Origin
A native of the moon Triton off the planet Neptune in the 30th century Gazelle is recruited by the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Creation
The first appearance of the character Gazelle was in the DC Comics series titled The Legion of Super-Heroes #37. She was created by Jim Shooter and Francis Manapul.
Character Evolution
Threeboot; Earth Prime
Giselle Smith of Triton (one of Neptune’s moons), was caught in an invasion wave of destroyer units when the Legion of Super-Heroes appeared to defend the population. In the shelter of the ski resort she was visiting at the time, Giselle was beaten by bullies because of her rare mutation enabling her to control her own metabolism. Saved by Invisible Kid, she later helped the Legion defeat the destroyer units; though afterwards she claimed that she hated the United Planets and the Legion, and only fought to save herself.
Next time she appeared, she had become a member of the United Planets Young Heroes, the UP’s answer to the Legion – under the code name Gazelle. When the team failed, Gazelle realized she had been wrong about the Legion, and applied for a Legionnaires try-out. Out of four candidates – Gazelle herself, Night Girl, Turtle and Sizzle, Giselle was the only one to be admitted into the Legion core team on a full-time basis.
Still not having seen Invisible Kid’s face (the former having a crush on Giselle), Gazelle was pleasantly surprised by his appearance when they entered and fought the Infinity Net, only for her to discover later that Invisible Kid had faked his avatar’s appearance. Ironically, the modified avatar allowed Brainiac 5 to find the modified coding in the Net, and thus seized control of the entire network using the alterations as a focus point. Gazelle later hugged Invisible Kid despite (and possibly thanks to) his attempt to fool her.
Powers and Abilities
Gazelle possess the ability to manipulate her metabolism in order to achieve several effects, but most prominently boosts it giving her a substantial degree of super strength and speed. But she is also capable of slowing down her metabolism to such an extent that she enters a state akin to hibernation.
There are drawbacks to having such an enhanced and evolved metabolism. Since her metabolism is so enhanced gazelle puts herself at risk of getting expending her caloric energy too quickly and becoming physically exhausted. She can even faint if she uses her powers for too long.
Equipment
Like all Legionnaires Gazelle wears legion Flight Ring which gives her the ability to fly. It also has a sophisticated microcomputer inside which allows communication, navigational guidance, a signal device, and much more.