TELLUS

Real Name: Ganglios

Class: Extraterrestrial (Hykrian)

Occupation: Legionnaire

Group Affiliation: Legion of Super-Heroes, formerly Legion Academy

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Metropolis, formerly Hykraius, 30th Century

First Appearance: Legion of Super-Heroes III #9 (April, 1985)

Powers: Tellus possessed limited telepathy and telekinesis, and like all Hykrians he was an aquatic being and his natural environment was a watery domain filled with poisons lethal to other species. To exist outside of his native environment Tellus wore portable-life support equipment.

History: (Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #6) - Ganglion, who went by the name "Tellus," which meant "People" in his native tongue, was an alien from the poisonous water planet Hykraius. He was one of the few Hykrians to ever leave his planet, working on an interstellar freighter to fund his schooling. He learned of the Legion of Super-Heroes of Earth, and became fascinated with founding his own superteam one day on  Hykraius.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #9) - Tellus joined the Legion Academy, where hopeful heroes trained to get a chance at joining the Legion of Super-Heroes. Bouncing Boy and the Legion Academy cared for Laurel Grand after she’d been shot with a kryptonite bullet. They called in the Science Police, and officer Roon Dvron responded. Roon was eager to investigate, hoping that if he cracked the case he’d get a promotion.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #12) - The Legion Academy discussed the shakeups in the Legion of Super-Heroes, and their chances of getting called up. They started bickering, and were convinced Magnetic Kid would get called up since his brother Cosmic Boy had just left the Legion. Tellus even asked Magnetic Kid to put in a good word for him. Magnetic Kid got irritated and unleashed a magnetic blast on his teammates. Bouncing boy told them to stop goofing off, saying he had some people he wanted them to meet back at the academy.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #14) - The Legion interviewed applicants during their membership drive and had them demonstrate their powers. The Legion Academy all tried out, with Bouncing Boy on hand to cheer them on. Mentalla applied for membership, saying she’d be a valuable addition because her powers were similar to Saturn Girl, although her telepathy was used to control minds instead of reading them. Comet Queen, Magnetic Kid and Tellus all made it to the second round, and were given a trial by fire, joining the Legion on a mission to find out why the bridges and drainage systems of the California Coastal District were breaking down. Brainiac 5 led the mission, and had Mon-El team up with Magnetic Kid to use their powers to raise the newly sunken sections of California. Comet Queen rescued civilians in danger of drowning and Tellus picked up the thought-patterns of someone with sabotage on their mind. At Legion hq Energy Boy demonstrated he ability to create nuclo-globes when Polar Boy interrupted him by freezing his nuclo-globe and hands to show the Legion that he’d gotten much better at controlling his powers. He told the Legion he’d dissolved the Subs, and asked that they waive their old rule that new applicants had to be under 18 to consider him. Tellus led his teammates to the northern cost, where he sensed the thought-patterns coming from. The coast buckled and Mon-El went to investigate, finding Dev-Em on the scene. Dev-Em was now working for the U.P.’s Counter-Intelligence Corps and was also investigating the damage being done to California. Dev-Em made it very clear he was not impressed with the new would-be Legionnaires, and said the Legion would be better off if they offered him membership again. Dev-Em said the Corps had learned that the Dark Circle left behind a few stragglers on Earth to commit acts of sabotage, and Tellus tracked down the saboteur, an Ontiir clone. The clone sat in a weapon-chair and was set off another destructive device that caused a tidal wave. Mon-El used his heat vision to evaporate the tidal wave while his teammates tried to pierce the clone’s forcefield. Quislet, an adventurer from a microscopic dimension flying in a miniatures Trans-D Vessel, joined the fray in an attempt to impress the Legion. Quislet could animate inanimate matter, and took control of the clone’s weapon-chair, using it to defeat him. Quislet returned to his Vessel, and the weapon-chair crumbled to dust, as was usually the case for any matter Quislet possessed. The Legion inducted Magnetic Kid, Polar Boy, Quislet and Tellus as new members. Saturn Girl said she had a recruit with an excellent reason to join the team, Sensor Girl. She wouldn’t reveal anything about Sensor Girl, but asked the Legion to trust her, much like they trusted her telepathy when she recommended Element Lad as a member, and the Legion welcomed Sensor Girl to their ranks.

(Legion of Super-Heroes III #15) - Wildfire took the new Legion recruits on a training course aboard a Legion cruiser, but a solar flare hit their vessel. Wildfire’s containment suit was destroyed, and he had to return to a Legion storage tesseract to get a new suit, grumbling that Brainiac 5 was unable to mass produce suits that gave him consistent powers. The beacon that lured spacefaring dragons away from Imsk while migrating malfunctioned, and Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Shadow Lass and Mon-El went to deal with the situation. Sun Boy used his solar powers to keep the dragons away from Imsk until the beacon was repaired. Element Lad contacted them via holo-screen and told them the new recruits were missing, and sent them to investigate. He assembled Blok, Dawnstar, Lightning Lass, White Witch and Ultra Boy to act as backup if needed. Dream Girl questioned his leadership abilities, asking why he was spreading the Legion so thin without going on the mission himself, and Star Boy told him to ignore her.  The Legion went to the quadrant where the rookies were last seen and came across a star that shot solar flares at them, dragging them to a nearby asteroid. The Legion realized that a beam from the asteroid was guiding the solar flares. Dr. Regulus was behind the attacks and revealed his captives. He was being aided by the burning ones, flame creatures that lived on the asteroid, and promised to free his hostages if Sun Boy fought him in one-on-one combat. Regulus’ quest for vengeance had driven him near madness, and he still blamed Sun Boy for costing him his job. The Legionnaires left Sun Boy to his confrontation with his nemesis, and although Regulus had the upper hand with the Burning Ones at his side Sun Boy slipped his Legion flight ring on Regulus, causing him to fly upward and knock himself out against a cavern wall.

Comments: Created by Paul Levitz & Steve Lightle.

Tellus received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #23 and Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #6. Tellus received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #13 under the Legion of Super-Heroes entry.

Tellus' appearance in Legion of Super-Heroes III #9, 12, 14, 15 was reprinted in Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #334, 337, 339, 340.

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