Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy is a zombie supervillain from the DC Comics Universe. Named after the 19th century children's nursery rhyme, he is an enemy of Green Lantern (particularly the first Green Lantern, Alan Scott). He has also been an enemy of Batman and Superman. He also has ties to DC/Vertigo's Swamp Thing character, vital in the sprout storyline (Swamp Thing #66 November 1987). He first appeared in All-American Comics #61 (October 1944). Biography Pre-Crisis Earth-Two version's history In the late 19th century, a wealthy merchant named Cyrus Gold is murdered and his body disposed of in Slaughter Swamp, near Gotham City. Fifty years later, the corpse is reanimated as a huge shambling figure (composed partly of the swamp matter that has accumulated around the body over the decades) with almost no memory of its past life. Gold murders two escaped criminals who are hiding out in the marsh and steals their clothes. He shows up in a hobo camp and, when asked about his name, one of the few things he can recall is that he was "born on a Monday". One of the men at the camp mentions the nursery rhyme character Solomon Grundy (who was born on a Monday), and Gold adopts the moniker.

Strong, vicious, and nearly mindless, Solomon Grundy falls into a life of crime—or, perhaps returns to one as his scattered residual memories may indicate—attracting the attention of the Green Lantern, Alan Scott. Grundy proves to be a difficult opponent, unkillable (since he is already dead) and with an inherent resistance to Scott's powers (which can not affect wood, a substance of which Grundy's reassembled body is now largely composed). Their first fight ends when Grundy is hurled under a train.

Grundy is revived when a criminal scientist known as the Professor injects Grundy with concentrated chlorophyll. After this second encounter Grundy is trapped in a green plasma bubble for a time, until a freak weather occurrence releases him from his prison. His third appearance involves Green Lantern and his fellow members of the Justice Society of America tracking him across the country, depositing Grundy on the moon once he is defeated.

A subsequent battle commences when Grundy's body gravitates towards young astronomer Dick Cashmere, resulting in his assuming Cashmere's identity for a time. In this incarnation he gains intelligence he subsequently loses when Green Lantern defeats and buries Grundy in 1947.

At this point, he is pulled back to 1941 by the time-traveling criminal Per Degaton, who has enlisted the aid of several supervillains to capture the Justice Society of America on December 7, 1941 (the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor). The All-Star Squadron comes to their rescue, and Grundy is then thrust back to the moon where he remains for over two decades.

Grundy eventually masters the use of stored up emerald energy he has absorbed over the years from his several battles with his arch-foe, and returns to Earth to battle Green Lantern, Hourman, and Doctor Fate. At this point, he has temporary mastery over all wooden objects. He subsequently loses this power over time.

He is briefly a member of the Injustice Society of the World. In the interim, he battles the combined might of both the Justice Society, and later their counterparts the Justice League, nearly to a standstill, when he develops an affection for a lost alien child. Soon after, Grundy crosses over from his Slaughter Swamp prison on Earth-2 to Earth-1 where he encounters that Earth's Superman (see more details below).

Grundy goes on to afflict Green Lantern and his teammates, including the Huntress who is the first female for whom he develops an affection. After Solomon Grundy is rescued from a glacier by Alan Scott's daughter, Jade, Grundy becomes loyal to her and, for a while, is an ally of Infinity, Inc. Eventually, this affectionate relationship turns tragic as the villainous Marcie Cooper, a.k.a. Harlequin of the Dummy's Injustice Unlimited, uses her illusion powers to disguise herself as Jade. Harlequin manipulates Grundy to attack the members of Infinity Inc., one by one. She convinces him to press the unconscious Mister Bones' bare hand against Skyman; since Bones's skin constantly exudes a cyanide-based compound, this quickly leads to Skyman's death. Once Grundy found out that Marcie had duped him, he savagely beat her within an inch of her life. This is the beginning of the end for Infinity Inc., and for Grundy's quasi-heroic career.

Earth-One version's history

The Earth-One Grundy arises when the Parasite uses an enhanced crystal to metabolically hasten the growth of residual cells left over in the sewers from when the original version had crossed over from Earth-2, which becomes a new, much more bestial version. During a clash with Superman, it is determined that his might is too much of a match for the Man of Steel, so Superman flies the monster to an alien world inhospitable to all save the hardiest life forms. There, under the planet's reduced gravity, the Earth-1 Grundy is appeased when Superman gives him a cape to wear as the zombie propels himself through the air mimicking his one-time adversary.

This version repeatedly plagues Superman for years until, during an encounter wherein multiple Grundys are spawned, Superman and the Swamp Thing both encounter the clones. Soon, Superman obtains a compound from S.T.A.R. Labs which causes the Grundys to become inert, in effect killing the seemingly unkillable man-thing. Swamp Thing attempts to cry out for Superman to stop, as he believes Grundy to meet the definition of life, but Swamp Thing is unable to express this, due to physical difficulty in speaking. This version of Grundy returns one final time, without explanation, leading a gang in the Earth-One Gotham City. He is apparently destroyed yet again when Batman tricks the creature into a blast furnace, where it is apparently consumed by the flames.

This version of Grundy was retroactively erased from history after the revamping of Superman in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Post-Crisis Green Lantern and Solomon Grundy clash many times over the years, though he also squares off against other DC heroes. One storyline (Batman: The Long Halloween, #12) involves Grundy and a newly-disfigured Harvey Dent striking up an odd friendship after Dent escapes to the sewers to plot his revenge on Carmine Falcone. Grundy also appears early in the story while Batman pursues one of the suspects who bombed Dent's house into the sewers during Thanksgiving. Grundy attacks both of them, but Batman drives him off by blinding him with a shot of mace.

After Infinity, Inc. disbands, Solomon Grundy loses his loyalty towards Jade. A clash with Alan Scott and Jade in the pages of Green Lantern Corps Quartely ends with Grundy turning into a statue of petrified wood. The heroes believe the threat of Grundy to have ended once and for all, but they are mistaken. Shortly thereafter, Grundy reappears in Gotham in the pages of Batman: Shadow of the Bat, battling Batman once again and killing the female descendant of one of the killers of Cyrus Gold.

Grundy's next major appearance is in Starman, lurking in Opal City's sewers. Jack Knight befriends Grundy, who has become innocent and child-like. Grundy also becomes friends with previous Starman Mikaal Tomas, and dies while sacrificing himself to save Jack Knight from being crushed by a collapsing building. When Grundy appears again, he has returned to his malicious persona; the joint efforts of Jack Knight, Batman, Alan Scott, and Floro are needed to stop him.

The origins of Grundy's resurrection come from the fact that the Parliament of Trees, a high council of Plant Elementals, tried to turn him into the newest Plant Elemental. However, the process was missing one vital piece: fire, as a Plant Elemental cannot be fully created unless it died in flames. Since Grundy's death did not involve fire at all, the process is not complete, and he becomes a sort of half-functional Plant Elemental. Grundy has been seemingly destroyed on several occasions, only to rise from the swamp again in a new incarnation. Each version of Grundy has been somewhat different from the last, depending on the medium used to dispatch him (and the drawing style of the current artist. The original Grundy, for example, had prominent front teeth). Some have been truly evil; some much less so. Some versions are more mindless than others; some are actually moderately intelligent, recalling the literate, well-spoken monster of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Recent history Grundy hides out for a time in the Arrowcave, the long abandoned former headquarters of the Emerald Archer, Green Arrow. While searching for artifacts of his former life, Oliver and his former ward, Roy "Arsenal" Harper, stumble onto Grundy's new hideout. The story, "Grundy No Like Arrows in the Face!", is found in Green Arrow (vol. 3) #18. Green Arrow notes that this version seems much more violent, and manages to kill him by choking him with the string to his broken bow (despite the fact that Grundy does not have a heartbeat, functional veins, or need to breathe). In Green Arrow (vol. 3) #53, "Solomon's Revenge", Green Arrow helps Dr. Chrissie Cavendish, a S.T.A.R. Labs employee, who claims she is the great, great granddaughter of the man the monster spawned from, to find and cure him. Her cure, however, warps her into a monster much worse than Grundy. Green Arrow subdues the new monster, and leaves Grundy to be. It is not known if Grundy is still using this building.

Seven Soldiers of Victory In the first issue of Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory, Issue #0 of the same name, one of the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp recounts the death of the miserly pedophile, Cyrus Gold, at the hands of an enraged mob, but also mentions that Gold could just as easily have been the innocent victim of a misunderstanding, as Slaughter Swamp is a point in space where time means nothing. In the final issue - Seven Soldiers #1 - the same Unknown Man punishes another of his group - the Eighth Man, Zor - by dressing him in Cyrus Gold's clothing and leaving him for the mob to find, implying that Zor - an extremely vain character, notable for attempting several times to overthrow the Universe and for having defeated The Spectre - would later become the first Solomon Grundy.

Infinite Crisis Prior to Infinite Crisis, Grundy is manipulated by Gorilla Grodd via mind control into attacking Batman and Superman for President Luthor for the bounty of one billion dollars in Superman/Batman. Batman is able to stop Grundy. While no specifics are given, Solomon Grundy is also coerced into joining the Secret Society of Super Villains. He participates in the final strike against the Secret Six. Ragdoll II encounters Grundy in a doorway. Ragdoll's scarred face relates to Grundy, and Grundy goes on to turn against the Secret Society. The aftermath of that battle is inconclusive, but Grundy evidently survives, as he was last seen in a murky swamp in JSA Classified. In it, he is convinced by Icicle to help Wizard, who is in trouble.

After helping Icicle free Johnny Sorrow from Prometheus' cosmic key, Grundy stays with the newly formed Injustice Society.

In Infinite Crisis #7, Solomon Grundy is seen fighting against the Blood Pack in the Battle of Metropolis, until he is vaporized by Superboy-Prime's heat vision, which apparently kills the Blood Pack and destroys Grundy's current incarnation.

The Tornado's Path In Brad Meltzer's Justice League of America, Grundy is reborn with intelligence after being killed in the Battle of Metropolis.He is revealed to be the mastermind behind the abduction of Red Tornado's robot body (it is revealed he gained this intelligence when he was reborn after being burned by Prime). Grundy expresses a desire to stop his cycle of dying and being reborn and so it appears he enlists the help of Professor Ivo to build him an Amazo body to live in forever. The Red Tornado kills Grundy with F5 tornado winds, ripping him apart.

He later appears in the Salvation Run mini-series in which he is killed during a battle with Parademons. His body, awaiting its inevitable resurrection, is left behind when the villains leave the Hell Planet. However, when the villains exit, Grundy's hand trembles, accompanied with a groaning sound.

Blackest Night In the one-shot Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy (March 2009) by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, Cyrus Gold returns to life in Slaughter Swamp, as he was prior to becoming Grundy. He returns to Gotham City, but is shot by police after attacking a charity worker. In the police morgue, he transforms into Solomon Grundy. Grundy is once more an unintelligent monster, repeating the opening line of the nursery rhyme. A week later, having retreated to the sewers, he has a fight with Killer Croc. At the end of the fight, exhausted, he reverts to Cyrus Gold again. He finds himself in front of his own grave, where the Phantom Stranger tells him he has seven days to undo his curse, as "There is an unholy night coming, as black as the dead's blood. And it's best if Solomon Grundy was not around for it." (A reference to the upcoming Blackest Night storyline.) Alan Scott serves as his reluctant guide, as the story continues in the Solomon Grundy miniseries.

In the count down to Blackest Night, Cyrus Gold was given one week to discover the truth of who murdered him, so he could repent for all of his sins and gain absolution. Alan Scott and the Phantom Stranger were given as his guides throughout the week. Eventually it is revealed that Gold committed suicide, meaning he forced the curse of Solomon Grundy on himself. At the end of the series' run we see Grundy reanimated as a Black Lantern, and Cyrus Gold in hell. Grundy then tracks down and attacks Bizarro, using a past friendship they had to stir up the creature's emotions. Bizarro eventually manages to defeat Grundy by flying him into the sun, which completely incinerates him, and the black ring.

Powers and abilities

Solomon Grundy has superhuman strength and endurance. His strength has varied greatly through the years, for instance, in the Long Halloween story arc, Batman beat Grundy, while at various points his strength is on par with Superman's. He is virtually indestructible thanks to the elemental energy that imbues his form with pseudo-life. He is nearly invulnerable to physical, magical, and energy attacks and he is not affected by fire or cold. He has proven highly resistant to the effects of the original Green Lantern's power ring (which is attributed to his part-plant essence; originally because he had absorbed plant matter from the swamp, and later because he was a partial "plant elemental" like Swamp Thing). He does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, although oddly he was once choked to death by Green Arrow.

Grundy possesses a healing factor. While he has occasionally been destroyed, he has always returned to life sooner or later, though often with different personalities and powers.

Other versions Anti-Matter Earth Post-Crisis version

Solomon Grundy had a counterpart on the Crime Syndicate's Earth called Sir Solomon Grundy who was a member of Quizmaster's Justice Underground. Sir Solomon Grundy is a distinguished, poised mountain of a man. During an aerial bombardment of Dover, he is blasted to life out of the rock from the white cliffs. Sir Solomon appears to be identical in physical appearance to the mainstream Solomon Grundy with the exception of a trimmed mustache and a small goatee. In keeping with his educated personality, Sir Solomon dresses himself as a 19th century Englishman would, and speaks accordingly. His super strength and invulnerability made him a formidable hero, until Ultraman renders him inert on a Saturday.

The Grundymen In Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers series, the Witch-People of Limbotown (who are descended from the immortal Melmoth) bury their dead, and later dig them up, at which point they become animate and are used as slave labor. These zombies are called "Grundies" or "Grundymen", and resemble Solomon Grundy. It has also been established that the Spawn of Frankenstein is partly animated by the immortal blood of Melmoth, making him a Grundyman.

In other media

Super Friends Solomon Grundy appears in the 1970s animated series Challenge of the Super Friends as a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom, voiced by Jimmy Weldon. In this cartoon series, Grundy speaks broken English with a southern accent. This version of the character was later used in a promotional spot for Cartoon Network, with Solomon Grundy declaring that "Solomon Grundy want pants too!" in response to Brainiac's request for pants.

This incarnation of Grundy is arguably one of the more "intelligent" versions of the character, as he is able to carry on a conversation and devise plans of his own.

Live-action television Grundy also appears in the 1979 live action TV specials, Legends of the Superheroes, played by actor Mickey Morton.

Justice League Grundy has also appeared in the 2000s animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, first in the episode "Injustice for All". He was voiced by Mark Hamill. In this series, his origin was that of a mobster (also named Cyrus Gold) who eventually crossed the wrong people. He was killed, cursed, then dumped in a mystical swamp, rising again 25 years later as a soulless monster, forever seeking his lost soul without being aware of it. He is often paired with Copperhead to comedic timing in various episodes.

Later, Grundy became a more sympathetic figure, even a hero of sorts, by helping Doctor Fate save the world from a monstrous, bloodthirsty, Thanagarian deity named Ichthultu (based on the H. P. Lovecraftian Cthulhu) that he calls "Snake-Face". He befriends Hawkgirl, calling her "Bird-Nose". Fate's team in the episode is a pastiche of Marvel's Defenders, with Grundy standing in for the Hulk, Aquaman standing in for Namor, Doctor Fate standing in for Doctor Strange, and Hawkgirl standing in for both Valkyrie and Nighthawk. "Bird-Nose" was Hulk's nickname for Nighthawk, and other heroes have referred to him as such. Grundy attacks Ichthultu on his own, under the impression that the soul-devouring monster is in possession of his own soul. He is poisoned in the attempt, but his efforts allow Hawkgirl to kill the monster. Even the normally staunch Hawkgirl weeps for him, and comforts him in his last moments, assuring him that his soul is waiting for him when he dies. His epitaph simply reads, "Solomon Grundy — Born on a Monday", a reference to the poem after which he was named.

Grundy would later return in the series (voiced by Bruce Timm), resurrected by a dark spell cast by a group of young amateurs, which used chaos magic to inadvertently infuse him with the spirit of a powerful demon lord when the magic circle used to bind the demon in place was accidentally broken, allowing the demon to escape and possess the remains of Grundy, with his memory of his past incarnation severely addled and lacking the ability to speak. Mindless and uncontrollable, he goes on a destructive rampage, his power augmented to levels far beyond his original self by the magic animating him. After a lengthy battle with the Justice League, he regains a small fraction of his memory when he beholds Hawkgirl, whom he has accepted as a friend, and he submits to Shayera, who sorrowfully kills him to put him out of his misery.

The Batman He later appeared in The Batman animated series, voiced by Kevin Grevioux. In this version, Grundy is a zombie created by the working class citizens of 19th century Gotham City to wreak havoc on the rich landowners that polluted the local lake with industrial waste. This version of Grundy is slimmer and more ghoulish than his Justice League counterpart — this version bears a closer resemblance to an actually rotted, desiccated corpse — and, due to being "born" in Gotham, he is more of a Batman villain. Local legend had it that Grundy would again arise on a Halloween night when there was a total lunar eclipse in order to take revenge on the descendants of the rich landowners; Gotham City residents therefore referred to this Halloween as "Grundy's Night". This Grundy is actually Clayface in disguise, though at the end of the episode something begins to rise out of the swamp as a moan is heard.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Solomon Grundy appears in the series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Diedrich Bader. He fights against Batman and Black Canary in the teaser of "Night of the Huntress!". This version of Grundy is a still a zombie, but also a crime lord, a combination of the intelligent and incompetent versions; he commands a group of thugs, but speaks in grunts and growls, due to his mouth being stitched together. He does, however, have a right-hand man that understands his orders. Black Canary defeats him by fooling him into falling through a glass roof atop a building. He reappears in "The Color of Revenge!" robbing a bank in Bludhaven. Robin stops Grundy and the police take him away. He is also one of the villains summoned, very briefly, by Bat-Mite to test Batman's mettle in "Legends of the Dark Mite!".

DC Universe Online Solomon Grundy is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Solomon Grundy appears in the animated movie Superman/Batman: Public Enemies voiced by Corey Burton. Gorilla Grodd controls Grundy's mind to kill Batman. Batman defeats Grundy after he fails to drown him. He is considerably more intelligent due to Grodd's mind control, and Batman comments that "Grundy sounds like William F. Buckley".