Not to be a total geek (or a total queer legion), but...
Was there any offical (or unoffical) reason, Ayla's hair went from blond in v2 #289 and to red in the v2 Annual #1?
(Other than the fact, they realized Garth's hair had been red for a while and Ayla's should follow suit?)

I don't know if there was an "official" reason, but it was actually a change back to the original color of her hair, which had been red in the Adventure days.

Yeah, but Ayla was blond back in as far back as 1977 and stayed so until v2 Annual#1 (1982)?
So I guess my question should have been:
"Why (and when) the frell did she go blond"?

Ayla first appeared as a blonde in SUPERBOY # 202, in 1974. (She has a cameo in # 200, in which she sports her Cockrum-designed costume for the first time, but her hair seems to be red. The image is so small, it's hard to tell for sure.)

No, there never was an explanation for the change. But women have always dyed their hair, as have some men, a practice that will no doubt continue in the 30th century.

Thanks, He Who Wanders. That may make sense.
I can hear the Ayla's words after "A Cold and Lonely Corner of Hell" ends.
"I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair"
QL

Maybe she became aware of the infamous "Blonde Conspiracy" (could Dreamer have told her?) so she changed her hair color to avoid getting caught up in it.

Sometimes we Ranzzes like to do a little color changing.

Her hair was blonde in the Cockrum-drawn "Meet the Legionnaires" pages in issue 202, but if memory serves, in the story in that issue (Wrath of the Devilfish) she's still a redhead. I think she was still a redhead in the Grell-drawn story where Cosmic Boy and Colossal Boy (again) get new costumes, but was a blonde for most of Grell's Legion stint, including that ridiculous story where Mekt and Garth are represented as twins instead of Garth and Ayla.

One might imagine that at some point, Ayla noticed Brin watching Imra -- just a glance, maybe, or an absent-minded stare -- and concluded that he liked blondes, so she changed her hair accordingly. It would be a very insecure and human thing to do. Then, after the famous asteroid incident, she matured a little, decided she didn't care what Brin wanted and went back to her natural look.

I'll have to check my copy of # 202 when I get home. I'm pretty sure her hair is blonde in "Devil Fish" but I could be wrong. It wouldn't surprise me if her hair changed color in other stories, as well. There was some inconsistency in the way the Legionnaires were depicted in those days.

She's not the only Legion lass that's had a change of hair color over the years. Mysa had red hair originally as well when she was freed from the Hag persona.

OK, I've since checked my copy and you're right, Jim. She is a redhead in that story, except, anomalously, for one panel on page 10.

Perhaps that explains the whole thing. Ayla's hair change was caused by a chemical reaction to the bubbles used to entrap her by the Devil-Fish! It just took several years for her to literally wash it out of her hair.

Yes. Her hair and skin transformation to white was the result of her mystical studies on Zerox, as shown in her origin story, somewhere during the Levitz era.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That was almost as good as Megatron in a beehive!

I'm neither a geek nor queer (though I've been *falsely* accused of both....) and I LOVE to take note of Legion hair changes! (Okay, so maybe the accusations have some merit! Sue me! I'm a hair guy!)

Ayla's hair color change never received an explanation, but it's an easy one. Why did Timber Wolf's features get all feral? THERE's a good unanswered question.

Because Dave Cockrum's a hair guy too?

He got all feral 'cause Brin was hungry like the wolf.