Origin
Imra Ardeen was born on Titan (the largest moon of the planet Saturn) in the 30th century. All of the native inhabitants of Titan have the power of telepathy. From an early age Imra’s telepathic ability was revealed to be among the strongest of her race. Due to her great talent, in her teen years Imra traveled to Earth and began training to be a Science Police officer. But fate intervened when she joined two other super-powered teens, Garth Ranzz and Rokk Krinn (later known as Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy), in stopping an assassination attempt on billionaire R.J. Brande. Inspired by their heroism as well as the legacy of the 20th-century superhero Superboy, Brande bankrolled the three teens and they became the founding members of the team known as the Legion of Super-Heroes. Taking the code name of Saturn Girl, Imra has gone on to become one of the greatest and most dedicated Legionnaires in the team’s history.
Creation
Saturn Girl was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino in 1958 and first appeared in Adventure Comics #247, the issue that introduced the Legion of Super-Heroes. She was one of the three founding members of the Legion as well as the team’s first female member. In her first appearance she wore a yellow and green costume, but this color scheme was quickly abandoned in favor of her now-iconic red uniform. Her Legion uniforms have since always remained predominantly red or pink, depending on the era and continuity.
Character Evolution
Original Continuity: New Earth
Saturn Girl served with distinction as Legion membership continued to grow. When Saturn Girl learned that a Legionnaire was fated to die on a mission, she used her mental powers to influence the team to elect her as team leader. In so doing, she had the authority to bench the rest of the team and sacrifice her own life to spare those of her teammates. But Lightning Lad, who had feelings for Saturn Girl, defied her orders and sacrificed his own life to save her. Grief-stricken by Lightning Lad’s death, Saturn Girl then tried sacrifice her own life again in order to bring him back to life, but this time her telepathic friend Proty took her place. Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad then declared their love for each other. Despite learning that Saturn Girl had rigged the election, her teammates continued to support her as leader of the Legion. She had a celebrated first year as Legion leader and even won a challenge the next year to legitimately earn a second term; a first in Legion history. Saturn Girl served stalwartly on the Legion, dedicating her life to the team even after her stint as leader ended. She and Lightning Lad dated for several years, even staging a fake marriage for a Legion mission before he proposed actual marriage.
Saturn Girl spent most of original continuity in her trademark ‘red skirt’ costume, featuring a white front with a yellow Saturn logo on her chest. Like many Legionnaires she underwent a sexy makeover during the 1970’s, wearing a daring pink bikini-like outfit with long pink boots and gloves and the Saturn logo on her navel where the bikini top and bottom joined. In the 1980’s she switched back to her more modest red skirt costume, which lasted until the end of original continuity.
Reboot: Earth-247
As a child, Imra Ardeen displayed top-level telepathic abilities and was taken from her family at the age of five to begin years of intense mental training with the best minds of Titan. Her younger sister, Jancel, would resent Imra for this and viewed it as special treatment despite the fact Imra initially hated it. Imra became very disciplined and excelled at all she did, earning the rank of a tenth level telepath and being so strong that her mentor, Aven, installed mental blocks to dampen Imra’s power. She was fast-tracked to become a Science Police officer and was assigned to Earth despite the stigma against telepaths there. En route, she and two bystanders saved the life of R.J. Brande. Brande wanted Imra and the boys to help him form a new symbol for unity: the Legion of Super-Heroes.
In Earth-247 reality, Saturn Girl wore a jumpsuit rather than a skirt, and pink replaced red in her uniform.
Threeboot: Earth-Prime
In the 31st century of Earth Prime, Titanians only communicated telepathically and have lost their vocal cords to evolution. In any situation where telepathy is useless and Imra was rendered mute. Like other counterparts, she founded the Legion of Super-Heroes alongside Rokk Krinn and Garth Ranzz. Her mother was now a councilwoman in the United Planets and one of the few Legion supporters. When the Legion was dealing with the phantom Mon-El, Imra was able to hear his cries for help via telepathy, making her instrumental in locating him. Her relationship with Lightning Lad was greatly strained when Garth became the leader of the Legion. After heading several missions where he wouldn’t respond to her calls for help and due to a strain in their personal lives, Saturn Girl found comfort mentally with Ultra Boy.
Though nothing physical ever happened between the two, they came very close psychically and Imra felt guilty. She confessed what had transpired between her and Ultra Boy to Garth and he ended their relationship. Saturn Girl and her fellow Legionnaires assisted two other Legions team on the New Earth with stopping Superboy-Prime and his Legion of Super-Villains. After the battle her and her team returned to her home reality.
In Earth-Prime reality, Saturn Girl wore red-and-white tights in a pattern that mimicked her famous 1970’s “pink bikini” costume from original continuity.
Retroboot: New Earth
After the latest Legion reboot, the team returned to being a close proximity to how they were in original continuity prior to the Five Year Gap. Saturn Girl has been back with the Legion since the Universo Project and, thanks to the threat of Earth-Man, she has been reunited with Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad. The three Legion founders snuck inside the historic Batcave to try and find proof of Superman’s existence when they were captured by Earth-Man and his xenophobic League of Earth. After Earth-Man was defeated, Imra and her companions were freed, and restored order on Earth so outsiders could return. Sometime later, Imra and the Legion had to face the threat of Superboy-Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains. The Legion was overwhelmed by their enemies, forcing Brainiac 5 to call in the Legions from Earth-247 and Earth-Prime realities in order to assist. Together, the three Saturn Girls were instrumental in eventually defeating Superboy-Prime.
The retroboot Saturn Girl’s costume is a pantsuit version of her classic red skirt costume from original continuity.
Major Story Arcs
Original Continuity: New Earth
Married Life
Imra turned her love down, citing a rule in the Legion Constitution that married members must resign and not being able to leave the team behind just yet. Upon consulting with her mentors back on Titan, Imra realized she was foolish and she really did love Garth more than anything in the universe. They were married and resigned by their own laws from the team. For several months, Garth and the newly minted Imra Ardeen-Ranzz were simple civilians. During an event called the Earth War, reserve members like Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad were called into duty. Following the success of their efforts, the Legion voted to repeal the rule against married members and Saturn Girl and her husband reported back for active duty.
Pregnancy
Shortly thereafter, Imra discovered that she was pregnant. Since Winathians like her husband are known for their twin births, Imra was expecting twins herself. She continued to serve on the Legion during her pregnancy, participating on several missions and even going into labor during a battle against the villainous Tyr. Saturn Girl delivered a healthy baby boy on Medicus One. The boy was named Graym, and Imra curiously noted that she thought she had heard two babies thoughts inside her at some point, but she must have been mistaken. Eventually, the Legion founders accepted that the team could stand on its own two feet and they resigned to enter civilian life. Saturn Girl had an unconventional replacement in mind: Queen Projectra disguised as the new heroine, Sensor Girl.
Soon, the villainous Validus attempted to steal Imra’s son Graym. Through the adventure, Saturn Girl learned that Validus was actually Graym’s twin and her child, plucked from the womb and then mutated and hurled through time by the evil Darkseid. Darkseid restored Validus to his infant stage and Saturn Girl later expressed her gratitude to the evil Lord of Apokalips.
The Universo Project
In the Universo Project, Saturn Girl awoke on a strange world with several other individuals. Everyone on the island acted like mind-controlled workers and Saturn Girl discovered that they were being help prisoner and she was the only one to break the mind control. She freed several Legionnaires who in turn went on to free the entire planet Earth from the hypnotic control of the villainous Universo. Saturn Girl had saved the world once again, deciding that the only reward that she wanted was the chance to rejoin the Legion. She became an active Legionnaire again while Garth stayed at home with the children. When Superboy died, she plotted a conspiracy with those that were close to him to kill the Time Trapper for it. In the attack, Saturn Girl’s mental powers were reflected and the heat of the output burned her hair.
Five Years Later
Saturn Girl ultimately retired during the Five Years Later, following the Magic Wars. During those off-panel years, she and her boys moved to Garth’s homeworld of Winath. There, they established the Ranzz plantation and a lucrative shipping and farming business to outside worlds. This continued for several years, Imra eventually becoming pregnant a second time with twins as the business boomed. Even when the Legion reformed, the pregnant Saturn Girl was able to resist and remained with her family. She and her husband assisted their old teammates when they could, even allowing the Plantation to serve as the newly reformed team’s first unofficial base of operations.
Eventually, the Legion moved out and Imra gave birth to Dacey and Dorritt Ranzz. The expanded Ranzz family was short lived. The Zero Hour event came scant months later, wiping out Saturn Girl’s reality. She was one of the last survivors, ultimately merging with a time displaced copy of herself and the other Legion founders to stabilize and create a new reality.
Reboot: Earth-247
Science Police Officer Imra
Imra accepted, leaving the Science Police. As Saturn Girl, her powers were tested in confrontations with the foreign mind of the Composite Man, which was so overwhelming it left Imra in a catatonic state for a time. She was the only Legionnaire fully able to resist the Emerald Eye of Ekron and was among the Legionnaires trapped in the 20th century. There, she began to fall in love with co-founder Cosmic Boy, especially after he was mentally crippled by being linked with her during an attack by Dr. Psycho. This same incident freed Imra’s mental blocks and gave her full access to her telepathy. With Cosmic Boy down, Saturn Girl became acting leader. Eventually, Cos awoke due to Saturn Girl subconsciously animating his mind with her increased powers, going so far as to have him propose.
Once she recognized that it was all a projection, Cos returned to his vegetative state but was properly revived. Feeling ashamed and recognizing that she loved other co-founder Live Wire, Saturn Girl ended things with Cos. Imra and Live Wire were properly reunited in the 30th century and began to date. During this time, Saturn Girl was promoted to Legion leader. Live Wire proposed to her right before the Blight invasion of Earth and she accepted.
Legion Lost
Following the Blight invasion, Saturn Girl and several other Legionnaires were lost in a strange galaxy. On their own, Saturn Girl did her best to rally the team and went too far in her attempts. To calm the raging Ultra Boy, she created a telepathic illusion that his wife Apparition was with the team. When she was knocked out in battle, her subconscious projections returned and she tricked the other lost Legionnaires into thinking rescue had come. When she was properly put under for medical attention, the illusions faded. The Legionnaires felt betrayed by Saturn Girl’s deceptions, even Live Wire pulling away from her. Though initially mad with Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy recognized his last few months with his wife were actually with Saturn Girl and in melancholy kissed Imra. They attempted to keep this a secret and shortly thereafter the team was in a deadly confrontation with the time-tossed Element Lad. Though Live Wire made the ultimate sacrifice, the Legionnaires and Saturn Girl were finally able to return home.
Returned Home
Back in United Planet space, Saturn Girl aided her friends in reforming the Legion of Super-Heroes on the new artificial planetoid Legion World. She slowly began to rebuild trust in her teammates and continued to have strange feelings for Ultra Boy, who eventually declared things could never happen between them. It should have been a happy day when Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy discovered that Live Wire was actually still alive in the lost universe, however he was trapped in the body of the deranged Element Lad and the change was hard for Saturn Girl to accept. It took time, but eventually she and Live Wire properly reconciled, just in time for the whole Legion to be whisked into the timestream once again as their reality of Earth-247 was destroyed in the events of Final Crisis. Alongside her fellow Legionnaires, Saturn Girl assisted the two Legions of other worlds in stopping Superboy-Prime and went on to form a new group of Wanderers to aid those lost in the Multiverse like they were.
Retroboot: New Earth
Imra’s Search For Her Sons
Shortly afterwards she paid a visit to her homeworld of Titan and her mentor Aven to help gather her private thoughts. During the visit, a blast of chronal energy from the new Time Institute began to tear Titan apart. Imra searched for her sons whom she had brought with her, locating them only to see them spirited away in a flash of light. She commandeered a Time Bubble to travel back to the moment they vanished and try to read their minds to figure where they had gone. Her homeworld was destroyed shortly thereafter. Imra eventually found her kids, rescuing them with Lightning Lad and Lightning Lass from a zealot of Darkseid. Following the incident, she and Lightning Lad took a leave of absence from the Legion to spend time with their sons.
Powers & Abilities
Telepathy
Saturn Girl is one of the most powerful telepaths in the DC Universe. Her telepathy is considered tenth level by her people, the highest ranking. With her telepathic powers Saturn Girl can read, receive, and broadcast thoughts at will. She can even manipulate the information another’s brain receives to make them believe intensely realistic illusions. Imra’s mind can project powerful telepathic force bolts which can mentally stun, injure, or even kill beings as formidable as Daxamites. She can also create astral projections of herself and others. She has the ability to use her mind as a psi-link, allowing her to connect with others and allow them to communicate with one another.
She has been able to mentally search areas as large as a continent to locate specific minds. Her mental powers evolved, allowing her to possess the ability of telekinesis. She has shown the ability to move large objects with her mind (though her Legion Flight Ring may be a required aid to this power).
Intellect
Imra is considered to be one of the most intelligent Legionnaires as well as one of the most highly educated. She has a keen understanding of science and technology and possesses great intuition on a social and personal level. Due to her superior intellect as well as her mental powers, she was one of the four Legionnaires deemed by Universo to be the greatest threat to his plans for the domination of Earth, and was also the first to break free from his mind control.
Equipment
As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Saturn Girl possesses a Legion Flight Ring. The ring gives its wearer the ability to fly, the speed and range of which is determined by the wearer’s willpower. It also acts as a long-range communicator (enabling constant vocal contact with other Legionnaires, even across vast distances of space), a signal device, and a navigational compass, all powered by a micro-computer built inside the ring.
Physical Characteristics
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 140 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Other Versions
Silver Age: Saturn Woman
In the original debut of the Legion of Supervillians, this team came from a time when the Legion of Superheroes had reached adulthood. Among the members was Saturn Woman, an adult version of Imra. Superboy (Kal-El) and later Superman would meet several times this possible future for the Legion. The concept would be revisited after Flashpoint.
Five Years Later: Batch SW6
A younger version of Saturn Girl was found with several other young Legionnaires, called Batch SW6. Originally believing themselves just to be clones. It was later revealed that Saturn Girl was time-paradox duplicates of her older counterpart self. She, Cosmic Boy and Live Wire traveled into the past to investigate their origins and wound up fighting alongside the 20th century’s heroes during Zero Hour. They returned to the 30th century believing they had stopped the menace, but soon learned that they must re-merge with their older counterparts in order to repair the time stream. In true heroic fashion, Imra joined hands with her older counterpart, and her best friends (both versions) and bid their reality farewell.
Superboy’s Legion
In this Elseworlds series, Saturn Girl is once again a founding member of Legion and very similar to the Saturn Girl of main reality. The biggest difference is that she is dating Cosmic Boy rather than Lightning Lad.
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
In this Elseworlds story that took place in the 21st century, an unusual (and implied ancestral) version of Saturn Girl appeared in the form of a young precognitive girl who is befriended by Catgirl. This girl could see very far into the future and went by the name Saturn Girl “on account of she’s not born yet.” It is possible that this girl wound up being one of the mentally-enhanced people of Earth chosen to populate Saturn Girl’s future homeworld of Titan, and therefore may be one of Imra’s ancestors. Though she wore Saturn Girl’s trademark red skirt costume, she had huge pink eyes and black hair instead of blonde.
Post-Flashpoint: Earth 0
In the Earth-0 Legion timeline, the three founding Legionnaires still reached out to a young Clark Kent long before he became Superman, but unlike in main reality, this Legion grew to adulthood along with Clark and eventually changed their names to reflect their adult age. Imra changed her name to Saturn Woman, and alongside Lighting Man (the former Lightning Lad) and Cosmic Man (the former Cosmic Boy), they reunited with an adult Clark Kent (as Superman) in an effort to stop the Anti-Superman army from going back in time to destroy the original rocket that first brought the infant Clark Kent to Earth. They succeeded in saving the rocket and keeping their timeline intact.
Though Saturn Woman’s costume was similar to the red and white tights she wore in Threeboot continuity, she added a red cape for the first time in the character’s history.
Other Media
Television
Superman: The Animated Series
Saturn Girl appeared twice in DC’s Animated Universe. She first appeared in the Superman: The Animated Series episode “New Kids in Town.” She was voiced by Melissa Joan Hart. She and several of her Legion teammates were hunting the legendary Brainiac through time. With the help of young Clark Kent, they manage to defeat Brainiac. Saturn Girl wiped Clark’s memories of the event and the Legion returned home.
Justice League Unlimited
In the “Far From Home” episode of Justice League Unlimited, the previous Saturn Girl was among the Legionnaires who had been kidnapped and brainwashed by the Fatal Five and the Emerald Eye. She is freed with her teammates thanks to the efforts of Brainiac 5 and Supergirl. She had no lines in this episode.
Superman & the Legion of Super-Heroes
Saturn Girl was a main character in the Legion of Super-Heroes animated series. She was voiced by Kari Wahlgren. In addition to her telepathy, this Saturn Girl was a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and possessed telekinesis. She was a regular character in the first season, appearing in every episode save for “Champions.” She was among the team that recruited Superman and she had a crush on Lightning Lad. She had a fear of roller coasters. In the second season, Saturn Girl’s role was reduced as she was placed in a telepathic coma in the season opener “Man at the Edge of Tomorrow.” She would recover in time to recall the Legion’s foundation and save R.J. Brande again in “In the Beginning.” She was an instrumental communication line in the defeat of Brainiac in the two-part “Dark Victory” which wrapped the show.
Teen Titans Go!
In the episode title, “My Name is Jose” the Teen Titans got tired of their old powers because they were not cool enough so, they ask Raven to use her magic to give them new powers. Beast Boy got Saturn Girl’s powers. He is able to sense danger, know other people’s thoughts, and read their emotions. At first he struggle with his new power, but he masters them at the end of the episode.
Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five
Saturn Girl will make an appearance in the movie, Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five. As of yet, not much is known about the plot of the movie; however, from a clip released by DC we see her using her tele powers to take down some villains. It is safe to surmise that she will be more than a cameo in the movie as she is the team’s leader. The movie is being produce by Bruce Timm whose resume includes Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The animated Series, etc. It is worthy to note that this movie takes place in the same universe with Timm’s previously mentioned works.
Smallville
Saturn Girl, along with fellow founding Legion members Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad, appeared in an episode of Smallville entitled “Legion.” She was played by actress Alexz Johnson. In this portrayal she wore a red jacket and pants combined with a white top featuring the Saturn logo. She and her teammates saved a young Clark Kent from the Persuader, an old Legion enemy and a member of the Fatal Five, who had traveled back in time in order to kill Clark. This Saturn Girl typically placed two fingers to her forehead whilst utilizing her telepathic abilities. Following their apprehension of Brainiac, she returned with her teammates to the future with the promise that “Brainiac 5” would be better behaved than the original.
Supergirl
Irma Ardeen debuted in Season 3 episode “Wake Up”. She is the wife of Mon-El and a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. However,Mon-El and her seems to have broken up because she felt that he did not really love her. Mon-El is still hangs up on Supergirl, so Saturn Girl gave him an ultimatum to either go back to the future with her or stay in the present with Supergirl. Mon-El decided to stay in the present.
Films
“Lego” Justice League: Cosmic Clash
Saturn Girl (With Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad) appear in the movie. She is voiced by Kari Wahlgren. When Superman gets misplace in time, he finds himself in the future. Thanks to Superman, Brainiac is able to claim the future and have Superman as his lackey. Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, and Lighting Lad create a resistance against Brainiac. After Brainiac’s defeat, Superman and Batman are sent back to the past.
Video Games
Injustice 2
Saturn Girl makes a cameo in the popular game, Injustice 2. In Brainiac’s ladder ending, it is revealed that Brainiac Five went back in time in order to stop Brainiac and to restore his world’s reputation. When the Legion of Super Heroes find out out they were upset with him. Saturn Girl was one of the heroes who were understandably upset with him. Saturn girl is seen sitting alongside her teammates, Lightning Boy and Cosmic Boy.
Popular Recognition
Saturn Girl, pictured in her pink bikini costume, was ranked #50 in Comic Buyer’s Guide’s 100 Sexiest Women in Comics. She was one of five Legionnaires to make the list (along with teammates Shadow Lass, Duplicate Girl, Lightning Lass, and Phantom Girl).