of a hat with “they overcame xenophobia”. I’m on the fence with that, really. I mean, they specifically wiped out countless characters and continuity aspects JUST to keep Superman as “The Last Son of Krypton”. Doesn’t that get nullified the SECOND a planet-full of the same people show up, even though it’s a different planet and they have a different, slightly-more-common weakness?

Nobody… but NOBODY… kept the “Nude Legion” thing going longer than Shadow Lass did. And just check out how many more costume redesigns she has than stories that actually feature her as a major character, lol.

Silver Age Shadow Lass:
-Shadow Lass is one of the lesser-used members of the Legion, given what little major feats even stuff like Hero History has for her- 99% of the time, she’s just “Mon-El’s Hot Blue Girlfriend”. She’s part of a culture that worships their ancestors- she gained the powers of Talokian Shadow-Wielding, which grew strong in her family. She seems relegated to a supporting role of “funny-skinned space babe”, being focused on by people mainly for her RIDICULOUSLY skimpy outfits. I mean, she actually stands out on the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES for wearing teeny bikini-esque clothing. REALLY.

-Tasmia, Shadow Champion of Talok VIII, joined the Legion when the Fatal Five attacked her planet. Oddly, she had a VERY long-term (for a Legion series) romance with Mon-El, but this was pretty much her role in all of the “Levitz” stuff I’ve read. When he was killed fighting the Time Trapper, she mourned him, despite their marriage being occasionally rocky.

Reboot Era:
-Tasmia was renamed “Umbra” in the Reboot era, and possessed a much more aggressive and “businesslike” manner, owing to her lifelong training as the Shadow Champion (which involved being separated from her mother in infancy). Here, she never hooked up with Lar “M’Onel” Gand, despite her many attempts to get his attention. She ended up going a bit crazy when an alien race enslaved much of Earth, as her feelings of guilt and fear coalesced with Saturn Girl’s powers and created a Shadow Being. She recovered, but watched the death of her cousin Grev, who was supposed to replace her as Shadow Champion, but couldn’t maintain the power.

The “Threeboot” Era saw a very aggressive warrior who dated Karate Kid, then Ultra Boy. In the rebooted Old-School Legion (post-Infinite Crisis), she appears to have split with Mon-El and hooked up with the recovered xenophobe Earth-Man, but the series ended before much could be resolved.