Mon-El

Lar Gand
Mon-El. Art by Eddy Barrows, Julio Ferreira and Rod Reis.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Superboy #89 (June 1961)
Created by	Robert Bernstein George Papp (based upon Superboy by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)
In-story information
Full name	Lar Gand (Mon El)
Species	Daxamite
Place of origin	Daxam (21st century)
Team affiliations	Legion of Super-Heroes L.E.G.I.O.N. Science Police (21st century) Justice League Green Lantern Corps
Notable aliases	Bob Cobb, Marvel Lad (aka "Legionnaire Lemon"), Valor, M'Onel, Champion, Jonathan Kent
Abilities	Daxamite Abilities: Superhuman Strength Superhuman Speed Superhuman Endurance Invulnerability Healing Factor Flight Freeze Breath Vortex Breath Heat Vision Telescopic Vision Microscopic Vision Superhuman Hearing Longevity

Lar Gand, known primarily as Mon-El (and alternatively as Valor and M'Onel), is a fictional character in DC Comics' universe who is associated with the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, and Superman. The character has been reinterpreted over the years, but in all versions serves as a hero with abilities similar to those of Superman, sometimes serving as a substitute for the better-known character.

Lar Gand first appeared in Superboy #89 and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp.

A precursor to the Lar Gand character appeared in the story "Superman's Big Brother", in Superman #80 (February 1953). He was named Halk Kar, and had a logo-less costume almost identical to Superman's, but with the red and blue colors reversed. He was created by Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino.

In the story, Halk Kar crash-lands on Earth in a rocketship and is rescued by Superman, who discovers that Halk Kar suffers from amnesia. Discovering that Halk Kar has a note from Jor-El (Superman's father) mentioning his son, Superman assumes that Halk Kar must not only be from his own planet Krypton, but he must be a son of Jor-El and thus also his own older brother.

Superman quickly realizes that Halk Kar is less powerful than he is and — instead of subjecting him to embarrassment over the fact that he may be weaker than his younger brother — opts to use his own powers to cover for Halk Kar's deficiencies. This plan backfires, as Halk Kar begins to assume a superior attitude to Superman and even begins to make romantic advances on Superman's girlfriend, Lois Lane.

Finally, Halk Kar recovers his memory, and explains that he is from the planet Thoron, which is in the same star system as Krypton. Years ago, while on a pioneer voyage into space, he landed on Krypton with his damaged rocketship. There he met Jor-El, who explained that Krypton's destruction was imminent and repaired Halk Kar's rocketship, sending him away with the note which had a map from Krypton to Earth on it. Krypton exploded shortly afterward, causing Halk Kar to be put into suspended animation until he drifted to Earth to meet Superman, the grown-up son of Jor-El referred to in the note. Halk Kar returns to Thoron in his repaired rocketship, leaving Superman with the experience of briefly having had a brother.