Character Name: | Laurel Gand |
Real Name: | Laurel Gand |
Publisher: | DC Comics |
Debut: | Original: Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #5 (March 1990) Post-Zero Hour: Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #66 (March 1995) |
Creators: | Tom and Mary Bierbaum Keith Giffen Al Gordon (based upon Supergirl by Otto Binder and Al Plastino) |
Alliances: | Legion of Super-Heroes White Triangle |
Homeworld: | Daxam (31st century) |
Species: | Daxamite |
Aliases: | Andromeda, Sister Andromeda |
Laurel Gand is a superheroine appearing in DC Comics, primarily as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries under the name Andromeda.[1] She was created as a replacement for Supergirl in post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Legion continuity. She was also inspired by elements of Superman's supposed descendant Laurel Kent (who, in post-Crisis, pre-Zero Hour continuity, was revealed to be a Manhunter android).
See main article: Legion of Super-Heroes (1958 team). Following her death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl was removed from mainstream DC continuity and replaced with Laurel Gand / Andromeda.
Gand is a Daxamite and relative of Valor who was born on the asteroid Ricklef II. She later joins the Legion of Super-Heroes before marrying Rond Vidar and leaving the group to care for their daughter Lauren. She is later killed during a terrorist attack before being erased from history following the Zero Hour reboot.
See main article: Legion of Super-Heroes (1994 team). Laurel Gand was originally a member of the xenophobic White Triangle group for joining the Legion. Due to Daxamites' vulnerability to lead, she is forced to wear a special suit to protect her from it. She later travels to the planet Hell and is presumed dead before eventually returning to the Legion.
After the events of Infinite Crisis, Earth-247, the home of the post-Zero Hour Legion, was destroyed. Andromeda appears in , battling Superboy-Prime along with M'onel (Valor) and Superman. Later, in the fifth issue, her pre-Zero Hour younger and older counterparts are called to battle the Time Trapper, alongside dozens of other Legionnaires from alternate realities.
Generally, the abilities of Laurel 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 or telescopic vision powers; invulnerability and super hearing). However, she is vulnerable to lead rather than Kryptonite.