Element Lad
	Name: Jan Arrah Home Planet: Trom Super-Power: Element transmutation Member Since: 2963

Origin | Super-Power | Personal Data | Membership Record

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"Element Lad hails from the faraway planet, Trom, where a unique radioactive environment gave the inhabitants the amazing power of using mental radiations to alter atomic structure. Consequently, he can change any chemical element into another, like changing iron into gold."

- Adventure Comics No. 316 "Origins and Powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes"

In 2963, Roxxas led his space-raiders to Trom. Hearing of the natives' power, he intended to enslave and exploit them into converting lead into uranium to be used in the manufacturing of deadly doomsday bombs. Rather than increase Roxxas's power, the people of Trom refused him and fought back. His followers reacted with deadly force and only one lad managed to survive by escaping in a small rocket. Jan Arrah fled to Earth and sought out membership in the Legion in hopes that he could use the team's resources to track down the raiders, while being protected at the same time (Adventure Comics No. 307).

Comments: The planet Trom is not named in its first appearance. It is not until the "Origins and Powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes" text feature of Adventure Comics No. 316 that Trom is named.

First Appearance: Adventure Comics No. 307 (written by Edmond Hamilton, drawn by John Forte)

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Using mental radiations to alter atomic structure, Element Lad can change one chemical element into any other - for instance, lead to gold or iron to aluminum (Adventure Comics No. 307). He can change any element into any other element, even when it is part of a compound (362 "Meet the Legionnaires"), and change solid objects into gaseous ones (342, 343, 344).

Element Lad can even transform rare elements like ultrasite (Adventure Comics No. 320) and neutronium, the heaviest element in the universe (326). He has also transmuted kryptonite and lead into tin (360). His radiations can penetrate super-beings and effect things he cannot visually see because he is able to mentally detect elements (351).

When Jan Arrah transformed the hull of the space-raider's ship, but not their spacesuits, into gaseous elements, Roxxas believed that the lad's power of transmutation could only work on elements that are not part of chemical compounds. This may have been true at the time, but it is also obvious that the criminal did not understand that it was against Jan's morals to kill, even in revenge (Adventure Comics No. 307). In any case, Element Lad has, through practice, learned to extend the parameters of his ability considerably.

Element Lad's knowledge of chemistry is extensive, knowing exactly which elements he needs to create in order to combine with the elements present in order to produce a desired substance or effect (Adventure Comics No. 354, Action Comics No. 387/2). He can single out specific elements inside compounds, and by altering key atoms, change the entire formula of chemicals (Adventure Comics No. 337). He has also learned to transform metal into edible foods (338). Furthermore, his power is so precise that he once located a microscopic green kryptonite capsule inside Superboy's brain and transmuted it into helium, and back again (351). He has changed a metal gun into glue (351), ice into steel (354), pavement into rubber (359), and plates of rock into tough metal (333). He can also create allotropic change within a single element, for instance, transforming diamond into coal (329).

Lightning Lord once commented that Element Lad changed his arm into a "living lightning rod" (Adventure Comics No. 331). From what we saw, however, Element Lad's arm remained normal looking, so it is highly doubtful that he could change his arm into metal without seriously harming himself. More likely, what he did was change the molecules of the air around his arm into a substance that would attract electricity. Lightning Lord had assumed Element Lad changed his body because Cosmic King, also a transmute, had previously changed his jaw to stone. However, the nature of each transmute's power is quite different. Cosmic King acquired his power by stumbling into the path of a transmutation ray, thus it affected his entire body.

Less clear is why Element Lad's own teammate, Superboy, thought that he could "transmute himself into a chemical form that can survive in space". Either the Boy of Steel was bluffing or it shows just how little people understood his power of transmutation.

The amount of substance Element Lad can alter at one time is great, but the more massive the object the longer it takes to affect a change. He has transformed entire buildings into solid steel (Adventure Comics No. 363), and once he altered the atoms of an asteroid (YW-89) into an elemental combination that would react to specific energies and explode in a chain reaction (331). With Superboy and Mon-El's assistance, Element Lad once even helped to create a mock "Earth" out of meteors, asteroids, and space debris to fool Mantis Morlo (363).

Element Lad's power radiates from his brain and can be generated through any part of his body, usually through his hands (Action Comics No. 388 "Metropolis Mailbag", Adventure Comics No. 360).

Limitations and Weaknesses: Although it was a unique radioactive environment that gave him his ability to transmute elements, exposure to excessive radioactivity - such as the nearness to a large block of uranium, could kill him after ten minutes (Adventure Comics No. 323).

Element Lad needs to know what chemicals or elements make up a particular object if it is not easily apparent. This is especially so if he intends to alter a complex chemical formula. Once Superboy had to use his microscopic vision to list the elements for Brainiac 5, who the computed the changes needed to be made to the formula for Element Lad to work with (Adventure Comics No. 337). Another time, Brainiac 5 analyzed samples under a microscope and worked out the formula for him (Action Comics No. 391/2).

Element Lad has quick reflexes (Adventure Comics No. 321) but he can still be caught off-guard and not be able to transmute a substance in time. Once, an instant freezing chemical fell from the ceiling and froze his hands numb; if it had been a direct hit he could have been killed (363).

Element Lad has always had pinpoint accuracy with his element-changing ability, but the presence of an electromagnetic force-field can cause his mental radiations to veer off target (Action Comics No. 379/2).

His transmutation power, turned on volatile or unstable substances, can cause explosive chain reactions, as when Earth was surrounded in green kryptonite dust and he tried to turn the cloud into helium. The resultant sparkling fireworks display alerted him and he turned off his power just in time to prevent a chain reaction that would have destroyed the entire Earth (Adventure Comics No. 350).

Some scarce elements, such as the one that powers the ray that Superman uses to enlarge himself after his visits to Kandor, cannot be created artificially, or they will explode almost immediately (Supermn No. 175 "Metropolis Mailbag").

As Element Man, it was proven that he can have his power temporarily stolen by a special radioactive serum poured over his head (Adventure Comics No. 354).

Speculative Explanation of Power: Natural transmutation occurs when radioactive elements decay over time and transform into more stable elements. New and heavier elements, up to iron (atomic no. 26), are also created within the radioactive cores of stars when protons and neutrons are added to hydrogen atoms in the process called nucleosynthesis. Ancient alchemy long toyed with the idea of transmuting common lead (atomic no. 82) into the precious metal gold (atomic no. 79) but to no avail since changing an element requires more than chemical means, it requires the physical process of changing the number of protons in an atom. Today, scientists have succeeded in using radiation to artificially transmute one element into another within reactors and particle accelerators. Changing stable lead into gold can be done but the cost of the vast amount of energy required to do it makes the process impractical.

People thriving and evolving in a low-level radioactive environment, as the inhabitants of Trom did, is not as impossible a scenario as one would think. Scientists recently discovered a self-sustaining community of bacteria living nearly two miles beneath the surface of the Earth that, cut off from sunlight, rely on naturally occuring radioactive uranium to convert water molecules to useable energy. It is possible that Element Lad uses the radioactivity that is safely locked within special organelles in his body's cells to similarly convert the moisture in the air around him into the energy he needs to make proton manipulation possible.

Through concentration, he creates a radioactive "tube" of force between himself and the object he wishes to transmute. Inside this "tube" are a series of electromagnetic fields that can accelerate charged particles of matter at such fantastic velocity that it will knock free the necessary amount of protons or neutrons from the target atoms with "pinpoint" accuracy. The result of knocking protons away from an atom creates an element with a lower atomic weight - such as turning silver (atomic no. 47) into aluminum (atomic no. 13), or turning lead into gold. Element Lad can also force extra protons from the nearby elements or compounds (such as the air) into the atoms of the substance he is transmuting to increase its atomic weight - for instance, turning iron (atomic no. 26) into tin (atomic no. 50).

Element Lad can also rearrange the chemical bonds of a quantity of matter comprised of a single element. In this way he can change carbon into either of its two allotropes - diamond, where the carbon atoms are bonded together in a tetrahedral lattice arrangement, or graphite, where the atoms are bonded in sheets of a hexagonal lattice. The same goes for oxygen (O), which he could restructure into either dioxygen (O2) or ozone (O3).

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Physical Description: Jan has blond hair, parted on the right, which curls slightly when it gets longer. He has a broad face with a short, snub nose.

Personality: Jan is a very intelligent and circumspect person whose quick-thinking has helped the Legion many times and even saved the entire Earth (Adventure Comics No. 350, 351, 343). Jan is dedicated and often seen practicing his power of transmutation so he can be of better help to the team and the cause of justice (321, 316).

Jan owns a blue two-seater jet-car (Adventure Comics No. 373).

Skills: Jan is a naturally adept hand-to-hand fighter (Adventure Comics No. 307), and is skilled at using secret codes (307, 316).

Interests: Jan likes to perform magic tricks and juggle (Adventure Comics No. 321).

Nicknames: "E Lad" (Adventure Comics No. 360, 363)

Relationships: Jan once dated a girl named Marya, who he used to take to the Sky-Drive In until she broke it off because she couldn't handle the fact that the Legion came first with him (Adventure Comics No. 373). Jan has also been attracted to Light Lass, with her sweet smile (326), and he greatly admires Sun Boy (321, 335, 363). His other good Legion friends are Star Boy (340) and Matter-Eater Lad, who lives in an apartment next door to his (338) and is someone he feels he can confide in (343). Jan considers the Legion to be his family and regards Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy almost as surrogate parents. Saturn Girl had welcomed him into the Legion with open arms and Cosmic Boy officially named him - twice. After Invisible Kid saved his life, Jan awoke to see Cosmic Boy's and Saturn Girl's relieved and happy faces looking down at him (307). Conversely, Saturn Girl beams at Jan whenever he does her proud (351) and comforts him when he is hurt (363).

Known Relatives: Jan's parents, as the rest of the people on his home world, are deceased.

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Application: In 2963, Roxxas the space-raider wiped out the inhabitants of Trom because they refused to use their transmutation powers to create rare elements for him. Only one young teen, Jan Arrah, managed to escape the massacre. Roxxas and his raiders hunted Jan across the universe. Eventually, Jan came to Earth and applied for membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Induction: Showing his true power only to Saturn Girl, it was on her recommendation that he was accepted.

Positions Held: Deputy leader for the 8th term (2969-70)

Aliases Used: "Mystery Lad" was the name Cosmic Boy gave him until Jan's true power was understood (Adventure Comics No. 307).

Career Highlights:

Adventure Comics No. 307 (Apr. 1963) "The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero"

After joining the Legion, Mystery Lad helped his new teammates track down Roaxxas' group of space-raiders. As his power was secret from all the members except Saturn Girl, they kept trying to guess at its true nature. When Mystery Lad realized that the raiders would not stop until they found him, he left the rest of the group behind and gave himself up. To stop the raiders, he turned the hull of their ship into gas, even though he would quickly perish from lack of air. The Legionnaires were able to round up the raiders, and Invisible Kid, who had followed Jan, managed to save his life by placing a helmet onto his head. Element Lad's power was revealed to the others, who vowed to keep it a secret from the public lest others try to force him to use his powers for their own greedy purposes.

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen No. 70 (July 1963) "The Secret of Silver Kryptonite"

In his second appearance, Element Lad (called "Element Boy" by Jimmy Olsen) time-travelled to 1963 to represent the Legion of Super-Heroes when Superman celebrated the 25th anniversary of his move from Smallville to Metropolis. As this was his "silver anniversary", Superman's pals had donated silver to use to make statuettes of all his closest friends, and Element Lad used his power to turn the steel table the statuettes were on into a matching silver pedestal.

Adventure Comics No. 350/351 (Nov./Dec. 1966) "The Outcast Super-Heroes" / "The Forgotten Legion"

Element Lad's intellect and quick thinking really shone through at this time. First, when Earth was surrounded in a cloud of Green Kryptonite dust and he tried to turn it into helium, the resultant sparkling fireworks display tipped him off and he turned off his power just in time to prevent a chain reaction that would have destroyed the entire Earth. Later, it was his idea to go back in time to get a lock of Mxyzptlk's hair to be used in the magic brew to lift the curse on the White Witch. Lastly, he came up with the idea to change the green kryptonite in the capsule in Superboy's head to helium to restore the Boy of Steel's memory.

Adventure Comics No. 356 (May 1967) "The Five Legion Orphans"

Element Lad was transformed into "Element Infant" (for the second time) as part of a plot by five childless couples on Baskh. They adopted the five Legionnaire toddlers because they had no parents of their own, and at the same time tried to fill the void in their own lives. Jan was the first of the tykes to be chosen for adoption, by turning the helmet of his future "dad" into gold.

Action Comics No. 390/391 (July/Aug. 1970) "The Tyrant and the Traitor" / "The Ordeal of Element Lad"

In his biggest job since he joined the Legion, Element Lad had to defeat a whole army of chemically grown humanoids. He used his power so much, and in such a short time, he collapsed and had to be carried by Timber Wolf until he regained enough strength to complete the undercover mission. Although he passed out, when he awoke in the ship's infirmary, Karate Kid recommended him for a bonus, as did Chameleon Boy, head of the Espionage Squad.

For information concerning Element Lad after 2969, click here.

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