Origin
Laurel Gand is a Daxamite descendant of Del Gand, the older brother of the 21st century hero Mon-El (Valor). Laurel’s parents worked and lived on Ricklef II, an asteroid in the outer rim of the Daxam system. Laurel lived with them and her mother, the station commander, insisted that Laurel know how to operate the station’s weapons, training that would prove itself to be critical. Zaryan the Conqueror, one of the warlike Khunds, attacked the asteroid base. Everyone on the asteroid was killed, except for a hidden Laurel. She was able to activate the defenses, utterly destroying the Khundian fleet and earning her both their fear and their enmity.
Because of her actions she was declared an enemy of the Khundish empire, and a hero to her world of Daxam. After the Khunds attempted to kill her, she was given a secret identity and sent to Earth for her safety under a yellow sun, where the powers of her Daxamite heritage would activate and help protect her. She was given an anti-lead serum, and took the name Leala Linder and stayed in an orphanage until she was visited by three female members of the Legion of Super-Heroes: Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. She was invited to try out for the Legion, and fell in love with Brainiac 5.
Creation
Laurel Gand was created by Tom Bierbaum, Mary Bierbaum, Keith Giffen and Al Gordon. While a part of original Legion continuity, Laurel Gand only existed in the Glorithverse reality created after the Five Year Gap when Glorith took the Time Trapper‘s place in history. Laurel, in turn, took the place of Supergirl in Legion history as Superboy and Supergirl had been stricken by the villainess from the Legion’s continuity.
Character Evolution
Five Years Later / Glorithverse
Unlike Supergirl, Laurel was a regular member of the Legion and ended up having one of the longest tenures on the team. Although she and Brainiac 5 loved each other, he withdrew into his work. Laurel could not deal with his neglect, and the couple grew apart. After Brainiac 5 was forced to leave the Legion due to insubordination charges, she shut him out of her life for good. In the year 2990, she resigned from the Legion to fight back the Khund armies. She found comfort in the arms of Green Lantern Rond Vidar, a long-time friend of the Legion.
Eventually they grew to love each other, and had a daughter named Lauren together. Laurel rejoined the Legion when she joined forces with them to free Rond Vidar and Mysa Nal from the clutches of Mordru. Laurel remained with the Legion until she was defending Weber’s World from the Khunds, and took a bomb blast head on, killing her.
Five Years Later / Batch SW6
Her younger time duplicate however, a member of the Batch SW6 version of the Legion, took the name Andromeda, but disappeared with the rest of the Legionnaires due to the time fluctuations of Zero Hour.
Reboot / Earth-247
Laurel Gand grew up on Daxam, in a village that was run by the White Triangle, which was devoted to racial separation and purity. She was repulsed by the idea that her government had drafted her to join the Legion of Super-Heroes. She was not pleased to have to work alongside those she considered to be “lesser races”, but she took the code-name of Andromeda and joined the Legion. She had to wear a transuit at all times to protect her from lead poisoning, and was thankful that it prevented her from physically touching the others. She grew very lonely, but did not want to return to Daxam, either.
Major Story Arcs
Earth-247:
The Death of Andromeda
Her attitude began to change, but was accused of being a traitor when she freed White Triangle terrorists, who had brutally beaten her teammate, Triad. Feeling guilty, and with some pushing by Shrinking Violet, she captured the terrorists, but not before they gave her lead poisoning. At death’s door, she admitted that all races were equal, and Brainiac 5 saved her life.
She was later duped by the leader of the White Triangle, Roxxas, into giving him the anti-lead serum. When she had realized that she had been tricked, she fought Roxxas and the two seemingly were killed inside a fusion reactor. The galaxy mourned her as a hero.
Andromeda in the Sisters of the Eternal Cosmos
Andromeda had secretly survived the blast and turned herself in to the United Planets President. Known only to Cosmic Boy, Andromeda was imprisoned on “Planet Hell”. When the Fatal Five attacked, Cosmic Boy sent Live Wire to free her. She redeemed herself and was pardoned, but she did not rejoin the Legion. She instead joined a religious group called the Sisters of the Eternal Cosmos, and dedicated herself to help those in need.
Andromeda as New Wanderer
She appeared later to help the Legion during the Infinite Crisis. Earth-247 was destroyed, but Andromeda and the Legionnaires floated in Limbo until drawn to New Earth (Earth-0) by a seance held by New Earth’s Brainiac 5, White Witch and Phantom Girl. While there, she and the Legions of three worlds fought the combined might of Superboy-Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains. Once the Legions were victorious, Andromeda joined with the Legion of Earth-247 to become the New Wanderers to travel the multiverse.
Personal Characteristics
- Civilian Name: Laurel Grand
- Eyes: Blue
- Hair: Blonde
- Height: 6ft
- Weight: 160 lbs
- Base: Mobile
- Occupation: Legionnaire
Powers and Abilities
Daxamite
Like all Daxamites, Andromeda gains super strength, flight, near-invulnerability, super-senses, super-speed, heat vision, arctic breath and x-ray vision when exposed to the light of a yellow sun. When Andromeda was exposed to the “Fires of Creation”, she had light based powers for a time. It is not known if she still has these abilities or if they were only temporary.
Other Versions
Bronze Age
For further details: Laurel Kent
Laurel Kent of Earth was a young woman who happened to be the 30th century direct descendant of Superman. She first introduced herself to a teenage Superboy, then a prominent member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as ‘Elna’ (an anagram of “Lane,” the surname of Superman’s wife Lois Lane). Superboy was initially quite attracted to her, until he discovered to his chagrin that they were related. Laurel had inherited her ancestor’s superhuman invulnerability and applied for Legion membership, but was rejected on the grounds that Legionnaires Mon-El and Ultra Boy had the same ability and she had no other powers. After Legion continuity was rebooted to reflect the removal of Superboy from their history, a virtual doppelganger of Laurel Kent named Laurel Gand was introduced.
Other Media
Television
Animated
Superman: The Animated Series
Andromeda was depicted as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the episode “New Kids in Town.” She made a cameo as one of many Legionnaires still at headquarters in the 30th century. She had no lines but did have an expanded role when the Justice League visited this Legion in the Justice League: The Animated Series comic book.