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Garth Ranzz comes from Winath, a planet where twin births are
the rule. Garth, twin sister Ayla, and elder “solo”
brother Mekt Ranzz had “borrowed” their parents’
spaceship, only to have it run out of power, stranding them on
the planetoid Korbal. Seeking to use the local Lighting
Beasts to recharge the ship’s batteries, the three instead
found themselves victims of the creatures’ electrical discharges.
However, rather than hurting the the three, the energy knocked
the Ranzz children out and imbued them with a similar ability
to create lightning-like energy. (Legion of Super-Heroes
#0)
When Garth awoke, he felt the lightning
building up in himself, needing to be released, and he interpretted
this as it being almost alive, even malevolent; thus, the lightning
had to be controlled, or it would control him. His brother
had already left for parts unknown, however, and Garth set off
to find him, ostensibly to warn him. This branded Garth
as a runaway, though, since he was only 14 and thus not just an
adult under Winath law. While seeking his brother, Garth
boarded a ship bound for Earth and met Rokk Krinn of Braal.
With Rokk and Imra Ardeen of Titan, Garth helped prevent an assassination
attempt on R.J. Brande. On Earth, Garth was jailed by the
Science Police after a bar fight, but R.J. Brande bailed him out,
and invited him, Rokk, and Imra to form the Legion of Super-Heroes. Garth
was originally going to be named Lighting Lad, but ended up taking
the name Live Wire, instead. (Legion of Super-Heroes
#0)
After just a short time, however,
Garth’s status as a runaway was found out, and the government
replaced him in the Legion with his twin sister, Spark.
Still in search of his brother, Garth went to work for industrialist
Leland McCauley, heading up his personal team of meta-powered
teens, the WorkForce. In due course, Garth and Ayla tracked
Mekt down on Korbal, and in preventing him from killing the Lightning
Beasts, Garth lost his right arm (<ISSUE
REF?>). It was replaced with a mechanical
arm, but Garth could not use his powers through that arm without
destroying it. (He was given the option of having his arm
regrown, but it would cost him his powers. (<ISSUE
REF?>))
Live Wire eventually rejoined the
Legion after helping to unseat the corrupt United Planets president,
Jeannie Chu. He also brought Ultra Boy with him from the
WorkForce. When part of the Legion was stranded in the 20th
century, Live Wire (as the sole remaining Legion founder) took
on more of a leadership role, but he relinquished that when they
returned. When Saturn Girl became Legion Leader, their relationship
became strained, with her intentionally keeping him at arm’s
length (or further: entire solar systems away), but they evetually
reconciled and even began to speak of marriage (Legionanires
#75, Legionnaires #78).
When both of them were part of
the group stranded in a distant galaxy (Legion Lost #1-12),
she continued this pattern until he could no longer be sure that
he loved her any more. After Saturn Girl’s mental collapse,
she relinquished the leadership position to Live Wire. He
led the Legion through their battle with Progenitor — during
which his arm was restored — and took it upon himself to
prevent the Progenitor/Omniphagos creature from using the Ark
to enter United Planets space, apparently dying in the process
(Legion Lost #12).
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