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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP

CHARACTER CLOSE-UP: Lord Malvolio

9/6/2016

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​History
Origin
Lord Malvolio is the son of a human woman and the Green Lantern of Sector 1634. Born in 1612, his mother died in childbirth, and Malvolio was raised by his father. Eventually, he slew his father and took his ring, traveling the stars until he came upon his father's planet. When the Guardians of the Universe learned of the Lantern's passing, they named Priest the new Green Lantern of Sector 1634, and sent him to slay Malvolio. When Priest refused to slay him, opting instead to imprison the false Lantern in a starless void, he was stripped of his title. Malvolio languished in his prison until the present day, plotting.
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Hal Jordan Heir Apparent
After meeting and assisting Priest with a border war, Hal Jordan was pursuing an alien that had inadvertently caused massive destruction on Earth, when he found himself teleported to Malvolio's system. Jordan ran across an alien scientist and asked if he might know the way back to Earth; the scientist suggested he consult his "master". A short time later, Jordan found a citadel, perched on a mountain marked with a Green Lantern symbol; inside, he met Lord Malvolio, who revealed that he too was from Earth, and made cryptic reference to Phobus. Not gaining any answers, Jordan went back to the scientist, when Malvolio suddenly appeared and murdered the alien. Malvolio revealed that he had brought Jordan there, looking to make him his heir; the two battled, and Malvolio blasted Jordan through the planet. Jordan fled to a strange yellow satellite, and was surprised to find a large number of aliens worshiping a Power Battery. He met a man named Wallace, who claimed to be Malvolio's squire.

​Jordan was surprised to find out that the satellite he thought was meant to be a sanctuary from Malvolio, was in fact a shrine in his honor. Arriving on the scene, Malvolio destroyed the satellite, killing everyone inside. The battle resumed, and Jordan managed to gain the upper hand. He turned to walk away, when Malvolio pulled a weapon. Jordan turned to blast the gun from Malvolio's hand, when it fired, destroying his ring. Jordan fled and managed to find some weapons. Using a brace and tension rod as a bow and arrow, he fired a shot into Malvolio's chest, seemingly killing him. Jordan took Malvolio's ring and used it to return to Earth.After he left, Malvolio stood up and pulled the rod from his chest; his surroundings disappeared, an illusion created by Malvolio himself. Malvolio mused that the entire encounter was a ploy to get Jordan to use his ring, in an elaborate plan to get revenge on Priest and the Guardians. Malvolio's ultimate end game has yet to be revealed.

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Notes
Jim Owsley, now Christopher Priest, has stated that DC has no interest in the character, which is why the storyline was dropped. The character's name has come up in conversation, but has yet to be reintroduced into continuity.
Malvolio was never actually a member of the Green Lantern Corps, as he took his father's ring rather than being inducted.
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Trivia
Before the Parallax story the fact that Hal was wearing Lord Malvolio's ring when he went crazy was a popular way for Hal fans to explain why Hal went crazy.
Given that Kyle's ring was a reformed version of the ring Hal wore when he went nuts (presumably Lord Malvolio's ring) this would also explain Oblivion

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP: Jessica Cruz

5/18/2016

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Jessica Cruz is a young Latino American woman who was forced to become the unwilling host to the Ring of Volthoom after Power Ring's death. Though technically she is not a "Power Ring" as she is not a member of the Crime Syndicate and has no association with the organization, for namesake purposes she is dubbed "Power Ring" while the ring uses her as a host. In her first appearance, Jessica is seen hiding in a storage room while her sister attempts to get her to come out.

Prior to this, Jessica and her friends were out hunting when they accidentally came across two men burying a body. The men brutally murder her friends to ensure there are no witnesses but Jessica manages to escape becoming the sole survivor of the incident, however she is left traumatized, guilt stricken and broken to the point where she developed agoraphobia mostly because she feared the men who killed her friends were looking for her.

​Jessica's family always thought she was paranoid and disregarded her fears, but her sister later feels great remorse for this when they turned out to be true. The ring of Volthoom was able to locate her due to this great fear, which it feeds off. Jessica in the midst of tears tried to make it go away, but the ring did not. She pulled out a gun and shot it.

​This only angered the ring. Jessica, unlike her predecessor did not willingly accept the ring, but it forced itself on her. Jessica was not in control of the ring and it began attacking some rescue workers with monstrous constructs. The Justice League went after her, looking for the ring, but when the Doom Patrol got to her first, she informs them that she attempted to remove the ring to no avail.

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​Being the new owner of the weapon, the Ring of Volthoom tortures Jessica with immense physical and psychological pain. It is shown that like Harold Jordan that she has visible harmful vein formations of her ring hand. Jessica cannot control the ring as long as Volthoom is able to dominate the ring through her fear; however when she overcomes her fears, she is able to quiet Volthoom and use the ring. The costume the ring makes her bear includes a headband and a single eye patch shaped like the ring's insignia rather than a full eye mask. The Ring of Volthoom explains that it is using Jessica to attract the being that destroyed Earth-Three to this Earth because he is now dying (for reasons not explained) and wants to take the planet with him.

​Batman was able to de-power the ring after convincing her to be brave. Jessica is later seen with the Flash in the watchtower; though Batman had taken away the ring's influence he did not remove it from her hand; Jessica in a moment of fear causes the ring to restart and it attempts to attack her but the Flash reminds her that she has control over her fear. Her resolve returned; she successfully wins the battle of wills over Volthoom, who is put into dormancy once again but not before vowing to return. She then tells the Flash that she wants to learn how to use the ring's power to which the Flash agrees. Jessica then joins the Justice League, and is later seen rescuing some civilians who were nearly killed by an earthquake apparently using the ring to no ill effect on herself.

​The Flash then asks her what her favorite flavor of Ice Cream is to which she replies pistachio. The Flash then appears with a cone in his hand surprising Jessica as she wonders how calm the Flash could remain in such a situation. Later, she is seen at the unveiling of the partnership between Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp though she becomes nervous since she does not like being in crowds which allows Volthoom to murmur to her, but this is revealed part of Batman's plan to help Jessica fully overcome her fear.

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Jessica later becomes very sick and is seen in the Watchtower's infirmary. She succumbed to effects of the AMAZO virus, but is soon cured and voices that she is tired of being controlled. The Flash agrees and reveals that he has called in someone who can teach Jessica about rings and willpower. When a skeptical Jessica asks the Flash who could possible help her, Hal Jordan reveals himself and states that he has returned to Earth to teach Jessica how to stay in control. Jessica masters the ring under Hal's tutelage though she does mention that the ring "whispers awful things to her", somehow Volthoom has been severely weakened without affecting the power of the ring.

When Darkseid's daughter Grail arrives on Prime Earth, she attacks Jessica and says that the Ring of Volthoom is a tether to Earth-Three and that its evil power would serve her well. Grail then uses the ring to open a portal to Earth-Three allowing the Anti-Monitor to cross over to the Prime Earth. Jessica is quickly transported away along with the rest of the Justice League by Metron and watches as Batman takes his place on Metron's chair. Jessica later uses the ring to fight various enemies while Volthoom assisting her in order to prevent himself from being killed. Jessica helps Mister Miracle break out the Crime Syndicate in order to fight the Anti-Monitor.

​The ring being in close proximity to the Sydnicate is able to draw off them to overwhelm Jessica and possess her body and mind. Cyborg attempts to shut him off again, but he attacks Cyborg and frees Grid. Jessica is now trapped within the Ring while Volthoom has taken over her body. Volthoom helps the Green Lantern Corp fight off Mobius's forces.

As part of DC Comics Rebirth, Jessica, along with Simon Baz will become Earth's newest Green Lanterns in charge of protecting the planet.

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Info from ​Wikipedia and Wikia.
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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP: Simon Baz

4/29/2016

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Simon Baz is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually in those starring the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of which Simon is a member. Created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke, Simon first appeared in 2012 following DC's 2011 company-wide relaunch as part of its Green Lantern story arc "Rise of the Third Army", in which Baz replaces Silver Age hero Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern of Earth's sector. Prior to this, the character made an unnamed cameo in The New 52 Free Comic Book Day Special Edition #1. At the time, Baz debuted to a positive critical reaction and over time gained a sizable fanbase. DC later added Baz to its flagship team-up title Justice League of America in 2013.
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Publication History
Simon Baz was created by Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke. He is the first Middle Eastern-American and Muslim member of the Green Lantern Corps. Simon's heritage and home town are both influenced by Geoff Johns, who is half-Lebanese, and a native of Detroit, Michigan.

Fictional Character Biography
Early Life
Simon Baz was a Lebanese-American child living in Dearborn, Michigan during the events of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Growing up with their family, Simon and his sister, Sira were both bullied and persecuted due to the ethnicity. As a young adult, Simon began to get involved in street racing, and eventually car theft; the former that put his brother-in-law in a coma in the hospital and the latter because of the financial crisis that hit the Detroit area in one of the hardest hit areas of the United States. Simon is fired from his job, and in one night in a moment of desperation, he steals the wrong car, and while trying to evade the police in the stolen van, Simon finds out that there is a bomb in the stolen vehicle. Not knowing anything about it, or how big it is, Simon drives the van into the abandoned car factory he was laid off from, knowing that no one would be hurt in the explosion. The resulting explosion is seen as an act of terrorism by the authorities, as they bring Simon in for questioning. As Simon is being interrogated, Hal Jordan and Sinestro's fused and malfunctioning Green Lantern Power Ring finds Simon, and selects him as the new wielder, flying him away from captivity. With their suspect gone, the federal agents interrogating Simon contact Amanda Waller about the situation, a transmission Cyborg of the Justice League picks up. Cyborg relays the transmission to Batman and asks if anyone has spoken to Hal Jordan, since he quit the League. Meanwhile, Simon lays on the ground, knocked out, while elsewhere, the Third Army begins to spread.

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Rise of the Third Army
After waking up and beginning to search for redemption, Simon turns over a new leaf and helps to stop the Third Army. However, he eventually runs into the Justice League, being wrongfully accused of taking Hal hostage. The Justice League eventually track down Simon, but he is not willing to fight them until Batman tries to remove Sinestro's ring from Simon's finger. In doing so, the ring goes into defense mode and attacks the League. In a panic, Baz retreated using his ring and eventually meets back up with his sister. Sira was able to track down the original owner of the van leaving Simon to track down the lead and try to clear his name. After finding who was involved of the bomb plot, the Third Army attacked the house and killed the terrorist, and the FBI agent (who was one of the federal agents interrogating Simon before) and Simon went down into the basement and saw all the guns and bombs the terrorist had. The FBI agent blew the house up with a bomb, and then a Green Lantern squirrel named B'dg came looking for Hal Jordan. B'dg eventually takes Simon to a remote location where Simon is able to finally unwind the dual message left by both Hal Jordan and Sinestro in his ring. Jordan reveals that the Guardians of the Universe have gone insane and are now replacing the Green Lantern Corps with their Third Army that will eventually take over the Universe and that if he is truly gone, to tell Carol Ferris that he loves her. It is soon revealed that Sinestro is truly responsible for Simon's selection as a Green Lantern as he chose someone who was very much like himself, who would do anything to accomplish his goals, and be able to overcome fear in any form. He also wanted his recruit to be the one to finally destroy the Guardians of the Universe. Surprised by his picking, Simon learns how to recharge his ring by retrieving his Lantern in the Coast City Graveyard and then learns from B'dg that his ring might be able to wake his brother-in-law from his coma. They head to the hospital where Simon's sister meets him and after forcing his will into his ring, Simon is able to heal the damage to his brother-in-law's brain, and he awakens not realizing what has happened. Simon then takes off with B'dg to rescue Guy Gardner from prison. After defeating the Third Army that was sent after Guy, they all meet on the moon where Guy is sent to Oa to stop the Guardians and Simon and B'dg enter the Book of the Black and come face to face with Black Hand.

Wrath of the First Lantern
At the end of the "Rise of the Third Army", the First Lantern (Volthoom), escapes with intent on changing reality to his will. Simon, meanwhile, is with B'dg at the Chamber of Shadows, where Black Hand and the Templar Guardians are being held. A battle ensues between Simon and Black Hand and whilst Simon is distracted, freeing the Templar Guardians, Black Hand sucks him into his ring. Simon is transported into the Dead Zone where Sinestro and Hal are trapped. Sinestro tells Simon that he was killed by Black Hand. Hal says Simon can't be dead because he still has the ring on. Sinestro then attacks Simon trying to get the ring. Since the ring is useless against Sinestro, Simon takes out his gun and fatally shoots him. However, Sinestro comes back to life because they are in the Dead Zone. Tomar-Re tells Hal that he believes the ring chose someone like Sinestro, not Hal, and that could explain Simon's brash personality. Simon offers to give Hal his ring but Hal objects, because the ring might reject Hal or think Baz is dead. Sinestro wakes and says he is going to get back at Simon, which makes Simon nervous. B'dg, with the help of the Templar Guardians, tries to retrieve Simon. Meanwhile, Simon's ring starts to split with the new half trying to go to Hal, Sinestro tackles Hal to the ground and shows Hal the First Lantern torturing Carol Ferris. This puts fear in Hal's heart, then the ring goes to Sinestro, and he and Simon swap places with Black Hand. Simon is being strangled by Sinestro, but then he later lets Simon go and teleports to his home planet of Korugar, trying to defend himself. When Simon and B'dg arrive at the planet Korugar's grave and witnessed Sinestro attacking Carol Ferris and White Lantern Kyle Rayner, they stop him. While Simon tells Carol the message that Hal was truly alive in the Dead Zone, Sinestro struggles for Kyle's white ring and attempts to become a White Lantern himself, but it strangely rejected him; the white ring then comes into the possession of Simon, but when he failed to restore Sinestro's home planet; the white ring returns to Kyle's ownership. When Sinestro flies off, Simon and B'dg team-up with Kyle and Carol and are ready to fight against the First Lantern. In the final battle, Simon and the reserve Lantern Corps attacked the First Lantern, and he is finally destroyed.

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Justice League of America
Following the events of "Wrath of The First Lantern", Simon Baz was offered the opportunity to join Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor's "Justice League of America" under the pretense that, his criminal charges would be dropped and his innocence publicly declared after FBI Agent Franklin Fed vouched for him.

"Trinity War"
During the 2013 "Trinity War" storyline, Baz was seen chasing Batman, who was in possession of Pandora's Box, until Superman attacked him. After Cyborg's (Victor) body was mangled by Crime Syndicate member "The Grid", Baz's ring was the one thing preventing Victor from death.
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     Prior to The Trinity War, Baz was seen by Sinestro and Hal Jordan thanks to visions given to them by the The Book of the Black while trying to find          out how the Guardians of the Universe planned to replace the Green Lantern Corps.

"Lights Out"
During the 2013 "Lights Out" storyline: in need of the Red Lanterns help during the fight with Relic, Hal Jordan promised the current leader of the Red Lanterns, Guy Gardner, his own sector of space. Guy Gardner chose Sector 2814 which contains the Red Lantern's homeworld of Ysmault, as well as Earth. As a condition of the sanctity of the Red Lanterns' policing of Sector 2814, Guy declared that no Green Lantern can enter their sector, including Earth. As an added term, Hal requested permission to keep Simon down on Earth to keep an eye on things and be the Green Lantern Corps' own ambassador.

Other Versions
In the distant future, the Book of Oa says that Simon will be responsible for training the first female Earth Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. It is also said that he will proceed to unlock potential everywhere he goes and show what the Green Lantern power ring is truly capable of. He is described as "the miracle worker".

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Reception
Simon Baz's debut in Green Lantern #0 was, overall, met with positive reviews, praising Baz's characterization as well as the opportunities for social commentary provided by his background. Joey Esposito of IGN wrote, "Johns showcases Baz’s strength of character by allowing him to admit that he is, in fact, a criminal (he was stealing a car), and that upon learning the car he jacked carried a bomb on board, he had heroic intentions. Johns is able to rely on the very real climate of a post-9/11 America to let readers infer certain aspects of Baz’s younger years, leaving him ample space for a well-written interrogation scene that reveals more about both Baz and the agents interrogating him," before going on to say "Though it’s only been one issue, I fully expect Baz – if he survives for a while, of course – to become another successful addition to Earth’s Green Lanterns." Doug Zawisza of Comic Book Resources wrote of Baz, "Geoff Johns makes Baz a sympathetic character despite his obvious flaws. Make no mistake, Baz isn't a hero like Hal Jordan, but he also isn't a villain like Sinestro. He's a guy who is trying to get by the best he can and, right now, he's breaking a few rules to do that." He praised his relatability, saying "Baz could very easily be a neighbor I knew when I lived in Dearborn."

Minhquan Nguyen of Weekly Comic Book Review praised Geoff Johns's writing of Baz in the site's review of issue #0. "Sometimes it’s very easy to forget how strong a character writer Johns actually is. Unlike some of the powerhouses in that category, Johns can’t quite pull off outlandish personalities and make them seem believable, but he churns out characters that sound and feel recognizable. We’d be less inclined to tune into Baz, hard as his life circumstances are, if he was disgustingly self-righteous. What makes him a hero is he recognizes his own fault and the logic of his seizure, which is probably why Agent Fed treats him so respectably—until his hands get tied, that is."

However, the character was not without its detractors. Writing for The A.V. Club, Oliver Sava felt that the character was conceptually interesting but marred by a hackneyed characterization. Reviewing Baz' introduction in Green Lantern #0, Sava says: "The idea of an Arab-American being chosen as the Green Lantern because he’s able to overcome great cultural fear is an inspired one, but the majority of sympathy for the character is condensed in two pages so that Johns can set up Baz as a suspected terrorist." Sava comments that Baz shares a lot in common with the "gritty" superheroes of the 1990s, stating: "Baz isn’t so much a character as he is a series of clichés and coincidences." He was also critical of the decision to portray the character with a gun on the book's cover, which he derides as "ridiculous" given its lack of utility compared to a Green Lantern ring, calling it "a cheap move to make the character seem edgy... that fell out of style about 15 years ago."

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Trivia
Baz has a forearm tattoo that reads “courage” in Arabic. However, getting a tattoo is considered “haram,” or religiously forbidden according to most orthodox Muslim scholars. Also, Baz is depicted as black, which can be seen as unrealistic since he is supposedly of Lebanese heritage.
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Info from ​Wikipedia and Wikia.
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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP: Power Ring

9/21/2014

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Power Ring is the name of several DC Comics supervillains: alternate reality counterparts of Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner and John Stewart, respectively. Originally residing on Earth-Three, which was subsequently destroyed during the 12-issue Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series, Power Ring, along with the other Syndicate members, end up being re-created in the Anti-Matter Universe's Earth.
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Fictional character biography
Crime Syndicate of America
Little is known of Power Ring's history. From what little he has said on the matter, he had been given his magical power ring and power battery by a monk named Volthoom. With these weapons, he equaled the power of a Green Lantern.

When they first arrived on Earth-One, they attempted to destroy first the Justice League and later the Justice Society of America of Earth-Two. Though beaten on the native Earths, they were able to transport both teams to Earth-Three, where they defeated them. The JLA and CSA battled on Earth-Two after the JSA were imprisoned. The Syndicate was defeated and imprisoned in an inter-dimensional limbo by Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

They remained there for years until an experimental dimensional transponder used by the Secret Society of Super-Villains disrupted the stability of the Crime Syndicate's prison. Power Ring, Johnny Quick, and Superwoman used the opportunity to escape. The Syndicate assumed the Secret Society villains were heroes and battled them. In a second confrontation, the Society took Superwoman's magic lasso, the ring of Power Ring, and Johnny Quick's helmet. These objects of power were to be used by the Wizard to cast a spell.

The Crime Syndicate fought Captain Comet, believing he was part of the Secret Society. Focusing his will through his power battery, Power Ring was able to use it as a weapon, just as he had used his ring. Unknown to the villains, Power Ring's battery of power had been leaking energy, a result of its long confinement and disuse in limbo.

Victims left in its wake were stricken with nausea, severe pain and eventual loss of consciousness. Their inert forms would then glow an unearthly green before mutating into horrible rampaging creatures. Captain Comet discovered the source of the transformation, and after capturing the Syndicate, used the power battery to cure the victims and return the Crime Syndicate to their interdimensional prison. Comet destroyed the battery afterwards.

Years later, Ultraman did manage to escape on his own before being sent back by Superman. A few weeks after that, the Syndicate would get another taste of freedom. Travelling through time, Per Degaton stumbled upon the interdimensional prison. He offered the Crime Syndicate an escape if they would help him in 1962 to take Cuba's Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. After they accomplished this task, Degaton had little use for them. When the Syndicate betray him they are sent to 1982, as he had made sure this would happen when they touched him.

The Syndicators rematerialized on the JLA satellite by the League's teleporter. They quickly overcame the surprised heroes who were waiting for the JSA's annual meeting with the two groups. The JSA had been sent to the Crime Syndicate's interdimensional prison and were able to escape with the combined powers of Starman and Doctor Fate.

Power Ring returned with the Syndicate to assist Per Degaton's plan to rule the world. Though they had been double crossed by Degaton, they would help him until the moment came to strike. The villains once again fought the JLA, the JSA, and even members of the All-Star Squadron from 1942. When the villains were again defeated, the failure of Degaton's plan wiped the events from existence.

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Crisis on Infinite Earths
The members of the Crime Syndicate were believed killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Power Ring and the Crime Syndicate were destroyed by waves of anti-matter, unleashed by the Anti-Monitor in his attempt to control all of existence.

Crisis 2
Years afterwards, a strange disruption in reality (featured in Animal Man by Grant Morrison) brought back Syndicators Ultraman, Power Ring, Johnny Quick, and Owlman, as well as other variations of the Justice League. Power Ring and Ultraman thought they had come back from the dead, but later learned forces beyond their imaginations were responsible for their brief return. Power Ring wished to return to the way his life used to be, and with that thought, he vanished. The others went into the Medusa Mask of the Psycho Pirate, and they have not been seen since.

Crime Syndicate of Amerika
Eventually, the Crime Syndicate were re-imagined as being from the antimatter universe. This Power Ring, weak-willed and cowardly, had been tricked into accepting the ring from its previous owner. After invading the other universe, Power Ring is defeated by Aquaman, as the nature of the Earths gives native beings an advantage.

Syndicate Rules
On the antimatter Earth, not much is known of the first Power Ring except his last name, Harrolds (corresponding to Hal Jordan). On this Earth, the power ring is powered by an entity called Volthoom. A second Power Ring (corresponding to Kyle Rayner), a blond man whose name was not given, was given the ring by Harrolds and joined the Syndicate, however when the antimatter universe was reconstructed after Krona had initially wiped out that plane of existence when trying to discover the origin of the Universe, certain elements of the antimatter universe's history had been changed, and now the second Power Ring was a black man whose name was also not given (corresponding to John Stewart). He confirmed that Harrolds tricked him into assuming responsibility of the ring, which was cursed as Volthoom was also inside the ring.

Crime Society of America
In 52 Week 52, an alternate version of Earth-Three was shown as a part of the new Multiverse. In the depiction were characters that are altered versions of the original Justice League of America, including Green Lantern. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the two panels in which they appear, but the altered Green Lantern is visually similar to Power Ring.

Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-Three, making this a new character unrelated to previous versions. In Countdown #31 he is confirmed as being called Power Ring, a member of the Crime Society, alongside Ultraman, Superwoman and Owlman.

Justice League Omega
The antimatter Crime Syndicate has recently reappeared in writer James Robinson's Justice League of America series as part of the Justice League Omega storyline. Directly mirroring Hal Jordan's resurrection in Green Lantern: Rebirth, Power Ring has once again changed his appearance and now resembles Jordan. Ultraman mentions that Power Ring's transformation into a Hal Jordan analogue (as well as the Kyle Rayner analogue's transformation into John Stewart in the Syndicate Rules storyline) had happened suddenly and with no explanation, but notes that Power Ring is now once again in his "original" form (mirroring the mainstream DC continuity, where Hal was the first modern Green Lantern).

The Crime Syndicate attacks the Hall of Justice in order to steal Alexander Luthor's corpse from the Justice League's mausoleum, and Power Ring enters into a confrontation with Jade. Though Power Ring initially gains the upperhand, Jade ultimately defeats him after she absorbs the energy in his ring, rendering him powerless. When the Crime Syndicate members agree to work with the JLA to stop a new villain named Omega Man, Power Ring begs Jade to return his powers to him, but is ultimately killed when Omega Man ambushes the group and impales him through the back.

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The New 52
In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), there are three different characters that use the name.

First Lantern
During the "Rise of the Third Army" storyline, the First Lantern is introduced as a mysterious entity trapped by the Guardians of the Universe in the place known as the Chamber of Shadows millennia ago. However, in the present, the Guardians, seeking to destroy all the universal emotions, reopen the Chamber to combine his powers with their own flesh, thus creating the Third Army. However, the combined efforts of all the other corps against the Guardians end up weakening the First Lantern's prison, thus setting him free.

In "Wrath of The First Lantern", the First Lantern's origins are revealed as of being a mysterious explorer named Volthoom from a parallel world, brought to Oa by Krona's first attempt to uncover the origins of the universe. When the Guardians later imprisoned their own emotions and created the original Lantern and Ring, Volthoom took its powers, becoming the First Lantern. The Guardians considered sharing the power of the lights with the rest of the universe, but Volthoom disagreed and wreaked havoc across the universe, killing millions. The Manhunters are then created to stop the rampage, but he could not be destroyed. Instead, the Guardians imprisoned the First Lantern.

Freed, Volthoom began siphoning energy from multiple bearers of power rings, in the hopes of gaining enough power to rewrite the entire universe. However, using the Black Ring, Hal Jordan summoned Nekron and drained the villain from the Emotional Spectrum, rendering the Lantern powerless against The Dark Guardian, who kills him . It is implied that his Earth-Three counterpart met with a similar fate as the Ring of Volthoom has the Earth-Three Volthoom cursed and imprisoned within.

Crime Syndicate
Power Ring is one of the members of the Crime Syndicate to arrive from Earth-3 at the conclusion of the "Trinity War" event. Power Ring is a counterpart to Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, known as Harold Jordan on Earth-3. Harold works as a janitor at Ferris Air, where he spies on Carol Ferris' operations to sell them out. When being confronted by Carl Ferris, Abin Sur's ring of Volthoom chooses Harold, bringing him to Abin's crashed ship. Abin begs Harold to take the ring, which he does, freeing Abin Sur. Harold quickly realizes his mistake, as the ring opens a pocket dimensional portal to charge itself, unleashing a creature that attacks Harold.

During the "Forever Evil" storyline, Power Ring accompanies Deathstorm in his raid on Belle Reve and destroys the roof to free its inmates. Later, again accompanying Deathstorm, Power Ring attacks the Rogues, who have refused to cause mass deaths in their own city, against the Crime Syndicate's orders. When Deathstorm leaves to head back to the Syndicate's lab, Power Ring, with Secret Society members, attack Batman, Catwoman, and Lex Luthor's Injustice Society at Wayne Enterprises. Batman attempts to stop Power Ring with a Sinestro Corps ring, but Power Ring's constructs are able to remove the ring and destroy it. However, Batman's use of the ring summons Sinestro. Power Ring battles Sinestro, but Sinestro cuts off his right arm, releasing him from the ring's control. Power Ring thanks Sinestro for freeing him from his curse. Sinestro welcomes his thanks and incinerates him. The ownerless ring then flies off to find a new host.

Jessica Cruz
Jessica Cruz was made to become the new Power Ring against her will. The ring chose Jessica Cruz to destroy the Earth after Power Ring's death. Jessica was attacked by a group of unknown criminals. She escaped them and spent her life in a storage room after that. The ring found her due to her fear, which it feeds off of. Jessica in the midst of tears tried to make it go away, but the ring did not. She pulled out a gun and shot it. This only angered the ring and telling her, "This could have been far less painful and that you are now my puppet." Jessica unlike her predecessors did not willing accept the ring, it forced itself on her finger and took over her body. Jessica was then deemed the new power ring and went to destroy her town, while under the ring's control. Jessica was not in control of the ring and it began attacking some rescue workers with monstrous constructs. The Justice League went after her, looking for the ring, but Doom Patrol got to her first she informs them that she attempted to remove the ring to no avail. Being the new owner of the weapon the Ring of Volthoom tortures Jessica with immense physical and psychological pain. It shown that like Harold Jordan that she has visible harmful vein formations of her ring hand and she also begins to stutter fearfully like Harold Jordan did despite the fact that she previously exhibited no such behavior unlike Harold she opposes the ring often and tries to stop it. Her costume is also different that Harold Jordan she bears a single eye patch shaped like the ring's insignia rather than a full eye mask. It also reveals to Jessica that it wants to annihilate the planet by attracting the being who destroyed earth-3 to the Prime earth because Volthoom inside the ring is dying for unknown reasons. Jessica Cruz is the only Power Ring who is heroic rather than evil as she does not want to harm anyone and even begs the Doom Patrol to get away for their own safety and save the civilians trapped in the building that the ring of Volthoom set on fire. Unlike other power rings Jessica is neither associated with nor a member of the Crime Syndicate. Batman was able to remove the ring from her hand after convincing her to be brave freeing her from the ring's curse and releasing her from her torment.

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Powers and abilities
All Power Rings wield a magical ring that can generate a variety of effects and energy constructs, originally sustained purely by the ring wearer's strength of will. The greater the user's willpower, the more effective the ring. The power ring has been referred to on several occasions as the "most powerful weapon in the universe" and it is important to note that the limits of its power are not clearly defined. With sufficient willpower, a Power Ring could conceivably wield nearly omnipotent power. In later stories like the New 52 series this is inverted to have Power Ring be controlled by the ring which is no longer sustained on willpower. In the New 52 a magic lamp is no longer used to charge the ring the ring only requires the users fear when it was first seen being charged it opened a pocket dimension where a creature attacked Harold Jordan making him experience enough fear to fully charge the ring. Unlike the Sinestro Corps ring which rely on the fear of others the Ring of Volthoom is sustained on the user's fear. New 52 also shows that the Ring of Volthoom now causes the wielder pain both physically and mentally as opposed to the original Power Ring simply being semi-possessed by Volthoom.

Power rings allow the user to fly and to cover themselves and others with a protective force field, suitable for traveling through outer space. They can also generate beams and solid structures of energy that can be moved simply by thinking about doing so, enabling the user to create cages, transportation platforms, walls, and battering rams. The ring can also be used to search for energy signatures or particular objects. It can serve as a universal translator. The ring can place people in a hypnotic trance, show other Earths, and enable people to travel between them, even drawing them if the user is on another Earth. The ring can manipulate sub-atomic particles (effectively producing new elements) and split atoms, but those powers are rarely used by Power Ring. It is not known if any of the various Power Ring's ring incarnations have had a specific weakness but in the original 1960's JLA/JSA/CSA encounter both wooden and yellow weapons were ineffective against Power Ring. His amused response to these tactics indicated that he had not as yet encountered any ring-specific weaknesses or he would likely have been more cautious. The New 52 showed that the ring is rendered powerless if it's user is not afraid as Batman removed the ring from Jessica's hand after he convinced her not be fearful. The ring of volthoom of the New 52 is powered by the terror the user feels so if the user is knocked unconscious the ring will stop working until the user retains consciousness as shown when Jessica Cruz was knocked out cold. Captain Cold was also able to "quiet" the ring for a few moments with a blast from his cold gun.

The ring appears to have a fully sentient entity named Volthoom, able to talk to and advise the user as to various courses of action. Volthoom is purportedly the mad monk that offered the ring to the first Power Ring, at which point he kills Volthoom and takes the ring. Justice League of America #50 seems to imply that Volthoom is the Antimatter Equivalent of the Starheart which bestows its power on Alan Scott and Jade on New Earth.

In addition, the effectiveness of a wielder's power ring can be adversely affected by a weakening of resolve and will. The ring typically reserves a small portion of their power for a passive force field that "protects the wielder from mortal harm". In dire emergency, that energy reserve can be tapped, at the expense of said protection, until it too is exhausted.

In The New 52 by absorbing the first Lantern energy Volthoom can siphon energy from all the Emotional Spectrum reaching the level of reality warping powers and immortality, although they disappear with the energy is taken from his body. This Volthoom was later cursed and imprisoned within his own ring.

In the Forever Evil storyline in the New 52, Power Ring was shown with the ring of Volthoom, it was causing detrimental effects on his body. This effect was displayed through grotesque, greenish veins being visible on Power Ring's right hand and arm, extending to his neck. The same deformation was visible (to a much greater degree, resultant of a longer "bonding" period) on Power Ring's predecessor, Abin Sur. The deformation started to take effect on Jessica Cruz after the ring was placed on her hand these veins were later explained as the ring mainlining into the users brain and directly using their fear to power itself. These extending veins are due to the ring mainlining with the wielder's basolateral nucleus in their amygdala in order to channel their fear. In New 52 according to Owlman's files the Ring of Volthoom causes the wielder great physical and psychological pain. Volthoom later on reveals that he is still trapped inside the ring a millennia later and that he takes amusement in watching the ring bearer's suffer, he also reveals that he is now dying and wants to attract the creature that destroyed Earth-3 because he intends for all life on prime earth to die along with him.

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In other media
A version of Power Ring corresponding with Hal Jordan appears in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths voiced by Nolan North. In the final battle he is bested by Jordan and is arrested by the U.S. Marines along with Ultraman and Superwoman, the only surviving heads of the Crime Syndicate.
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Character Close-Up: Guy Gardner

6/22/2014

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Guy Gardner is a character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He is a core member of the Green Lantern family of characters, and for a time (late 1980s through mid 1990s) was also a significant member of the Justice League family of characters.

He was created by John Broome and Gil Kane (who patterned him after actor Martin Milner) in Green Lantern #59 (March 1968), although the character was changed significantly in the 1980s by Steve Englehart and Joe Staton who turned him into a jingoistic parody of an ultra-macho "red-blooded American male." This latter remains the character's archetype to this date.

The character was not named after the NASA astronaut Guy Gardner, but after fan Guy H. Lillian III and writer Gardner Fox.
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Fictional character biography
Early life
Guy was raised in Baltimore by his parents, Roland and Peggy Gardner. His father, Roland was an abusive alcoholic who beat Guy every day. Some of Guy's injuries were visible such as bruises, cuts and bumps but others were invisible and were emotionally effected. Guy worked hard in school to try to win his father's approval, but Roland instead lavished attention and compliments upon Guy's older brother, Mace. Guy's only escape at this time was General Glory comic books, going so far as to model his bowl haircut on Glory's sidekick, Ernie.

During his mid-teens, Guy became a juvenile delinquent. He constantly defied authority. Later, He was straightened out by his older brother, Mace, now a police officer, and he eventually went to college, supporting himself, and earning bachelor's degrees in education and psychology from the University of Michigan, where he also played football until a career-ending injury. The injury deeply impacted Guy.

After college, Guy worked as a social welfare caseworker, dealing with prison inmates and their rehabilitation. He abandoned this line of work, however, fearing it brought out his aggressive nature. Moving on, he became a teacher for children with disabilities. This job brought out the loving and caring side of himself.

In DC's rebooted continuity, The New 52, Guy is now an ex-police officer and middle child of a family with a long tradition of membership in the Baltimore Police Department going back to 1860. He is the second human to earn a Green Lantern ring after coming to the rescue of his older brother Gerard who had become pinned down during a police shootout with a street gang.

In this version Guy has a strained relationship with his father Ebenezer Gardner, a decorated cop forced into disability after taking a bullet in the line of duty, for issues related to the unexplained incident which kicked Guy off the police force.

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Green Lantern Corps
The appointed Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814, an alien named Abin Sur from the planet Ungara, crash-landed on Earth after being mortally wounded. As Sur died, his power ring sought and found two potential successors: Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan. Jordan was nearer to the crash, so he was chosen over Gardner. In the same story, the Guardian supercomputers predicted Guy would have perished early in his career if he had been chosen first. In the later Booster Gold series it was shown that a time traveling Booster convinced Gardner to visit his dying father, thus ensuring that Jordan would be the candidate in closest proximity. Gardner was relegated to backup status should anything happen to Jordan.

When Jordan became aware of Gardner's status as his backup, he went out of his way to set up a chance meeting, and the two became friends. Though Gardner was originally naive to Jordan's secret identity, he eventually assisted Jordan during his adventures.[volume & issue needed] He is later partnered with Jordan after completing his training under Kilowog.

During an earthquake, Gardner was hit by a bus while attempting to rescue one of his students. During his recovery, the Guardians recruited John Stewart to be Jordan's new "backup".

Some time later, during a period where Gardner was performing his duties as a backup Green Lantern, Hal Jordan's power battery, the source of the ring's energy, exploded in his face due to damage done to it by the Crumbler and trapped him in the Phantom Zone.  Jordan and Kari Limbo, Gardner's girlfriend at the time, both believed him to be dead, and the two developed a romantic relationship, and ultimately culminated in a marriage proposal. Gardner was able to interrupt the wedding by contacting Limbo telepathically. By then, however, Gardner's bus accident, the power battery explosion, his assimilation into the zone, and the subsequent torture at the hands of General Zod and other residents of the Phantom Zone had affected his mind. When Gardner was released from the Phantom Zone, he was diagnosed with brain damage and was comatose for a number of years.

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Guardians of the Universe split into two factions over how to confront the Crisis. A minority faction of six Guardians emulated their former brethren, the Controllers, by recruiting a Green Lantern to directly attack and destroy the forces of the antimatter universe. For reasons unknown, Gardner was revived by the renegade Guardians, given a power ring not tied to the Central Power Battery on Oa and sporting a uniform similar to that worn by the Fists of the Guardians, and given a mission. He was to recruit and command the deadliest and most powerful criminals in the universe, including the Shark, Hector Hammond (left behind after trying to attack Gardner), Sonar, Throttle, Blindside, and Goldface, to launch a strike against the home base of the Anti-Monitor.

Gardner's brain damage manifested itself in the form of an arrogant, violent, unstable, and often childish new personality. Gardner believed himself to be the last "true" Green Lantern, superior to all the others, particularly Jordan. Five of the renegade Guardians were slain by a wave of antimatter, and the sixth eventually reconciled with the rest of the Guardians. In the meantime, Gardner succeeded in his task of recruiting powerful villains. Both Hal Jordan and John Stewart prevented Gardner from completing his mission, which would have ultimately destroyed the universe.

Following the Crisis, the Guardians along with the Zamarons left the universe to create the next generation of Guardians. Gardner was placed under the care of the remaining Guardian-turned-mortal Appa Ali Apsa (who later went on to become the "Mad Guardian") on the planet Maltus in order to teach Gardner the ways of the Corps, a situation which Gardner resented. Gardner eventually escaped and returned to Earth, but was recaptured by Appa Ali Apsa (with the assistance of two Corps honor guards) intending to reclaim Gardner's power ring. At the request of Kari Limbo, Hal Jordan pleaded on Gardner's behalf for his freedom, which was granted with no return of gratitude from Gardner.

As a consequence of the Corps executing Sinestro the majority of the Corps lost their power rings; Gardner was one of the few remaining active Green Lanterns. After the defeat and death of the "Mad Guardian" the Guardians returned and assigned Gardner to be the official Green Lantern of Sector 2814 while Jordan was assigned to recruit new Corps members.

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Justice League International
Soon after obtaining his freedom from Maltus, Gardner became a founding member of the Justice League International after the original JLA disbanded during the DC Universe-wide crossover, Legends. 

In his time with the JLI, Gardner resented Batman's leadership of the group, going so far as to challenge the Dark Knight to a fist fight; Batman immediately downed Guy with one punch. Guy's run in JLI was full of constant personality shifts and endless arguing between team members. 

This led to a fight with Lobo, the sucker-punching of Blue Beetle during a boxing match, and finally him quitting the team after being "belittled" by Superman.

Gardner was romantically involved with his fellow Leaguer Ice, even learning some rudimentary Norwegian. Their relationship ended with her death at the hands of the Overmaster, but recent events have led to her resurrection.

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Guy Gardner: Reborn
After completing his assignment of recruiting new Corps members, Jordan returned to Earth to reclaim his title as Green Lantern of Sector 2814. Gardner's response was to challenge Jordan to a fight where the loser would quit the Corps. Gardner lost and surrendered his ring. After some failed run-ins with Goldface and Black Hand as a non-powered vigilante, he set out on a quest to regain his power and identity. Tricking Lobo into assisting him, he invaded Qward to find the yellow power ring of Sinestro, but was told by the Qwardians that the ring was unique & never returned to Qward. He then travelled to Oa where he found it on Sinestro's hand in Oa's "Crypt of the Green Lantern Corps".

Gardner's own comic series began with him using the yellow ring and a modified costume similar to his Green Lantern costume but from street clothes. The yellow ring didn't use a battery to recharge, instead needing to be used against the power rings of Green Lanterns so it could absorb their residual energy to restore its power, which Gardner discovered by accident when Kilowog fought him while his ring was powerless.

Guy Gardner returned to Earth to pick a fight with Superman but eventually rejoined the Justice League and helped battle the monster Doomsday, in which he and his teammates were brutally beaten and Superman was killed during the creature's defeat. During the Reign of the Supermen storyline when four different versions of Superman appeared after his death, Guy fought, became allies and later endorsed the Last Son of Krypton Superman who was actually the Eradicator. Later, Guy cleared his name of murder that was committed by his clone and learned that his brother Mace had become the assassin Militia; after a brawl between the two, Guy decided to take the codename Warrior.

In the JLA: Classified-based miniseries I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, Guy assisted the Super Buddies and was revealed to have kept his yellow ring, although this story may not be canon, as it contradicts events shown in Green Lantern: Rebirth.

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Guy Gardner: Warrior
By this time, the power of Guy's ring had begun to fluctuate due to the meddling of the villain Parallax. Deprived of his powers, Guy wore a golden exosuit provided by Blue Beetle which simulated superhuman strength. However, Guy wasn't happy with this initial suit as it didn't feel as natural as using ring power. The exosuit first appeared in issue 18, the second issue to feature the new title of 'Guy Gardner Warrior'.

Although the exosuit was destroyed during combat with Militia in issue 19, Guy's power ring surged and provided him with a new exosuit constructed of ring energy. This was much more to Guy's liking.

When a grief-stricken and power-hungry Hal Jordan destroyed the Green Lantern Corps after the destruction of his hometown, Ganthet first came to Guy Gardner to offer him the last Green Lantern power ring. When Gardner refused, Ganthet decided to entrust it to Kyle Rayner.

After Guy started having visions of Oa's destruction and his power started to mysteriously increase, he led a group of heroes to Oa to find out what happened to the Corps. Guy and his team were ambushed and quickly defeated by Parallax (Hal Jordan). But Guy managed to trick Hal into thinking that he was dead by simulating a ring powered construct of himself that had been impaled by an energy pike. After his entire team was defeated, Guy used the element of surprise and managed to evenly match Hal in a fight for a few minutes due to the fact that his ring siphoned residual Green Lantern plasma-energy. But eventually Hal gained the upper hand, defeated Gardner and destroyed his ring, depriving him of his ring-powered exosuit. Parallax then punched out one of Gardner's eyes and sent him and his team back to Earth. Guy later awoke in hospital after spending three weeks in a coma. Deprived again of his power-ring, he was forced to find an alternate means of acquiring power.

Guy would join up with Buck Wargo (based on Doc Savage) and his globe-trotting Monster Hunters, which featured obscure Silver Age hero Tiger-Man (Desmond Farr) along with Joey Hong and Rita Muldoon. On an expedition to the Amazon, Gardner found a chalice of the Warrior Water. He drank from it, and this activated alien DNA that was implanted in his bloodline a millennium ago by a space-traveling race called the Vuldarians. He discovered new, shapeshifting abilities that writer Beau Smith claims was editorially mandated to capitalize on the success of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and which would allow him to resume his role as a superhero. When Guy first emerged from having drunk the Warrior Water, (in issue 23), his body had assumed the shape of his old exosuit, albeit red instead of gold, and his lost eye had been restored. Guy's body remained that way until the end of the Zero Hour storyline, morphing weapons directly out of his arms as of Zero Hour issue 2.

Gardner opened a superhero theme bar called Warriors, as both a source of income and a base between his adventures. He would be joined by Buck's group, Veronna, mightiest of the Nabba Jungle tribe of women whom guarded the Warrior Water and believed herself to be destined as Guy's mate (sharing limited telepathy with him), and those brought on as bouncers for Warriors but acted as fellow adventurers Lady Blackhawk (displaced in time by Zero Hour), Wildcat, Lead, and Arisia.

His early days as Warrior saw him struggling with his newfound powers. He had difficulty changing his body into any weapon, and his transformations often caused him pain. After a breakdown that led to a confrontation with Superman and Supergirl, with some soul-searching help from his supposed ancestor Cardone, Gardner was finally able to use his new powers to form most non-energy-based weapons from his body, as well as absorb some forms of energy and redirect them through his various "weapons". Another ability, his capability to use the knowledge of warriors from across space and time, was rarely used and mostly forgotten. Guy had many enemies during the series including Evil Star, Gorilla Grodd, Black Serpent, Sledge, Major Force, Martika the Seductress, Bronkk and the Tormocks (ancient nemeses to the Vuldarians), Mudakka, and Dementor as well as the return of his clone (now going by the name Enforcer), the Quorum, and his brother Militia with girlfriend Honey. He also teamed with many heroes including Steel, with whom he became close friends after discovering Steel attended the University of Michigan and played on the same football team. Gardner also became good friends with Lobo after the defeat of the Tormocks (so far as the bounty hunter giving Gardner one of his space bikes and the skull of Bronkk).

During the time that Gardner fought against Dementor, he learned that his enemy was also a product of Vuldarian breeding. Dementor's father had raped a Vuldarian woman. Dementor was sent to Hell, where he eventually revealed that he was the one responsible for Gardner's constant personality shifts (in a sense, explaining why his personality changed drastically over the years). In the last issues he finally dealt with his "family", as well as revealing another side of his Vuldarian powers, the ability to heal mortal wounds.

Over the course of the series, Gardner made peace with a great deal of his past. On one Christmas, the Spectre, on behalf of the Phantom Stranger, made it possible for Guy to communicate with his deceased father who apologized for the abuse, both physical and mental, he placed upon Guy, his brother Mace, and their mother. He told Guy how proud he is of all the accomplishments Guy achieved as a man and the pair reconciled. Afterward, Guy would give his condolences to Ice's mother over their shared loss of her daughter and she provided him an ice sculpture to remind him of her daughter. A celebration held at Warriors for the holiday saw Guy cross paths with an inebriated Fire and the pair shared a kiss after expressing how much they missed Ice. It was suggested they slept together after this in the following issue.

After the Warrior series was canceled, Gardner continued to appear in the DC Universe; most notably as a recurring character in the Green Lantern series during Kyle Rayner's run and a reserve member of the JLA. It was thought he was killed during the Our Worlds at War crossover. However, he was later discovered to be trapped in a pocket of Hell called the Gorge in General Zod's country of Pokolistan. After freeing himself by switching places with Superman villain Kancer as ruler of the Gorge, his Warrior powers were apparently enhanced. He declared it his job to do less ethical things heroes like Superman couldn't. However, this new direction only lasted for 30 issues of Guy Gardner: Warrior (which crossed over in the Way of the Warrior with Justice League America and Hawkman featuring cameos of Lobo and former-Green Lantern Probert) and his many several appearances over a span of ten years.

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Return to the Corps
During the 2005 miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth, Gardner's Vuldarian DNA is strangely overwritten by his human DNA when Parallax possesses Gardner and several Green Lanterns. Hal Jordan's ring splits in two and Gardner's ring is restored to him. Eventually, Parallax is defeated by the combined effort of all five active Green Lanterns, including Gardner. The Guardians then select Gardner as one of the senior officers of the new Green Lantern Corps.

In the 2005–2006 miniseries Green Lantern Corps: Recharge (written by Dave Gibbons), the Guardians assign Gardner to be one of the Corps' three main instructors, along with Kilowog and Kyle Rayner. The trio is responsible for the training of the new Corps, to which the Guardians intend to name 7,200 members. Gardner is not at all appreciative of his new role, and when he complains to the Guardians, they tell him that success in training new recruits could lead to him being given a new position.

Gardner plays a significant role in defeating the Spider Guild attack on Oa. Discovering that trainee Soranik Natu has disappeared into the forbidden Vega star system, which the Guardians' pact with the Psions of Vega forbids Green Lanterns from entering, Gardner and Kyle Rayner led a rescue mission in direct violation of Oan policy. Once there, the Lanterns discover the Spider Guild nest and determine that its next target is the Oan sun. Returning just as the attack commences, Gardner gathers the frightened trainee Green Lanterns and rallies them with a speech that impresses even his longtime rival, Hal Jordan. Gardner's performance in repelling the attack results in his promotion to Lantern #1 of the Green Lantern Honor Guard, a position of authority over other Lanterns. In this new role, Gardner is expected to "think outside the box" and "do the jobs' other lanterns cannot," a function well-suited to his irascible personality.

"Infinite Crisis" and "One Year Later"
In his new role as Lantern #1, Guy leads the Corps in the defense of Oa against Superboy-Prime, creating a wall of energy to slow the rampaging teen and calling a "Code 54", authorizing the use of extreme force. Guy supervises the final capture and imprisonment of Superboy-Prime, locking him in a red Sun-Eater provided by Donna Troy and organizing a constant watch of fifty Lanterns to keep him imprisoned.

Guy spends the entire "missing year" following Infinite Crisis doing missions for the Guardians without shore leave (though he is infrequently seen on Earth in the 52 weekly limited series, it should be assumed he has sneaked away from the Guardian's watch). When he has finally granted some time off one year later, his relaxation is cut short by an attack by a grudge-holding Bolphunga the Relentless. Soon after, Guy assisted Hal Jordan on an unsanctioned mission to the Manhunter homeworld, Biot. Through Hal and Guy's efforts, several long-lost and believed deceased lanterns (including Arisia, Chaselon, Jack T. Chance, Graf Toren, Hannu, Ke'Haan, Laira, and Boodikka) were freed from imprisonment by the Cyborg Superman. Upon returning from the mission, Guy was punished by the Guardians and forced to endure one month as one of the fifty Lanterns on "Prime Duty". Lanterns of the Honor Guard, like Guy, are allowed to break the rules three times before expulsion.

According to Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns in a 2006 Newsarama interview, Prime wouldn't be escaping under Guy's watch. "Not at all. That’s ridiculous. Anyone who’s read Guy Gardner for the last two years in Green Lantern or in [Green Lantern] Corps knows that he’s a much better, stronger character than that. And even in the old Giffen stuff, he would probably break some rules, taunt the other heroes, and drink a beer or two, but he would not be that much of an idiot. He was never that much of an idiot, and certainly not with what I'm doing with him, or with what Dave Gibbons is doing with him in Corps. He has his moments, and he’s a really fun character, but he's definitely not going to be a moron. His role is not DCU Moron. His role is DCU Shitkicker."

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The Corpse
Guy was briefly part of the Corps' Black Ops division. Dubbed "The Corpse", members forsake their rings for stealthier powers provided by the Guardians. Guy took part in one mission as part of this secretive unit. He was tasked with locating Von Daggle, a Durlan who was formerly in charge of the Corpse. Gardner relayed a message from the Guardians, informing Daggle that he was reinstated. From there, Daggle took command of Gardner, leading him to the homeworld of the Dominators, a race of superscientists with a grudge against Earth. Together, they defeated a super-evolved Dominator, though the Corpse's use of lethal force did not sit well with Guy. Gardner informed Daggle that he couldn't be a part of his crew and Daggle wiped his memory, musing that "humans never make the cut".

"Sinestro Corps War"
In the storyline Sinestro Corps War, Superboy-Prime and Cyborg Superman escape imprisonment when the Sinestro Corps attacks Oa, killing the guards on Prime Duty. Guy, along with fellow Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart, are captured by Parallax during battle and brought to Qward. Guy and Stewart are then held prisoner by Lyssa Drak, who forces them to relive tragedies in their lives. Hal manages to defeat Lyssa and free Guy and John from their nightmare. In the skirmish following their escape, Parallax nearly breaks Gardner's neck. Upon returning to their universe, they defend Earth from the entire Sinestro Corps. After helping to free Kyle from Parallax's possession, Parallax is split into four pieces by former Guardians Ganthet and Sayd, and placed into the power batteries of Hal, John, Guy, and Kyle. Guy is infected by the Sinestro Corps' deadly alien virus named Despotellis, but cured by the Green Lantern Corps' own sentient smallpox virus, Leezle Pon.

Return of Ice
Within the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War, Guy was finally reunited with Ice, a recently resurrected former girlfriend. Despite Ice's uncertainty as to the wisdom of reviving the old romance, Guy's professions of adoration seemed sufficient to convince her to meet him for a proper date on the same spot exactly one month later. Before leaving Earth to open a bar/restaurant on Oa, Guy leaves Ice a note. Ice declines his proposal to cohabit on Oa, and Guy reads her desire to rebuild a new life on Earth with her best friend Beatriz as an attempt to distance from him, accusing Beatriz of pitting Tora against him. The two agree that their current situations will make a relationship impossible.

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"Blackest Night"
In the "Blackest Night" storyline, Guy and Kyle Rayner are opposed to the Guardians' decision to execute all Sinestro Corps members and all other prisoners and attempt unsuccessfully to convince the Alpha Lanterns and the Guardians themselves to stay away from the dark path on which they are headed, and are reassigned to Earth. They later try to return to Oa, and fail to repel an invasion of a swarm of black rings to Oa's Lantern crypt, where the corpses of fallen Lanterns are reanimated as Black Lanterns. In the ensuing conflict, Guy is forced to crush the body of the insectoid Bzzd, but is then impaled through the leg by Ke'Haan.

After Kyle is killed in the explosion of Chaselon's power battery, Guy flies into a rage, and is transformed into a Red Lantern. Now powered by both of his green and red power rings, Guy seeks vengeance against the Black Lanterns and is able to destroy them on sight effortlessly with his combined weapons. Despite Kyle's resurrection at the hands of Star Sapphire Miri Riam, Guy turns his murderous rage on his former friends, before Mogo purges the Red Lantern rage from him, though he is told only a Blue Lantern can cure him completely. He then joins the battle against Nekron on Earth.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors
After the events of "Blackest Night", Guy Gardner starred in the monthly series Emerald Warriors, written by Peter Tomasi. While searching for a cure for his Red Lantern rage, it is revealed that Guy entered into an alliance with Red Lantern leader Atrocitus, which briefly alienates Guy from Kilowog and Arisia.

In the "War of the Green Lanterns" storyline, the influence of Parallax, now restored to the Central Power Battery, forces Guy and the other Earth Lanterns to use the rings of other Corps. Guy, citing his experience with the Red Lanterns, chooses the red power ring. During their conflict with the Green Lantern Corps, Guy and his allies release Parallax from the Central Power Battery Guy using the Star Sapphire ring in conjunction with the Red Lantern ring, drawing on his love of the Corps and his hatred at his anger to power both rings at once, the two emotional extremes proving sufficient to release Parallax from the battery, and Guy is subsequently cleansed of the Red Lantern energy by Kyle Rayner's blue ring before each reclaims his usual ring.

The New 52
Gardner, John Stewart, and an elite Green Lantern Strike Team star in a relaunched Green Lantern Corps series, which debuted in September 2011 as part of DC's The New 52 relaunch. This series debuted with author Peter J. Tomasi and art by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna. Guy is also shown on the cover for the new Justice League International series that was released that same month, written by Dan Jurgens and with art by Aaron Lopresti. Initially, Guy appeared to be the one Earth Green Lantern that the Guardians still appeared to rely on, what with Hal having been expelled after War of the Green Lanterns, Kyle being expelled due to his alliance with the other ring-wielders, and John being put on trial for killing another Lantern. However, the Guardians were really planning to undermine all four Earth Lanterns by sabotaging Guy's career after building it up, ensuring a precipitous fall.

This plan begins when the Guardians promote Guy to the role of 'Sentinel Lantern' and entrust him with guarding a group of ambassadors travelling to a planet for a crucial conference. They subsequently release Guy's old enemy Xar from the Science cells and create the impression that he is going after Guy's family on Earth. They predicted that Guy would abandon his duty and return to Earth while Xar attacks the ambassadors. With the rest of his team having been absorbed by the Third Army, Guy escapes only through his strength of will, averting the Third Army's attempt to 'recruit' him. With Xar having killed the ambassadors, the Guardians order Guy to resign from the Corps in order to redeem the damage he has done.

Feeling depressed after a phone conversation with his family, during which his father dismisses superheroes as overly reliant on their powers, Guy attempts to spend the night fighting crime with only his natural skills. This backfires when he interrupts a police sting operation, culminating in him being arrested by his sister. While in prison, he is attacked by the Third Army, but is rescued by Green Lanterns Simon Baz and B'dg, who send the civilians to safety before crushing the Third Army and retreating to the Sea of Tranquility on the moon. Guy is angered when he discovers that the Guardians have turned against him and the Corps. Simon and B'dg dispatch him to the planet Oa. There, Guy reclaims his ring and joins Kilowog and the others reserve Corps members in their rebellion against the treacherous Guardians.

After the villainous First Lantern is destroyed and the unemotional Guardians are killed off by Sinestro, Guy and Kilowog locate where Salaak was imprisoned by the Guardians and free him. Guy is angered when he discovers Salaak's surveillance footage of Xar being released by the Guardians. Salaak helps him locate Xar’s whereabouts, and discovers that Xar is located on Earth and preparing to kill off Guy's family. Guy manages to speed up with Saint Walker's blue power ring to arrive in time to blast Xar to be incinerated, and reunites with his family.

Following the event, Guy was placed in the cast of the Red Lantern series where he was sent by Hal Jordan to join the Red Lanterns undercover and has defeated Atrocitus and taken command of the group since. 

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Powers and abilities
Power rings
Guy Gardner was trained to use a Green Lantern power ring, which is only limited by the user's will power. He later acquired Sinestro's Qwardian power ring, which was later revealed to be based on the bearer's control of fear. This early version of a yellow power ring was powered by absorbing plasma radiation that had been expelled from a Green Lantern ring and seemed to make Guy more invulnerable than a normal Green Lantern power-ring. He used both for basic Lantern abilities including constructs, flight, and energy projection, though it also caused him some difficulty on occasion-for example, if he asked it a question he would get an answer in Qwardian, which he didn't speak. In Green Lantern: Rebirth #6 it is mentioned that Guy Gardner's ring is constantly sparking with energy, as if unable to contain the power of his will. Following Kyle Rayner's apparent death, Guy's rage caused a red power ring to latch onto him, bestowing on him the ability to generate napalm like flames that would burn even in space. Unlike most Red Lanterns, Guy retained his intelligence, and, like Hal Jordan when he was under the thrall of a red ring, Guy was able to shape the red flames into solid constructs. Unlike Hal, Guy's green ring remained active, allowing him to combine the two lights and obliterate the Black Lanterns and their rings. Guy was also the first male character seen to wield a love-powered Star Sapphire ring.

Vuldarian powers
Guy's Vuldarian powers included limited shapeshifting abilities in which he could create weapons out of his body. At first, these transformations caused him pain and he was unable to shrink from his 7-foot height. He maintained super strength, stamina, and durability around Superman's strata, the power of flight, capable of surviving in outer space unassisted, accelerated healing, and had access to the memories of deceased Vuldarians (touted as the most dangerous warriors in the history of the universe). Trained by the Vuldarian Cardone, Gardner become highly trained in using his abilities and practiced extensively in the martial arts. During the return of Parallax, he suffered a metahuman power discharge and his Vuldarian abilities went into recession. Coincidentally, when he awoke he was near Hal Jordan's power ring which has the ability to duplicate itself. Gardner once more had a power ring, and following the return of the Guardians of the Universe, he was once again a Green Lantern.

Green Lantern (Tangent Comics)
Guy became the caretaker of a mystical artifact that survived the effects of the Infinite Crisis after it was discovered on New Earth by Kyle Rayner. It has the power to temporarily awaken the dead and has also served as a dimensional gateway. The Guardians eventually used the artifact for a ritual to merge the willpower entity Ion with Sodam Yat during the Sinestro Corps War.

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In other media
Television
Guy Gardner has only been portrayed once in live-action TV. In 1997, Matthew Settle played him in a Keith Giffen-inspired pilot for a proposed TV series Justice League of America. The personification of the character is very much an amalgam of Earth's various Lanterns. His uniform is based on the "sleeveless vest" comics version of Guy Gardner, though he wears a mask and insignia that resemble those of Kyle Rayner's first costume. Further, his appearance and personality more accurately mirror those of Hal Jordan.
Guy Gardner appears (alongside the Green Lantern Corps) in a non-spoken cameo role in the Duck Dodgers episode, "The Green Loontern".
Guy Gardner appeared in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold in the opening of "Day of the Dark Knight!" and was voiced by James Arnold Taylor. His antics caused a prisoner to go on a path of destructive rage, but Batman, already at Corps headquarters, recaptures the prisoner. He reappears in "The Eyes of Despero!" to help Batman overthrow dictator Despero. He, Sinestro, and G'nort create Bat-armor for the job when Batman insists on accompanying the Lanterns. When he sees Sinestro attempting to blow up a rogue Mogo; they do battle, and Guy wins. Guy imprisons Sinestro in his ring at the end of the episode. This episode also pays homage to the iconic scene in the comics, when Batman knocks Gardner out with one punch after an argument. In "Revenge of the Reach!", he initially clashes with Jaime Reyes, believing that he is evil because of the Reach-created suit he wears. After Jaime saves Oa from the attack of other Reach agents, Guy's attitude towards him improves; he even sticks up for him when the Guardians attempt to confiscate his armor. Guy appears in "Death Race to Oblivion!" as one of many heroes and villains racing to save the Earth from destruction at the hands of Mongul. In the teaser for "The Siege of Starro! Part One", Guy is shown fighting off heroes who have fallen under Starro's control, though he is soon put in the same position. In "Darkseid Descending!", Guy Gardner joins the Justice League International. He seems to have a crush on team member Ice, as seen in Time out of Vengeance when they travel back in time to the pre-historic cave man era.
Guy Gardner makes a cameo appearance in Young Justice. Unlike the other Green Lanterns shown, his costume is quite different from the one he wears in the comics. In "Revelation", he is shown helping Black Canary, Green Arrow and Red Arrow rescue children from the Injustice League's plant creature. In "Agendas", the Flash mentions that Guy Gardner could be a full-time Justice League member. However, John Stewart and Hal Jordan (both full-time League members) immediately dismiss the idea. In season 2, it was mentioned that he is a member of the League and is on a mission.
Guy Gardner appears in Green Lantern: The Animated Series voiced by Diedrich Bader. He appears as Hal Jordan's replacement while he was away. When Hal returns to his city, Guy helps him save a runaway crane. When Hal is about to talk to the news lady, Guy pushes him out of the way and takes the credit. Guy later finds out Hal was the Lantern before him and invites him to grab a bite. The two eat hot wings on a roof while Hal contacts the Guardians to ask them about Guy. The Guardians inform Hal that Guy is the new Lantern of Earth. When the Guardians see Guy, they invite him to attend a party with them. Guy accepts forcing Hal to hang up. Hal gets furious and the two engage in battle. Their battle starts at Central City and ends in the desert. They stop when they come to a temple full of Manhunters. Hal and Guy fight them off and end up destroying them. Hal contacts Salaak to ask about the Manhunters. Salaak decides to look into it and when he spots Guy, he asks, "Is that Guy Gardner?" But Hal hangs up before he could answer. Then Hal's girlfriend Carol Ferris calls and breaks up with him. Guy comforts him and relates to his situation. The two shake hands and become friends. Then Guy asks if he can ask Carol out which ends up with Hal punching him in the face. Then the Guardians summon Hal to Oa and Guy asks Hal to put in a good word for him. In "Ranx", Guy meets Hal again when he reveals he has been appointed to Honor Guard (his place having been taken by John Stewart) and is led a brigade of Green Lanterns to stop the Manhunters from destroying the planet Ranx, which is containing the still-living head of the Anti-Monitor. In "Dark Matter", he also gets on Kilowog's bad side and helps try to defeat the Aya-Monitor once and for all.

Film
In the early script for the Green Lantern live-action film, Gardner was set to make a cameo as a football player who was about to be chosen by the ring, before it went to Hal Jordan. The scene was written out in the final draft.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Karshon The Shark

12/29/2013

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History
The explosion of an experimental atomic pile bombarded a prowling tiger shark with radiation. Millions of years of evolution occurred in a matter of minutes.

The Shark now possessed incredible mental powers, including matter manipulation and powerful energy bolts. With his mind reading ability he absorbed vast knowledge from the people around him. He found he could project fear in anyone he chose. The Shark was still motivated by one driving force, to seek prey. He used his powers to make himself appear more human, and adopted the name "T.S. Smith" to stand for "Tiger Shark."

In a Coast City restaurant, the Shark devoured dozens of bloody steaks to feed his hunger. He started a fight with a local boxing champ, only to have the champ pass out from fear.

Ordinary men would be too easy for the advanced predator, so his mind sought out Hal Jordan. Also known as Green Lantern, Jordan was completely without fear. Before destroying his foe, the Shark vowed to inject fear into the test pilot.

Jordan was contacted by the Shark and learned everything about his newest foe. He was challenged to a fight to the death.

At Ferris Aircraft, Jordan recharged his power ring to discover the interior of the aircraft hanger had been turned yellow. The Shark had learned the ring's weakness from Jordan's mind. The Shark would not allow Green Lantern to hunt him.

The Shark revealed his plan to enclose Coast City in a forcefield, creating his private hunting preserve. He would go after Carol Ferris, Tom Kalmaku and other friends of Jordan. This did not have the desired effect of instilling fear in Green Lantern. Rather, the emerald warrior doubled his will power to overcome the Shark. It was then a simple matter of regressing the Shark to his original tiger shark form. The Shark lost his mental powers, and was apparently helpless. The sea creature was brought to the Coast City aquarium and placed under guard.

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Powers
Unique Physiology: The Shark was an ordinary shark which was caught in an explosion which transformed his physiology into that of a more humanoid appearance. Along with his new appearance he gained strange new powers and enhanced his regular beastial abilities.
Amphibian: The Shark can survive both in and out of water. He doesn't weaken after long periods of time out of the water and gains no added advantages while within water.
Fear Projection: The Shark can sense and project people's fears around him. His fearful projections are only mental however a strong enough push by the Shark can allow him to create shields or mental blasts.
Superhuman Strength: The Shark has powerful muscles which only grow strong if he grows in size.
Superhuman Speed: The Shark has strong muscles in his body which allow him to push through the water or air at incredible speeds.
Superhuman Durability: The Shark has durable skin which has a rough texture. This allows him to withstand powerful blasts of energy and most physical damage.
Fangs: The Shark's favorite weapon is, of course, his large teeth which he uses to chomp down on his prey.
Flight: Through unknown means the Shark can fly just as well as he can swim.
Size Alteration: With enough fear and willpower, The Shark can increase his size to incredible amounts. Large enough to dwarf a small island, his strength and abilities seemingly increase along with his size.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Solomon Grundy

12/15/2013

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Solomon Grundy is a fictional character, a zombie supervillain in the DC Comics Universe and as an antihero in the DC Animated Universe. Named after the 19th century nursery rhyme, Grundy was introduced as an enemy of the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott), but has since become a prominent enemy for a number of superheroes, such as Superman and Batman. 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). Solomon Grundy is one of the earliest if not the first depiction of a zombie in the comic medium.
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Publication history
Grundy is the focus of one of the four Faces of Evil one-shots that explore the aftermath of Final Crisis, written by Scott Kolins and Geoff Johns, with art by Shane Davis. It is the introduction to a seven part mini-series featuring the character.

The miniseries depicted a young Cyrus Gold brought to life in the present by The Spectre and The Phantom Stranger. Their goal is for Gold to identify his killer within seven days so that he can rest and thus destroy Solomon Grundy. Etrigan is trying to take him to Hell, instead. 

Gold has a habit of getting killed. No matter how much damage is done to his body, he resurrects as a complete Solomon Grundy, driven to kill. Killer Croc attacks him, then Bizarro attempts to be his friend. He attacks Green Lantern Alan Scott and Harlequin in their house, destroying it, temporarily destroying the power battery as well. He seemingly kills Poison Ivy. He then kills Amazo, who rebuilds himself as "Amazo-Grundy." Ultimately he is brought down by Frankenstein just as he realizes that he was his own killer. Finally, he is brought back to life as a Black Lantern.

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Fictional character 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 cannot affect wood, a substance of which Grundy's reassembled body is now largely composed). He apparently kills Green Lantern, who gives off a green flash. Liking this flash, Grundy commits murders hoping to see the flash again. However the first fight ends when Grundy is hurled under a train by Green Lantern.

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. Making his way across country, Grundy heads for JSA HQ. Meanwhile, Green Lantern arrives early for the meeting, when there is a knock on the door. He opens the door and gasps, "You!" Later, when the other members arrive, they find their HQ smashed to pieces and one of their members, G.L., missing from the ranks. Johnny turns on the radio, which blares the warning that Solomon Grundy is on the loose; the members believe, based on a large, muddy footprint on the floor, that Grundy got to HQ and took Green Lantern. The radio continues its report, listing cities where Grundy was seen, so each member picks a city and heads for it [Wonder Woman staying behind] to try to find Green Lantern. The scene now shifts back to the moment at JSA HQ where Green Lantern had opened the door. To his surprise, Doiby Dickles walks in, and informs him that Grundy has freed himself and is on the loose. Green Lantern leaves immediately, hoping to find Grundy before any of the JSA members are hurt going after him. Minutes later, Grundy arrives at JSA HQ, and, not finding the Lantern there, he smashes the place up, then leaves. Green Lantern and Doiby use a special radio-like device Alan Scott had developed that is attuned to the mental wavelengths of Grundy himself; Green Lantern calculates the path of Grundy and announces over the radio in JSA HQ where Grundy will strike. When Green Lantern and Grundy meet, Grundy rips a tree out by its roots and smashes it into the Lantern. Green Lantern fights back with his power ring and fists until both men fall into a nearby stream and over a small waterfall. The Lantern is severely dazed and tries to ward off Grundy with his ring, but he is much too weak. Grundy grabs Green Lantern by the throat and begins to squeeze the life out of him, holding his head underwater. However, Hawkman strikes Grundy with his mace, and Mid-Nite is able to revive the Lantern. A combined attack brings down Grundy, and Green Lantern deposits Grundy on the moon.
A battle soon commences when Grundy's body gravitates towards young astronomer Dick Cashmere as he learns to ride light waves, resulting in his assuming Cashmere's identity for a time while leaving the real one bound and gagged, though the Society finds him soon after. 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), hoping to change history enabling him to take over the World though he does not want the heroes involved, and tells Grundy he will be able to destroy Green Lantern. However Degaton is planning to get rid of him once his plan succeeds. He encountered Green Lantern, the Flash, and Wonder Woman in Echo Park. None of the heroes have fought Grundy yet the villain claims to have fought them before. Grundy bests the costumed trio and is summoned by a mysterious voice to deliver them or "pay the penalty." The All-Star Squadron comes to their rescue, Sir Justin faces off against Solomon Grundy and Grundy is the last villain to be transported back, he is thrust back to the moon where he remains for over two decades, as this timeline is erased once Degaton is defeated.

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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 imprisoned in a bubble in space made by Green lantern and Doctor Fate.
He was once pulled to Earth-1 and substituted for the superstrong Blockbuster due to a machine that was accidentally pulling the Earths together in warp-space and substituting people. During this event he had absorbed some of Dr Fate's magic, is stronger than before, and is even able to telekinetically lift the Flash into the air. He hates Green Lantern so much he thinks everyone he sees is Green Lantern. He is imprisoned inside a mountain by Earth-1 Green Lantern after being lifted up by Earth-1 Hawkman and dazed by blows from all the heroes, but when the machine is turned off he is substituted for Blockbuster on Earth-2 and renews the attack, defeating numerous heroes. However the JSA and JLA went to battle an Anti-Matter being that was threatening both Earths in Warp-Space after being summoned by Doctor Fate, who had sensed the threat due to the Spectre. To occupy the villains Green Lantern placed them together to occupy them, as the heroes return they find Grundy and Blockbuster have knocked the hate out of each other. He is then taken back to his Earth by the Justice Society.
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 at Slaughter Swamp, when he develops an affection for a lost alien child who has accidentally been sent to Earth-2 and is dying due to separation from his pet. His magic even enables him to defeat Superman. The alien child is finally reunited with his pet and sent back to his own dimension. 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.

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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 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.

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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. Later, as a somewhat humorous twist in the The Long Halloween, Batman provides Solomon Grundy with a Thanksgiving dinner.

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 Quarterly 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 childlike. 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 The Floronic Man 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.

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, killed 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.
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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.
Batman Beyond
In the Batman Beyond reality, Grundy resurfaces in the future Metropolis as a powerful crime boss known as Mr. Stone operating out of a nightclub called Vanity. He is offered nanotechnology stolen from GNX's Supercop program by Lex Luthor's daughter, Lucinda Luthor.
The New 52
In The New 52, Grundy is once again a villain for Alan Scott. First appearing in Earth 2 #3, Grundy personifies "The Grey" life-destroying forces and opposes the "The Green" forces that choose Alan Scott as their champion. He attacks Washington DC to get Alan's attention. Flash, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern fight him, but Atom brings him down temporarily by jumping onto him at giant size. The battle continues until Scott once again exiles Grundy to the moon where neither he nor the "Grey" can do any damage.
Eventually Grundy's origin was revealed: a slaughterhouse worker in 1898, his wife was raped by his callous foreman, and she killed herself on the job. When the foreman made the workers feed the body to the crocodiles, Grundy snapped, killed his foreman and everyone else in the slaughterhouse, then committed suicide, but apparently something happened immediately afterwards.

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Powers and abilities
Solomon Grundy has superhuman strength and stamina. 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 and immortal 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).
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.
When it came to The New 52, the Earth-2 Solomon Grundy also possesses powers associated with The Grey.
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Other versions
Anti-Matter Earth Post-Crisis version
Solomon Grundy had a counterpart on the Crime Syndicate of America'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.
Amalgam Comics
The Skulk is a hero of the Amalgam Universe. He is an amalgamation of Solomon Grundy and the Hulk.
Bruce Banner was a scientist working with gamma rays. He was testing his gamma bomb out in the desert, but a tall figure walked out into the testing area. When Banner went out see who it was, the man turned out to be Solomon Grundy. The bomb went off fusing Grundy and Banner together. When Banner gets angry, he becomes Grundy. The creature chose a new name calling itself Skulk.
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 Cullen Bunn's Sorcerer Kings storyline in Superman/Batman, The Creeper leads an army of Grundymen in a battle with Batman, Superman, and vampire Nina Skorzeny.
JLA/Avengers
In the JLA/Avengers crossover, Grundy is among the villains enthralled by Krona to defend his stronghold. He is shown being defeated by Thor.
Justice Riders
In the Justice Riders reality, Solomon Grundy is featured as a normal human. His entire gang was put down by Kid Baltimore with a single bullet each except for Grundy who took two.
Flashpoint
In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Solomon Grundy was invited by Lt. Matthew Shrieve to be the new member of the Creature Commandos, but Solomon Grundy then betrays him, killing his family. It is revealed that Solomon Grundy had been working by General Sam Lane who is responsible for the deaths of Miranda's family.

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In other media
Television

  • Solomon Grundy also appears in the 1979 live action TV specials, Legends of the Superheroes, played by actor Mickey Morton.
  • Solomon Grundy appears in Challenge of the Super Friends voiced by Jimmy Weldon. He is a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom. In this cartoon series, Grundy speaks broken English with a southern accent. 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. 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. In "Monolith of Evil," he reveals he was brought back to life in the swamp by energy from a monolith which is a source of enormous power.
  • Solomon Grundy appears in the Super Friends episode "Revenge of Doom" again voiced by Jimmy Weldon. He and the rest of the Legion of Doom get back together after salvaging the Legion of Doom headquarters from the swamp.
  • Solomon Grundy first appears in the Justice League episode "Injustice for All" 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 Incredible 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 often says "Grundy Crush!", a nod to the Hulk's popular catchphrase "Hulk Smash!" (to which Hawkgirl herself alludes with her own "Hawkgirl Smash"). Grundy attacks Ichthultu on his own, under the impression that the soul-devouring monster is in possession of his lost 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.
  • Solomon Grundy would later return in Justice League Unlimited episode "Wake the Dead" voiced by Bruce Timm. He was 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.
  • Solomon Grundy appeared in The Batman episode "Grundy's Night" 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 that converted it into Gotham Swamp. 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.
  • Solomon Grundy appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold voiced by Diedrich Bader. This version of Grundy is a still a zombie, but also a crime lord (a combination of the intelligent and incompetent versions) who commands a group of thugs, but speaks in grunts and growls due to his mouth being stitched together. He is also shown to have a right-hand man named Weasel that understands his orders. He fights against Batman and Black Canary in the teaser of "Night of the Huntress" where he tries to steal a scientist's brain. 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". He also appears in "Chill of the Night!" as one of the Batman Villains to bid on a weapon auctioned by Joe Chill. Solomon Grundy is later seen in "The Knights of Tommorow" being defeated by both the Batman and the Robin from the past and the future. He also appears in "Night of the Batmen" where he, Bane, Blockbuster, and Killer Croc try to steal a statue, but all four were stopped by Captain Marvel dressed as Batman. He was also seen in "Powerless," where he is one of the villains in a training simulator to help a depowered Captain Atom fight crime when his powers were taken away by Major Force. Unfortunately, he could not defeat the simulation of Grundy. Solomon Grundy is also seen in the opening of "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth", as one of the villains at the Joker's celebrity roast, where they were literally roasting Batman. He tried to make a joke about Batman, but was cut off by Joker due to his inability to speak clearly.
  • Grundy makes a cameo appearance in the tenth and final season of Smallville as a member of Toyman's Marionette Ventures. He appears in the episode "Prophecy", portrayed by actor John DeSantis. Toyman assigns him to target Black Canary.
  • Solomon Grundy appears in the fifth Super Best Friends Forever short, voiced by Keith Ferguson. When he begins rampaging the city, the SBFF show up to stop him. He is relunctant to fight them because he says he doesn't fight girls. But when the SBFF defeat him, Grundy starts to reconsider fighting girls.
  • A modified version of Solomon Grundy appears in the second season of Arrow, portrayed by Graham Shields. He makes his first appearance in the episode "State vs. Queen", where he is addressed by the name "Brother Cyrus", and is shown to be the lone survivor of an experiment conducted by Brother Blood injecting him with a serum called Mirakuru created by the Japanese during World War II in hopes of creating an army of super soldiers. The serum caused increased strength and rapid cell regeneration, granting Cyrus superhuman strength and durability. In "The Scientist", acting on Blood's orders, Cyrus was tasked to steal pieces of equipment from Queen Consolidated. Oliver faced him and was seriously injured. In "Three Ghosts", his identity was confirmed as Cyrus Gold and revealed the stolen equipment was to mass-produce the serum. Oliver tracked him down once again, this time shooting a machine next to Cyrus with an arrow, causing it to explode and resulting in acid spilling over Cyrus' face, seemingly killing him. As reference to the comics in Cyrus Gold's apartment, Diggle found a book containing a poem on Solomon Grundy. When asked for his whereabouts, Oliver replied, "Died on Saturday; buried on Sunday."
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Film
Solomon Grundy appears in the animated movie Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. He appears as one of the villains hired to make a bounty to hunt down Superman and Batman voiced by an uncredited Corey Burton. Gorilla Grodd controls Solomon 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".
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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Salaak

12/8/2013

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Salaak (sometimes incorrectly spelled Salakk, even in the published comics) is a fictional comic book superhero, an extraterrestrial from the planet Slyggia, and a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps, who appears in DC Comics. Physically he appears to be an insect humanoid with pinkish orange skin and four arms.
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Fictional character biography
A famous pessimist and loner, Salaak is a creature of protocol and laws. A veteran Green Lantern, he has served in many Corps campaigns over the years. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths he protects multiple sectors, but found the experience depressing. After this, he went to Earth looking for company amongst his fellow Green Lanterns. He served with the contingent of Green Lanterns assigned to Earth and became good friends with Ch'p of H'lven. For a time Salaak lived in the future, filling the identity of Pol Manning as Hal Jordan had before him. While in the future, Salaak was married to a human woman.
Salaak returns to the present day to warn about the destruction of the Corps. He was too late to stop the execution of Sinestro. The Central Power Battery on Oa ends up destroyed, and with it, Salaak's ring is made inoperable. He finds transport to H'lven where he reunites with Ch'p, one of the few Lanterns whose ring still functioned. Salaak remains on H'lven and acts as Ch'p's advisor until they discover that the Guardians have returned and have rebuilt the Corps. The two later petition for reinstatement, but Ch'p is killed in a traffic accident. The Corps is destroyed again when Hal Jordan, crazed with grief at the loss of friends, became the entity known as Parallax. Hal's activities caused the shutdown of the Oan battery again and Salaak, along with all other Green Lanterns, were left powerless.

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Salaak ends up captured, along with multiple other Green Lanterns and one Darkstar. They are scheduled to be sold into slavery but former Green Lantern Guy Gardner, with powers underived from a Power Ring, rescues the entire group.
Salaak attends Hal's memorial service on Earth. The Corps, reformed again, has Salaak as the senior administrator and the Keeper of the Book of Oa. The Book tells of the adventures of multiple Green Lanterns throughout the history of the universe.
Salaak reinforces the squadron of Lanterns sent to save Mogo from Ranx the Sentient City and other Sinestro Corps members (Sinestro having returned from the dead). He has expressed displeasure at the fact that the Guardians have rewritten the Book of Oa to allow lethal force against members of the Sinestro Corps, but is still committed to serve.
He survived the Sinestro Corps War without major injuries, and he continues to hold onto his position as keeper of the Book of Oa. He is kept out of the loop in some instances by the Guardians who neglected to tell him their plans to create the Alpha Lanterns. More recently however he is seen getting into an argument with Guy Gardner over a bar he wishes to open. Salaak quickly disapproves, which leads Guy to use his ring to make a miniaturized version of Salaak mocking him for "hanging out with midgets".
Salaak is seen in Final Crisis #5 as part of the trial of Hal Jordan.
During the Blackest Night, Oa comes under siege from the Black Lantern Corps. With the Guardians missing, Salaak takes command of the Green Lantern Corps as Clarissi and thus the next in succession after the Guardians, preventing the Alpha Lanterns' attempt to take control. As his first command decision, Salaak decrees that all fallen Lantern rings be sent to Mogo, so as not to endanger any new recruits.
After the War of the Green Lanterns, Salaak went along with the Guardians' orders to prepare a space for Krona in the Green Lantern memorial hall despite the other Corps members' anger at such a decision, despite Salaak claiming that the Guardians want to remember the good that Krona did in helping to found the Corps rather than the evil he committed later, with the other Corps members denouncing him for his blind loyalty.

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When Kyle Rayner is briefly turned into a ring magnet, Salaak attempts to remove Kyle's Green Lantern ring on the Guardians' orders. Kyle's ring resists Salaak's attempt at removal as Kyle protests the decision and what they did to Ganthet. Later, Salaak assigns the Green Lantern B'dg to find Hal Jordan on Earth and discovers that the green rings are being delayed under the authorization of the Guardians. Concerned at recent events, Salaak begins to spy on the Guardians, learning of their plans for the Third Army. He is subsequently caught and locked away despite his protests that their plans are wrong. After the unemotional Guardians are killed off by Sinestro, Salaak is freed from his imprisonment by Kilowog and Guy Gardner, who explain to him the events regarding the villainous First Lantern. Later, Salaak helps Guy search for his old arch-enemy, Xar.

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In other media
Television
He has had a small cameo role in the Justice League animated series.
Salaak reappears in the episode "The Return" of Justice League Unlimited, among several other Lanterns, who sought to destroy Amazo for seemingly destroying Oa.
An animated version of Salaak appeared in the Duck Dodgers episode "The Green Loontern."
Salaak is featured in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He made a cameo alongside Ch'p in "Day of the Dark Knight" and "The Eyes of Despero".
He also appears in Green Lantern: The Animated Series. He grew angry, along with Hal Jordan and Kilowog, when they found out that the Guardians had kept the other frontier Lantern deaths from the Corps. He later defends the Guardians when Atrocitus and Zilius Zox infiltrate Oa. He is able to deflect Zox's attack but is defeated when Atrocitus attacks him from behind. With what strength he had left, he opened the Guardians' chamber dome to allow Hal in to defeat Atrocitus. In the season finale, Salaak is seen coordinating the Corps against the Aya Monitor. He is voiced by Tom Kenny.
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Film
Salaak appears as a background character in Green Lantern: First Flight.
Salaak appears in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights voiced by Peter Jessop.
Salaak makes a cameo appearance in the live-action Green Lantern film.
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Alternate Versions
Salaak, along with the Green Lanterns Brik, Ash and M’Hdahna, perished in a Green Lantern crossover with the Dark Horse comic Aliens. However, as inter-company crossovers are not considered canonical, this was ignored.
Salaak appears in LICD web comic.
In an alternate universe ruled by evil versions of the 'Planetary' heroes, Salaak is one of the many dead Green Lanterns on display in the Planetary headquarters.
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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Jade

6/9/2013

1 Comment

 
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Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden) is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics Universe who first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983). Known affectionately as "Jennie" or "Jen", she is the daughter of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern. Her mother is Rose Canton, the Golden Age villain known as Thorn. Jennie-Lynn has a twin brother, Todd James Rice, who is the superhero Obsidian.
Along with Obsidian, Jade was a founding member of Infinity, Inc. She has worked with both the Justice League and Justice Society of America, as well as most recently being a member and eventual leader of the Outsiders. She was also a member of the resurrected Green Lantern Corps after being given a spare power ring. She has been romantically linked with Hank King (Brainwave) and with Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. She was the first female Green Lantern from Earth and was ranked 34th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
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Fictional character biography 
Origins 
Jade's mother, Rose, was briefly married to Alan Scott, but fled upon conceiving their children, fearing she would harm them. She gave them up for adoption and they were separated. Jennie-Lynn was adopted by a couple in the Milwaukee suburbs. Jennie did not learn she had a twin brother until she was in her late teens. Shortly after she and Todd met, surmising they were the children of Alan Scott, they attempted to join the Justice Society. They were rejected, but joined with other children and protégés of JSA members to form Infinity, Inc.
Due to her father's exposure to magical energies, she and her brother were born with metahuman powers, although Jade's only manifested themselves when she was defending herself from being sexually assaulted as a child. Jade's powers greatly resemble her father's: she is able to generate green energy and shape it into constructs according to her will. Jade left her modeling career in California to pursue the field of photography in New York City. She became Kyle Rayner's roommate and the two eventually developed a romantic relationship. She once lost those powers when she fought the Starheart, the source of her powers. Following this, Kyle Rayner gave Jade a spare power ring and battery and she became Earth's first female Green Lantern and a member of the Green Lantern Corps, both objects powered by the green of the emotional spectrum of willpower. Her powers were eventually restored by Rayner during his first, short tenure as the god-like Ion. Her ring eventually passed to John Stewart. She later discovered that she had her mother's plant manipulation powers, when she caused roses to attack a mugger. While on a date with Kyle on an alien world, she told him that her skin actually contains chlorophyll (the source of its green hue), and she can photosynthesize sunlight like a plant.

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Her internalized powers function much like those of her father. She can create 'solid-light' constructs out of green energy emitted from the star-mark on her palm, and can fly. She shares his weakness to wood and cellulose, but has no need to periodically recharge her powers. When wearing her power ring, it gives her a similar capability to her internal powers but requires twenty-four hours of recharge from her power battery. Her ring also has a weakness to the yellow impurity, the color of fear.
When Kyle Rayner left Earth after the violent beating of his friend Terry Berg, Jade opted to come along with him; however, after several missions, Jade decided that she wanted to go back to Earth. Once back she became involved with another man and ended her relationship with Kyle (in that order). She recently served as a member, and eventual leader, of the new Outsiders. Around this time, Jade helped Donna Troy and a collection of Titans alumni in battle against the Titans of Myth.
In Green Lantern: Rebirth, Jade and her father assisted the Guardians of the Universe and the Green Lantern Corps in defeating and imprisoning the parasitic fear entity Parallax.
In Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy led a group of Earth's heroes, including Jade, into space, where they try to deal with a growing rift in space. The Green Lantern Corps, represented by Kyle Rayner and Kilowog, also responded to this threat.
In the Rann-Thanagar War Infinite Crisis Special, Jen died trying to stop Alexander Luthor, Jr., from tearing the universe into a Multiverse. Her consciousness lingered within her power until her Starheart powers merged with Kyle. This merge awakened the slumbering Ion entity that Kyle unknowingly had within him, and subsequently made him much more powerful.

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One Year Later 
One year after the Infinite Crisis, Alan Scott lies in a coma after an attack by the Gentleman Ghost. The original Jade appears to him to say goodbye. She grants her father another portion of her green energy, which replaces his lost eye. It had been lost during a Zeta Beam malfunction during the Infinite Crisis.
As part of the "Origins and Omens" backup event, which hints at future events in several DC titles, an image of Jade is shown.
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Blackest Night 
During the Blackest Night crossover, Jade's remains are reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps after an arrival of a black ring powered by death. Now a soulless undead, Jade attempts to use Kyle's affection for her against him, claiming that his undying love for Jade brought her back. However, Kyle, earlier witnessing the onslaught of the undead Black Lantern Corps on Oa, is painfully aware that the woman present is not truly Jade, but her reanimated corpse. In a rage, he tried to destroy the Black Lantern, as he sees it as an abomination and a disgrace to the memory and remains of a woman he loved. However, Jade recovers and, after capturing him, begins to torment him with the black energy constructs of Alexandra DeWitt, Donna Troy, his mother Moira Rayner, and herself, to remind Kyle of his past failure to save the women who were important to him. Jade and Kyle's battle is interrupted by the arrival of Soranik Natu. Jade and Soranik fight (physically and verbally), with Jade making several rude comments. Eventually, Soranik just punches Jade in the mouth and activates her ring. At that moment, the Black Lantern's rings registered that their power levels had reached one hundred percent. As such, the Black Lanterns were given a new directive: to devour Oa's Central Power Battery. Completely disregarding her opponents, Jade flew off to her objective, with Soranik's hand still in her mouth. All Black Lanterns however meet their ultimate doom with the arrival of Mogo which increases its gravity to such a degree that all of the Black Lanterns, Jade included, are pulled down to its surface and absorbed into its core. The superhot magma within continually burns up the Black Lantern's bodies, keeping them from regenerating their forms. Mogo describes this as, "They will burn, for all eternity."

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Return 
During the finale of Blackest Night a handful of Black Lanterns are permanently resurrected and restored to their true forms. Jade is among this select group and is shown joyfully embracing and kissing Kyle in Coast City. Writer James Robinson stated that Jade will be a member of his new Justice League roster as part of DC's Brightest Day event.
During the Brightest Day, as Jade trying to adjust of being among the living once more, she gives her blessing to Kyle and Soranik Natu. She also shown to have an unknown connection with Deadman, a former ghost who is now a newly-appointed White Lantern, who was also resurrected during the Blackest Night event.
Sometime later, Jade is found unconscious inside of a green crystal meteor that crashes in Germany and is found by the Justice League. The green crystal is revealed to be actually the Starheart, the legendary crystal that gave Alan Scott his powers, and by extension, gave Jade her abilities as well. After waking up, Jade reveals that while staying on Oa, the Starheart kidnapped her and brought her to earth in order to find her father. She later uses her abilities to defeat Power Girl after the Starheart drives Power Girl insane, and then decides to help the JLA stop her father after learning that the Starheart has taken control of his body.
Jade joins forces with the JLA and JSA in order to take down the various metahumans under the control of the Starheart while Mr. Terrific searches for a way to weaken its power. After defeating Klarion the Witch Boy, Jade visits her stepmother Molly Mayne, and takes up Alan's old lantern, using it to form a brief connection with Alan; it reveals that he is hiding out on the moon. When Jade charges up her father's lantern, the insignia of the Black Lantern Corps is briefly shown floating behind her. After Starman is captured while breaking into Alan's lunar fortress, Miss Martian is able to get a mental description of his prison, explaining that Alan has incorporated Fourth World technology into his defenses. After Mister Miracle guides the heroes through the defenses, Kyle arrives and meets with the heroes. Jade asks Kyle if he is there to help her father, but he simply scoffs at the notion and states that he has come to kill Alan at the behest of the Guardians of the Universe.
Jade is told by the Entity to help her brother, Obsidian to "balance the darkness" and save their friends from an unidentified threat which was speculated to be Eclipso, as the Entity reveals to Jade her labor, a grinning vision of Eclipso appears behind Jade. Afterward, as Jade tried to rescue her brother from the Starheart's control, both siblings ended fused together, forming an entity with the powers of Jade and Obsidian, all the while in Starheart control. Both siblings attacked the Justice League and the Justice Society until Jade is contacted by the White Light Entity, who reveals Jade's true labor. Jade resisted the Starheart control, trying to balance the darkness inside the both of them. Jade and Obsidian were eventually separated by the Entity so Jade could completed her task; however, Obsidian became paranoid and tried to force Jade to fuse with him once again. Jade managed to prevent the fusion, but at the cost of Obsidian, who was restrained by Kyle in a green bubble and taken far away from Jade. Jade then used her powers to restore her father's Starheart, which was revealed to be the unidentified threat. In the end, Jade is reunited with her father, who returns to normal. As a result of her fusion with Obsidian, Jade is also no longer able to be in close proximity to her brother without risking further threat from the Starheart.
Following afterwards, Jade remained with the Justice League until the team's dissolution.

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Powers and abilities 
Jade has the same Starheart energy manipulating powers as her father, Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern with the difference that her powers do not come from a ring or lantern, but are channeled through her body (specifically, the star shaped birthmark on her palm). As with all Green Lanterns, she can will green energy constructs to "life" and can use this energy in almost any way possible; the only limitation being her will, imagination and endurance. Of the many things she can do with her powers, the most common uses are shields from bodily harm, flight, flying unaided through space, great speed and, as said earlier, willing constructs to life of any shape and size. She is technically a mutant, having been born with her powers as well as green hued skin, dark green hair, green eyes and the aforementioned star shaped birthmark on her palm. Due to their shared mystical connection with the Starheart, with even the slightest focus, she can sense where either her twin brother or her father is anywhere on Earth at any time. For a time, Jade and her brother shared a telepathic connection, but it is not known at this time if they still do. One of the major distinctions between the Green Lanterns of Oa and herself (and her father) is that the emerald energy she wields is often manifested as green fire surrounding her. Secondly, while regular Green Lanterns have to charge their rings after a time, Jade has access to near unlimited stores of power and has no need to recharge. A third distinction between her and the Green Lantern's power is that while they have a weakness to the color yellow (which now can be overcome with effort), she has the same vulnerability to wood that her father has (In that her power has no effect on anything made of wood).
Jade has also begun to cultivate a recently discovered ability to affect plant life like her mother. She can cause super-accelerated growth and manipulate the movement of most, if not all, plant life. This ability manifested itself later in her life and she has just begun to learn how to properly use this new power.
As a member of the Green Lantern Corps, she previously wields a power ring of her own but its power source is not from Starheart but of an aspect of the emotional spectrum. It gives her a similar capability of her internal powers but requires twenty-four hours of recharge from her power battery. Her ring also has a weakness to the yellow impurity, the color of fear, which requires of her face her phobia first then overcome it with her willpower.
The black power ring, however, is not like her green one. The ring is a program designed to animate the dead, therefore Jade was not truly in control when she was a Black Lantern.

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Other versions 
In Alex Ross' miniseries Kingdom Come, a now older Jade takes up the mantle of Green Lantern (identified as Green Lantern VI in the endnotes of collected editions) after Kyle Rayner. Jade's efforts, along with the assistance of others, saved herself and her father, among others, when the United Nations dropped a nuclear bomb on the climactic battle.
In Tangent Comics, the Earth-9 version of Jade is an Asian woman with the power to turn her tattoos into living dragons.
In the Ame-Comi line, Jade Yifei is a young woman living in China, the daughter of a National People's Congress official. Despite being blinded in an accident as a child, she went on become a well known mountain climber. During an attack upon her family, she is chosen by a Green Lantern ring, which greatly enhances her hearing, allowing her to "see" via a set of special headphones, as well as granting her the ability to create energy constructs and changing her skin color to green. Her oath in this incarnation is very similar to that of Rot Lop Fan.

52 
In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-2". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-Two, including Jade among other apparent Justice Society of America characters. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, but Jade is visually similar to the Jennie-Lynn Hayden incarnation of Jade.
In November 2008, it was disclosed that Earth-2's Jade is still alive, but fatherless - on her world, her father, Green Lantern (Alan Scott) is dead. Jade is a member of the Justice Society Infinity, caused by a merger between the Justice Society of America and Infinity, Inc.
Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-Two.

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Manhunter
In the final arc of Manhunter, which takes place in the future, a new Jade appears, the daughter of Obsidian. This version is an Asian teenager named after her aunt. She appears to have light-based powers and is an active super hero.

Ame-Comi Girls
In the Ame-Comi universe, Jennifer is reimagined as Jade Yifei, a teenager from Beijing, China. The daughter of a prominent politician, Jade is chosen as the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 after nearly being killed by an assassin. Though she possesses the green skin of her original counterpart, the Ame-Comi version of Jade uses a power ring rather than an internal source of energy.

Nicki Jones 
In 52 Week 29, a young woman named Nicki Jones is introduced as a member of the new Lex Luthor-owned Infinity, Inc. under the name Jade. A vegetarian graphic arts student from the San Francisco Art Institute, Jones possesses the ability to project glowing vines from her fingertips, the ability to fly, and green energy powers. She debuts at a Thanksgiving parade only to be attacked by Obsidian, who accuses her of trying to steal his sister's legacy.
In 52 Week 40, the members of Infinity, Inc., with the exception of Nicki, Natasha Irons, and the recently deceased Jacob Colby (Skyman), battle Steel and the Teen Titans and are then arrested. She then appears during Week 50 and World War III, alongside the remains of Infinity, Inc. However, the team is too scared to face Black Adam and runs off.

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CHARACTER CLOSE-UP : Mongul

6/2/2013

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Mongul is the name of two fictional characters that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the character debuted in DC Comics Presents #27 (Nov. 1980) and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Jim Starlin. The second version first appears in Showcase '95 #85 (Sept. 1995) and was created by writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Scot Eaton.
Debuting in the Bronze Age of comic books, Mongul has featured in other DC Comics-endorsed products such as animated television series; video games; a direct-to-DVD film, and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards.
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Publication history 
Mongul debuted in the title DC Comics Presents and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Jim Starlin. Starlin often receives credit as creator of the character, but Wein in an interview stated "Well, [Mongul] had Starlin visuals, but he was my creation." Wein said he conceived Mongul specifically as a villain to physically challenge Superman.

Fictional character biography
Bronze Age
Mongul was originally the ruler of his own alien race until a revolution occurred and he was exiled into outer space. In his first appearance, Mongul kidnaps Superman's friends (Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Steve Lombard), threatening to kill them unless the hero brings him the key that can activate the artificial planet Warworld. After retrieving the key  the character activates Warworld; psychically linked with its controls, Mongul attempts to destroy Superman and Supergirl. Mongul is ultimately rendered unconscious by a massive mental strain caused from using its controls, but managed to escape before the heroes destroy Warworld.
Mongul then attempts to conquer Throneworld, the home planet of Prince Gavyn, one of the heroes who have used the name Starman. Mongul murders Gavyn's sister and forcing his love into marrying him in order to usurp the throne of the empire for himself. He then uses Throneworld's planet-destroying weapon to blackmail the resident planets into obedience. However, Superman arrives and battles Mongul while Starman disables the weapon, and Mongul retreats.[5] Mongul, now desiring revenge on Superman, kills a Controller and steals the Sun-Eater to devour the Earth's sun. While the Justice League of America and Legion of Super-Heroes battle Mongul to no avail, Superman finally defeats him as the Legion destroys the Sun-Eater.
Mongul eventually attacks Superman on his birthday and ensnares him with a Black Mercy, an alien plant that fed off a victims "bio-aura" while rendering the victim incapable of fighting back, giving them their own perfect "dream world" in return. In the end, thanks to Robin, Mongul becomes the plant's next victim and dreams of himself as ruler of the universe. The story "For the Man Who Has Everything" was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, and has become the pivotal Mongul story.

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Modern Age
After the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics retconned the histories of some major characters in an attempt at updating them for contemporary audiences, the original stories involving Mongul were no longer valid and the character was reintroduced as the ruler of Warworld, a space empire where Mongul entertained the citizens with gladiatorial games. Mongul captured Superman for use in the games, but the hero ended up joining forces with alien warrior called Draaga and making Mongul flee. Mongul was then persuaded via torture to serve the Cyborg Superman in order to gain vengeance on Superman and to try to turn the Earth into another Warworld. In the process, Green Lantern Hal Jordan's home, Coast City, was destroyed, which led to Jordan joining Superman and his allies to defeat Mongul.
After his defeat, Mongul was imprisoned in a jail for intergalactic criminals, only to break out during a riot. His first target was Green Lantern; he found out that the one whom he faced (Kyle Rayner), was not the one he fought earlier. Even more so, he was defeated when Kyle's ring showed no weakness to yellow, something that even shocked the aiding Superman. Following his defeat, he was re-imprisoned.
Mongul breaks out of the Lunar penal colony he was in, killing everyone there including prisoners who are left to die in the vacuum of space. His ship is almost wrecked and he is near death; he is teleported to a planet and saved. In return, he takes over the planet and ends up being left alone as the inhabitants prefer dying due to a virus than his tyranny. Until he ends up finding two babies immune to the virus... (Showcase 95 #7-8, reprinted in DC Universe Special Superman #1).
Mongul is later defeated on Earth by Wally West (the Flash) when Mongul tries to unearth a starship left from one of the Darkstars' enemies underneath Keystone City. The Flash easily defeats Mongul. The Flash seemingly uses Mongul to test his new upgraded powers. During the battle, Wally is only hit one time by the giant hulking Mongul. Flash uses his super speed to quickly confuse and defeat Mongul and has him imprisoned in the Slab, a prison for super villains (Flash #102, reprinted in DC Universe Special Superman #1).
During the Underworld Unleashed storyline, the Demon Lord Neron began offering supervillains enhanced power in exchange for their souls, all by lighting a candle. Mongul was one of those offered the deal, but his pride caused him to decline the offer and threaten Neron. In response, Neron easily beat Mongul to death for his defiance, taking his soul in the process.

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Mongul II
Mongul's son, also named Mongul, appears to assist and train Superman, in preparation for the arrival of Imperiex. This Mongul seems to be more powerful than his father. He appears to have been killed later in the Our Worlds at War crossover, but returns during Infinite Crisis after learning from Despero that the Justice League has apparently been destroyed. His intention is to loot their Watchtower headquarters but he ends up fighting Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. He is almost killed by Wonder Woman before escaping via a working teleporter. The teleportation transports him to Earth, to menace Hal Jordan, the newly-returned Green Lantern, by using the Black Mercy on him and Green Arrow. In the meantime, he seeks his sister, Mongal, to settle family squabbles. The heroes break free and use a teleporter to transport Mongul and Mongal to their home planet. Stating family to be a weakness, Mongul decapitates Mongal with a single blow to her head.
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Mongul's origins depicts him as a child who wanted to be like his father. He made journeys and he watched digital renderings where his father fought against Superman and his allies and the destruction of Coast City. He copies his father's actions when he encounters a group of aliens whose spaceship crashes on Arkymandryte, turning them into his slaves. Mongul's father returns, and discovering his son's slaves, he kills the aliens and tells him only one being on the planet is worthy of adoration.
Mongul receives a Yellow power ring after breaking a dying Sinestro Corps member's neck (a later promotional image shows Mongul with the Yellow ring as well a Green Lantern Corps ring). Mongul offers the Sinestro Corps inductees a choice: to serve him or die. He removes the ring from each one who refuses, and at one point had gained an extra five rings. He then attacks Arisia and Sodam Yat with Black Mercy plants, and takes them prisoner. He uses his ring to send thousands of Black Mercy seeds, which he had genetically engineered to bring the victims greatest fears to life, instead of their dreams, to several unsuspecting planets. In a confrontation with several members of the Green Lantern Corps, Mongul is defeated when the fly-like Lantern Bzzd flies through his eye, and he is thrown down to the Black Mercy's planet. He is last seen buried in soil, being used as food by the Black Mercys. However, he soon breaks free and escapes the planet, while keeping his rings and his right arm. His left arm had been severed in the process, but, through the power of his rings, Mongul is able to control and direct it. He attacks a nearby ship to get food for himself, killing the husband of the pilot. This inadvertently causes the woman to become the first recruit of the Star Sapphires, the violet Power Ring having been drawn to her by the void in her heart created by her loss. Mongul uses his left arm to invade the planet Daxam and establish it as the new homeworld for his faction of the Sinestro Corps under his command. However, he is challenged for the leadership by Arkillo. Defeating him in single combat, Mongul pulls out Arkillo's tongue and wears it as a necklace. In the process, he gains the loyalty of the faction of the Sinestro Corps loyal to Arkillo and complete rule over the planet Daxam, but draws on himself the attentions of Arisia and Sodam Yat, the Daxamite host for the Ion Entity. Upon the arrival of Arisia and Yat, several members of the Sinestro Corps are swiftly defeated and killed by Yat until his Superman-like powers fade under Daxam's red sun. Despite his power loss and Mongul's incredible strength, Yat does battle with him, using the Ion power to briefly launch Mongul into space, before entering Daxam's sun and transforming it from red to yellow, granting all Daxamites superpowers. The Daxamite's overwhelming attack forces Mongul to have the Sinestro Corps abandon Daxam, with the despot planning to make a different planet their home base.
Mongul takes the Sinestro Corps to Korugar, Sinestro's homeworld, having the inhabitants strung up along the streets. He also decides to rename the Sinestro Corps as "The Mongul Corps", after himself. Soon after, Sinestro is brought to Korugar and confronts Mongul. Then, using an override built into Mongul's rings, Sinestro defeats him, thus reclaiming the Sinestro Corps. Then, he imprisons Mongul in the Corps' central power battery, intending to kill him once the Black Lantern Corps is dealt with.

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Powers and abilities 
During the Bronze Age of Comic Books Mongul was written as physically more powerful than Superman and as almost totally invulnerable to harm. While the character was defeated only by Superman foiling his schemes, the hero managed once to defeat Mongul in hand-to-hand combat, although fell unconscious immediately after that. In addition, Mongul demonstrated the ability to teleport; limited telepathy; and could project blasts of potent force via his eyes or hands. The character also used technology to shrink his enemies and place them in dimensional-inversion cubes, designed to prevent escape by warping their interior reality and absorbing any power used against them from within.
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The Modern Age version of Mongul is significantly reduced in power, having neither the abilities described above nor the cube technology, and can only project energy blasts via an amulet attached to his torso. He is also no longer a physical match for Superman, as Superman was able to defeat him in their first fight despite being weakened by lack of regular yellow sun rays. When acquiring his first Yellow Lantern ring he decided to learn about its potential for 96 hours , hinting at a methodical mindset mostly absent from Yellow Lanterns.

In other media 
Television
Mongul appears in the animated television series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited voiced by Eric Roberts. In it, he is the dictator of 'war world,' holding Gladiatorial type games to keep the masses appeased with his rule, being considered the most powerful being on the planet, having never lost a match, but more than willing to resort to trickery to win. He is defeated by Superman and Draaga, and appears later in Justice League Unlimited when the "For the Man Who Has Everything" story is adapted into an episode of the same name, albeit with Robin being written out. Mongul is defeated in the same way as in the original story, and the defeat remains his ultimate fate in the DC Animated Universe, never returning to threaten again.

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Mongul appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold voiced by Gary Anthony Williams. In the first episode "Duel of the Double Crossers," he forces Batman and Jonah Hex against Mongal. In the next episode "Death Race to Oblivion," he threatens Earth but he's defeated by Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Huntress and Guy Gardner.

Mongul appears in the Young Justice: Invasion episode "War" voiced by Keith David. He appears on Rimbor at the trial of the six Justice League members and leaves to destroy Earth after Vandal Savage told him that the The Reach were on the planet, seeing it as competition to who rules the galaxy. When The Reach and Captain Atom learn that Mongul and his Warworld are heading to Earth, they both attempt to negotiate with Mongul, who ignores them. While the Justice League defend the Earth against Warworld, the Team manages to infiltrate Warworld in order to confront Mongul and shut down Warworld. Superboy, Arsenal, and Wonder Girl confront Mongul, who defeats them as he plans to use all the weapons of Warworld on Earth. Cat Grant reports that the U.S. military leaders are ordering for the people not to leave their homes as there is nowhere to go. After Bumblebee reroutes Warworld's power core onto Mongul, weakening him, Superboy, Arsenal, and Wonder Girl take advantage of this knock him out him. In "The Hunt," Mongul was seen with Despero and The Team in Warworld's stasis cells. Arsenal frees Mongul from his stasis cell and ends up attacking Black Beetle. Following a lengthy battle, during which the heroes escaped, Black Beetle imprisons Mongul in another stasis cell in the following episode, where he remained through the remainder of the series.

Film
Mongul appears in the direct-to-DVD film Superman/Batman: Public Enemies voiced by Bruce Timm. In the film, he viciously attacks Superman and engages him in a fight. After defeating him, Superman notices that he is not his normal talkative self. It is after revealed that Mongul was under Gorilla Grodd's mental control as part of a plot to claim the bounty on Superman and Batman.

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