Originally published August 23rd 2017
Solomon Grundy born on a Monday, died on a Saturday. Every article written about him starts with the nursery rhyme. It's officially part of his origin and immediately recognized by fans. That's all fine and dandy but I prefer to think of him as the villain who made Clamdiggers cool. Some of you may refer to them as Capri pants. The fact remains, Solomon could easily show up at Pee Wee Soccer practice and mix with the Moms.
"Grundy did you forget the orange slices again?"
Fashion choices aside, I can't say I've ever been overly fond of the character. There are actually a lot of cool elements there. A reanimated corpse spawned from Slaughter Swamp. Totally creepy monster. Has swapped dukes with just about every major hero in the DC Universe. Then I remember the negatives that turn me off. Talks like a buffoon. Resorts to petty crime. Frankenstein wants his shtick back.
I needed to find just the right avenue to get my Grundy on. Previously my exposure tended to come from his misadventures with Swamp Thing. This time around, I traveled 52 years in the past and cracked open a copy of Showcase #55 cover dated April, 1965. "Solomon Grundy goes on a Rampage" isn't the snappiest title but it was written and drawn by legendary creators Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson.
I may have gone a little overboard talking about Grundy as the issue actually features some DC luminaries not to be sniffed at. Dr.Fate, Hourman and Green Lantern are the hot tickets in town. One of which, like Grundy, I need a little help in gaining respect for. Hopefully, this book can kill two birds in that department. Who of that trio could I possibly roll my eyes over? Hourman. The guy pops a pill and gets powers for one hour. Kinda lame, I mean there's tons of dudes who down a Viagra and claim to have super strength running around nowadays. Plus, where the hell did he buy that cape? Maybe he just snagged a beach towel from someones clothes line.
"I assure you, this cougar was properly dried before I punched it in the spleen."
First thing you need to know about this story is doors aren't cool anymore. At least not in the traditional sense. Knob salesmen look away this will be the stuff of nightmares. It appears that during the 60's entering via rectangle was quite square. Walking through walls or access via a hatch was all the rage. Thankfully this was fixed post crisis, resulting in bad guys knocking prior to shooting you.
"Finding someone willing to deliver a pizza is impossible around here."
Grundy has returned to Earth. During a previous battle with the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott, he was imprisoned in an emerald globe and shot into space. Able to shift his weight around, he navigated his way through the cosmos back to his beloved marsh. The impact attracted the attention of Dr.Fate. Arriving at the crash site he magically reassembles the shards and is amazed that G.L. can blow such a big bubble from a single stick of gum.
"Will the Lanterns ever learn? Forcing your balls on us doesn't work!"
Didn't take long for me to find another reason to dislike Hourman. When he's not frolicking around in Sears latest bath linens, you can call him Rex Tyler. Proud owner of the Tyler Chemical Company just outside of beautiful Gotham City. What's the problem with this secret alias? Not much besides the fact he's responsible for a crap ton of pollution. Think there's any three eyed frogs out there cursing his name? Hmm...we may have to revisit that later.
"Are thought balloons admissible in court?"
Hourman is eager to protect all that sweet radioactive sludge so he trudges into the swamp with a handful of his "Miraclo" capsules. Solomon comes out swinging and promptly puts Rexy on his keester. Dr. Fate swoops in with a slew of spells that do diddly-poo until he pulls an odd one out of the deck. Remember the cover image where he's crackling with energy and stiff like he stole Hourman's prescription? Turns out to be a case of playing possum. Grundy believes he has Fate dead to rights but gets frozen in place by contact. Probably jealous that Fate's mannequin routine is more interesting than his entire backstory, Hourman plants a punch into Grundy's bread basket ruining the entire trap.
"DC should have considered copyrighting Man-Thing."
This ill timed blow proved to be pretty costly. Not only did it allow Grundy to get away but Hourman basically just crossed the streams. It figures he'd be the one to bring the bad juju. Now, not only do their powers fail when they are in close proximity, they can't control the urge to kill each other. It also created a side effect where Solomon Grundy attracts objects made of wood. As he stomps off, all the junk from Grandma's back yard follows suit.
"Hey, it's got 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes already!"
Wanting revenge on his jailer, Solomon struts into Gotham and robs a bank. Green Lantern arrives and we're subjected to the worst weakness in comics. Yep, Alan Scott can't handle wood. The debris Grundy had hovering around put G.L. down for the count. Undone by a broken coffee table leg. Oh, the humanity! Grundy scoops him up and back to Slaughter Swamp they go. FYI, flicking a toothpick at him is just as effective as a thunderbolt.
"If Pinocchio shows up... he's screwed."
Meanwhile, Dr.Fate and Hourman have realized by staying at a reasonable distance the spell wears off. Unfortunately there's no time for high fives or bro hugs . That toxic waste the Tyler Corporation has been dumping transformed Alan into a Grundy Lantern! It's as cool as you imagine but short lived. Fate finally whips up an incantation that works reverting him to human form. The three heroes use their individual abilities to wear Grundy down. What to do with him? Surprise! They encase him in yet another orb and knock him out of orbit like a cue ball.
"Buddy, hate to break it to you but a visit to the dermatologist is in order."
Sure I poked a decent amount of fun at it but Showcase #55 was awesome. Just a really fun read all around. It may be one of my favorite silver age yarns to be honest. Holding up extraordinarily well, this classic is a testament to the talents of Fox and Anderson. I highly recommend you pick this up, physical or digital.
Can I say I'm more of a Grundy fan after checking this out? Maybe a little. This did nothing to change my perception of the dumb lug but I'm more interested in checking out his adventures, especially from this era. What I will say, without a doubt, Hourman can take a hike. Give me the android version any day of the week. He deserves credit for one thing though. Rex Tyler was rocking a time piece for a necklace long before Flavor Flav was even born. Now stop polluting the environment and ditch the stupid costume ya jerk.
-David Schutz
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