Who's Duo Damsel?

Who's This? Two who were three.

The facts: Luornu Durgo first appears as Triplicate Girl in Action Comics #267 (May 1961, by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney) opposite Supergirl. Less than 5 years laterm she sort of becomes the first Legionnaire to die (in Adventure Comics #340, January 1966) when one of her triplicates is killed by Computo. She keeps going as Duo Damsel, and despite a previous relationship with Superboy, she ends up marrying Bouncing Boy (in 1974, or 2074 if you'd rather), constitutionally forcing the pair to quit the team, though they start teaching at Legion Academy and are seen regularly. By 1993, we're at the tail end of the Baxter series and she loses another body and becoming, in the 5YL era, known as Una, but her powers are eventually restored and she becomes known as Duplicate Damsel, with an infinity of bodies (but not before Una being killed in Countdown, this is messy even by DC's 2000s standards). But there are a number of side-steps before then. In the Reboot era, she's Triad and one of the more important members. In the Threeboot, she's Triplicate Girl again and appearing in New52-era Legion comics.
How you could have heard of her: There's of course a Bendis version, but TV fans will have seen her as both Triplicate Girl and Duo Damsel in the Legion animated series, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.
Example story: Action Comics #380 (September 1969) "Half a Legionnaire?" by Jim Shooter, Win Mortimer and Jack Abel

I always thought it was the Reboot that introduced the idea that each duplicate had its own personality, but I'm about to get schooled with this back-up solo/duet tale. And speaking of schooling, I wonder about teenage Jim Shooter's reading materials at school when he brings up the story of a Siamese twin who murdered their conjoined twin, which dates back to the 17th Century!

But getting into it, it may seem odd that Duo Damsel is operating alone (even if she's never alone), as she was created to a team member and like many Legionnaires (especially the women) is a bit of a one-trick pony. But here she doesn't call for back-up as she climbs a one-mile tower to stop a mad sniper's rampage (in this case, possibly inspired by the University of Texas shootings in 1966).

Oh yeah, all the Legionnaires have flight rings... Why WAS she climbing the ladder the old-fashioned way? Her split-dodge both saved her AND confused the gunman long enough for her to make the grab. But once he's sent to the psych center, she immediately gets another mission alert. Legionnaires get no breaks, which is a point of contention.

Seems everyone is having adventures somewhere, leaving Luornu to play FedEx. But it's pretty clear here that each duplicate has her own mind and can act independently of the others. Part of her is tired and wants to rest, the other is more responsible and will go to planet Ikro. A boring mission, so we stick with Relaxing Luornu who gets invited to the movies by Bouncing Boy. He asks the tough relationship questions:

The same, you say? Well, after a week, Luornu II hasn't come back and without her second body, Duo Damsel is just an ordinary girl who can't super-contribute much to the serial-theft cast Mon-El is so hyped about. The only thing we know about the culprits is that they're a couple - a beautiful woman and a man with incredible powers. I bet they're these guys:

So what happens now when the two Damsels link up? One is engaged to Nam'Lor, the other is dating Bouncing Boy. That's... awkward. And Luornu II seems to be in control because SHE'S jet-lagged so SHE decides the one shared body is gonna go take a nap. But the shared body also feels the struggle inside her, and her dreams catch each version up on the events of the past few weeks.

It seems legit. One Luornu fell in love and the other didn't ("Sisters before misters!"), and it's tearing their Carggite psyche apart! When she wakes up, she immediately splits and "Lelith" runs off. Soon, Luornu teams up with Bouncing Boy to respond to an alarm at a refinery and find two masked figures (or to us, blacked-out shadows, stealing a very rare susbstance. They just call each other by the letters L and N, so it's gonna be quite the Silver Age twist if these DON'T turn out to be Lelith and Namor--pardon, Nam'Lor.

Thank God for the Legion armory, but the villains still escape. Luornu does suspect though, and forces her twin to link back up once they severally return to Legion HQ. Her leg tingles, which seems to prove it, and she doesn't complete the merging. She runs to Bouncing Boy to strategize and he points to the likely root cause - this Nam'Lor fellow. They grab a power neutralizer, but Chuck is no match for Nam'Lor even with it. He's just too fast. Lelith: "Now kill him and no one stands in our way!" But Nam'Lor... won't!

WHAT?! So this guy's powers, which are on the order of Superboy mixed with Green Lantern, also has an aura that turns those close to him evil. That is insane, but it's how Luornu II turned bad. For love, Nam'Lor committed crimes against his nature, but killing is a step too far and shakes Cupid's arrow off his buttock. After all, what's the point of loving someone if that love will turn them into someone you can't love (there's a metaphor in there somewhere).

A weird story, but I do think it becomes the template for much later Triplicate Girl/Triad stories, and a more interesting take than having all the duplicates be of the same mind.

Who's Next? A plagiarist.