Villain Profile: Green Goblin Part 1

We’ll end this with a true monster. An unfeeling, hate filled creature that is hell bent on causing as much misery and pain that he can. This man is one of Spider-Man’s most dangerous and powerful foes, the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn is one of Spider-Man’s oldest villains, and one of the most dangerous baddies of the Marvel Universe. Be it as Norman or the Goblin, he’s capable of causing misery and woe on a colossal scale. Let’s get to it.  

He'll reign fiery death on Spider-Man.

Norman Osborn’s life, like so many villains, started with an abusive father. His father, Amberson, was originally a brilliant scientist and business man. But after losing control of his company he became an alcoholic, wife and son beating butt-face. These tendencies made Norman despise his father, and also caused the young man to believe that you're only worth something if you are literally worth something. Basically money > everything else. In Norman's eyes, at least. He felt that the worst parts of his father came from his inability to provide for himself and his family. Norman vowed to never be like that, but I’d argue that his obsession with success made him as bad a human and parent as his father. But I’ll get more into that in a bit. Norman also started torturing small animals as a stress reliever. Which is an early sign of a serial killer, FYI.

When Norman went away to college, he studied chemistry and electrical engineering. Two skills that will help him with his business, and personal, supervillainy endeavors. He also met and married his college sweetheart, who gave birth to their son Harry a short time later. Around this time, Norman founded Oscorp Industries with one of his professors, Mendel Stromm. Oscorp quickly flourished, but Norman’s personal life took a major hit. His wife died just before Harry’s first birthday. This led to Norman becoming obsessed with work, which made him neglect Harry. I wonder which is more damaging, the physical abuse Norman suffered, or the emotional abuse he dished out to Harry? A conversation for another day. As part of his new need to be the best in the business, Norman set his sights on being the sole owner of Oscorp. To do so, he framed Stromm for embezzlement and called the cops. After Stromm was put away, Norman started leafing through Stromm’s stuff for ideas to market. He discovered Stromm was working on an experimental formula that Stromm theorized would increase the user’s strength and intelligence. Norman, I’m assuming with cartoon dollar signs in his eyes, attempted to create the serum. Either because he rushed the formula, or because he was a less skilled chemist than Stromm, the formula turned bright green and blew up in his face. The formula had the desired effect, greatly increasing Norman’s strength and intellect, but also completely unhinging Norman’s psyche. He designed a purple and green costume, built a glider and some specialized grenades, and started calling himself the Green Goblin.

Green Goblin planned to become the top crime lord of New York. He planned to kill Spider-Man, to cement his status as New York’s top criminal. He attacked Spider-Man several times, either personally or by hiring other criminals to attack the wall crawler. Around this time, Stromm got out of prison, and plotted vengeance. He built a robot army and attacks Norman and Oscorp. Spider-Man saved Norman’s life, and Stromm died of a heart attack. Wanting to know Spider-Man’s identity, he created a gas grenade that would nullify Spider-Man’s Spider Sense. As the Green Goblin, he quietly stalked Spider-Man until he changed back into his street clothes. He was shocked to discover that Spider-Man was Peter Parker, a smart classmate of his son Harry. He uses another gas grenade to knock Peter out, and then kidnaps him. He took Peter to his waterfront base, and unmasks himself to gloat over his captured foe. Peter tricked Norman into monologuing about his transformation into the Green Goblin. This gave Peter enough time to escape his bindings and the two fight. In the fight, Peter knocked Green Goblin into some electrical wires, mildly electrocuting Norman and wiping out his memory of being the Goblin. To help his friend’s father avoid the shame of being outed as a Supervillain, Spider-Man burned the costume and the base to the ground, and told the authorities that Norman had been kidnapped by Gobby and helped him defeat the menace. Peter would later regret this decision.

Cartoony, but still an overall good movie.

Over the next few years, Norman would continually regain and lose his memories about being the Green Goblin. The plot lines pretty much go; recover memory, plot something evil, be foiled, something silly happens to wipe out the memory again. This all culminated in a very dark story line. Norman Osborn met Peter’s girlfriend Gwen Stacey at a bar. Using his natural charisma, and his ability to manipulate others, he seduced Gwen and had a one-night stand with her. This left Gwen with a big problem that would pop up in about nine months. Gwen left for Europe and gave birth to her and Norman’s twins, Gabriel and Sarah. When Gwen returned, Norman tried to seduce her again, but she refused. She planned on telling Peter everything. Being told his least favorite word, No, caused Norman to snap and revert to his Green Goblin persona. He kidnapped Gwen, and took her to the top of a bridge. When Spider-Man arrived, Norman threw Gwen to the pavement. Spider-Man valiantly tried to save her, but instead accidentally snapped her neck when he webbed her ankle to save her. Spider-Man became obsessed with revenge. He tracked down the Goblin to his hideout. The two have an intense fight, but in the end Norman accidentally kills himself with his own glider. Or so it seemed.

The “goblin formula” which gives Norman his powers, also gave him a healing factor. He regenerated at the morgue, and escaped. He traveled to Europe, collected his twins, and plotted revenge. He orchestrated several plots to destroyed Spider-Man. The coup de grace being manipulating another Spider-Man villain, The Jackal, into creating several clones of Spider-Man. He also uses his criminal ties to plant the idea in Spider-Man’s mind that he’s a clone and that another clone, who called himself Ben Reilly, was the original. Norman was infuriated that Peter kept fighting despite these problems. He reveals himself as being alive, on Halloween no less, and attacks New York. In the huge battle that took place, Norman again attempts to murder Spider-Man with his glider. Reilly heroically sacrifices himself to save Peter, and melts to dust upon his death, which reveals to Peter that he is the real Spider-Man. Peter defeats the Goblin, and mourns the death of Ben Reilly. Of course, Norman wasn’t defeated for long. He quickly returned to menace Peter Parker and Spider-Man once again. I’ll be returning to Norman again on another post, since he has such a huge impact on the Civil War and what follows.

Norman Osborn gained super strength and intelligence by the “Goblin Formula” that he stole from former partner Mendel Stromm. He specializes in electronics and chemistry, but is also developed skills in genetics, robotics, and physics. Norman was emotionally unstable before being exposed to the Goblin Formula, which pushed him into full on psychopath. As the Green Goblin he uses a variety of bombs to disorientate or kill his enemies. He also uses his goblin glider to fly around and attack his foes. He designs or steals all of the technology that he uses.

This is a face that screams "Vengeance will be Mine!"

Green Goblin, as one of Spider-Man’s “Big Three” antagonists, has appeared in every single Spider-Man related franchise. The other two being Doc Oct and Venom. I’ll stick to the highlights, obviously. One thing that I will note, is that most series paint Norman as being an emotionally distant but still overall a better dad than he actually is. In the comics, I would never say he loved Harry. Harry was an extension of Norman’s worth, which is the only reason Harry matters to him. It’s not a father’s love, but that of an owner.

 He was a major antagonist in Spider-Man: The Animated Series back in the 90s. He was an industrialist that was blackmailed into working with the Kingpin and the Hobgoblin. Interestingly, in the comics, Norman became the Green Goblin first, and the Hobgoblin later appeared to fill the power vacuum after Norman’s disappearance. In this series, it was the opposite. He was exposed to goblin gas, and found a cache of Hobgoblin’s tech in his own lab. He dons the now Green costume, having been altered by the green gas, and sets about kidnapping and torturing those that attacked him personally. The Green Goblin is an alternative personality in this version. Peter discovers this, and saves the individuals Green Goblin had kidnapped. A blow to the head turns Green Goblin back to Norman, but he would revert several times to his villainous person as the series went on.

Norman is one of the main antagonists of Ultimate Spider-Man. I’ve said before that I don’t really care for the series, but I have to give it praise for Norman Osborn and Doctor Otto Octavius. While other characters are rather watered down, these two are some of the best versions of the characters I’ve seen. Norman is an indirect baddy for the first season. He finances many of the villains that attack Spider-Man. He also created Doc Oct, having saved Octavius’ life after a lab accident left his paralyzed from the neck down. He makes his first appearance as the Green Goblin in the season one finale, when Otto injected him with a cocktail of Spider-Man and Venom DNA. Payback for keeping him locked away in a lab for several years. It transforms him into a hulking green behemoth called the Goblin. He goes from rampaging monster to full on sadist over the course of the two-part finale. He's a major antagonist in the following seasons, he tries to turn over a new leaf after being cured of the Goblin Formula, but reverts when Octavius give him another dose.

One of the most iconic deaths in comics
Partially because they haven't
brought her back.

He appeared in Spider-Man back in 2002. He’s portrayed by the amazing Willum Dafoe. In this version, he’s again an industrialist and an overall better dad to Harry. He’s desperate to finish a performance enhancing drug as part of a military contract. Despite the reservations of partner Doctor Stromm, he tests the formula on himself. This gives him a split personality, driving him insane. He murders Stromm, and then his business rivals. He also kills his board of directors when they tell him he’s fired. He meets Spider-Man during the board killing. He outmatches Spider-Man, but is forced to flee when Spider-Man damages his glider. He shouts as he flies off, “WE’LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDER-MAN!” After discovering Peter Parker is Spider-Man, he attacks Peter personally. Striking at his Aunt May, hospitalizing her. He then kidnaps Mary Jane Watson and takes her to the top of a bridge. He throws Mary Jane from the bridge, but Peter saves her. They have a final fight, in which Norman impales himself. His death causes a rift between Harry and Peter. Harry blames Spider-Man and resents the fact Peter seems to still "side" with Spider-Man.

Dafoe reprises his role in Spider-Man 2. In it, he’s a hallucination that haunts Harry after his son learns Peter Parker is Spider-Man. He demands that Harry avenge him. Harry destroys the mirror he saw Norman in, and discovers his Goblin equipment.

Chris Cooper played Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. In it, he suffers from a fake disease called retroviral hyperplasia, which causes green sores on the body and clawed fingertips. Why he couldn’t be dying of a real disease like Parkinson’s I’ll never know. He dies in the first act. Harry takes on the role of Green Goblin.

 The Green Goblin is an awful human being, which makes him an amazing villain. He’s an amoral psychopath, hell bent on destroying Spider-Man. Nothing is sacred to Norman, he’ll attack any perceived weakness, any personal flaw, anything to destroy those that get in his way. Norman is such an awful human being that he has, and probably will again, use his own children to further his own designs. I’ll use the Gabriel and Sarah example again. When he arrived in Europe, he discovered two children that rapidly aged to adulthood. The Goblin Formula in their DNA having caused the twins to grow at an accelerated rate. He took these two in, shaped them into his perfect heirs, and the entire time told them that Peter Parker was their father and it’s his fault their mother died. So they'd hate Peter, so that they'd hunt Spider-Man with all their fury. No bond is sacred to Norman. He’s the psychotic industrialist, the pumpkin hurling maniac, the twisted sociopath, the all-around awful human being, Green Goblin. Happy Halloween! Next time, we'll be talking about the Main Man, Lobo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Osborn#/media/File:Amazingspiderman39.jpg

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Hero Profile: Blade

Another important creature associated with Halloween is the Vampire. And I’m not talking those sparkly little “paranormal romance” characters that seem to constantly want to have relations with their primary food source. I’m talking about the scary, long fanged, blood sucking, human killing, holy artifact avoiding, possibly magic using, soulless, creatures of the night. The monsters as they were envisioned in the minds of superstitious folks. The things that go BUMP in the night. And when someone like me thinks about Vampires, my mind also inevitably shifts over to the scariest, most awesome, and effective monster slayer around, Blade.

Monster's beware. He's out to get you.

The Daywalker was conceived all the way back in 1920s England. His mother, Tara Brooks, was a “Working Girl” in Soho that was assumedly impregnated by one of her johns. Tara’s developing son probably would have lived out life as a street Urchin had his mother not had severe labor pains. A doctor was called, but he wasn’t your usual MD. This doctor’s name was Deacon Frost, and he was a vampire. Frost, rather than saving the “Flower Girl” and her child, feasted on Tara as she gave birth to her son. I’m just going to go out on a limb here and guess that this might be the most painful birth in the history of mankind. It’s because of Frost feeding on Tara that her son became what he is. As Frost fed, he released special enzymes into Tara, who inadvertently passed said enzymes onto her boy. These enzymes altered the infant Brooks’ physiology, making him a bit more like the monster that feasted on his mother. Whether Frost realized this or not, he tried to off the baby too, but was driven off by Tara’s fellow “Ladies of the Evening.” The Ladies took the baby to Madame Vanity, their “boss.” The boy was named Eric and raised by the... Nightwalkers. Eric’s life was relatively normal until he was nine. While coming home from school in late December he happened across an old man being attacked by Vampires.

The boy helped the old man fight the blood suckers, and said old man finished the creatures off with a silver cane. After the crazy stuff was over, the old man introduced himself as Jamal Afari, a former jazz trumpeter and vampire hunter. After seeing Eric fight, he decided to move into Madame Vanity’s and train him to fight Vampires. And I’m sure that’s the only reason he wanted to live in a…establishment like Madame Vanity’s. Eric excelled at the training. By the time he was in his teens he was an Olympic Level athlete and near expert in hand to hand combat and edged weapons. He was so good with swords, daggers, and knives that he earned his nickname, Blade. Blade and Jamal easily dispatched the younger, weaker vampires that were in abundance in fictional London in the 30s.

Like most young people, the successes went to Blade’s head and he became rather cocky. He infiltrated a street gang called the Bloodshadows, which was run by a much older and powerful vampire named Lamia. The two have a fierce fight, Blade barely surviving the confrontation. He killed Lamia, but she killed Blade’s girlfriend, Glory. This was the first in a long line of personal tragedies for Blade. Shortly after, Jamal was killed and turned into a Vampire by Dracula. Blade swore everlasting vengeance and trailed the Vampire across the world. He was able to stake Dracula on several occasions, but the ancient Vampire was never fully destroyed. He later joined a group of Vampire Hunters, but the entire team save Blade and one other were later killed by Dracula. The surviving member retired, and Blade continued on the hunt alone.

Very little like comic Blade. But a darn good
Blade nonetheless.

He tracked Dracula to Paris, where he met a few more vampire hunters. One was Quincy Harker, the son of Jonathan and Mina Harker, two of the main characters from the Dracula novel. Another was Rachel van Helsing, Granddaughter of Abraham van Helsing, another character from Dracula. And their protégées Taj Nital and Frank Drake. Blade formed a somewhat strained alliance with these hunters and often helped them whenever they crossed paths. After unsuccessfully killing Dracula for like the 47^th time, Blade turned his attention to a much more personal vendetta, Deacon Frost. While hunting his mother’s killer, he came across a private investigator named Hannibal King, who had been turned into a vampire by Frost. The two had a hate-hate relationship when they first met. After battling an evil doppelganger of Blade, they hunted down Frost. Frost had raised an army of doppelgangers, one for each of the many victims he’s had over the centuries. Blade and King destroyed all of Frost’s doppelgangers and both staked Frost, destroying him. And while his personal vendetta ended with Frost, the hunt is far from over. The Daywalker cannot rest until all vampires are dust.

Eric Brooks’ physiology was fundamentally altered when his mother was bitten while giving birth to him. The enzymes in his system renders him immune to vampiric bites. Basically, he can’t be turned into a vampire. He was bitten by Morbius, a pseudo-vampire created by some genetic tinkering, which gave him most of this really cool powers. Blade developed super strength, speed, agility, heightened senses, and a healing factor after this encounter. He ages incredibly slowly, almost on par with Wolverine, and is immune to traditional vampire weaknesses. He’s an expert swordsman, marksman, and hand-to-hand combatant.

Blade has appeared a handful of time in various Marvel Media. Interestingly, he’s never been depicted as being British. In most series he’s depicted as American, and from Detroit. For some reason. They also play up the negative effects of Blade’s condition, typically a thirst for blood, which from what I’ve read he simply doesn’t have in the comics.

Blade has appeared as a side character in several animated shows, Spider-Man the Animated Series, Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and the Agents of SMASH.

Blade v. Dracula, who's the real Vamp king?

He appeared in a movie trilogy portrayed by actor Wesley Snipes. Interestingly, he bares almost no resemblance to the comic book Blade, other than being a Black man. I can’t even say African American because, again, Blade is British. Where Comic Blade is a tad boastful and arrogant, Movie Blade is stoic and very reserved. Unless he’s killing Vampires, then he goes nuts. He also has a thirsts for blood, which the comic character doesn’t have. The movies introduce the character of Abraham Whistler as his mentor, instead of Jamal Afari. In the first film, Blade is hunting down Deacon Frost, a powerful and psychotic Vampire who plans on becoming a Vampire God. Blade ends him.

The second film has Blade teaming up with a vampire overlord, Eli Damakinos, to destroy a mutual threat, a vampire offshoot called the Reapers. Reapers are super vampires, largely immune to silver and garlic, hearts incased in bone to protect against stakes, and a ravenous hunger. They’re described as being like Crack addicts, needing to feed a dozen time more than a normal vampire. They also feed on human and vampires, which make them Damakinos problem, too. Their main weakness is Sunlight. Blade works with a team of Vampires, and over the course of the film learns that the patient Zero, a Reaper named Jared Nomak is a lot more like him than Blade initially realized. But Blade ends him, too.

The final film, Blade: Trinity, has Blade teaming up with a group called the Nightstakers. The group, run by Whistler’s daughter Abigail, and cured-vampire Hannibal King, are planning to introduce a virus to kill all vampires, and also need to take down the original Vampire, Dracula. Like Blade, Dracula is immune to things like sunlight and silver, and is incredibly powerful. This movie gets props for not connecting their Dracula, who goes by Drake in the modern day, with Vladimir Dracula aka Vlad the Impaler, the guy that everybody else connects Dracula to. Bram Stoker just took the name folks, stop reading into things that aren’t there. I’m getting off topic. Blade and Drake have an ultimate showdown, which includes a pretty awesome sword fighting scene, before Blade ends Dracula too.

I would have considered going to this Twilight.

There was a short lived Blade TV show on Spike. Titled Blade: The Series, we see Blade, this time portrayed by Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones, in Detroit. He’s taking on a local vampire boss named Marcus Van Sciver. It only lasted a season, and to this day I have no idea if it was tied to the films or not.

The movie rights for Blade have reverted back to Marvel, whom do have a script drafted for the series. I’d love to see Blade again, but this time, maybe stick with the comic origins? A Black British superhero. Think about it, it could be awesome.

Blade is a great character. Movie or Comic book, he’s one of the most iconic monster hunters of the modern day. The shades and sword combo make for a very awesome looking character. His personal struggle against the monsters that made him makes for a very interesting character. I know him mostly from the movies and television interpretations, as I’m sure most of you are. But having researched the character a little now, I’m thinking I’m going to have to look into the comic book version a little more. I mean it mixes comics with classical literature, what could possible go wrong? With Marvel regaining the films rights, I do hope to see the Daywalker on either the big or small screen again sometime soon. Again, think about making him British this time Marvel. It’ll make him at least sound different from the rest of the Marvel Movie characters, disbarring Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange, obviously.  He’s the monster mashing, vampire hunting, sword swinging Blade. Next time, Halloween, and the Green Goblin!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_(comics)#/media/File:Blademu0.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_(comics)#/media/File:Blade_movie.jpg

http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/blade-vs-van-helsing-660174/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/484699978618744238/

Villain Profile: Mysterio

Another important part of Halloween is a bit of stage magic. Illusions and tricks are an important part of the holiday. Sometimes, tricks can be simple. Props, actors and the proper sound effects can create the illusion of a runaway train, a chainsaw wielding psycho, and some ghouls. And that was just in a simple corn maze in Southern Minnesota. Imagine what someone with a higher budget can do? Or who steals all his tech. That’s the basis for one of Spider-Man’s most persistent foes, Mysterio.

Wonder if a fortuneteller could use
his helmet as a crystal ball.

Before getting his fishbowl helmet, Mysterio was a special effects wizard and stunt man named Quentin Beck. Quentin had big dreams about becoming a household name in the film industry, but slowly became disillusioned with his effects work, feeling that the job was a dead end. He tried to bust into acting, but unfortunately, he was significantly better at stunts than running lines. Quentin eventually realized that his skills with effects and illusions would make him an effective supervillain. He created an elaborate costume, reworked some of his tech to help in his thievery, and dubbed himself Mysterio. For his firsts big crime, he dressed up as Spider-Man and framed him for robbing the Midtown Museum. He uses some of his stuntman/special effects tech to mimic Spider-Man’s wall crawling and web shooters, making it seem pretty obvious to law enforcement that Spider-Man was the culprit. Mysterio’s plan was to convince folks Spider-Man was a crook, and then introduce himself as a new hero intent on bringing Spider-Man in.

When the Wall-Crawler caught up to Mysterio, he used hallucinogenic gas to disorientate Spider-Man and block his spider-sense, and chemicals to dissolve Spider-Man’s webbing. Spider-Man made a “strategic retreat,” and Mysterio claimed victory. Spider-Man changed back into Peter Parker, introduced himself to Mysterio and stuck one of his spider-tracer tracking devices to the “hero.” Spider-Man followed Mysterio to his workshop/lair, and tricked Mysterio into revealing everything on tape. Spider-Man then beat the snot out of Mysterio and turned him and the tape over to the police. Mysterio vowed vengeance against Spider-Man. His chance came in the form of Doctor Octopus and his Sinister Six. When Mysterio’s turn at Spider-Man came up, he used robotic replicas of the X-Men and his usual sleight of hand tactics against Spider-Man. Spider-Man was able to beat the robots and Mysterio, moving on to the next villain, Sandman.

Everything about Mysterio is loud. His voice, the colors of his costume
his effects. I'm amazed he's got the subtlety for illusions.

After the Sinister Six fiasco, Mysterio tried a different tactic. He created an alias, psychiatrist Dr. Ludwig Rinehart, and used his technology and hypnosis on Spider-Man. He tried to drive the Web-Head crazy, and nearly succeeded in convincing Spider-Man to take off his mask. In a fun bit of irony, J. Johan Jameson burst into “Rinehart’s” house. Spider-Man then unmasked Mysterio and saw him get put away. He later used post-hypnotic suggestion and an elaborate set of miniatures of a funfair to convince Spider-Man that he’d been shrunk to only six inches high. Spider-Man was able to see past this elaborate hoax and again, beat the snot out of him.

He suffered a couple more major, and at times humiliating, defeats at the hands of Spider-Man before changing targets for a bit. After one of his latest schemes failed, he was released early from prison. He’d been diagnosed with lung cancer and a brain tumor, two side effects of the chemical’s he’s been using over the last couple of years. He was given a year to live. He wanted to exact vengeance on Spider-Man, but mistakenly deduced that Spider-Man had been replaced by a clone. This did totally happen, the clone Spider-Man thing, but by the time Mysterio got out the real Spider-Man was back in action. Way to screw up yet again, Beck. So he shifted his sights to another hero that had crossed his path in recent weeks, Daredevil. Mysterio felt that the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen would be the perfect foe for him, as, at the time, they were both “second stringers.” I wonder how Mysterio would react if he knew how popular DD would become by 2015?

Mysterio payed Kingpin to get all the details the evil mastermind had on Daredevil. Mysterio came up with a pretty diabolical plan to destroy Daredevil. He used a designer drug to slowly drive Daredevil insane. He nearly tricked Daredevil into killing a baby, the baby had been accused of being the Anti-Christ. Mysterio was much more effective at attacking Daredevil’s friends. He tricked Karen Page into thinking she had HIV and had her killed by Daredevil’s nemesis, Bullseye. He also framed DD’s partner Foggy Nelson for murder. He also got Daredevil to believe that the forces of Hell were after him. Daredevil was strong enough to fight through most of the effects, and got Doctor Strange to excise the remaining toxin from DD’s bloodstream.

You'd think the gas tanks he has to lug around
would make his cape bulge out more.

Daredevil learned Mysterio was behind all of his recent troubles and went to “have words” with the villain. And by that I mean they fought and Daredevil punched Mysterio so hard he shattered Mysterio’s fishbowl helmet. The thing is made out of Plexiglas, so you can probably guess how hard he had to punch the bowl. Mysterio had hoped that Daredevil would kill him, as he felt it would be a “grand way to end his final show.” His hope for a grand exit was dashed when Daredevil didn’t kill him. Daredevil instead dismissed Mysterio’s scheme as a B-Movie plot and that Mysterio had just stolen ideas from other villain’s plans. Kingpin had done the “drug him to make him nuts” idea, and that Mysterio had done “the minions of hell attacking” plot against J. Johan Jameson. This really did break Mysterio’s psyche, and he decided to steal something from Kraven the Hunter, and shot himself in the head. Again, like soooooooo many other villains, this wasn’t the end of Mysterio. Can’t even keep a B-List supervillain down.

Quinten Beck is an experience special effects designer, stage illusionist, and stunt man. He’s also a master hypnotist, and has developed skills in chemistry and robotics. He’s got a bunch of gadgets hidden away in his clock and costume. He can shoot out hallucinogenic gases from his suit, or just a normal smokescreen.  His boots have magnetic coil springs that allow him to leap huge distances, and cling to surfaces. His helmet, while silly, has some nifty things too. Like a sonar device that lets him detect things in his smokescreens, an air supply to protect him from his own dangerous gases, and can project 3d holograms.

Mysterio has appeared a few times outside the comics. As Daredevil put it, he’s more of a B-Lister in Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery. He’s the bad guy better bad guy’s hire as the distraction.

He get's points for ingenuity. Keep in mind
this is all a trick. 

He was a recurring character in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. They follow his comic book origin pretty well, in the episode “The Menace of Mysterio,” that he’s a former special effects artist that blames Spider-Man for his failed career. He’d used real bombs in a movie set, put too much gunpowder into them and nearly killed everyone in his crew. Spider-Man saved the day, and ruined his career. He used his tech to frame Spider-Man for several crimes around New York before being brought to justice. He’s part of the shows version of the Sinister Six. They call it the Insidious Six for some reason. He’s mostly back up.

He appeared as a recurring villain in The Spectacular Spider-Man. I haven’t seen his episodes, so I can’t really comment in detail. Just know that if you want to see Mysterio, he’s in this show.

Mysterio would have appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man movie franchise, had they not reached that deal with Marvel and rebooted the series again. He would have been part of Harry Osborn’s Sinister Six. No idea who would have played him.

He’s also appeared in nearly every Spider-Man game to date. Seriously, there’s nearly two dozen games that he’s a part of. Usually as a lesser supporting villain. Basically, if it’s a Spider-Man game, odds are he’s in it.

Mysterio is an okay villain. He’s essentially Spider-Man’s Scarecrow, using dangerous gas to manipulate his foe’s perception. I do like the “B-Lister” angle that the character has, a trait he shares with baddies like Shocker, and how frustrated he is about not being taken seriously. And I’ll give him points for some of his more grandiose schemes, like the tricking Spider-Man into thinking that he’s only 6 inches high. That takes a lot of time and commitment, just saying. His helmet is silly, but it is one of the most iconic villain looks that have ever been created. He’s the master illusionist, the king of stuntmen, the Mysterious Mysterio. Next time, the vampire hunting Blade.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/32d9yq/mysterio_vs_scarecrow/

Villain Profile: Mephisto

We’ve seen a “good” demon, now it’s time to look at one that is pure evil. Evil comes in many forms, sometimes it’s loud and obvious, like when guys like Lex Luthor plot world domination. But sometimes, the purest, vilest evil comes quietly, with a smile, and the promise of giving you exactly what you want. And all he wants in exchange? YOUR SOUL!  Mwhahahahahahaha! Sorry, got a little too into that one. That aforementioned subtle evil is the kind that our next villain, Mephisto, excels at. Let’s get to it.

Who looks at this guy and thinks,
"Yeah, that's a trustworthy face?"

The arch-demon commonly called Mephisto is one of the oldest and most powerful beings of the Marvel Universe. He, and other demons, claims to be have been created when the “Supreme Being” of the Marvel Universe committed suicide. Said death of Marvel’s God apparently created many of the demonic forces of the Marvel Universe and the immensely powerful Infinity Gems. Now, considering the “primary” source of this background includes Mephisto, a guy whose titles include “The Prince of Lies,” I think we should be a little skeptical about the details. Never the less, Mephisto and his kin are all extremely powerful entities that seem to like corrupting the souls of Earthlings. Surely he can offer a Kree or a Skrull some sort of Faustian Bargain as easily as they can a human. Just saying. Mephisto rules a fiery dimension that he calls “Hades” or “Hell” depending on how he’s feeling. Don’t be fooled, Mephisto doesn’t rule the “real” Hell, he’s just likes #$%*ing with people. Mephisto is a master manipulator. Everything from his physical appearance to the look of his home dimension is designed to play on the fears and expectations of Judeo-Christians, more the Christian half than the Judeo half if we’re being honest. He loves using the idea of a pure supreme evil like Satan in his deals with mortals. It apparently gives him an edge when making promises he has no intention of keeping. Heck, Mephisto might not actually be his name. It’s a shortening of Mephistopheles, the satanic figure from the legend of Faust. To be fair, since the Marvel Universe is a realm of fiction, then the German legend of Faust could have actually occurred and Mephisto may have been the demon of that legend. Hey, if Batman can meet Sherlock Holmes, and Hercules can be a superhero, anything is possible. But I’m getting off task here. Focus. Mephisto’s realm is filled with lesser demons that sometimes serve him, and other times try to double-cross him, and all those poor unfortunate souls that made deals with him.

One of the firsts documented acts of evil that Mephisto committed was tied to Cynthia von Doom. The Latverian Romani sorcerous summoned the Arch-Demon in the hopes of getting the power to punish the local ruler of Latveria, the Baron. Mephisto gladly gave her the power to kill the Baron and his men, but left out an important side effect of the magic. Cynthia marched into the closest town and started killing the Baron’s men. She was horrified to learn that the magic she was using to kill the Baron’s men also killed one child in the village with each death. Cynthia renounced the power given to her, ran off into the woods, and then died in the arms of her husband. Despite Cynthia's attempt at redemption, Mephisto still collected her soul and added it to his collection in Hades. This created one of the most…interesting rivalries of the Marvel Universe. You see, after Cynthia’s son, Victor, gained magic power and learned of his mother’s fate, he swore to free his mother. Mephisto worked out a deal with Doom, he would get to challenge the demon once a year for his mother’s soul. Doom lost every time. Why does the Prince of Lies let Doom do this? The sick monster likes screwing with people. Duh.

He's got a deal for you.

Mephisto also has a history of stalking the Silver Surfer. The Surfer possess an incredibly noble soul, the kind that Mephisto loves corrupting and collecting. Mephisto came closest to capturing the cosmic warrior by kidnapping his girlfriend Shalla-Bal and keeping her in his dimension. Unfortunately for Mephisto’s plan, the Surfer was able to follow them into Mephisto’s dimension. Mephisto does what he does best, and tries to corrupt the Surfer by offering him wealth, women and power. The Surfer resists and forces Mephisto to back down. The demon relented, but made sure to separate the Surfer and Shalla-Bal by sending them back to Earth and their home world of Zenn-La respectively. The Surfer, at the time, was trapped on Earth by a barrier created by his former master Galactus.

His most famous, and long lasting hero/villain relationship is with the demonic Ghost Rider. Johnny Blaze was a stunt cyclist who willingly souled his soul to Mephisto in order to save his stepfather, Crash Simpson, who was dying of cancer. Mephisto used his powers to heal Crash, but then later let the stunt man die in a stunt. He nearly took Blaze’s soul, but was forced back by Simpson’s daughter, Roxanne, who recited a banishment spell that she’d read in the very occult books that Johnny had used to summon Mephisto. The demon had his last laugh, though, by binding a fragment of a powerful demon named Zarathos to Johnny’s body. Zarathos had been a rival of Mephisto’s ages ago, but Mephisto had bound him around the time of Christ. Zarathos, being too powerful to be just used as a lackey, was broken into pieces. Mephisto amuses himself by forcing his former rival into human hosts, creating a human/demon bounty hunter known as the Ghost Rider. While Ghost Rider occassinally works for Mephisto, but more often does his best to ensure no one else is insured by Mephisto’s lies and tricks.

Basically, every major character of the Marvel Universe has had a run in with Mephisto at one time or another. Mephisto has a habit of appearing at just the right time, and offers just the right thing to make the heroes of the Marvel Universe forget that he’s the Prince of <bleeping> Lies. Here’s a short list. I mentioned his long standing grudges with Doctor Doom and the Silver Surfer. He magically altered the time line of Peter Parker and Mary Jane so that the two never married in exchange for healing Peter’s Aunt May. He’s battled the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, on several occasions as he tries to claim souls. Mephisto was quiet furious when Doctors Doom and Strange teamed up and freed Cynthia Von Doom’s soul from his dimension. (Doom was the runner up for Sorcerer Supreme and his prize was getting one favor out of Strange, FYI.) He’s often crossed the Fantastic Four while trying to claim the soul of Reed and Sue Richards’ omni-powerful son, Franklin. After one such encounter with Franklin, Mephisto was broken into five fragments. Two of those fragments were used to create Scarlet Witch and the Vision’s twin sons. Mephisto reabsorbed these fragments, much to Scarlet Witch’s horror. She blasted the arch-demon with all her maternal fury and anguish, causing Mephisto to retreat. Hawkeye once traveled into Mephisto’s realm to save the soul of his late ex-wife Mockingbird. He once attempted to gain the soul of the uber-righteous Nightcrawler, by offering to resurrect Kurt’s dead adoptive brother Stephan. Thankfully everyone’s favorite demon-looking Catholic had the strength of character to banish the tempter.

And there was that one time that he helped me kill one of his uppity Lieutenants. Guy had me kill a bunch of folks that he’s made deals with in a bid to destroy Mephisto. Apparently invulnerability, shapeshifting, and surviving any environment wasn’t enough to match the big bad demon.

Very true Deadpool.

And the guy does have Hitler, Attila the Hun, and Blackbeard locked in his dimension. So he’s not all bad.

Is it really a ‘good deed’ if you consider that the atrocious acts these men did were because of Mephisto’s doing?

Hmm… Fair point.

So yeah, Mephisto is a pretty evil dude.

The effects guys clearly had no idea who Mephisto is. 

Mephisto is an immensely powerful entity. He’s able to manipulate memories, alter time, project illusions, shapeshift, and has created life in the form of several demonic minions. In his home dimension he can control every aspect of reality. Should he be severely damaged or destroyed, he’ll retreat to his home dimension and regenerate. Mephisto delights in collecting souls, particularly those of people that are particularly pure or righteous. He can’t make anyone accept his deals, but he can, and does, make them as tempting as possible. Mephisto is also a master manipulator. He knows exactly what buttons to push to get folks to accept his crooked deals. Just know that regardless of how tempting the offer is, no matter what he promises, Mephisto is the only one that wins in his deals.

Mephisto has appeared a handful of times outside the comics. As far as I know, he is never called by his “real name,” and only referred to by human aliases or simply The Devil. Which has always really bugged me, not going to lie. It just seems like an unnecessary simplification. Is it so much harder to call him Mephisto and then say, “He’s a demon so powerful that some folks think he’s The Devil,”? I think not.

He was one of two major antagonists in Ghost Rider. He was played by Peter Fonda. His origin remains more or less the same, making a crooked deal with a young and impressionable Johnny Blaze. Years later, he forces Blaze to work as his bounty hunter. His first job? Hunting down “the Contract of San Venganza,” a mystical contract that Mephisto had made years ago that took the souls of an entire town. A previous Ghost Rider had stolen the contract from Mephisto and hid it away. Mephisto is particularly desperate to get this contract, as his “son” Blackheart is also after it. Overall, the film is okay. Not great, but it’s still better than say, Daredevil (Movie) or Fantastic Four, either of them.

In Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, he’s portrayed by Ciaran Hinds. I have no idea if this movie is supposed to be a sequel or reboot, as Nicholas Cage is still Ghost Rider but virtually nothing else from the previous film is mentioned. This version of Mephisto is really reworked into more of a Christian Devil, as he’s more interested in possessing a child he’d had in order to take over the world. This movie really messed up the whole shtick of Mephisto’s, as the arch-demon has no desire to rule the world. He’s 100% okay with Humans ruling the world, as we’re pretty good at making the perfect conditions for miserable folks to stupid decisions. Like trusting the Prince of Lies. I know I’m harping on this one, but seriously, why would anyone trust a demon? So yeah, if you need or want to see a Ghost Rider movie, watch the original, not Spirit of Vengeance.

Mephisto is a pretty straightforward villain. Again, he’s a demon, and powerful enough to pose as the biblical Satan. I may have trouble buying why folks continue to offer their souls in exchange for his lies, but he does make for an excellent villain. His kind of power is definitely necessary to give guys like Galactus, Thor, and the Silver Surfer a run for their money. He’s the Prince of Lies, the Master of Manipulation, the King of the Contract, Mephisto. Next time, we get mysterious with Mysterio.

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Anti-Hero Profile: Etrigan the Demon

Halloween is a time of monsters and demons. Some of these creatures are good, others are evil. The next guy is a little of both. The whole “spawn of evil trying to be good” trope has been done pretty much since the dawn of literature, but one of the guys who does it best is this guy, Etrigan the Demon. Let’s get to it.

That's right, he took down Batman.

The tale of Etrigan the Demon dates back to medieval England, in King Arthur’s Court. Granted, Etrigan himself is centuries old, being a demon, but he wasn’t really relevant to the DC Universe until this point. Etrigan is the son of a powerful demon known as Belial, and is himself an insanely powerful demon. So powerful that he piqued the interest of Merlin. Whom is in fact Etrigan’s half-brother. Merlin summoned Etrigan and used powerful magic to bind his partial sibling. Merlin attempted to learn the secrets of Etrigan and hell itself, but was unable to get anything out of him. Frustrated by this, Merlin bound Etrigan to Jason Blood, one of King Arthur’s knights. The fusion with the demon makes Jason immortal, which is kind of great, and kind of awful.

Jason disappeared for a few centuries, before reappearing in modern day Gotham City. He apparently spent the intervening years studying demons and the occult, and is a now a well-respected Demonologist. It’s around this time that he’s magically drawn to the crypt of Merlin, and discovers a poem. The poem is “Change! Change, / O’ form of Man! / Release the might from fleshy mire! / Boil the blood / in the heart of fire! / Gone, Gone the form of Man / Release the Demon, Etrigan!” Uttering the poem transforms Jason into Etrigan the Demon. Morgaine le Fey, the ancient sorceress and half-sister of Arthur, followed Jason into the crypt and tried to steal the secrets of Merlin. While Etrigan was obviously upset about being trapped in a human body for centuries, he still wouldn’t allow le Fey to steal Merlin’s secrets. Never mess with a demon’s brother. The two have a major mystical battle, with Etrigan being the victor. After this first encounter, Etrigan has become something of a reluctant hero, as Jason continually tries to use the spawn of hell for the greater good. Also, after this first encounter, Jason only really needs to say the last two lines of the poem to release Etrigan.

Sometime after being freed, Etrigan got a promotion in Hell, and started speaking in rhyme. Free verse, aa bb rhyme scheme, for those who understand poetry talk. He doesn’t have to do it, but chooses to, to show off his position in the infernal hierarchy. After Jason learned that his girlfriend was expecting, he began to worry about his legacy and the potential damage that Etrigan could cause. Jason decided to destroy his other half, and hired a metahuman assassin named Tommy Monaghan to help him. After a battle with Merlin, Jason was able to steal Etrigan’s heart, which basically forced the demon to obey Jason’s will. Jason left his daughter with her mother, feeling that even with Etrigan under his control, it was probably best that she isn't associated with her immortal wizard father. Fair point. This new arraignment between Jason and Etrigan lasted for a bit, until Monaghan learned that Jason wasn’t going to pay him. Monaghan conned Jason and Etrigan into helping him get an anti-demon rifle. Monaghan and Etrigan made a side deal, that Monaghan would steal and return Etrigan’s heart to him in exchange for the rifle. That deal went off without a hitch, but Etrigan still tried to kill Monaghan after getting his heart back. Never trust a demon folks.

Immortality, sweet. Magic powers, super sweet.
Having a demon living inside you, lame.

Jason Blood and Etrigan became the substitute Justice League Magic Expert(‘s?) after the main team got lost in a time traveling adventure. Despite Jason’s doubts about his ability to keep Etrigan under control, a pre-recorded message from Batman helped boost his confidence enough to give it a shot. Jason did well with the Justice League, and Etrigan begrudgingly went along with it. The Sub-JL was drawn into a fight with Gamemnae, a rogue sorcerous from Atlantis. Jason sacrificed himself to free fellow magic user Zatanna from Gamemnae’s control, being trapped seemingly forever in a complex magical trap. He was later freed by the Martian Manhunter, who’s telepathic powers helped Jason recite the poem to transform into Etrigan. This battle was the end of Jason and Etrigan’s tenure on the Justice League, though they would still help the team when prompted. Can’t keep a good demon down.

Etrigan is incredibly powerful, even by demon standards. He is strong enough to take on Superman or Wonder Woman, is nearly invulnerable, and can utilize incredibly powerful magic spells. Etrigan is also incredibly fast, has incredibly acute senses, and his magically enhanced fangs and claws can tear through just about anything.

Jason Blood is an expert hand-to-hand fighter, swordsman, and magic user. He’s used the ages since Camelot to hone his skills, and amass a sizeable fortune.

Etrigan and Jason Blood have appeared in a number of DC series, usually as a supporting character. I can understand not wanting to give the literal monster from Hell too much focus on screen.

His first appearance was on The New Adventures of Batman. In the episode “The Demon Within,” Jason Blood is introduced as an old friend of Bruce’s and an expert on the occult. Bruce won a magical brand at a rare items auction, which was promptly stolen by Klarion, a young and powerful sorcerer. Klarion uses the brand to split Etrigan from Blood, and turn the demon into his slave. After a long drawn out battle, Batman and Robin are able to get the brand back and destroy it. This re-fuses Etrigan and Blood. As to what to do with Klarion, Etrigan states “Mother’s grief, Father’s shame, soon he goes from whence he came.” When asked what he means, Etrigan stated flatly “I’m sending him to his room.”

Did I mention he's rather high up in Hell's
Hierarchy?

The two return in the sequel shows Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited. In “A Knight of Shadows,” we learn Jason’s animated background. In this universe, he was a knight in Arthur’s court. He was seduced by Morgaine Le Fey, and tricked into helping the sorcerous into Camelot during a siege. Morgaine then betrays Blood, biting his mouth and poisoning him. While he lay dying, Merlin appears, chastises him for betraying his vows to Arthur and then binds him to Etrigan as punishment. In the present, the magically bound duo go to the Justice League to get help protecting the philosopher’s stone from Morgaine Le Fey. He’s infuriated when team member Martian Manhunter betrays the group and helps Morgaine. The sorcerous promised to restore life to Mars and revive his family. Etrigan, and probably a bit of Jason, chastise J’onn for his gullibility before helping the League stop Le Fay.

We also see Etrigan and Blood in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In his first appearance, “Day of the Dark Knight,” Etrigan was magically enslaved by Morgaine le Fey and used in a bid to steal Excalibur. Merlin used his magic to pull Batman and Green Arrow from the future to help stop the sorcerous and the demon. Once Merlin breaks the spell that had him enthralled, Etrigan shows le Fay why it’s best to not mess with Demons. He returns in “Trials of the Demon,” where in the 19^th century, Jason Blood and Etrigan are being framed for murdering young women. Blood uses his own magic to summon Batman this time, and the two plus Sherlock Holmes uncover the scheme of one Jim Craddock and his demonic backer Astaroth.

We see Etrigan, briefly, in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. In it, he is in London, fighting invading Amazonians and Atlanteans alongside some British heroes. Interestingly, Etrigan appears to be the only character not significantly affect by the Flash “breaking time,” but this could be due to the fact that, due to his own longevity, the “time ripples” didn’t reach back far enough to alter Jason Blood or Etrigan significantly.

Etrigan is kind of an awesome monster. He has the whole fire and brimstone thing going on, and at the same time the whole Rhyming shtick makes him a bit more memorable than the demons the other have to deal with. The Anti-Hero story is one of the more popular character set ups, and with guys like Etrigan, who is literally a monster from Hell, it works wonderfully. He’s the magical monster, the hellish hero, the rhyming Etrigan. Next time, we’ll talk about one of Marvel’s most dangerous demons, Mephisto. 

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Villain Profile: Solomon Grundy

Poetry. It sticks in your head. I was an English Major in college (shocking right) and one thing that I remember from Professor Armstrong’s poetry class stating that a poem, once memorized, tends to stick there and is one of the last things lost if someone develops Alzheimer’s disease. I thought he was crazy, but almost two years later I can still quote ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen almost perfectly. Two years isn’t much, but hey, it’s a start.  Now, imagine remembering a poem after death. That’s where Cyrus Gold comes into things. Let’s get to it.

He looks good for being dead for fifty years.

Cyrus Gold was a wealthy merchant in the last 19^th century. He made a few enemies while making profits, and was mysteriously murdered. His body was dumped in Slaughter Swamp, near Gotham City, where it rotted for half a century. In the late 1940s, a combination of mystic forces and a lightning storm revived Cyrus as a shambling corpse. Think a zombie if a small part of their mind survived the reanimation. Oh and he was stuffed with mud, bits of bark, and random debris you’d find in a swamp. Gold murders two escaped criminals, steals their clothes, and keeps shambling until he enters a hobo camp. The hobo’s welcome Gold, despite his pale skin and the smell of rotting flesh, and ask him his name. Being dead for fifty years caused some severe brain rot, so Cyrus Gold had no idea who he was. All he could remember that he was “born on a Monday.” One of the hobos mentions a poem, “Solomon Grundy,” that begins with the lines “Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday,” and Gold adopts that name as his own.

Grundy demonstrated to the hobos that he was super strong and nigh invulnerable by beating the heck out of one of them and then standing in a fire. The hobos, whom were a disreputable bunch, decided to make Grundy their “boss,” and went on a crime speed. The destruction he and his gang caused caught the attention of the first Green Lantern, Alan Scott. Despite Scott’s mystic powers, Grundy proves to be a very difficult opponent, as the undead being is unkillable by most conventional means and Scott’s Green Lantern powers can’t effect Grundy. The original GL couldn’t effect wood with his ring, and Grundy’s magically reconstructed form is made of a lot of wood. At one point, Grundy tossed Scott off a balcony. Grundy assumed he’d killed the GL, and was quite pleased by the bright green light that flashed when Scott “died.” He actually started murdering his hobo-henchmen, in the hopes of seeing the light again, until one of them told Grundy to stop. Scott, as it turns out, was still alive and but hit a car on the way down. He spent a few days recovering before trying to take on the gory gray giant again. Scott finally defeats Grundy, using a train. Unfortunately, this didn’t destroy Grundy for good.

Somebody is going out on the town.
Wait, that's a noose, not a tie.

An evil scientist known as the Professor, it was the 40s they were still figuring out the name thing, found the monster’s body and revived Grundy by injecting him with concentrated chlorophyll. The revived Grundy again fought Alan Scott, who was eventually able to trap the monster in a bubble of green plasma. He remained stuck in said bubble until another freakishly powerful storm freed him. He targets Alan Scott again, but this time faces not only the GL but the entire Justice Society of America. The combined powers of the Justice Society were able to overpower the undead villain, and stranded him on the moon.

Grundy has grown to be one of the most dangerous villains of the DC Universe, menacing many heroes, including the bigwigs Batman and Superman. His immense strength and nearly indestructible body make him a challenge for even Superman to pummel. His depictions tend to vary from story to story. Some show him as a barely coherent monster, lashing out at movement like an angry amusement park T-Rex. Some stories give him a sort of Frankenstein’s Monster vibe, that he’s not all that evil but is a victim of tragic circumstances. This becomes most apparent in the Blackest Night story. In this story, Grundy has somehow reverted back into Cyrus Gold. Gold wakes up in Slaughter Swamp, and then returns to Gotham City. He’s shot and killed by police after he attacks a charity worker. In the police Morgue he transforms into Grundy again and escaped the morgue. He ends up in Gotham’s sewers, and has a brawl with its most famous resident, Killer Croc. Grundy gets the upper hand, but is exhausted from the long fight. He transforms back into Cyrus Gold. He discovers his own grave, and is visited by one of the DC Universe’s paranormal investigators Phantom Stranger. The Stranger informers Cyrus that he has a week to figure out who killed him, which will undo his curse. Why does the Stranger what that? Because he knows that “An unholy night coming, as black as the dead’s blood. And it’s best that Solomon Grundy was not around for it.” Yeah, I can understand not wanting to see a monster like Grundy as part of the Black Lantern Corps. Alan Scott is also recruited to help guide Cyrus. Needless to say, he’s less than thrilled about helping Cyrus.

During the week that Cyrus had to figure out his death, he also had to deal with the demon Etrigan, whom was trying to take him into the bowels of Hell. Gold, whom was used to his near invulnerability and immortality from being a zombie, gets killed a lot. He resurrects as Grundy, causes some damage, and then returns to Cyrus after he exhausted himself. Despite these setbacks, Cyrus did discover how he died. Turns out, Cyrus Gold killed himself. Discovering that he kind of screwed himself, he was kind of forced into Hell with Etrigan. Unfortunately, Grundy was still resurrected by a Black Lantern Ring. The now Lantern powered Grundy attacks another freakish character, Bizarro the clone of Superman. The Black Lantern Grundy hoped to use their past friendship to give him an edge on Bizarro. Bizarro was eventually able to stop Grundy by flying him into the sun, destroying Grundy and his ring. That being said, I highly doubt that Solomon Grundy will be gone for good. It’s hard to keep a good/bad Zombie down.

Yeah, totally dead. No chance CYRUS GOLD is coming back.
Hint hint, subtle hint.

Cyrus Gold had no superhuman abilities. After his death and rebirth in Suicide Swamp, he developed superhuman strength, a nearly invulnerable body, rapid regeneration for those rare times he’s actually damaged, and immortality. He’s unaffected by things like heat or energy, and is highly resistant to magic. His body took on a lot of plant matter while he rotted in the swamp, which made him largely immune to the original Green Lantern’s power ring. His intelligence varies from forgetful but still more-or-less functional, to rampaging screaming monster.  

Grundy has a creepy habit of reciting the poem upon which he took his named. “Solomon Grundy / Born on Monday / Christened on Tuesday / Married on Wednesday / Ill on Thursday / Worse on Friday / Died on Saturday / Buried on Sunday / That was the end / Of Solomon Grundy.” This simple rhyme, describing the steps of a Christian man’s life, is incredibly disturbing when uttered by the zombie Grundy.

Grundy has appeared in a number of DC media, though never against his original nemesis, or any of the Green Lantern Corps. He’s actually gone up against Batman the most, outside of the comics.

He appeared in a number of episodes in the Justice League cartoon. This version described his origin as a mobster that was killed and dumped into a mystical swap. Twenty-five years later, as opposed to fifty, he was resurrected as soulless creature, doomed to forever seek out his lost soul. Think a more morbid form of Peter Pan and his shadow. He battled the Justice League on several occasions, but never seemed to have a personal grudge against the heroes. His most ground breaking episode was “The Terror Beyond,” where he helps the Justice League and the sorcerer Doctor Fate battle an alien god called Ichthultu. While handling the crisis, he actually befriends several members of the Justice League, but specifically Hawkgirl, whom he affectionately calls Birdnose. Upon learning that Ichthultu is a devourer of souls, Grundy rushes in to destroy it, believing that he can get his soul back that way. He’s fatally wounded in the attempt, but his attack gives Hawkgirl the opportunity to finish off Ichthultu. Hawkgirl comforts Grundy in his final moments, assuring him that he’ll see his soul in the afterlife. She buries him with a headstone that simply reeds “Solomon Grundy – Born on a Monday.”

Despite his perma-death, Grundy returns in the sequel show Justice League: Unlimited. In “Wake the Dead,” a group of wannabe necromancers get their hands on an actual magic book and accidently summon a powerful demon. The said creature, born of chaos magic, escapes and fuses with Grundy’s remains. The magically enhanced Grundy goes on a rampage, easily besting many of the Justice League. He’s only stopped when Hawkgirl, whom had been in a sort of self-imposed exile for some time, returns and does her best to talk him down. Grundy submits to Hawkgirl, whom sadly does her duty and puts Grundy out of his misery.

He must kill the Bat.

We see a version of Cyrus Gold appear in the second season of Arrow. He’s introduced in the episode “State v. Queen” as the only survivor of a dangerous bio-enhancement experiment. He was injected with Mirakuru, a Japanese Super Soldier Serum, that greatly enhanced Gold’s strength, stamina and healing abilities. He’s tasked with stealing machine parts that the villainous Brother Blood need to mass produce the Mirakuru. He battles and seriously injures The Arrow in “The Scientist” as he gathers the parts. Gold is defeated in “Three Ghosts,” when the Arrow shoots a machine next to Gold, which doses the super soldier in acid, seemingly killing him. As a nod to his comic book character, Oliver and Company discover a book of nursery rhymes in Gold’s apartments while searching for him. The opening lines are recited by Oliver’s friend and partner Diggle, with Oliver himself quoting the final two lines upon Gold’s death.

Batman: Arkham City also has a version of Grundy and his background. In game, he was a monster that the villain The Penguin discovered in the basement of a building he’d bought and turned into the Iceberg Lounge. He uses Grundy as a means of getting rid of disloyal henchman and threats, like Batman. He creepily recites the Solomon Grundy poem as the player tries to defeat him. His entire background is fleshed out in some of the games extra content. Like the comics, he was a man killed in Suicide Swamp that resurrected years later. He became part of a traveling circus before being discovered by Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s surmises that Grundy had actually fallen into a Lazarus pit, bought the creature, and experimented on him to discover more about the pits effects. He killed Grundy repeatedly, and Grundy kept getting back up. He was left in the ruins of Ra’s Wonder City, when the World’s Fair style attraction shut down, until he was rediscovered by Penguin.

Solomon Grundy is an interesting character. He was one of the firsts, if not the first, Zombie to be depicted in modern comics. Which is cool in and of itself. He’s also immensely strong, destructive, and at times very sympathetic. The fact that he’s significantly more popular and well known that the character he was originally created to battle is also an interesting little tidbit. I especially like the Justice League version of the character, whom was not only funny, but sympathetic as the story went on. It was sad to see him go at the end of “The Terror Beyond,” which made it all the more horrific to see him return in “Wake the Dead.” He’s also a nice twist on the traditional Zombie, as most of the time he’s significantly more intelligent than the usual undead monster, and has, to my knowledge, no desire to eat brains. It’s the little differences that make him memorable. He’s the undead horror, the shambling dead, the unkillable Solomon Grundy. Next time, Gone, Gone the form of Man, Rise the Demon, Etrigan!

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Villain Profile: The Scarecrow

It’s time for another Theme Week. And since we’re in the last week of October, a Halloween Theme Week feels most appropriate. The next seven posts will focus on the most Halloween-y characters I can think of. Demons, Goblins, a Zombie, and the center of our next villain profile, an insane psychiatrist. Okay, so his MD doesn’t really fit in with this theme, but is there anything more Halloween-y than a Scarecrow? I think not. Let’s get to it, the Scarecrow.

Think Scarecrow ever sticks himself by accident when putting
that glove on?

Jonathan Crane’s life sucked pretty much from the get go. He was conceived out of wedlock, his father ran off when he found out, and his mother felt it was a good idea to leave her son with her abusive mother. Crane’s Nana was a religious zealot whom felt compelled to torture her grandson because he had the gall to be born. Whenever young Jonathan did anything his grandma disapproved of, she’d lock him in a crow infested abandoned church in a Scarecrow costume, where he was viciously attacked by the winged devils. He eventually learned that his dear sweet granny was also a skilled chemist, as she would prepare the scarecrow costume by dosing it in chemicals that sent the birds into a frenzy. As you can probably imagine, young Jonathan was left in a pretty much perpetual state of terror. Anyone else think that this supervillain’s path could have been corrected with just one call to Child Services?

Things just got worse as time went on. As he grew up, Crane became your typical target for bullies. He was lanky, scrawny, a coward, and a bookworm. It also didn’t help that these traits plus his last name created parallels to Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Hm… Crane’s bullies must have been pretty well read to get that connection. Or they saw the Disney animated feature and weren’t ashamed in High School to admit that they watch Disney Movies. Weird. Anyway, Jonathan Crane = Nerd, High School = Bad place for Nerds. The straw that broke the camel’s back for Crane was the latest bit of humiliation being dished out by local bully Bo Griggs, and cheerleader Sherry Squires. What was it? High School cliché 30, Popular girl leads nerd on and then humiliates him by pulling a prank. There prank involved Sherry bringing Crane into a dark classroom under the premise of make-out time, and then scare the pants off of him when Bo jumped out of the darkness with a jack-o-lantern on his head.

Simple, but effective.

Fed up with being treated like this, Crane plotted some payback. At the night of the prom, he dressed up in his scarecrow costume, and then “attacked” Bo and Sherry in the parking lot with a realistic looking water pistol. This little stunt lead to a car accident that killed Sherry and left Bo paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than be, well, disgusted with that his petty revenge completely destroyed two lives, Crane was pleased with himself. And this incident further developed his interest in “fear.” An interest that had been growing since those early days stuck in the church being attacked by birds. Speaking of, Crane decided to seek further vengeance, this time on Grandma. He exposed her to his variation of the chemicals that she used to stir up the crows at the church. The fear inducing effects of the chemicals literally scared the old bat to death. Despite three people connected to Crane dying or being seriously injured, Crane somehow escaped police suspicion and went on to college. He majored in Psychology. Who’d of thought?

At Gotham University, Crane became the favorite student of a psychology professor named Avram Bramowitz. Crane deeply respected Bramowitz, but also resented his mentor for dismissing “the psychology of fear” which so deeply fascinated Crane. After receiving his degree, he attempted to become Bramowitz’ college at Gotham U, but unfortunately there were no available positions in the Psychology department. Unfortunate for Bramowitz, that is. Crane returned to his old love, Chemistry, to get what he wanted. He was able to create an incredibly powerful hallucinogen that caused people to see their greatest fears. He used it on Bramowitz, whom died from its effects. Apparently killing his mentor and basically stealing his position was preferable to getting a job at another school, earn some Professor street cred, and waiting for a position to open up. Supervillains, man, they can be dumb. Crane’s new job didn’t last all that long, though. He was fired for nearly injuring a student. He had shot a flower pot during his lecture to demonstrate the body’s fear response, and part of the pot nearly took a student’s eye out. Karma’s a pain, isn’t it, Crane? Crane missed the life lesson here, though, as he used his fear toxins to kill several members of the Gotham U faculty that dismissed him.

He was temporarily deputized as a Sinestro Corps
member. Seems like a match made in heaven.

Around this time, he was somehow able to get a job at Arkham Asylum. Oh, those poor crazy folks. Crane basically tortured his patients through his fear “experiments.” Thankfully for the folks at Arkham, the Batman was looking into the deaths of the Gotham U Dean and Regents that had fired Crane. Batman and Captain James Gordon tracked down Crane, is his new alias as The Scarecrow. He and Batman duke it out, and Batman takes him out. Crane is then locked in the very prison he’d turned into his personal playground. I bet some of the inmates had a few words to share with their former doctor. Crane has repeatedly escaped Arkham Asylum and is one of Batman’s most dangerous and deranged foes.

Much like his arch-foe Batman, Scarecrow has no superhuman abilities other than above average intelligence. He was able to develop a powerful fear inducing gas that causes their victims to experience terrifying hallucinations. He uses his Scarecrow mask to both enhance the fear effects of the gas, and to protect himself from stronger doses of his chemicals. Repeated exposure has render him immune to the fear toxin, so now he mostly wears the mask for the “increase freak out” reasons. Despite being a skinny, physically unintimidating man, Crane has shown to be a very accomplished fighter. He combines Crane Style Kung Fu with drunken boxing to create “violent dancing.” That is what he calls it. He also uses a Scythe every now and then, to fit with his Scarecrow motif.

Scarecrow is one of Batman’s longest running foes. He dates back all the way to the 1940s, and the original Batman comics.

Cartoon. Creepier. Full on Nightmare fuel. He'll be
joining Venom in my Nightmares.

He was a recurring character in Batman: The Animated Series. In his initial episode “Nothing to Fear,” we see him doing his “vengeance on the school board” plot. He drugs Batman with his fear toxin when the Dark Knight tries to stop him from burning the Gotham U’s funds. His greatest fear? Not Bats, seeing Papa Thomas Wayne chastising him for being Batman. Batman is able to overcome these psychological problems just in time to save the Dean of Gotham U from a blip that Scarecrow had commandeered. As time goes on Scarecrow goes through some major design changes. The picture is to the right. Yeah, goes from cartoony to nightmare fuel in just a handful of years. Creator Bruce Timm describes him as a western style preacher, with a noose on his neck and an overall “Texas Chainsaw Massacre Leatherface,” kind of look.

Cillian Murphy portrayed Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in every film of the “Dark Knight” film series. He was introduced as one of two villains in Batman Begins. He’s a corrupt head psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. In exchange for transferring mobster Carmine Falcone’s thugs to Arkham Asylum, a lesser sentence for their crimes, Falcone smuggled Drugs into Gotham for Crane. After Falcone is captured and beaten by Batman, and then arrested, he attempts to force Crane to transfer him to Arkham. Crane, who’s done putting up with this crap, puts on his Scarecrow mask and doses Falcone with enough fear toxin that his brain is basically fried. When Batman starts investigating the drug smuggling, he runs into Scarecrow in the Gotham slums, the Narrows. Scarecrow gets him with the fear Toxin and then sets him on fire. Batman is saved by butler Alfred, and family friend Lucius Fox. When Batman’s friend and assistant DA Rachel Dawes confronts Crane about what he’s doing at Arkham, Crane gives her a dose of the fear toxin. Batman uncovers Scarecrow’s plot, tracks them down, gets Crane’s mask off and gives him a taste of his own medicine. Crane completely loses it, and tells Batman that he was working with Ra’s al Ghul, whom Batman believed he’d killed. In the finale, where the real Ra’s attacks Gotham with Scarecrow’s fear toxin, Scarecrow rides a horse and scares the heck out of folks. He takes a Taser to the face and rides out of the film. Crane has a minor role in The Dark Knight, where he’s become a drug dealer. He gets captured by Batman in the opening act. He’s given the job of head of “justice” department in Gotham once Bane takes over the city. He gives people the choice of death or exile, which involves walking across an only partially frozen river. He’s arrested in the finale.

He's back and arguably better than ever.
I bet he misses his nose, though.

We see him in Batman: Arkham Asylum, as part of Joker’s attempted takeover the prison hospital. He uses a glove with hypodermic needles on the fingers to inject people with his fear toxin. Batman gets injected and taken into a disturbing nightmare world where he needs to dodge a colossal Scarecrow’s gaze. Once Batman overcomes the toxin, he flees into the sewers. His plan was to dump a huge amount of fear toxin into the water, infecting Gotham with his poison. He’s stopped, not by Batman, but the even more insane Killer Croc. The lizard looking monster brutalizes Crane. He somehow survives, and can be seen in an after credits scene grabbing a box of the potent and dangerous upgraded Venom formula, the Titan formula.

He returns in Batman: Arkham Knight. Much like in Batman: The Animated Series, Scarecrow goes through a major redesign for his return. Picture is to the left. He works with the Gotham Knight to take over Gotham and kill Batman.

Much like Black Mask, Scarecrow is an interesting Mirror Villain to Batman. Like the Dark Knight, Crane uses fear to cripple and torment his foes. But, unlike Batman, Crane enjoys torturing his victims with that fear. Which obviously Batman doesn’t. I think. His signature Fear Toxin, despite being suspiciously similar to Joker’s Laughing Gas, is a powerful weapon that he uses to devastating effect. It’ll be interesting if he returns to the big screen universe in the new DC Movie Universe. If they’re doing Killer Croc, just about anything is possible. He’s the psychotic psychiatrist, the master of fear, the malevolent Scarecrow. Next time, a monster based on a rhyme, Solomon Grundy.

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