Lar Gand, known mainly as Mon-El (and alternatively as Valor and M'Onel), is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, and Superman. Lar Gand is a Daxamite, an alien with similar abilities to that of a Kryptonian, but originating from another planet. The character has been reinterpreted over the years, but in all versions serves as a hero with abilities similar to those of Superman, sometimes serving as a substitute for him. It's usually portrayed that Mon-El meets Superman in his adolescence, when he was still Superboy in Smallville, the two become friends and Lar Gand becomes a kind of older brother figure for Clark. Clark names Lar Gand with the Kryptonian name "Mon-El", giving him a name similar to that of a Kryptonian as a sign of the friendship and brotherhood that unites them both. Mon-El later succumbs to lead poisoning and is placed in the Phantom Zone to prevent the spread of the poison, from where he is released by the Legion of Super-Heroes in the future when a cure is found for his poisoning. Mon-El appears in the second season of Supergirl, portrayed by Chris Wood. Additionally, Superman X, a character loosely based on Mon-El, appears in the animated series Legion of Super Heroes, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.
Publication history A precursor to the Lar Gand character appeared in the story "Superman's Big Brother", in Superman #80 (February 1953). He was named Halk Kar, and had a logo-less costume almost identical to Superman's, but with the red and blue colors reversed. He was created by Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino. Lar Gand first appeared in Superboy #89 and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp.
Fictional character biography
Halk Kar Halk Kar crash-lands on Earth in a rocketship and is rescued by Superman, who discovers that Halk Kar suffers from amnesia. Discovering that Halk Kar has a note from Jor-El (Superman's father) mentioning his son, Superman assumes that Halk Kar must not only be from his own planet Krypton, but he must be a son of Jor-El and thus also his own older brother. Superman quickly realizes that Halk Kar is less powerful than he is and – instead of subjecting him to embarrassment over the fact that he may be weaker than his younger brother – opts to use his own powers to cover for Halk Kar's deficiencies. This plan backfires, as Halk Kar begins to assume a superior attitude to Superman and even begins to make romantic advances on Superman's girlfriend, Lois Lane. Halk Kar recovers his memory and explains that he is from the planet Thoron, which is in the same star system as Krypton. Years ago, while on a pioneer voyage into space, he landed on Krypton with his damaged rocketship. There he met Jor-El, who explained that Krypton's destruction was imminent and repaired Halk Kar's rocketship, sending him away with the note which had a map from Krypton to Earth on it. Krypton exploded shortly afterward, causing Halk Kar to be put into suspended animation until he drifted to Earth to meet Superman, the grown-up son of Jor-El referred to in the note. Halk Kar returns to Thoron in his repaired rocketship, leaving Superman with the experience of briefly having had a brother.
Mon-El The Halk Kar plot was reused in Superboy #89 (June 1961), in a story set during Superman's career as Superboy. The character's name was changed to Lar Gand, his homeworld was changed to Daxam, and he was made younger to roughly match Superboy's age. Unlike Halk Kar, Gand sustains amnesia after landing on Earth, with Superboy assuming that he is his brother and giving him the Kryptonian name Mon-El. Mon-El is shown to be immune to kryptonite, which is radioactively poisonous to all Kryptonians. Believing that Mon-El has been deceiving him, Superboy tries to trick him with a fake kryptonite meteor made of lead, which turns out to be Mon-El's weakness. Furthermore, exposure to lead is irreversibly fatal to Daxamites, which Mon-El explains, having regained his memory. Guilt-ridden over inadvertently poisoning him, Superboy saves his life by sending him to the Phantom Zone, where he would be able to observe events in the outside world, but as a phantom would not age and his lead poisoning would not progress. In the 30th century, Legion of Super-Heroes member Saturn Girl creates a temporary antidote to Mon-El's lead poisoning, allowing him to be released from the Phantom Zone for brief periods of time. In this capacity, and he is considered an honorary Legionnaire. Brainiac 5 later creates a long-term antidote (which still requires periodic ingestion), and he becomes a full member. Mon-El is depicted one of the Legion's three most-powerful members along with Superboy and Ultra Boy, and serves two terms as leader. After a long romantic relationship, he and fellow Legionnaire Shadow Lass marry. Mon-El is injured and dependent on life-support equipment during a battle with the Time Trapper, eventually dying from his injuries. The Time Trapper later revives Mon-El, hoping to use his body to preserve himself, but Mon-El kills him to prevent the Trapper from further manipulating events throughout history. The Trapper's role and powers are usurped by his underling Glorith.
Valor
In the new "Glorithverse" reality, Lar Gand replaced Superboy as the Legion's inspiration, as Clark Kent's time as Superboy was written out of continuity. In the 20th century, Gand stopped the Dominators' planned invasion of Earth and freed thousands of humans who were experimented on by the Dominators and given metahuman powers. These humans went on to colonize many of the worlds that would join the United Planets. Gand was later placed in the Phantom Zone by Glorith to be rescued by the Legion in the 30th century. After being freed, Gand briefly joins L.E.G.I.O.N., where Vril Dox cures his lead poisoning. He plays a significant part in the Eclipso: The Darkness Within crossover, in which Superman gives him the name "Valor". Valor received a self-titled solo series that lasted for 23 issues, centering on his exploits traveling across the universe with the artificial intelligence Babbage.
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