DC Just Killed Off One of It’s Best Supervillains (& It’s Absolutely Heartbreaking)

Good villains are as important to stories as good heroes. Batman is famous for having arguably the greatest rogues gallery in comics, with heavy hitters like the Joker and Two-Face. Superman is no slouch either, with Lex Luthor and Brainiac exemplifying everything a terrifyingly smart villain should be. Even free-agent villains like Darkseid and Deathstroke are absolutely iconic and add to almost every story they are a part of. All of DC’s A-list heroes have at least one top-tier villain, and the Flash is no exception. From the Reverse-Flash to the Rogues, the Flash battles countless awesome villains that bring out the best in him, and one of his best villains is the psychotic psychic primate himself, Gorilla Grodd.

Grodd is one of Flash’s iconic villains, but the Absolute Universe totally reimagined him as an adorable little ape companion to the Fastest Teen Alive. However, as much as Grodd was Wally’s friend, his father wasn’t hearing any of it. Grodd’s dad wanted revenge on the entire human race for the terrible experiments of Project Olympus and had Grodd join his side. He was the true gorilla that we think of when we think of Grodd, and possessed an entire town just like the original would. But DC just threw us a major curveball as, in Absolute Flash #17, they killed Grodd’s dad. It ripped away one of Flash’s best villains and set up Grodd’s own fall to the dark side.

A Heartbreaking Loss as Another Son Loses a Father

This two-issue arc, “Gorilla City,” saw Grodd and his father take over a small city with their mind control, bending the humans to their will. They were on the fast track to take over Colorado before the Rogues were sent in to put them down. Most of them fell under Grodd’s father’s control, but Trickster’s helmet protected her. Things took a turn when Wally and Linda arrived. Wally and Grodd reconnected, and though his father was extremely aggressive to the Flash, Grodd managed to talk him down. The father didn’t want to trust any human, but he loved his son, and his son loved Wally, so he stopped. Then Trickster shot him in the head.

Fathers and sons have been a major theme for this entire series. Wally’s strained relationship with his dad is what drove the first twelve issues, and his mission to rescue him from the depths of the Still Point is the current overarching plot. Wally and Grodd’s friendship was another major plot point, but Grodd left Wally to be with his own father. Both were lost sons who found comfort in each other, but ultimately wanted to return to their family. Now, Grodd has lost that forever. He’s the most trusting, innocent character in the comic, and he watched his dad’s brains splatter right in front of him. It was a truly heartbreaking scene, but the worst part is that this is far from the end of the death.

A Kind Soul Tainted by Tragedy

When Grodd first debuted, nobody expected him to be such a cute little guy, and even fewer people thought he’d become such an essential partner to the Flash. We were all ready to accept that Absolute Grodd would be Wally’s adorable pet and friend forever, so we let our guard down, unaware that the seeds of his villainy and his parallel to Wally were staring us right in the face. Grodd’s Papa constantly reiterated that no man could be trusted, and ultimately, it was Grodd calming his dad down, protecting Wally, that gave Trickster the opening she needed to kill him. This could easily harden Grodd’s heart and set him down the same path of anger and mistrust that his Papa walked.

Wally and Grodd have both lost their fathers, but where the Flash believes he can still save his, Grodd’s is dead forever. Where Wally has taken everything his dad taught him to run forward as a hero, Grodd may follow his own dad’s hateful advice. Grodd becoming a villain would make perfect sense, bringing him more in line with his Prime self and turning him into the perfect foil for Wally. The future Flash promises that Wally can’t save his dad, so when Wally faces that reality, he’ll be forced to decide who he wants to be. He could follow the hero’s path or Grodd’s path, which is paved with blood. Grodd will be the darkness to highlight Wally’s light.

Absolute Flash #17 is on sale now!

What do you think is in store for the adorable ape Grodd? 

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