Lara

LARA

Real Name: Lara

Class: Amazon / extraterrestrial (Kryptonian) hybrid

Occupation:

Group Affiliation:

Known Relatives: Diana of Theyscira (Wonder Woman, mother), Jonathan (brother), Jor-El (grandfather, deceased), Clark Kent (Superman, father), Lara Lor-Van (grandmother, deceased), Kara Zor-El (cousin)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Metropolis, formerly Theyscira, Earth-31

First Appearance: The Dark Knight Strikes Again #2 (March, 2002)

Powers: Lara had Amazonian and Kryptonian heritage. Lara, like all Kryptonians, gained superhuman powers while under a yellow sun. She had incalculable levels of superhuman strength and invulnerability. Lara possessed the powers of superspeed, heat-vision, telescopic vision, super-hearing and flight. Lara was vulnerable to kryptonite.

History: (The Dark Knight Strikes Again #2, 3) - Lara was the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman. When Lex Luthor took control of the U.S. government he kept Wonder Woman and superman under his thumb by keeping their loved ones hostage. The heroes kept Lara’s existance a secret, but while Superman wanted Lara to always be safe Wonder Woman insisted that one day Lara would be ready to rise up against the tyranny of the U.S. Batman and his group of rebels declared war on the U.S., frightening Luthor. Luthor told Superman he was needed to save the world from an alien invasion. Superman confronted the alien ship that had already slaughtered dozens, and Luthor’s ally Brainiac revealed himself as the pilot. He didn’t want Batman’s group of heroes to give the people any hope, so Superman was chosen to be the fall guy. Brainiac said he’d be completely humiliated, defeat and then destroyed as a message to the populace that there was no hope in superheroes. Superman refused to fight back or flee, and Brainiac tried to destroy Superman, but was frustrated by his invulnerability. Lara, against her mother's wishes, made her public debut, but couldn't stop Brainiac from burning Metropolis to the ground, killing all of Superman’s loved ones. Brainiac learned of the existence of Lara and sent her a telepathic message demanding she surrender to him or he’d destroy the bottle city of Kandor. Lara decided to finally confront her father and ask him about her Kryptonian heritage. Superman was disturbed that she had a great disdain for humanity seeing them as weak and useless. Lara had a fascistic bent, wondering why the powerful didn’t simply enslave humanity, who were constantly killing each other when they weren’t killing the planet. Batman contacted Superman via hologram, trying to convince him to defy Luthor. Batman promised he’d get Kandor back for Superman if he agreed to follow marching orders. Batman said he’d need Lara for his plan as well, and although she bristled at the idea of taking orders from him Superman convinced her to help. Lara submitted herself to Brainiac, who filled her with nanobots to ensure her compliance. He allowed her to see and touch Kandor, admitting that he took glee in treating the Kryptonians inside like ants that he could torture. A single tear fell from Lara’s eye, enabling Atom to enter the bottle city. Green Lantern returned to Earth, destroying Luthor’s orbiting defense system, and then returned to the stars. Batman introduced Luthor to the son of Hawkman and Hawkwoman, who Luthor had killed. Their son took his mace and bashed Luthor’s head in. Lara warmed up her body, destroying the nanobots inside, and Atom freed the Kandorians, who returned to normal size, regaining their natural Kryptonian powers. Lara and the Kandorians used all their power to kill Brainiac. Superman met with Lara, having come around to her point of view, and asked her what they should do with their planet.

Comments: Created by Frank Miller.