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WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? – Episode #28 By Bruce MacIntosh
Did you ever get the feeling that you're just not all there? Ever split the scene because you needed to put yourself together? Well, that's nothing: Imagine being Triplicate Girl from the Legion of Super Heroes and having one of your three bodies killed. Or imagine – just like one of the continuing story threads running through Countdown - leaving one your identities a thousand years in the past to help your teammate find a cure for his disease that not only threatens to kill him, but also bring on the Great Disaster that threatens to wipe out much of the Universe!
As the above introduction described, Triplicate Girl left one of her three bodies (personalities, identities…?) in the 21st Century at the end of the "Lightning Saga" story that ran through recent issues of Justice League of America¸ Justice Society of America, and Countdown. Appropriately, she called this independent entity Una, and her assignment is to assist her teammate Karate Kid help find the source of his ailment and its cure.
We examined in great detail the histories of Una's traveling companion (click this link:) Karate Kid and a couple of questionable characters they keep running up against (click this link:) Mister Orr and Equus. Let's learn a little more about Una.
As we've discussed previously (see the Karate Kid article, link above) to know the history of the Legion of Super Heroes, one has to study three different "universes" or time-lines: 1) The original DC (Silver and Bronze Age) Universe, from when the Legion was first introduced in the late 1950s – until 1994's Zero Hour reboot; 2) The post-Zero Hour era, from 1994 to 2004; and finally the "new" ongoing Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes series.
Una and her progenitor Triplicate Girl belonged to the first, "original" Legion "universe". (That is not to say, however, that it is exactly the same as the Silver Age version. There were clearly some changes made to the original universe when the Multiverse was recreated in Infinite Crisis.) Unfortunately for disciples of the post-Zero Hour and current Legion continuities, the Triplicate Girl from those more recent incarnations don't "count" in this story. (They're from different time-lines, or alternate Earths in the Multiverse, or… Arghhhh! My head hurts again!)
SILLY SILVER & BATTY BRONZE AGES Anyway, this is the original Triplicate Girl, and her (their?) name is Luornu Durgo. Luornu is from the planet Cargg, where all the inhabitants can separate themselves into three identical bodies. She first appeared in Action Comics #276 (May 1961) and was the fourth hero inducted into the Legion (but the first non-founder recruit.)
The original (Silver Age) Triplicate Girl lost one of her three selves in a battle with Brianiac 5's rogue creation, Computo. (Adventure Comics #341, Feb 1966) Thereafter, naturally she called herself Duo Damsel. This was one of the first instances of the death of a hero depicted in DC Comics and interestingly it didn't raise an eyebrow with parents or the comics code. (Presumably because the emotional effect was blunted by the fact the character had a couple of "lives" to spare.)
Thanks to the late, great Dave Cockrum, Duo Damsel's costume was given a sorely needed update in Superboy #193 (Feb 1973). Gone were the 50s-era purple cheerleader's skirt and blouse, and orange cape. The striking color scheme remained, but now she wore a fetching one-piece bathing suit where one side was purple and the other half orange. The gimmick was that when she divided into her two selves, one of them was completely adorned in purple and the other orange. That's how you could tell them apart. Brilliant!
Duo Damsel was also one of the first characters to marry in the pages of a DC comic. She wed the corpulent Bouncing Boy in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #200 (Feb 1974), flanked by an all-star cast of dozens, including all extant Legionnaires and some special guests like Supergirl. This event was significant for a couple of other reasons: First, Legion rules mandated that members be unmarried. It was quite a career sacrifice to marry, because it meant that a Legionnaire was forced to resign from active duty with the team. (Although she was technically a Reservist, this event clearly meant that Duo Damsel had jumped the shark, as she rarely appeared again. Apparently, like Mork and Mindy and Scarecrow and Mrs. King, getting married is the death blow for a character because the sexual tension – or fantasy prospects – is gone.)
The second reason Duo Damsel's marriage to Bouncing Boy was significant in comics is because it gave hope to pudgy geeks everywhere that they could eventually score the hottie and live happily ever after. Hey, if a hero with the worst power ever (C'mon, the ability to blow up like a beach ball and bounce…?) can bag the babe, then there was hope for the rest of us middle-school comics readers leaning up against the gym walls trying to look inconspicuous at the school dance! (Peter Parker's relationship with Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy, notwithstanding. That was too angsty.)
Luornu and Chuck then settled on the outpost world of Wondil IX, but later returned to Earth to be instructors at the Legion Academy, and served as Legionnaire Reserves.
Years later Luornu lost the second of her three bodies when dealing with Empress Glorith of Balduur who had massacred the population of the planet Daxam. (Legion of Super-Heroes v.3 #50, Sep 1988 and Legion of Super-Heroes v.4 Annual #1, 1990 – take your pick.) Now she was just like everyone else with just one body, which made her kind of useless as a superhero. All was not lost, however, as the second body was found alive (Legion of Super-Heroes v.4 #42, Apr 1993). She regained the ability to split herself and as a bonus – got the power of generating force fields!
After the Great Collapse of 2989 the Legion was forced to close its Academy. Chuck and Luornu were then recruited by the United Planets Mlilitia to become Instructor Generals of the U.P. Militia Academy. (Legion of Super-Heroes v.4 #15, Feb 1991)
As I mentioned previously, there was a little thing called Zero Hour, which was intended to re-set all the diverging time-lines in the DC Universe. Reviews are mixed on whether this was a success, especially because it wiped out a lot that had gone before. If you want to read a good natured rant about these events, as well as a highly informative and entertaining retrospective on Triplicate Girl's teammate Starman, click here: Highly Informative & Entertaining Retrospective on Starman.
THE LIGHTNING SAGA The "Lightning Saga" story crossed over between Justice League of America #8 - #10 (Jun - Aug, 2007) and Justice Society of America #5 & 6 (Jun - Jul, 2007). Triplicate Girl only shows up at the end of the five-part saga. Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, Liberty Belle, Hourman and Damage were looking for the seventh hidden Legionnaire in the marshlands of Suicide Swamp and encounter the femme from the future, Triplicate Girl. She tells them that the Legion is in the 21st century to stop the artificial intelligence known as Computo, an evil artificial intelligence designed to destroy all law abiding super heroes.
I won't go into the details of the "Lightning Saga", except to say that in the end when all the Legionnaires return to the 31st Century, Starman and Karate Kid remain in the 21st. Starman stays voluntarily, but Karate Kid is told he must remain – ostensibly because he needs to find the source of his ailment. (But I can't help but think that his remaining in the 21st Century actually causes the impending Great Disaster… Head. Hurting. Again.)
In the pages of Countdown, we saw Triplicate Girl leave behind one of her "selves", to assist Karate Kid in his quest. In the process, the pair have broken into Oracle's previously-impregnable lair, and have twice battled the mysterious Mr. Orr and Equus, and are currently visiting with Buddy Blank and Brother Eye.
One of those battles with Equus occurred most recently in Supergirl #21 – 22 (Nov – Dec 2007), as Karate Kid and Una decided to give their Legion flight rings a rest and ride the rails for a while. Let's just say that Equus was still hacked that Karate Kid kicked his butt back in Countdown #35. After Supergirl nearly maims KK while suffering from a bad case mistaken identity, Equus announces his arrival with a couple of well-tossed train cars.
Seeing this Karate Kid and (1/3rd of) Triplicate Girl, Supergirl finally starts to remember the good times with the Legion of Super Heroes. You know, those "times" that are currently going on in Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes, but is really a thousand years in the future, and it's not two different Supergirls - but two different Legions, and this isn't the same Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl… Arghh. My head!
NEXT WEEK IN WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? – Episode #27 After my Industrial Strength Tylenol kicks in, we'll find out who is that character in Countdown #28 who kidnapped Jimmy Olsen from the Newsboy Legion's headquarters and enlists the aid of our freckled friend? Your intrepid columnist is going to have to forage for the answers in his old New Gods comics and get back with you next week!
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The original (Silver Age) Triplicate Girl lost one of her three selves in a battle with Brianiac 5's rogue creation, Computo. (Adventure Comics #341, Feb 1966) Thereafter, naturally she called herself Duo Damsel. This was one of the first instances of the death of a hero depicted in DC Comics and interestingly it didn't raise an eyebrow with parents or the comics code. (Presumably because the emotional effect was blunted by the fact the character had a couple of "lives" to spare.) 
Duo Damsel was also one of the first characters to marry in the pages of a DC comic. She wed the corpulent Bouncing Boy in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #200 (Feb 1974), flanked by an all-star cast of dozens, including all extant Legionnaires and some special guests like Supergirl. This event was significant for a couple of other reasons: First, Legion rules mandated that members be unmarried. It was quite a career sacrifice to marry, because it meant that a Legionnaire was forced to resign from active duty with the team. (Although she was technically a Reservist, this event clearly meant that Duo Damsel had jumped the shark, as she rarely appeared again. Apparently, like Mork and Mindy and Scarecrow and Mrs. King, getting married is the death blow for a character because the sexual tension – or fantasy prospects – is gone.) 
Years later Luornu lost the second of her three bodies when dealing with Empress Glorith of Balduur who had massacred the population of the planet Daxam. (Legion of Super-Heroes v.3 #50, Sep 1988 and Legion of Super-Heroes v.4 Annual #1, 1990 – take your pick.) Now she was just like everyone else with just one body, which made her kind of useless as a superhero. All was not lost, however, as the second body was found alive (Legion of Super-Heroes v.4 #42, Apr 1993). She regained the ability to split herself and as a bonus – got the power of generating force fields!
I won't go into the details of the "Lightning Saga", except to say that in the end when all the Legionnaires return to the 31st Century, Starman and Karate Kid remain in the 21st. Starman stays voluntarily, but Karate Kid is told he must remain – ostensibly because he needs to find the source of his ailment. (But I can't help but think that his remaining in the 21st Century actually causes the impending Great Disaster… Head. Hurting. Again.) 
Seeing this Karate Kid and (1/3rd of) Triplicate Girl, Supergirl finally starts to remember the good times with the Legion of Super Heroes. You know, those "times" that are currently going on in Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes, but is really a thousand years in the future, and it's not two different Supergirls - but two different Legions, and this isn't the same Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl… Arghh. My head! 
