Superman is starring in some of the best comics coming from DC right now. Superman has become a huge part of the DC publishing line, tying into the central storyline of the DC All-In era. Action Comics is taking place in Superman’s past as Superboy in Smallville, showing how he became the hero he is today. Superman Unlimited has unleashed the Emerald Age on the Man of Steel, as a massive Kryptonite meteor hitting the Earth changes the balance of powers on DC’s Earth. There have also been several Superman miniseries and one-shots released, with Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum being the latest. This story is brought to readers by Ice Cream Man‘s creators W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo, introducing readers to four new types of Kryptonite, as well as pitting Superman against one of DC’s most dangerous villains: Solomon Grundy.
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Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 is a cool comic, introducing readers to four new types of Kryptonite. If there’s one person who would be as interested in new types of Kryptonite, it’s Lex Luthor. Lex unleashes a plan to deal with Superman, using Grundy to go distract Superman, so he can figure out how to take advantage of these new types of Kryptonite. Solomon Grundy is a DC villain with a long history, and is best described as what would happen if the Hulk was a zombie monster villain.
Solomon Grundy Has Been Battling DC’s Heroes for Decades
Solomon Grundy has been around for 81 years. The monster first appeared in All-American Comics #61. He was a foe of the original Green Lantern Alan Scott, and would stay an Earth–Two villains for decades, sometimes making his way to Earth-One to battle the heroes of the Justice League. On one those occasions, Grundy’s cells were left behind and regenerated into a new Grundy, giving both pre-Crisis Earths their own Solomon Grundy. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, Grundy’s Earth-Two origin was brought over to the new Earth. Cyrus Gold was a wealthy Gothamite in the late 19th century, where he was murdered and dumped in Slaughter Swamp, a swamp outside of Gotham City. Grundy was reanimated fifty years later, with the original Green Lantern and the Justice Society battling against him. Solomon Grundy has also been a Batman villain at times, seeing as how he always starts out in Slaughter Swamp. Grundy got his name from a English rhyme, which goes like this: “Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday, christened on a Tuesday, married on Wednesday, took ill on Thursday, worse on Friday, died on Saturday, buried on Sunday, this is the end of Solomon Grundy.”
Solomon Grundy is super strong and nearly invulnerable, but he’s also usually not very smart. Grundy has acted as muscle for groups like the Legion of Doom, the Secret Society of Supervillains, the Injustice Gang. In many ways, he’s like the early days of the Hulk, except he’s a zombie monster. He has a simplistic way of speaking, and was almost always angry. However, as the years have gone on, much like the Hulk, Grundy has also changed personalities. Grundy can be killed, and he always reincarnates in Slaughter Swamp. While he almost always pops out of the swamp as the angry monster with the brains of a monosyllabic child, it’s been revealed that he can come out of the swamp very different. In the ’90s classic Starman, Grundy was reborn as a nicer version of the character and helped out Jack Knight and his friends in battle. In the first story arc of Justice League of America (Vol. 2), known as “The Tornado’s Path” (it’s excellent and you should hunt it down; also spoilers coming up), Grundy comes back as a genius version of himself. Grundy reveals that he can remember all of the pain caused to him over the years, and that’s doesn’t want to die anymore because he doesn’t want to transform into the dumb version of himself. The New 52 comic Earth-2 introduced a new version of Grundy, one who was the avatar of the Rot, a force of decay and death related to the Green (the power of plants) and the Red (the power of animals), although that version no longer exists.
Solomon Grundy Is a Perfect Way to Keep Superman Busy
Solomon Grundy is a physical titan, and has been able to fight it out with Superman many times over the years. The monster is probably stronger than a base level Hulk, which is why Lex Luthor deciding to use him as a cat’s paw against Superman makes a lot of sense. Superman also isn’t fighting at his best, because of his exposure to Purple Kryptonite, a new type of Kryptonite that messes with Superman’s perception of time.
Superman, along with Batman (who was helping test the new types of Kryptonite), tackle the monster. As Superman saves civilians, Batman tries to fight Grundy, and gets injured. Superman is able to overcome his temporal problems to take down Grundy. It’s a great little action scene, and it shows why Grundy is one of the most fun villains in the DC Multiverse.
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 is on sale now.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios.
