Mala (Kryptonian)

Mala is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics universe who first appeared in Superman #65 (July 1950) in the story "The Three Supermen from Space!".

A female incarnation of Mala appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Leslie Easterbrook in the second season and Sarah Douglas in the third.

Mala and his brothers Kizo and U-Ban are natives of the planet Krypton and former members of its science council. They attempted to take over the planet by removing all moisture from its atmosphere before being stopped by Superman's father Jor-El, who places them in suspended animation and sends them into outer space as an alternative to the death penalty.^[1]

Years later, the three escape after their ship is struck by space debris and come into conflict with Superman, using a machine to hypnotize Earth's population. Superman manages to destroy the machine, but is overwhelmed by the combined might of Mala and his brothers. As such, he tricks them into fighting each other before sending them back into space.

In Action Comics #194 (Jul 1954), the three Kryptonians manage to escape again, after their rocket is once again struck by a piece of space debris. Kizo and U-Ban go to the planet Saturn (for a "vacation from trouble"), but Mala decides to get revenge on Superman. As Superman is off planet on a mission, Mala constructs a duplicate Earth in order to keep Superman out of the way. Mala, who looks exactly like Superman, decides to cause more problems for Superman by disguising himself as Clark Kent and then admitting to the public that he is Superman (never realizing that Superman really is Clark Kent).

With his plan in place, Mala summons his brothers from Saturn and prepares to destroy Earth. Superman arrives and manages to trick the three evil Kryptonians into entering their space capsule, putting them back into suspended animation once again. This is the last appearance of Mala, Kizo, and U-Ban.

Mala, like all Kryptonians, has a number of inherent superpowers.^[2] These abilities are super strength, sonic speed, invulnerability, enhanced hearing, x-ray vision, and flight.

A female incarnation of Mala appears in Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Leslie Easterbrook in the second season and Sarah Douglas in the third.^[3] This version is a trusted lieutenant and partner of General Jax-Ur who participated in his attempt to take over Krypton years prior until Jor-El foiled their plot and imprisoned them in the Phantom Zone. In the two-part episode "Blasts From the Past", Superman discovers a Phantom Zone projector in his spaceship and releases Mala after learning of her past and that she had completed her sentence. However, she steals the projector and frees Jax-Ur before Superman and Professor Hamilton stop them and send them back to the Phantom Zone. In the episode "Absolute Power", Mala and Jax-Ur escape via a space rift, are rescued by alien voyagers, and subjugate their planet. However, Superman thwarts their plans to invade Earth, during which they are killed by a black hole.

The Superman: The Animated Series incarnation of Mala appears as a boss in Superman 64. This version is a member of the Superman Revenge Squad.

• The Superman: The Animated Series incarnation of Mala appears in Superman Adventures #7-8, in which she and Jax-Ur join forces with Argo City criminal General Zod.^[4][5]
• The Superman: The Animated Series incarnation of Mala appears in Justice League Unlimited #34 as a member of Zod's army who was sent to the Phantom Zone.^[6]