SOLOMON GRUNDY versus MOLLY MAYNE & THE GREEN LANTERN

Took Ill on a Thursday (DC)
Where: Solomon Grundy #4 When: August 2009
Why: Scott Kolins How: Scott Kolins

The Story So Far...
In the 19th century, Gotham City was home to a wicked soul named Cyrus Gold. Responsible for murder and misery, he was cursed upon death to forever rise from his unmarked resting place in Slaughter Swamp as the beast Solomon Grundy!

Caught in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, the shambling monster is forever drawn to new acts of evil as an unstoppable undead creature - until now..?

A mysterious force has given Cyrus Gold seven days to end his curse, but dark forces conspire to prolong the agony of Solomon Grundy! He was bedeviled by The Demon, delayed by Bizarro, and vexed by Poison Ivy. Now a taunting voice draws him into the suburbs to find the source of his greatest enemy's power!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Solomon Grundy 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Green Lantern 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Green Lantern 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Green Lantern 27 (Metahuman)

Solomon Grundy's on the warpath, but we already know all about that: We've tracked his cursed movements through Killer Croc, The Demon, Bizarro, and Poison Ivy. You're probably a lot more curious to know who Molly Mayne is!

In today's battle she's the suburban second wife of the Green Lantern, but in a former existence she was better known as the original Harlequin!

Her costumed alter-ego was an attempt to get closer to Green Lantern by becoming his criminal target. Romantic aspirations meant Harlequin's crimes were never too severe, and she eventually joined the side of angels, before marrying her super-hero sweetheart in the pages of Infinity Inc.

Harlequin's hypnotic glasses probably could've been an effective tool against Solomon Grundy, but the mature-aged retiree hasn't used her gear in quite some time. Good thing GL's Starheart battery has tipped him off to the trouble at home!

We saw the Golden Age Green Lantern school his younger counterpart, Guy Gardner, in the pages of Justice Society of America #9, and he even briefly slowed Superboy-Prime in the Sinestro Corps War epic of Green Lantern #25!

Unfortunately, this Green Lantern's power ring has a weakness to objects made of wood -- which allows the swamp-borne Solomon Grundy to cause all kinds of trouble. He used a tree to smash right through GL's construct in JSA #65!

Although incredibly strong, Solomon Grundy is often a lumbering and slow-witted opponent who can be out-smarted, or even out fought. The latter was the case for Stargirl & Jakeem Thunder in JSA #29, and the otherwise challenged trio of Hawkman, Hawkgirl & Monolith in Hawkman #33.

Grundy is coming off a win against Poison Ivy in today's story, but Green Lantern and the former Harlequin should be industrious enough to come up with ways of defeating. It all just depends on GL getting there in time!

The Tape: Green Lantern Ranking: Green Lantern (#90)

What Went Down...

The entrance to the Scott residence is reduced to splinters as Solomon Grundy explodes through the front door -- smashing his way inside!

Molly Mayne recoils with understandable panic, but she's no ordinary suburban housewife. Even as a fearful tear trickles down her cheek, the former Harlequin steels herself with unique life experience, and rushes deeper into the house.

Slamming a door behind her buys precious seconds as Molly scrambles to rummage through a very specific drawer.

Grundy's massive fist comes crashing through the door right behind her, but she's already found what she was desperately looking for! She discharges the hidden weapon -- punching a hole clean through Grundy's rotting chest!

For a moment the beast looks down at the smoking cavity in his torso -- then swats Molly aside through nearby architecture with the back side of his hand.

Grundy's true target is quickly uncovered by hulking hands that tear through cupboard woodwork like it was paper.

Inside: the glowing green lantern that is the source of his oldest enemy's power!

As the monster reaches for the lantern shaped battery it begins to radiate with burning green energy. The light speaks to him through a familiar oath: "Beware my power!"

Solomon Grundy fights against the energy, grasping for the awesome artifact as if incensed by its powerful resistance. He shouts defiantly that he isn't afraid -- raising the lantern above his head as it spews blinding light all around him!

The monster brings the lantern violently crashing against the ground.

The impact is so strong it causes parts of the house to collapse over a stunned Molly Mayne!

Grundy barely even notices the collateral damage of his outburst. His determined focus remains solely on the lantern itself, now held in the palm of his right hand as he lets out an angry yell.

The furious behemoth brings both his hands smashing together around the lantern and presses with all his unearthly might! He vows to crush it!

Reaching out across the county to Slaughter Swam: the Starheart battery speaks to Alan Scott through his power ring. Alerted to the attack, Scott's mind immediately flashes to the imminent danger threatening his wife.

With the ring hoisted above his head, Green Lantern blazes a trail through the night sky! He flies as fast as he ever has, willing his wife to hold on. Willing himself to make it there before it's too late!

Molly stirs and speaks her husband's name, all the while Grundy continues to squeeze harder and harder around the Green Lantern's power battery. It begins to illicit a small, harsh clicking. Then in a terrible instant -- the lantern shatters!

The awesome explosion of power reduces the Scott residence to rubble -- but high above the smoldering crater is The Green Lantern himself! He cradles his wife, bruised & battered, but safe in the aura of his glowing energy!

The hero slings a green containment field over an unconscious Solomon Grundy and makes a beeline for the nearest hospital. The awful truth doesn't begin to set in until the hero starts to feel dizzy with Gotham Metropolitan Hospital in sight...

The Hammer...
Green Lantern has to make a crash landing outside the hospital as his power ring begins to fizzle and fade. The Starheart literally bids him a fond farewell, lamenting the time it enjoyed sharing with him.

Things look about as bad as they can for ol' Alan Scott, but don't worry too much. This isn't the end of the Golden Age Green Lantern.

Next issue he'll need to get a ride from Gotham Metropolitan back to his house in the suburbs, but once he's made that trip, GL will magically reassemble the shattered lantern to restore his powers and status quo.

I've got mixed feelings about this. On the one hand: it's very refreshing, particularly these days, to see a fundamental threat to a hero's existence resolved after only one issue. It's basically a good old fashioned superhero cliffhanger.

On the other hand: this is a cliffhanger based on the lie of a false peril.

You could argue that most perils to a franchise superhero are "false" because they will assuredly prevail in the end. However, what separates the good from the bad is the preservation of that threat, and the agency of the hero to resolve it.

Rather than prevent or see through this crisis with an act of heroic ingenuity -- GL literally resolves it with a simple wave of his hands.

It quickly becomes apparent, next issue, that the threat was never real. The sentimental goodbye from his ring was an illogical, maudlin act of manipulating the reader. An unsatisfying cheat in what feels like a sagging middle issue.

I don't want to judge this issue too harshly. The high-concept thrill of the Solomon Grundy series is a gauntlet of battles through some of DC's other eerie and monstrous characters. It doesn't really need to be much more complicated than that, but even by those basic terms, Solomon Grundy #4 struggles to satisfy.

Alan Scott's power battery just cannot live up to the role of being this issue's title bout. It isn't an entirely inanimate object, but dialogue and colour-tinting can't distract from the fact it's Solomon Grundy wrestling with a novelty lamp. Remember this one?

It might've been fun to see Molly Mayne break out her old Harlequin gear as a lantern-assisted feature opponent. A chase similar to Uncanny X-Men #143, with Grundy taking the role of the N'Garai Demon, could've been fun. Otherwise, the obvious solution is to just bring Green Lantern into the fray right at the start for an obligatory throwdown between classic adversaries.

Fortunately, this issue sets up another exciting opponent for the following issue. A shadowy cameo by Professor Ivo spells the imminent arrival of Amazo, who'll be deployed to take revenge for a failed team-up in a recent Justice League story.

Issue #4 also revisits the torment of Cyrus Gold, whose murder in 1885 set in motion his unending curse to rise from Slaughter Swamp as Solomon Grundy.

Cyrus soon finds himself back in the swamp, where he unexpectedly pulls the knife that killed him from the very same swamp Green Lantern had earlier been sent to search. This in turn triggers memories of the many lives he had claimed.

Mournfully regretting his life of sin, Cyrus is visited by a vision of the Phantom Stranger who guides him to find and forgive his killer if he wants to successfully end the curse. Some will remember we discuss The Stranger's presence way back at the start of the series.

If you want to read it all for yourself you might be lucky enough to find a collected edition via the Amazon link provided. Doing any shopping via these links helps support the site at no extra cost to you! If you don't see it, you may need to add permissions to blocking software.

We're slowly but surely working our way through the macabre saga. If you'd like to revisit previous chapters you should start with Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy, then work your way through the links listed after Solomon Grundy in the Secret Archive. That's where you'll find every featured fight indexed alphabetically in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 650 battles and ranked more than 950 characters! If you appreciate what it's all about and want to see these chronicles continue into the future you can join the fight on Patreon. As a thank you you'll unlock additional updates, polls, and custom articles.

You can also follow on Twitter and Facebook to receive daily links to superhero smackdown inspired by the topics of the day. Don't forget to like and share!

It was tough to render a decision in today's battle, but I'm coming down on the side of a draw. Grundy may've swatted Molly Mayne aside and shattered the lantern, but its temporary destruction also knocked him out cold and left him bloodied. A moot result, with Green Lantern showing up in time to assist his wife.

Winner: Draw
#145 (--) Solomon Grundy
#459 (new) Harlequin (Molly Mayne)
#90 (--) Green Lantern (Alan Scott) [+1 assist]

SOLOMON GRUNDY versus STAR-SPANGLED KID & JAKEEM THUNDER

Kids (DC)
Where: JSA #29 When: December 2001
Why: Geoff Johns How: Peter Snejbjerg

The Story So Far...
As junior members of the Justice Society of America: Courtney Whitmore and Jakeem Williams were supposed to have a quiet Halloween night in at JSA Headquarters. Instead, trouble finds them when more than the local trick or treating kids come knocking...

Solomon Grundy has been poisoned by The Joker and is more crazed than ever before! Running amok through New York City, he arrives at the JSA's doorstep -- but the depleted senior ranks are already on mission to contain the army of Slab inmates unleashed by The Joker!

It's up to the new Star-Spangled Kid and Jakeem Thunder to face one of the JSA's oldest enemies alone. Joker venom has made him scarier than ever, but that isn't the only thing worrying Courtney: He also killed her predecessor!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Solomon Grundy 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Stargirl 2 (Average)
Speed: Thunderbolt 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Thunderbolt 6 (Generator)
Agility: Thunderbolt 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Solomon Grundy 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Thunderbolt 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Thunderbolt 37 (Cosmic)

Solomon Grundy is one of the quintessential recurring DC villains. He can show up just about anywhere, at any time, with his demeanor ranging from a murderously rampaging beast -- to a deviously sinister super-villain.

During Infinity Inc #51, Grundy was a love-smitten simpleton who was coerced into murdering Sylvester Pemberton, then known as Skyman.

Pemberton's equipment was subsequently retired to the custody of former sidekick Pat Dugan, whose step-daughter, Courtney Whitmore, inadvertently stumbled upon the gear and chose to become the new Star-Spangled Kid!

Trained and assisted by her step-father; the eventually renamed Stargirl wields both the Cosmic Converter Belt of the Star-Spangled Kid, and the Cosmic Staff invented by Starman, and previously used by Jack Knight. The former grants her enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and energy projectiles that disrupt electrical impulses and the human nervous system. The Cosmic Staff allows her to fly, create force fields, and command devastating energy blasts!

Jakeem Thunder inherited his super-powered legacy when Jay Garrick gifted him a pen that secretly contained the magical being Yz. Better known as The Thunderbolt, the 5th dimensional genie previously served Johnny Thunder when he said the magic word "Cei-U", but now resides within Jakeem Williams' pen!

This is our first time seeing Jakeem Thunder in action, but Stargirl has had two outings with the Justice Society of America. In JSA #64 she ventured into the Dream World to help recover Sanderson Hawkins.

More notably, she had a later encounter with Solomon Grundy in JSA #65, where the undead behemoth was able to snatch her by the ankle and show signs of remembering previous encounters with the Star-Spangled Kids. In that fight it was Sanderson Hawkins who came to the rescue to put Grundy down!

At his most vicious we've seen Solomon Grundy tear the jaw of Killer Croc in Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy. He was able to withstand the combined efforts of Hawkman, Hawkgirl & Monolith in Hawkman #33, as well as the powerful blows of Bizarro in Solomon Grundy #2. He even punched a hole through The Demon before succumbing to hellfire in Solomon Grundy #2!

Stargirl should be able to give Solomon Grundy a run for his money, but her relative inexperience, and the psychological history of her legacy, may pose barriers. The magical powers of Thunderbolt should make quick work of the behemoth as long as Jakeem can direct them. Let's see what happened...

The Tape: Justice Society Ranking: Solomon Grundy (#142)

What Went Down...
A thunderous earthquake is followed by the sudden crash landing of the Statue of Liberty's head outside the JSA brownstone! Museum curator Alex Montez wonders who would've painted it white with a red smile -- until an equally pale fist reaches down to clobber him on top of the head!

Laughing atop the decapitated monument stands Solomon Grundy!

The hulking villain hoists a stunned Jakeem Thunder by the scruff of his shirt and snatches his magic pen out of its pocket. Grinning he says he'll write a letter to ma, but the only delivery is Star-Spangled Kid's boot to his jaw!

The flying kick launches Solomon Grundy across the street and down the steps of a nearby subway entrance!

The blow also freed Jakeem Thunder from the clutches of the maniacal zombie. He refuses The Kid's offer of help as he gets to his feet, but softens when she reveals Solomon Grundy's role in killing the original Star-Spangled Kid.

The younger hero is ready to charge the subway to take Solomon Grundy down, but a dull rumbling tips SSK off to the oncoming threat of a counter-attack. She dives to tackle Jakeem to the ground -- narrowly avoiding an airborne train!

Star-Spangled Kid knows they should wait for help from the JSA, but her eagerness to take a shot at payback is equaled only by Jakeem's desire to reclaim the pen that contains his friend - The Thunderbolt.

Tentatively, the two junior heroes descend into the darkened subway.

The power is out, but on the platform the bantering teammates can see juvenile graffiti scrawled across the walls. The words 'HA HA HA JSA SUCKS! GRUNDY RULES!' seem to lead down the pitch black train tunnel, but the pair quickly discovers its a simple act of misdirection to lure them into a trap!

Solomon Grundy appears from the shadows behind Jakeem laughing and clutching his magic pen! Star immediately leaps to his rescue!

The Stargirl launches at Grundy with a charging shoulder, following it up with a devastating uppercut that knocks out one of Grundy's teeth, and a volley of shooting stars that embed in his chest and drive him into the concrete wall!

Grundy wraps his massive palm around the Star-Spangled Kid's neck, laughing about the tickle of her attacks. She knows his dead flesh isn't affected by her nerve-numbing stars and compels Jakeem to run.

Instead Jakeem jumps on Solomon Grundy's back and weaponizes one of the villain's own spray cans! Paint blasts Grundy's eye! In his desperation to wipe blinded eyes, Grundy releases the magic pen -- but he also swats Jakeem aside!

Blood dribbles from his mouth as he realizes his pen has slipped through a grate. While he tries to reclaim the magic artifact, Solomon Grundy contemplates killing his second Star-Spangled hero. He holds the Stargirl's head like a basketball and presses it into a wall, reveling in his past murder.

Grundy places a second hand over The Kid's head as she feebly threatens to kill him. The zombie laughs about making her like himself -- dead -- unaware of the lightning spark that arcs between Jakeem's outstretched finger and his magic pen! They're reunited and with a simple click The Thunderbolt is released!

Jakeem commands his faithful genie to burn Solomon Grundy from the inside out. A wish the crackling Thunderbolt is all too glad to grant!

The pink dynamo streaks into a stunned Grundy's mouth. Within moments light begins to blast from inside the ashen zombie's eyes and ears as he clutches helplessly at his throat and burns from the core!

Jakeem checks on Star while the Thunderbolt emerges from the still grinning, smoldering corpse of Solomon Grundy. It collapses into a pile of ash, "Back to the swamp with you, beast!"

The Hammer...
A good team effort gives Thunderbolt the chance to deliver a finishing blow with extreme prejudice! It wouldn't have happened without the diligent efforts of Star-Spangled Kid and his master Jakeem Thunder!

Solomon Grundy may've been burned to a crisp, but as we've seen time and again -- the deathless zombie will rise once more from Slaughter Swamp to spread his unending curse of terror! Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday!

JSA #29 is all around a fantastic issue. I would highly recommend seeking it out to anyone remotely interested. I would also strongly suggest reading it in print, if you can.

Peter Snejbjerg does an incredible job on art duties, but I would also heap massive amounts of praise upon colorist John Kalisz, who does an outstanding job building mood and atmosphere with palette and tone. Sometimes those colours just don't translate to digital.

This is also the Geoff Johns who made reading DC Comics in the 2000s such a pleasurable experience. It's a script that scratches a lot of different itches from different angles, intuitively drawing together disparate references to create a wonderful whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

On a basic level the issue functions as an enjoyable rite of passage story in the tradition of Uncanny X-Men #143. Courtney and Jakeem are stuck home alone and forced to face a terrifying, overwhelming threat. In doing so, they mature as heroes, learn more about each other, and strengthen their bond.

The issue is satisfying on that level, but as with many Johns projects of the time, digging a little deeper will enhance everything with grander context and meaning. Inherent in this series is the simple fact that everything, including both junior JSA members, has direct legacy ties to heroes of the early 1940s.

Stargirl (as she was later renamed) and Jakeem Thunder are strong examples of developing intuitive new legacy characters. They draw from the original Star-Spangled Kid and Johnny Thunder, respectively, but growing into their roles, rather than simply supplanting them, is a big part of the story.

The reader is given ample opportunity to meet these new heroes as they're introduced in different series. Through a natural development process, each also becomes more distinctively realized through lived experience -- like this fight with Solomon Grundy -- and their natural involvement with other characters, such as the enduring JSA members who have become mentor figures.

It's debatable whether attempts to revamp the original Star-Spangled Kid for a modern 1980s audience were successful. "Skyman" had some nostalgic charm, but mythologizing his death in a 1988 issue of Infinity Inc, rather than undoing it, was arguably the strongest way to galvanize his legacy, and build something new from it. As part of Stargirl's backstory, it immediately creates a natural link with Solomon Grundy, enhancing both characters, and the fabric of the DCU.

We haven't even addressed the fact that this is also a banner event tie-in for Joker: Last Laugh! The contextual links go backwards and forwards, people!

To some degree Last Laugh is an unnecessary imposition, but the story uses the high concept of Joker infecting villains to simply add colour to the issue. It gives Solomon Grundy an excuse to be a little bit creepier and weird than usual. His full page entrance, laughing on top of the Statue of Liberty's decapitated head, is almost worth the tie-in all on its own!

The event and its flair also place the issue in time, which can be nice. It breaks up the monotony, and infuses the sudden appearance of the antagonist with a bit more meaning. The imposition of the event really helps sell the story, which comes at a time when much of the Justice Society has been take captive by Roulette, and forced to compete in an underground fight club.

Again I would stress that all of this extra information merely serves to enhance the issue. You should be able to quite happily read JSA #29 without being particularly concerned with any of it. You'll pick up the sense that there's more to the story than what's happening presently, but it isn't overly important, or distracting. This is a wonderful Halloween issue unto itself.

If you'd like to get a good look at the entire issue yourself, but aren't able to find the single issue, you can find it collected in JSA Vol. 3: The Power of Legacy or JSA Omnibus Vol. 2.

Use the Amazon links provided for any of your shopping and the online retailer will support the legacy of the site at no extra cost to you! You can also take a more direct route with Patreon, where patrons can get involved with additional updates, special article requests, and voting polls.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles with more on the way! You can discover more by following links throughout this post, or dive into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured smackdown in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

Get extra updates and daily links to featured fights inspired by the topics of the day by following on Twitter and Facebook. Make sure to hit like & share!

Winners: Thunderbolt, Jakeem Thunder & Stargirl
#97 (+101) Thunderbolt [+1 kill]
#95 (+47) Stargirl
#339 (new) Jakeem Thunder
#146 (-4) Solomon Grundy

SOLOMON GRUNDY versus POISON IVY

Married On A Wednesday (DC)
Where: Solomon Grundy #3 When: July 2009
Why: Scott Kolins How: Scott Kolins

The Story So Far...
In the 19th century, Gotham City was home to a wicked soul named Cyrus Gold. Responsible for murder and misery, he was cursed upon death to forever rise from his Slaughter Swamp grave as the beast Solomon Grundy!

Caught in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, the shambling monster is forever drawn to new acts of evil as an unstoppable undead creature - until now..?

A mysterious force has given Cyrus Gold seven days to end his curse, but dark forces conspire to prolong the agony of Solomon Grundy! He was bedeviled by The Demon and delayed by Bizarro, but after surviving his most recent battle, Cyrus Gold replaces his monstrous alter-ego in the clutches of Poison Ivy!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Solomon Grundy 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Poison Ivy 5 (Professor)
Speed: Solomon Grundy 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Solomon Grundy 6 (Generator)
Agility: Poison Ivy 2 (Average)
Fighting: Solomon Grundy 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Poison Ivy 2 (Projectiles)
Total: Solomon Grundy 23 (Champion)

Solomon Grundy's been having a tough run on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths. Despite his formidable undead strength, he's routinely come up against bruisers who've managed to match or defeat him! Monolith, The Demon, and Bizarro all went the distance! Only Killer Croc succumbed to his brutal rampage!

Today's opponent is a very different breed, but will that mean victory for Solomon Grundy -- or just a new way to die?

Poison Ivy isn't traditionally known for her physical strength or fighting abilities. Her command of rare and exotic plant toxins means she can often avoid combative situations altogether, holding superior combatants in her thrall.

She was able to manipulate Superman into helping her defeat Catwoman in Batman #611. When she set him upon Batman in the following Batman #612, The Dark Knight had to fight dirty to capitalize on Superman's lingering resistance, successfully shaking him out of his trance by endangering Lois Lane!

Good help can be hard to find, so Poison Ivy will often simply grow an army of hostile plant life. Various mutant strains of flytraps and vines are common in her arsenal, though not always effective. Hawkgirl used arrow heads to easily prune back her deadly garden in Justice League of America #15.

Grundy started out as an arch-enemy for the original Green Lantern, whose power ring was ineffective against things made of wood [see; JSA #65]. Grundy himself has been shown to be resistant to GL's energy, apparently due to his undead body being partially composed of wood from Slaughter Swamp!

If Grundy contains wood matter then he could be uniquely susceptible to Poison Ivy's influence! However, it's been suggested that Ivy is connected with the living energies of "The Green", while Grundy is of the deathly "Grey". If he's literally dead wood that may sway the battle back in his favour.

New developments in the Solomon Grundy curse mean he arrives at this battle in the unconscious form of Cyrus Gold. As a man, he may still be vulnerable to Ivy's usual array of mind-altering toxins. It's difficult to say what would happen to Solomon Grundy, given his mystic nature, and dim-witted demeanor.

The Tape: Solomon Grundy Ranking: Poison Ivy (#373)

What Went Down...
Awakening from the nightmare of his restless victims in 1881 Slaughter Swamp; Cyrus Gold finds he is living a whole new horror in the modern day. Limp and bleeding from the nose, he is suspended by thorn & vine before Poison Ivy!

She toys with a torturous death for destroying her green house sanctuary, but instead opts to enslave the anonymous man with a kiss. Her toxins flood his mind with subservience and he receives the order: deliver a package to her enemy and destroy their toxic factory.

With duffel bag in hand, Cyrus Gold heads for the door, but something holds him back. In his mind echoes the fateful curse, "Born on a Monday". He turns, eyes turning red, and although his wiry body remains unchanged, his is once again transformed into the unrelenting monster that is Solomon Grundy!

Ivy is bemused by the raggedy man who defies her influence, insisting: "No one tells Solomon Grundy what to do!"

Gold's appearance belies his true nature, but it never the less manifests as he lunges toward his captor, snatching her by the throat as he pushes her through the broken wooded frame and glass of the shattered greenhouse.

A massive animated tree sprouts from nearby greenery, reaching out with thorny vines and branches to rescue its master. Barbed limbs wrap around Gold's throat and body, but the black evil and decay of Solomon Grundy sends the tree recoiling in horror!

Gold snatches at the wood and leaves, infecting them with a wave of death that carries through the entire garden! His powerful grey reduces the once lush and fertile sanctuary to a barren landscape of dry, rotting wood!

With everything dead -- the man who would be Solomon Grundy turns his attentions to Poison Ivy. She kneels in pained dismay at the centre of her desolate garden, unable to fathom the cause of such destruction.

Grundy returns the kiss to his short-lived enslaver and at last Poison Ivy realizes the terrible truth: the man before her is Solomon Grundy!

She sheds a tear as the leaves covering her body begin to die, and she wilts into unconsciousness in Cyrus Gold's arms. Her limp hand inadvertently falls to rest against the duffel bag at his feet, beginning a quiet ticking that counts down to their apparent doom!

The rooftop area explodes -- but neither is destroyed. Ivy's naked body is deposited prone on a turning staircase, out of reach of the destruction. An open door at the base reveals an unlikely act of rescue by the killer Solomon Grundy!

The Hammer...
Halloween is fast approaching, which can only mean the curse of Solomon Grundy descends once more to terrorize Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

It's been an annual tradition to revisit the classic villain in October, slowly working our way through the gauntlet of his eponymous mini-series!

It's staggering to think it's now been more than ten years since the terror first began -- and we aren't even halfway!

Solomon Grundy is seven issues unto itself, but was also preceded by a Faces Of Evil Special, and two very fun additional issues that spilled into Superman/Batman. I hope to cover them all!

So far we've seen Grundy take down Killer Croc, go two rounds with The Demon in issues #1 & #2, and butt heads with Bizarro in issue #3.

That particularly savage sewer showdown with Killer Croc was also the last time we saw Grundy secure a victory. He may have an intimidating visage, but the hulking swamp-zombie hasn't fared well against the opening cavalcade of demons and monsters coming his way.

Despite the titular villain's struggles, these slugfests have provided the primary thrills so far. However, the series takes a slight turn with Solomon Grundy #3.

Poison Ivy clearly presents a far less monstrous menace than the rest. She plays to the more obscure thematic intrigue of beauty versus beast, and a plant-commanding villainess against a wood-logged swamp zombie.

I pondered the possibility of Poison Ivy being uniquely suited to manipulating Solomon Grundy earlier in the Tape section, but it's fair to say we didn't really get a conclusive answer from this battle.

Grundy remained in the mortal form of Cyrus Gold throughout the fight, which means the tradition of his body possessing wood-matter from Slaughter Swamp didn't really present itself.

Poison Ivy also didn't really appreciate who she was dealing with until it was much too late. By then, her garden gazebo was already reduced to a cursed crop of death. It could be argued Grundy himself is literal dead wood and she wouldn't have governance over him, anyhow. That's probably the case, but their loose elemental affiliation is a nice idea to think about.

It mustn't be forgotten that there are mysterious forces working behind the events of the series. The ticking clock is counting down to Blackest Night, with each issue representing another lost day. Grundy's presence as a figure of death and "The Grey" does well to allude to this fact, even though it isn't yet explicit.

I appreciate the vague relationship the series, and its week-long quest, has with the Solomon Grundy nursery rhyme, as well.

Poison Ivy's penchant for planting a kiss on her victims is probably about as convincing an allusion to our monstrous Grundy being wed on Wednesday as you're going to get. I presume that was a Scott Kolins flourish, providing a smooth transition from the previous issue's impact zone and plant pot joke.

I continue to be a real admirer of Kolins' work on this series. There's a rough and raw quality to the pencils that really compliments the action. Michael Atiyeh on colors does some great work, too. This issue in particular pops with day time yellow as backdrop to deep blacks. Very nice!

If you'd like to check the entirety of the series out for yourself, you might have to do some work to find a collected edition. If you shop via the Amazon link supplied, you'll help support Secret Wars on Infinite Earths for another year!

Follow links throughout this article for discover more from these and other characters. You can find and discover even more battles by diving in to the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order publisher, series, and issue number!

Follow on Twitter and Facebook to get links to daily fights inspired by the topics of the day! Be sure to like and share your favourite superhero smackdown!

Winner: Solomon Grundy
#135 (+238) Solomon Grundy
#386 (-13) Poison Ivy

SOLOMON GRUNDY versus BIZARRO

Christened On A Tuesday (DC)
Where: Solomon Grundy #2 When: June 2009
Why: Scott Kolins How: Scott Kolins

The Story So Far...
19th century Gotham City was home to an evil soul called Cyrus Gold. With blood on his hands, he was cursed upon death to forever rise again from his unmarked grave in Slaughter Swamp! Now he terrorizes the modern world as Solomon Grundy!

Caught in an endless cycle of death and resurrection, the shambling monster is forever drawn to new acts of evil as an unstoppable undead creature - until now?...

A mysterious force has given Cyrus Gold seven days to end his curse, but dark forces conspire to prolong the agony of Solomon Grundy! Waylaid by The Demon Etrigan, a murderous Cyrus Gold was restored only to meet another grim end in a scrapyard. Now Solomon Grundy is loose in Gotham and fate would have it that a LexCorp transport carrying Bizarro now lies in his path!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Bizarro 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Solomon Grundy 2 (Average)
Speed: Bizarro 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Bizarro 6 (Generator)
Agility: Solomon Grundy 2 (Average)
Fighting: Solomon Grundy 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Bizarro 3 (Explosives)
Total: Bizarro 24 (Champion)

Last time we looked at Solomon Grundy #2: it was a second round bout with The Demon! Now we're back for the main event! They're big, weird, and ugly -- but who'll come out on top when super-villains meet in a cover clash?

Solomon Grundy is exceptionally strong, but the supernatural slugger from Slaughter Swamp hasn't had a good run on The Comic Book Fight Club! He's become a bit of a punching bag in the modern age, shambling through quick done-in-one fights that put the hero over before they move on to bigger fish.

2004 was a bad year when Sand and the Justice Society toppled Grundy in JSA #65, followed by Hawkman, Hawkgirl, & Monolith in a team takedown a month later, in Hawkman #33! Thing's weren't much better a few years later: Grundy was cooked in the first round with The Demon, before he was sent back to the grave by a lethal underwater loss in the aforementioned finish!

A one-on-one bout of sewer smackdown against Killer Croc delivered Grundy's only recorded win - a vicious victory in Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy #1! It's a far cry to the days of troubling Superman and Green Lantern, but it was a fine demonstration of Grundy's strength and ferocity, never the less!

Superman usually got the better of Grundy in the end, which could be an indicator for his chances with Bizarro! The chalk-faced doppelganger is only a step off from The Man of Steel when it comes to raw strength and endurance!

Bizarro's powers can be a little inconsistent, but popular inversions include fire breath and freeze vision. Both could cause problems for Grundy, whose body is a supernaturally durable compound derived from swamp bog and wood!

Fortunately for his opponents - strategy isn't Bizarro's forte! His backwards logic goes beyond bizarro-speak, sometimes reducing him to a stumbling idiot. That doesn't mean he's any less deadly, though. The "pretty lights" of the Human Bomb's explosions only fuelled Bizarro's brutal beatdown in Infinite Crisis #1!

Solomon Grundy is known to be tactically challenged, but his best chance for victory may be catching Bizarro wrong-footed! Otherwise, the bruiser from Bizarro World may just be too naturally powerful for the overgrown zombie!

The Tape: Bizarro Ranking: Bizarro (#178)

What Went Down...
Rising from the squashed carcass of Cyrus Gold -- the monster Solomon Grundy is in a rage! He crushes the heads of two LexCorps truck drivers and assaults their radio. The disruption awakens the living cargo inside!

Unharmed by the explosion he ignited: Bizarro emerges from the smoldering wrecked carriage! "Bizarro no am free! Me no like free!"

Grundy was made to pause by the explosion, mildly perplexed at the strange being emerging from the fire. Bizarro grabs the shambling monster by the arm and examines him, perceiving a "tree-man" with his unique vision. This triggers memories of an "ugly ugly tree" and love in Bizarro, who hugs his friend!

Solomon Grundy doesn't take kindly to the unexpected act of affection! The monster articulates his aggression, before sending Bizarro hurtling away with an all mighty punch! The friendship has apparently ended!

Bizarro rockets out of the wreckage of the overpass he crash-landed in, flying a beeline for Solomon Grundy! He hits his target perfectly, driving Grundy's body through a nearby building - leaving another explosion in their wake!

Grundy attempts to free himself, smashing his massive fists against either side of Bizarro's head! The blow briefly stuns the aerial villain, leaving both to plummet uncontrollably towards an electric power station below!

The hulking bodies crash through wires and power coils erupting in a blinding flash of electricity! The durable pairing survives lethal voltage, rising on hands and knee with a sizzle and crackle of lingering charge.

Bizarro laughs at the tickle and renews his appreciation for Grundy, "Me hate you -- what your name?" Maddened by Bizarro's inverted reference, Grundy dives at the well-meaning menace! Bizarro awkwardly floats clear.

Missing the target only seems to fuel Solomon Grundy's rage. Moments later, the pair are airborne once more - on a collision course with an extravagant Gotham City penthouse! They crash through the glass of a greenhouse!

Bizarro comments on the "ugly plant room" as a flower pot smashes over his head. The sight of Bizarro with a yellow flower on his noggin finally brings Solomon Grundy around. The grounded pair share a hearty laugh.

The villains cease fighting and Bizarro retrieves a hotdog cart for an early breakfast. The pair chow down and watch the sun rise over Gotham City. Alas, the dawning of a new day triggers Grundy's cursed transformation back to Cyrus Gold. Confused by the unconscious mortal, Bizarro shakes him and leaves.

The Hammer...
Once again the curse of Solomon Grundy has descended upon the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths! It's a bonus round of monster mayhem to satisfy the dark spirits of Halloween!

It's becoming a fun tradition to return to Scott Kolins' now-underrated 2009 mini-series! The gauntlet of superhero & monster mash was always a natural fit for The Comic Book Fight Club, making it a series I've wanted to document in its entirety, since release.

For those coming in late: The path of destruction began with a sewer showdown in the one-shot special Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy! From Killer Croc, he moved on to two rounds with The Demon in Solomon Grundy #1 and #2. Which brings us, at long last, to the second-issue cover battle against Bizarro!

It kinda comes about by happenstance, but the ominous vibe of Cyrus Gold's curse, and disembodied warnings of grim future consequence, creates a foreboding ripe for grim twists. It's cosmic bad luck Cyrus got crushed in a scrapyard by a falling crane magnet. Worse luck that it happened opposite a LexCorp transport lorry carrying one of Superman's weirdest enemies!

Bizarro has an innate monstrous quality that bridges superhero colour with the macabre tone of the Solomon Grundy series. It's almost a funhouse reflection of Grundy's battles with Superman in the 70s. The mini won't exclusively pit the title villain against dark or monstrous creatures, but its at its best when it does.

This Halloween I've found myself lurching to the tune of Universal Monsters and Hammer Horror. There's more than a little of that spirit in these pages! It's hard not to think of Frankenstein when the two battling behemoths crash through gothic stone and electrically charged coils. Really fun!

The DC version of Frankenstein's Monster is actually one of the characters who shows up in a future issue! Something to look forward to! The next opponent is Poison Ivy: teased when Bizarro leaves Cyrus Gold's unconscious body in the Gotham greenhouse, to be overwhelmed by encroaching flora.

The comedic finish to Grundy v Bizarro may disappoint fans of the beat 'em up aspect, but I thought oscillating between violent rage and comedy was a nice way to play up the unique quirkiness of the characters - Bizarro, in particular. It was a nice come down after the viciousness of the Etrigan finale. There'll be plenty of smash 'em, bash 'em action to satisfy later in the series.

If you can't wait for next Halloween to find out what happens next - why not pick yourself up a collected edition of Solomon Grundy? By using the Amazon purchase link provided, you keep the curse of death at bay by ensuring Amazon support the site at no cost to you!

You can seek out more spooky smackdown by exploring links throughout this article, by taking from the treat of Cover to Cover: Hard Hitting Halloween Horrors, or by summoning the Secret Archive for a complete index of ancient battles arranged by publisher, series, and issue number!

Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#135 (+43) Bizarro
#381 (+2) Solomon Grundy

THE DEMON versus SOLOMON GRUNDY

Christened On A Tuesday (DC)
Where: Solomon Grundy #2 When: June 2009
Why: Scott Kolins How: Scott Kolins

The Story So Far...
In the 19th century, Gotham City was home to a wicked soul named Cyrus Gold. With much blood on his hands, he was cursed in death to forever rise from his unmarked grave in Slaughter Swamp as the beast Solomon Grundy!

Caught in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, the shambling monster is forever drawn to new acts of evil as an unstoppable undead creature - until now?

A mysterious force has intervened to give Cyrus Gold seven days to end his curse and finally put his soul to rest! His former nemesis The Green Lantern is charged with aiding him in his quest, but as they soon find out, not everyone wants Solomon Grundy gone before The Blackest Night!

Infernal forces intend to keep Cyrus Gold's soul in turmoil - sending an agent to keep him from his mission. While Green Lantern struggles in the cursed marsh of Slaughter Swamp - The Demon, Etrigan attacks! Now Solomon Grundy must fight for his death - or be dragged to new depths by his newest nemesis!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Solomon Grundy 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: The Demon 2 (Average)
Speed: The Demon 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Solomon Grundy 6 (Generator)
Agility: The Demon 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: The Demon 3 (Explosive)


Can you say Round 2? It was almost a year ago when last we saw The Demon versus Solomon Grundy! It was a battle right out of Hell - waged on Devil's Night, to signal the impending return of Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!

In that particular showdown: The Demon was decreed the victor - even though the circumstances of the win were left open to continuation. For twelve months the ultimate fate of that fight has thus been left undecided - until now!

The beginning of their battle was a showcase of distinct advantages. Solomon Grundy demonstrated an obvious physical strength, allowing him to manhandle The Demon and turn chunks of the surrounding scenery into deadly weapons!

Etrigan took everything the powerhouse zombie was able to throw at him - practically relishing the pain! The Demon's resilience is an obvious asset in this case, but he's also able to give as good as he gets with little concern for himself or others! The fight ended when he sent Solomon Grundy (and himself) plummeting from a demolished bridge into the waters below!

The change in arena isn't an insignificant detail!

Solomon Grundy may be carrying the wear and tear of Round 1 into today's feature fight, but he does so into water - an environment more closely resembling the swamp from which he rose! He certainly looked at home splashing around in sewer water when he dealt an all mighty defeat to Killer Croc in Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy #1!

Water probably shouldn't douse the deadly demonic flames spewed forth by Etrigan, but in traditional lore, water can at least be considered an unfriendly element to any spawn of Hell. That might be enough to slow The Demon down!

Grundy's no stranger to being water logged, but will a late night dip spell a comeback for the shambling monster once called Cyrus Gold?l Let's find out!

The Tape: The Demon Ranking: The Demon (#45)

What Went Down...

The carnage happening around them hardly matters as they plummet towards the water below! Solomon Grundy and The Demon: locked in battle - engulfed in flames!

Etrigan, in that way he does, asks prophetically if Grundy has ever died on a Tuesday. He has seven days to put the soul of Cyrus Gold to rest. A fools quest when The Demon is charged with waylaying it with a fresh death!

The fire is extinguished as the warring monsters smash into the water!

Solomon Grundy clutches at The Demon's cape as the hellspawn rides his foe into the darkness of the water. Bubbles toil as they thrash in trouble.

Etrigan plunges his clawed fist into the marshy bog of Solomon Grundy's chest. He expects to find a beating heart, but instead pulls away a fist of the muck that constitutes Grundy's endless form!

The zombie's eyes burn with intensity - something resembling a wry smile across his toothy grin. Undeterred, he returns the favour by ramming his own hulking fist through The Demon's trunk!

The impalement draws a lone, wailing shriek in a chorus of hellfire from the usually rhyming Demon! Perhaps it was agony - or something else?

Aggression turns to uncertainty as Solomon Grundy recognizes something changing at the end of his fist. Still attached to The Demon by the hole he made with his fist - Grundy is at ground zero as hellfire explodes from Etrigan's chest!

Bathed in the inferno, Solomon Grundy is reduced to a weighty charred corpse!

The zombie drifts silently into the dark abyss, his body bubbling as the hellfire engulfing it dissipates. Etrigan watches with demonic glee as his cargo slowly sinks. He swims to meet it, pulling the lifeless head from its burnt body.

The Hammer...

Last time we needed careful deliberation to determine the winner of the fight via decision. This time the result is as plain as the look on Grundy's decapitated face: The Demon, Etrigan wins!

I've been eager to get back to this one, if only for completion's sake. The seven issues of Solomon Grundy pit him against a different foe for each day of the week, and if you paid attention to the cover at the start of this entry - you know Bizarro is the real marquee opponent of the second issue!

As much as I would've liked a decisive Etrigan win in the first issue (for purely selfish reasons), I do appreciate the way this eases the series into what is ultimately a seven issue gauntlet. I imagine in collected or digital formats, the pause goes mostly unnoticed. We aim to deal in original format here.

The more I come back to it, I find myself appreciating a lot about this series. By not rushing to contain The Demon to that first issue, Scott Kolins gets a chance to play his action big and rough at all the right times. It suits the monster comic tone of the story, and really gives him room to create atmospheric panels and some signature art. I'm not sure if it's the best work of his career, but it was a period where he seemed to be coming into his own (again).

Green Lantern shows up just as the fight is ending -- too late to serve in his role as guiding light to the soul of Cyrus Gold. I'm always happy to see the Golden Age heroes in contemporary action, GL especially. The fact that their existence has been so precarious in the last five to six years of DC Comics makes it all the sweeter to go back and read these issues. It isn't deep, but it's fun.

The classic, heroic Grundy nemesis will play a continuous role throughout the 2009 mini-series, which ties indirectly into the conspiracy of events that is and was Blackest Night.

I'm hoping over time we can work our way through each battle leading up to Blackest Night, when the action spills over into bannered issues of Superman/Batman. It was an interesting extension you might miss if you didn't know to look for it. We've got a long way to go before then, though!

I was hoping October might be the month to get a couple of Solomon Grundy feature fights on the books, but it looks like Secret Wars on Infinite Earths will be going to Hell for the next few weeks. Literally!

If you're really hungry for more Grundy, be sure to share this link and leave a comment below. In the mean time, you can get yourself the full story by using the Amazon purchase link provided! Doing so helps keep the secret wars infinite!

You can also find plenty more review and retrospective by following links throughout, or diving into the Secret Issue Index!

Winner: The Demon
#33 (+12) The Demon (Etrigan) [+1 kill]
#361 (-2) Solomon Grundy