Cyrus Gold (alias Solomon Grundy) is a zombie super-villain who has clashed with many super-heroes over the years, including Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, the Justice Society of America, and the Justice League of America. Solomon Grundy frequently dies and is resurrected in new incarnations, each one of varying levels of strength and intelligence. Although primarily evil, some of his incarnations have shown the capacity for heroism.
History
Origins
Cyrus Gold was born some time around the early to mid-19th century. Although accounts of his origins differ, the story is fairly consistent in that he was a Gotham City gentleman of ill repute who died in Slaughter Swamp and was resurrected some years later as a horrible creature. Stories of his origins include these:
- The most common origin story of Solomon Grundy was that in the late 19th century, a wealthy merchant named Cyrus Gold was murdered and his body was disposed of in Slaughter Swamp. He was supernaturally reanimated 50 years later, where parts of his body were actually composed of swamp material.[3]
- Another origin story told that, in the year 1895, he was killed in Slaughter Swamp by the pimp of a prostitute. The pimp was trying to blackmail Gold by claiming that he was the father of the prostitute's unborn child. Gold refused to yield to the blackmail and was thus bludgeoned over the head and buried in the swamp where no one would think to look for him. Over the span of 50 years, Gold's body interacted with the detritus and vegetation of the swamp, resulting in his resurrection as Solomon Grundy.[4]
- The next origin story came from the Parliament of Trees, a high council of Plant Elementals who tried to turn Solomon Grundy into the newest Plant Elemental; however, the process was missing one vital piece, as a Plant Elemental could not be fully created unless it died in flames first. Since Grundy's death did not involve fire at all, the process was incomplete and he became a sort of half-functional Plant Elemental.[5]
- Another origin story was given by a mysterious group called the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp. They recounted the death of a miserly pedophile, Cyrus Gold, at the hands of an angry mob; however, they also mentioned that Gold could have just as easily been the innocent victim of a misunderstanding, as Slaughter Swamp was a point in space where time meant nothing.[6] The same Unknown Man who told the story also punished another member of this group, the Eighth Unknown Man named Zor, by dressing him in Gold's clothing and leaving him for the mob to find, implying that Zor (an extremely vain man who was notable for attempting to overthrow the universe several times and for having defeated the Spectre) would later become the first incarnation of Solomon Grundy.[7]
Post-Crisis
Solomon Grundy consistently haunts Gotham City and has been known to take residence in the Gotham City sewer system. In his early years, his primary enemy was Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, though he also fought Batman as well. During The Long Halloween, he struck up an odd kinship with Harvey Dent, as Dent was on the path to becoming Two-Face.[8] Grundy even joined Dent's team of "costumed freaks" that was responsible for the deaths of Gotham city crime lords such as Carmine Falcone and his successor, Sofia.
The Green Arrow
Grundy's appearances were not limited to Gotham, however. He fought Superman several times in Metropolis. For a time, a new innocent, child-like Grundy lurked in the sewers of Opal City where he was befriended by Starman Jack Knight, who affectionately referred to him as "Solly".[9] Solly also became friends with Starman Mikaal Tomas and sacrificed himself to save Mikaal from being crushed by a collapsing building. This left Grundy in critical condition. In return for his sacrifice (as well as trying to stop the old Grundy from re-emerging), Jack and Ted Knight and Alan Scott enlisted the help of the Floronic Man who, like Grundy, was also a creature of the Green, to try to save his life. Woodrue was accompanied by Batman, and had them all eat seeds, allowing them to enter the consciousness of Grundy in order to pull out the Solly aspect of Grundy's personality rather than one of Grundy's evil versions. Unfortunately, the evil aspects of Grundy were too overwhelming and the Solly version could not be saved. When the super-heroes returned to the normal world, Grundy disappeared.[10]
Grundy's next appearance saw the return of his malicious persona where he was found by Jack Knight on a strange blue planet, apparently having landed there when he was cast into orbit by Alan Scott and Dr. Fate in the 1940s. The crash on the planet killed him, apparently allowing him to resurrect with a different body on Earth. This suggests that Grundy's consciousness may be able to inhabit multiple bodies, though only one at a time. This new Grundy had a much higher intelligence than normal, but claimed to have no knowledge of Jack Knight or his previous exploits on Earth since he was cast into orbit. This version of Grundy was summarily destroyed.[10]
Mikaal Tomas was the next to battle Grundy. This version of Grundy displayed an average intelligence and was once again malicious. However, when an assassin (Frankie Soul) tried to take out Mikaal with a sniper rifle, Grundy sensed the coming shot and stepped in front of it, sacrificing himself once again to save Mikaal. With his dying words Grundy claimed that this was not a result of the Solly personality re-emerging, but was unable to explain just why he had done it.[11]
Grundy next joined the new Injustice Society led by Johnny Sorrow and fought the Justice Society of America again. During the Joker's Last Laugh event, Grundy was jokerized and fought the JSA yet again.[12]
It was known that Grundy hid out for a time in the Arrowcave, the long-abandoned former headquarters of the Green Arrow. While searching for artifacts of his former life, the Green Arrow and his former ward, Arsenal, stumbled upon Grundy's new hideout, where he tried to kill them. The Green Arrow noted that this version of Grundy seemed to be much more violent and managed to kill him by choking him with the string of his broken bow.[13] Later, the Green Arrow helped out Dr. Chrissie Cavendish, a S.T.A.R. Labs employee who claimed that she was the great-great-granddaughter of Cyrus Gold, the man that Grundy was spawned from, in order to find him and cure him. Her cure, however, warped her into a monster that was much worse than Grundy. The Green Arrow subdued Cavendish and decided that it was best to let Grundy be.[14]
Grundy helped attack Superman and Batman when a bounty was placed on both of them by President Lex Luthor, although he was being mind-controlled by Gorilla Grodd at the time. He was defeated by Batman.[15]
During the Infinite Crisis in Villains United, Grundy joined the Secret Society of Super-Villains. He turned on them briefly when the Rag Doll of the Secret Six compared their disfigurement and convinced Grundy to join his side.[16] In the Battle of Metropolis, Grundy fought alongside the rest of the Society again, but was killed once more by Superboy-Prime along with the Blood Pack.[17]
The Justice League
Solomon Grundy returned from this death to fight the Justice League of America in a much more advanced form. He was depicted as intelligent and sophisticated, seemingly serving as the brains behind a complex operation to willingly transfer Professor Ivo's immortality into Grundy. Through the interference of the Red Tornado, his wife, and the Justice League, Grundy's scheme failed to achieve its ends.[18] In later appearances, he seemed to have lost this intelligence.
He was exiled to the Prison Planet during Salvation Run, where a large number of super-villains were exported several light years into space and left to fend for themselves on a foreign planet. He joined Lex Luthor's camp, but was killed in the gigantic Parademon raid shortly before the villains could escape.[19]
Blackest Night
Main article: Blackest Night
Even millions of miles away from Earth, upon his death Cyrus Gold was resurrected once more in Slaughter Swamp with a strange new level of perception. Noticing that Gotham City had greatly changed, Gold went to a mobile home where he killed the owner. Walking to his former house, he had a flashback to his murdering his Uncle John, expressing remorse over it. Suddenly, Cyrus remembered his past as Solomon Grundy, became terrified of dying and became Solomon Grundy again. He attacked a woman who offered him her help, then assaulted two police officers who tried to stop him. In the process, Cyrus was shot through the chest, discovering that he still had no physical heart. Running away, he jumped into the highway, where he was run down and killed. Gold was resurrected as Solomon Grundy again and fled into the sewers. A week later, he encountered Killer Croc, fought him and eventually broke his jaw. At the dawn of Sunday, Grundy transformed back into Cyrus Gold at the cemetery which held his tombstone. There, he was found by the Phantom Stranger who had become aware of his resurrection and change in the previous week. He was unable to help Cyrus in these changes, but had drafted Green Lantern (Alan Scott) into helping. Though Green Lantern was initially hesitant to help, the Stranger insisted: there was an unholy night coming and it would be best if Solomon Grundy were gone before another could claim him for themselves.[20] Grundy and Alan Scott were now on a quest for Grundy's redemption.[21] It was his mission to find the persons who were responsible for killing him the first time... and forgive them. Cyrus discovered shockingly that, in a fit of madness, he actually committed suicide in Slaughter Swamp, taking his own life and thus he was unable to forgive himself and pass on to the next world. Instead, he received a Black Lantern Ring and was commanded to RISE![22] His corpse was destroyed when Bizarro drove it into the Sun. With Cyrus Gold in Hell and Grundy's corpse destroyed, the curse of Solomon Grundy was finally broken and he was no more.[23]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Zombie Physiology
- Energy Transference:(Possibly Formerly) Grundy has proven to be able to absorb certain forms of energy and manipulate them at will. This ability has always been subconscious to the point of being accidental, though, but it would suggest that Grundy is even more powerful than he has the intelligence to realize.
- Superhuman Durability: The weird elemental energy that imbues his form with pseudo-life makes him incredibly resilient — he is impervious to bullets, fire, and extreme cold, and can survive indefinitely without food, water, or oxygen.[24]
- Regeneration: Grundy has displayed radically fast regeneration while at Slaughter Swamp. Amazo 3764 severed all of his limbs, which then returned and reattached themselves to his torso in seconds.[25]
- Removable Limbs: Grundy's detached arms could move independently of his body and managed to decapitate Amazo "singlehanded", so to speak.[25]
- Resurrection: Even when he is destroyed, Grundy has always been reborn sooner or later. The soul of Cyrus Gold enjoys his pseudo-life through Grundy, even though Gold's entire personality is never present in Grundy's "life." Grundy's personality differs from incarnation to incarnation, but he seems to retain some memories of his experiences from one time to the next.
- Superhuman Stamina: Grundy can perform physically strenuous tasks for an indeterminate period of time before tiring.
- Superhuman Strength: Grundy possesses tremendous strength and stamina, the level of which varies with his different incarnations. Sometimes he can be held back by a group of normal humans. On other occasions, even Superman cannot restrain him.
- Chlorokinesis:(Possibly Formerly) In a prior incarnation, Grundy gained the ability to manipulate plant life into various shapes & forms.[25] Such as bending tree matter in order to get one up on The Sentinel in battle or utilize the power of partial Green Essence to bend vines and roots to do what he wishes.[26]
Weaknesses
Diminished Intellect: Grundy's below average intellect makes him easy to fool and manipulate. However, some of his reincarnations have occasionally possessed an adequate intellect.
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Black Lantern Ring:(Formerly) On the eve of the Blackest Night, Grundy's inert cadaver would be resuscitated via power of the Black Light of Death, reanimating him with his own Dark Power Ring.
Notes
- Solomon Grundy first appeared in Pre-Crisis Earth-Two continuity in All-American Comics #61 by Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman. He first appeared in Post-Crisis New Earth continuity in History of the DC Universe #1 by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.
- There are several individuals who claimed kinship to Grundy's human alter ego, Cyrus Gold. None of them, however, have been confirmed to be direct relations. It is known that Cyrus Gold was a married man at the time of his death in 1894 (or 1895 by some accounts). Records showed that he had carried on an affair with a woman named Rachel Rykel - a woman who claimed to be pregnant with Gold's child. A possible descendant of this issue, Karin Rykel, appeared outside Slaughter Swamp nearly one century later. Ironically, Karin Rykel was ruthlessly murdered by Grundy.[4] Some time later, a scientist for S.T.A.R. Labs named Dr. Chrissie Cavendish claimed to be Cyrus Gold's great-great-granddaughter. All of Cavendish's accounts concerning Gold's history and personality contradict previously established facts, however. She saw Gold as a philanthropic genius who developed a serum which, unfortunately, transformed him into Solomon Grundy.[14] In light of Cavendish's biased ideals towards Grundy, as well as her questionable sanity, any information that she provided as it relates to Solomon Grundy is considered unreliable.
- In keeping with his Plant Elemental heritage, Solomon Grundy bleeds tree sap rather than blood when injured.[13]
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and no longer apply.
- Cyrus Gold (New Earth) appears as Solomon Grundy (Prime), a playable character in the Infinite Crisis video game.
Trivia
Bored on a Monday
- In Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers series, the Witch-People of Limbo Town (who are descended from the immortal Melmoth) buried their dead and later dug them up, at which point they became animate and were used as slave labor. These zombies were called "Grundies" or "Grundymen" and resembled Solomon Grundy.[27] It has also been established that Frankenstein was partly animated by the immortal blood of Melmoth, making him a Grundyman as well. Since Melmoth gained his immortality from the Cauldron of Rebirth which he found in Slaughter Swamp, it is likely that this was also the explanation for the reanimation of Solomon Grundy.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 161 Appearances of Cyrus Gold (New Earth)
- 76 Images featuring Cyrus Gold (New Earth)
- 11 Quotations by or about Cyrus Gold (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Cyrus Gold (New Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Solomon Grundy #4
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 DC Comics Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
- ↑ All-American Comics #61
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Batman: Shadow of the Bat #39
- ↑ Plant Elementals at Swamp Thing Roots
- ↑ Seven Soldiers of Victory #0
- ↑ Seven Soldiers of Victory #1
- ↑ Batman: The Long Halloween #12
- ↑ Starman (Volume 2) #10
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Starman (Volume 2) #34
- ↑ Starman (Volume 2) #49
- ↑ JSA #29
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Green Arrow (Volume 3) #18
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Green Arrow (Volume 3) #53
- ↑ Superman/Batman #3
- ↑ Villains United #6
- ↑ Infinite Crisis #7
- ↑ Justice League of America (Volume 2) #1-5
- ↑ Salvation Run #7
- ↑ Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy #1
- ↑ Solomon Grundy #1
- ↑ Solomon Grundy #7
- ↑ Superman/Batman #67
- ↑ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #21
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Solomon Grundy #5
- ↑ Starman (Volume 2) #48-Starman Vol 2 49
- ↑ Seven Soldiers: Klarion #1
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