Saturn Girl ( Imra Ardeen) is a superheroine appearing in comics published by DC Comics. A talented telepath from the 30th century, Saturn Girl is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Imra's "Saturn Girl" title refers to her homeworld of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
Saturn Girl has appeared in various media outside comics, primarily those featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes. Kari Wahlgren voiced her in the animated series Legion of Super Heroes (2006), and reprised the role in Young Justice. In live-action, Saturn Girl has been portrayed by Alexz Johnson and Amy Jackson in Smallville and Supergirl respectively.
Publication history
Saturn Girl first appeared in
Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958), and was created by
Otto Binder and
Al Plastino.
Fictional character biography
Silver Age
During the Silver Age of comics, 30th-century Earth is a member of the
United Planets and home to its military branch, the
Science Police. As a teenager, Imra Ardeen leaves Titan to join the Police, during which she,
Cosmic Boy, and
Garth Ranzz foil an assassination attempt on fellow passenger and billionaire R. J. Brande.
At Brande's urging, the three form the Legion of Super-Heroes, inspired by the legacy of Superboy, who they later recruit from the 20th century.
Just before the leadership elections of 2975, Saturn Girl learns that a Legionnaire would die during an attack on Earth and decides to take on that responsibility herself. Using her telepathy, Imra forces the other Legionnaires to vote her leader and then orders them not to use their powers during the attack, preventing them from rescuing her. However, Lightning Lad defies her orders and dies in her place.
Romantically, Lightning Lad (Garth Ranzz) had pursued Imra for some time, but she had repeatedly rebuffed his advances. After he sacrificed his life for her own, she understood the depth of his feelings and came to realize that she returned them. After dating for almost ten years, Garth proposes marriage, but Imra initially rejects his offer due to a Legion rule which prevents members from being married and remaining in active duty at the same time. Sometime after consulting with her mentors on Titan, Imra relents and marries Garth. Several months later, all active Legionnaires are captured and the reserves are forced into action. Imra's telepathic skills are instrumental in the Legion's eventual victory, and as a result the rule barring married members is repealed. Imra and Garth return to active duty until Imra gave birth to their son, Graym, after which they both retire to raise him. Unbeknown to the couple, Graym had a twin, Garridan, who was stolen at birth by Darkseid and transported into the past, where he was transformed into the monster Validus.
Saturn Girl rejoins the Legion after helping stop Universo from conquering Earth. During the "Five Year Gap", Earth's government becomes hostile to the Legion, and Garth is incapacitated by a plague. Disillusioned by the government and feeling needed more at home, Imra resigns from the Legion and returns to Winath to become a farmer. She and Garth have two additional children, daughters Dacey and Dorritt.
Post-Zero Hour
After the reboot of the Legion in
, Imra remains known as Saturn Girl, and a founder of the Legion along with Cosmic Boy and
Garth Ranzz. Her design was changed from previous versions, combining some elements from past uniforms. The top and pants of her uniform are similar in design to her red and white uniform, but now colored pink instead of red, and has the familiar Saturn logo.
Following Invisible Kid's resignation, Saturn Girl becomes the leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Later, following Lightning Lad's death, she resigns and returns to Titan to undergo therapy before Lightning Lad is resurrected in a crystal clone of Element Lad's body.
"Threeboot"
In the "Threeboot" continuity, Saturn Girl and other Titanians only communicate telepathically, having lost use of their vocal cords due to centuries of evolution. She is still able to read minds, but cannot express herself in spoken language, which puts her at a disadvantage in those situations where her telepathy is useless.
The Threeboot incarnation of Saturn Girl is depicted as weaker than previous incarnations; she is unable to probe shielded minds and must concentrate to exert direct influence on an opponent's brain. As described by Princess Projectra, Titanian telepathy involves manipulating higher brain functions, and Imra is powerless against mental attacks dealt directly to her subconscious.
Post-Infinite Crisis
The events of
Infinite Crisis restore an analogue of the pre-
Crisis on Infinite Earths Legion to continuity.
Writer
Geoff Johns commented on the character:
[Rogers, Vaneta & Briggers, Cliff. Their Name is Legion. CSN 1093: Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds]
DC Rebirth
In
, a mysterious blonde woman (presumably Saturn Girl) is seen during a police interrogation. She has been arrested for stealing a sandwich. Even though she is told that Superman is missing and possibly dead, she smiles and replies that everything will be all right as she has seen it in the future. After the interrogation, the police officers call mental services for her. In the last panel of this scene, it is revealed that the only item in her possession is a Legion flight ring.
In the "I Am Suicide" story arc of
Batman, she is incarcerated in
Arkham Asylum. Here,
Batman and two others walk by a cell housing the blonde woman who breaths on the glass of her cell and draws the Legion of Super-Heroes symbol in the condensation.
DC Comics editor
Dan DiDio confirmed that the mysterious woman is indeed Saturn Girl.
In Doomsday Clock, Saturn Girl escapes from Arkham alongside Rorschach (Reggie Long).
Powers and abilities
Saturn Girl is a Titanian who possesses innate telepathic abilities, enabling her to sense and manipulate minds and generate illusions and blasts of psychic energy.
As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, she is provided a Legion Flight Ring, which allows her to fly and protects her from the vacuum of space and other dangerous environments.
Other versions
-
An unnamed girl inspired by Saturn Girl appears in The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
-
Psi-Girl, a fusion of Saturn Girl and Marvel Comics character Psylocke, appears in the Amalgam Comics one-shot Spider-Boy Team-Up.
Reception
Accolades
-
In 2011, Comics Buyer's Guide ranked Saturn Girl 50th in their "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
-
In 2019, CBR ranked Saturn Girl 3rd in their "10 Most Powerful Telepaths" list, the highest rank for a female character.
In other media
Television
-
Saturn Girl appears in the episode "New Kids in Town", voiced by Melissa Joan Hart.
[ A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.]
-
Saturn Girl appears in the Smallville episode "Legion", portrayed by Alexz Johnson.
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Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking appearance in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Far From Home".
-
Saturn Girl appears in Legion of Super-Heroes (2006), voiced by Kari Wahlgren.
-
Saturn Girl appears in Young Justice, voiced again by Kari Wahlgren.
-
Imra Ardeen appears in the third season of Supergirl, portrayed by Amy Jackson.
Film
-
Saturn Girl appears in , voiced again by Kari Wahlgren.
-
Saturn Girl appears in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, voiced by Tara Strong.
-
Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Legion of Super-Heroes (2023).
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The Legion of Super Heroes (2006) incarnation of Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!.
Video games
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Saturn Girl appears in DC Universe Online.
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Saturn Girl appears as a character summon in .
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Saturn Girl makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Brainiac's ending in Injustice 2.
Miscellaneous
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Saturn Girl appears in Adventures in the DC Universe #10.
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Saturn Girl appears in the one-shot comic Batman '66 Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes.
