Super TV: Green Lantern: The Animated Series

So, a little about my professional life. For those who don’t know, I work for the US Post Office. Due to the Christmas package demand, and at least one coworker that I’m 70% sure is intentionally skipping work, I’m averaging 11 hour days in the last week. And it’s only going to get worse. So, I might not have time to write too many posts this month, at least not until after the 25. But, I will try to get one or two of these buggers out before then. Also, given this limited time table, I haven’t had a chance to finish Luke Cage. My fault for not binging it earlier. Silly me. But, since I do want to write about something, I’ll shift my focus onto a show that I know didn’t get the credit it deserved, Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Let’s get to it.

It also had a really good opening soundtrack.

Green Lantern opens to a Green Lantern, just not Hal Jordan. This Lantern, M’Ten, is patrolling his sector of space when he detects a distress beacon. M’Ten responds, finding a small spaceship floating adrift. He encases the ship in a green energy bubble and prepares to free the pilot. Imagine his surprise when the pilot bursts forth from the ship, engulfed in red energy, and attacks. M’Ten is able to hold this Red Lantern, Razer, at bay… until his comrade Zilius Zox steps in. The two RL’s overpower M’Ten, killing him. Razer points out the futility of these sneak attacks of theirs, as the Green Lantern’s ring will just find a replacement, while Zilius rather gleefully points out that that just means that they’ll get to kill the new GL too. Who knew a guy that looks like a demented beach ball would be the glass half full type?

We then jump forward in time 18 months, and across the galaxy to Coast City, California, planet Earth. Test Pilot, and secret Green Lantern, Hal Jordan is testing a new prototype plane when an earthquake hits. Said quake causes a bridge to collapse, putting an oncoming train in danger. Hal sets the fighter jet onto auto pilot, and transforms into his GL form as he ejects from the plane. Do you think working as a test pilot becomes less fun when you can fly without a plane?  He flies in, creates a green energy construct of a bridge, and saves the train. Hooray! But, while Hal is out of the jet, it crashes into the side of a mountain. Billion-dollar jet, up in smoke. Less hooray. An hour later, Hal returns to his boss, Carol Ferris, frantically trying to set up a search and rescue party for him. Hal lies, claiming that the quake caused the plane to freeze up, and that he had to hoof it back to Ferris Air on foot. Bet he actually spent that hour at Caribou Coffee, or something. She’s relieved to see him alive, but she’s not too happy he crashed the jet. Shocking, I know. He suggests that they discuss things over dinner, she initially refuses but then relents, just as Hal’s GL Ring starts going off. His other bosses want a word, which is rarely good. Hal makes up a story about salvaging the black box from the downed jet, transforms again, and flies to the GL home world of Oa.

Once there, he greets his former GL Drill Sargent Kilowog and another GL, Salaak, who’s in charge of Audio-Visual displays, before being pulled into a tribunal. He’s in trouble because an alien diplomat claims that Hal punched him in the face. To which Hal responds, “I punched him in the stomach. I headbutted him in the face.” At least Hal is honest. One Guardian of the Universe, Appa Ali Apsa, clearly wants to see Hal punished. Hal explains that the diplomat was using his diplomatic immunity to run a slave ring, which another Guardian, Ganthet, points out has been substantiated by the local authorities. Hal’s trial is interrupted by M’Ten’s ring’s arrival. Salaak identifies it’s former wielder, which shocks Hal and Kilowog, as neither recognize the name. This is more notable for Kilowag, who’s in charge of basic training for all Green Lantern recruits. So, it’s simply not possible for a GL to exist that Kilowog hasn’t trained. Which is true, in normal Green Lantern space.

The main cast. From left to right: Kilowog, Hal Jordan, Aya,
and Razor. It's a good group.

The Guardians have Salaak pull up a map of the universe. They deliver some exposition about the GL Corps. The Guardians have the known universe sliced up into about 3600 sections of space, there is at least one GL per sector, and they protect peace and harmony using the Green Light of Will. Hal sums it up best, “This part we know.” Now we get to the new, and more interesting, stuff. M’Ten was what is known as a Frontier Green Lantern. The Frontier is made up of the sectors of space on the outer most edges of GL territory. Communications with the Frontier Lanterns is sporadic, at best, and it wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t. Frontier space is so far from the homeworld of Oa, that even flying at top speed, it would take a normal GL 18 months to reach it. Kind of hard to send back up when it takes nearly 2 years to get there. The Guardians also explain that, again due to distance, that the Frontier Lanterns only receive “limited” training from their power rings. While not directly stated, its heavily implied that this is the reason why Frontier Lanterns are getting hit, and so hard. Training via semi-magic ring not = to actual training from experienced individuals. M’Ten is just the most recent known fatality, dozens have been killed in the last few years, with their power rings either searching for new GL candidates or in route back to Oa. The Guardians are keeping the killings under wraps until they are sure what is going on. That’s the Guardians of the Universe for you, slow as molasses. In the arctic. Also, Appa Alli Apsa is of the, “I won’t believe there’s a problem until it is literally staring me in the face,” mind set, and seems to hold a lot of sway over his Guardian brethren.

Except one. Ganthet seems to side with Hal’s more “act now, think later,” mindset. Ganthet, seeing things are going to quickly devolve into a pointless shouting match, suggests that they all “take a coffee break.” While on said coffee break, Ganthet takes Hal and Kilowog on a quick tour of Oa’s more private sections, namely the hanger that houses the Guardian’s latest invention, The Interceptor. The Interceptor is rumored to be the fastest ship ever developed. It can travel through warp space, and needs an AI to calculate how to safely travel at such high speeds. It could, in theory, reach the Lantern Frontier in a few minutes. How convenient. Now, obviously, the other Guardians wouldn’t allow their new vessel out just yet, but, we also know that Hal isn’t known for his patience, either.

Later that night, Hal and Kilowog break into The Interceptor. Hal had planned on going alone, but Kilowog had guessed his former student's plan and assumed correctly that Hal would forget to bring spare GL batteries. Hal and Kilowog are introduced to the ships AI. Hal names her Aya, and, the after the introductions, convinces her to try a new game. It’s called… Joyride. They blast off, and just barely escape the Green Lantern’s security force. They warp across the universe, and interrupt a Red Lantern attack in progress. The RL’s are incredibly powerful, and actually start to overpower Hal and Kilowog. Hal is able to blast them after tapping into The Interceptor’s power core. It’s fueled by the Green Energy from the Central Power Battery on Oa. It gives Hal a minor boost. They save the Frontier Lantern, named Shyir Rev, and plan their next move.

Red v. Green? It's a Christmas themed battle!

The RL’s also return to their mothership, the flying asteroid Ysmault and their master, Atrocitus. Some arguing ensues, Zilias blaming Razor for the flub up, and Razor claiming their mission failed because Hal and Kilowog are much better GL’s then the locals. Atrocitus doesn't care for the bickering and threatens to kill them both if they fail again. Thankfully for the baddies, another chance emerges quickly. Razor is able to use a drone to track The Interceptor and then attack the GL’s. Said attack doesn’t do much, other than break the ships “Warp Coil” and plant a tracking device. The Warp Coil is what lets them travel at hyperspeed, thus stranding them in The Frontier. So not an ideal end to this mission. Rev takes them to his homeworld to repair the ship. Hal and Kilowog are able to have a moment of levity with Rev and his family. All the aliens have a good laugh at the silliness of Hal's secret ID hang up. Kilowog explains it best, "That thing on his face is called a mask. He wears it just in case some human sneaks aboard The Interceptor, while we're in space mind you, and goes 'oh my gosh, the Green Lantern from my planet is Hal Jordon. I'm telling everybody!" Keep in mind, being a GL in most of the universe is one of the highest honors a being can receive. Why keep that a secreet, am I right? Unfortunately, the moment of peace is rudely interrupted by the arrival of the Red Lantern's warship.

Atrocitus, being something of a Dangerous Irate Cruel Killer, drops a giant bomb onto the planet, and gives the inhabitants an hour to hand over Hal, Kilowog, and Rev. The team breaks into two, Hal takes on Atrocitus, and Kilowog and Rev try to stop the bomb.  Neither side is particularly effective. Atrocitus, with minor help from Zilias, overpowers and beat the snot out of Hal. Kilowog and Rev are able to reach the bomb's core, but Razor distracts them for too long to disarm it. Rev is able to form a construct, stopping the bomb from going off. Unfortunately, it's like holding a grenade without the pin. It won't well. Rev elects to keep the bomb from going off long enough for Kilowog to evacuate the planet. Razor returns and looks like he’s going to finish off Rev, but the FGL convinces the young RL that wholesale slaughter isn’t a cause worth fighting for. Razor flies off, leaving Rev to his fate.

Hal and Razor meet in the wreckage of the planet. They do battle, but it becomes clear that Razor isn't giving it his all. Hal quickly realizes that, in actuality, Razor is looking to be executed for his crimes. Hal, while furious at Rev’s death and the planet’s destruction, instead yanks off Razor’s ring, stripping him of his powers, and encases him in a GL bubble. Kilowag and Hal transport Rev’s people to another planet, watch Rev’s ring fly out to find a new host, and wonder as to what they’re going to do next. Stranded in the far reaches of space, all aide almost two years away, with one Prisoner of War and no means of holding him long term. Not a great end to their "quick" mission to the Green Lantern Frontier.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series is an excellent dip into the Green Lantern mythos. Hal is a hoot, being at times noble, and other times a cocky arrogant jerk. They also cover the fact that he seems to be compelled to flirt with anything that even remotely appears to be a humanoid female. Not going to lie, was a little surprised to see that. He gets into a lot of trouble with his “act firsts, think later,” mindset but it always seems to work out in the end. He’s the sort to give anyone a second chance, if there willing to work for it, like Razor does. Kilowog is also a lot of fun, he’s the straight-laced drill sergeant that mellows out a bit as the series goes on. I’m also surprised that his rather depressing backstory was left in as well. Kilowog is from a planet called Bolovax Vik, while he was away on a mission, the planet was obliterated. Billions of Bolovaxians were killed including Kilowog’s mate and children. This is a fate worse than death for a Bolovaxian, as they were a highly communal race. So yeah, he’s lonely, heartbroken, and is hellbent on stopping world ending disasters like the one that befell his world. He and Hal buttheads on tactics a number of occasions, but it’s clear that both characters respect the heck out of each other. He’s openly hostile to Razor, at first, but they later develop a respect for one another.

He's only slightly less red then he is angry.

Now let’s move on to the original characters for this series. Razor the Red Lantern is the Vegeta of this series. What do you mean that you don’t get that reference? Oh right, not everyone watches anime… Okay, quick digression. The long running series Dragonball has a habit of making major antagonist into heroes after their initial introduction. One of the best examples is Vegeta, originally introduced as psychotic mass murder that obliterated planets for fun, later became a begrudging but indispensable hero. Well… anti-hero. Razor follows a similar arc. He’s introduced as a vengeful young man, hellbent on revenge. GL Shyir Rev convinces him that fighting without a cause is just dangerous, and, later, interactions with Saint Walker the Blue Lantern convinces him that his rage is destructive more to himself than anyone else. He’s actually a character that actively tries to better himself as the series progresses, which is rare for cartoons, just saying. He also forms an… odd romance with our next character, Aya.

Aya is introduce as the AI of The Interceptor. She’s a very curious creature, constantly seeking out information that will help her better understand organic lifeforms and what it means to be a Green Lantern. Yeah, despite being a machine and not being chosen by a Green Lantern Ring, Aya considers herself to be a full-fledged member of the corps. In order to better fulfill the GL duties, she quick assembles a body for herself, using the Green Energy of Will to form the ‘softer’ bits like her face and hands. She pretty much drags Razor into being a hero. She puts it best, “it doesn’t matter what you want,” when Razor admits to wanting to be held prisoner so he could see visions of his late wife. She follows an interesting arc. Not going to spoil it, other than saying she is much more than a pretty face.

The villains are also pretty cool. For the first half of its only season, they did battle with the Red Lanterns, specifically the evil Atrocitus. The lord of rage has a powerful voice, a commanding presence, and more rage then a barrel of monkeys. What? A bunch of simians stuffed into a tight space, I’d be angry too. He’s also got a number of great quotes. “I am wrath. I am hate. I am righteous vengeance.” “When I saw that you only needed a nudge to become a truly hateful creature, I sealed your fate.” “When last we met, human, I had just concurred Oa. Now you find me… better rested.” Just to name the top three. He’s simplified from his comic incarnation, downplaying the tragedy in his character and playing up the sadistic and cruel side. He regularly beats on his minions, namely Zilius Zox. The evil beach ball is something of a punching bag. The Reds are slightly toned down from their comic incarnation. No mention of Red’s being mindless beasts, or their parasitic rings replacing their hearts and their blood with red energy. In fact, the only major downside of the RL’s ring in this universe is that it looks like it’s INCREDIBLY painful to remove the ring.   

All fall before the Anti-Monitor

Part two introduces a much, much more powerful foe. The Anti-Monitor. This sun consuming destroyer was banished to another dimension before the series start, where he devours every star. Upon his return, he reactivates the original servants of the GL corps, the Manhunters. These insane machines were originally trustworthy guardians of order, but later concluded that emotions were the root of all evil. And thus those who possess them must be destroyed. They slaughtered the home sector of Atrocitus, Zilius, Razor and the other RLs. So, yeah, not a great combination. Together the machines devastate the GL corps and consume more stars. Why? To fuel a trip back to the very beginning of time. In the DC canon, this is like the single greatest taboo that a cosmic being could break. Hal and co do their best against him, but lose a few friends along the way.

Overall, this was a great show that was unfortunately cancelled too soon. It introduced many a Green Lantern, from the bigs like Hal, Kilowag, Tomar Rey, and Mogo, to the smalls, like Ch’p the Space Squirrel and Salaak. They also introduce a majority of the other Lantern Corps, like the Red Lanterns, the Blue Lanterns, the Star Sapphires, and the Orange Lantern. Heck given that they also introduce Sinestro, and the yellow element that would later fuel his evil Sinestro Corps, they’d have only needed another season or so to do a Blackest Night adaptation. How awesome would that have been? Sure, they’d have had to tone down the violence and the zombies, but it still could have been awesome. And, despite being cut off early, it does end on a high note. I wish the story could have continued, but the ending is still fitting. I recommend this for anyone that likes the Green Lantern Corps, or is curious about this part of the DC Universe. Next time… I have a few ideas, we’ll see what gets finished firsts. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/Green-Lantern-The-Animated-Series.jpg
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/d/d6/GLAS_-_The_Crew_at_the_Prison.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120623053716
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/5/51/GLAS_-_Hal_Jordan_vs_Razer.png/revision/latest?cb=20120322212529
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/6/68/Atrocitus_%28Green_Lantern_Animated_Series%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120318153709
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/b/b3/Anti-Monitor_GLTAS_001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121006120759

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!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Grundy_(comics)#/media/File:Grundyfoe.png

http://comiccrossroads.wikia.com/wiki/File:Solomon_Grundy_(3056).jpg

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/arrow/images/6/6c/Cyrus_Gold%27s_face_is_burnt_by_chemicals.png/revision/latest?cb=20150414133756

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/batman/images/f/f9/Grundy_Bio.png/revision/latest?cb=20111031231622

Hero Profile: GL Mogo

It’s high time for another Theme Week. But, this time, I’m not going to make it easy for you. I leave it up to you, my viewers to figure out what the theme is. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be that hard.

The next guy is a weird one. A really weird one. The focus of today is Mogo, of the Green Lantern Corps. Mogo is a living world. A planet that thinks, talks, and does a bunch of crazy stuff like controlling the weather on his surface or reshaping his landmasses. Imagine what life on Earth would be like if she worked like that? No one would have to protest to save the rainforest, the planet would just regrow the trees and cause earthquakes until the deforestation stopped. Life would be weird, but simple, wouldn’t it? Let’s get to it.

I feel like the Red Lantern's faith in this plan waned when the
planet with the GL symbol arrived.

Mogo is one of the oldest Green Lanterns, having existed for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years. As stated before, Mogo is a sentient planet. Yes that is a thing. It’s not the weirdest thing I’ve come across, to be perfectly honest. Also, while technically genderless, most folks refer to Mogo as a “he” for simplicities sake. He’s not a very social Green Lantern, due to the fact that he’s a gigantic planet. If he ever tried to be as social as one of Earth’s GL’s like say Hal or John, you know saving kittens from trees, fighting costumed looneys or general peacekeeping duties, he’d end up destroying any planet that he got too closed to. A running joke involving Mogo for ages was "Mogo doesn’t socialize.”

For those who don’t know him all that well, Mogo either invites or lures said person to his surface and then creates a holographic projection of a smaller humanoid alien that claims to be “Mogo.” Because of this, his status as a sentient planet is actually a pretty well-kept secret. One of his first adversaries was an alien hunter known as Bolphunga the Unrelenting. Bol hunted the legendary Green Lantern Mogo to a far off world that he assumed Mogo lived on. He spent years exploring the world, checking every plant and animal he came across for a Green Lantern Power Ring. Growing frustrated, Bol set up a bunch of explosive charges and planned on bombing the planet to smoke Mogo out. Imagine his surprise when the planet extinguishes the explosives, and starts yelling at him. Bol then ran off in fear. Bolphunga finally relented. Guess he needs a name change. Not that I blame him. Heck, if I learned the creature I was hunting was an entire planet, you bet I’d be changing vocations. He also had a run in with the another alien bounty hunter, the main man Lobo, to get his… uhm, I’m going to go with foliage, on some alien dolphins. The creatures help keep Mogo’s surface clear of space debris. Lobo’s not the brightest bounty hunter in the universe, and I doubt he ever learned that the being he was dealing with was actually a planet.

Is he the smartest guy on his world, or
the smartest world in the galaxy?

Now, you may be wondering what Mogo’s major duty as a Lantern must be, given that he can’t do the direct “policing” of a typical GL. Mogo is actually the most important Lantern in the Corps. For you see, Mogo has immense telekinetic powers. Yes, the living planet has ESP too. Just roll with it. Mogo uses these telekinetic powers to help direct the various Power Rings in transit to and from Oa, helping the Rings find planets with worthy potential GL’s. The rings can travel on their own, but the sheer size of the universe makes their job all but impossible without Mogo guiding them to the right worlds. Simply put, without Mogo, the GL Corps could not function as they do. Thankfully, he doesn’t have all that much to do, so he can focus his attention on Ring transportation.

Mogo’s life got more complicated when Hal Jordan was possessed by the monster Parallax. Driven insane by the Fear Entity, Hal destroyed the Central Power Battery on Oa, and murdered most of the Guardians of the Universe. Without the Central Power Battery, Lanterns can’t recharge their rings and gradually lose their power. Sensing that his connection to the Central Power Battery was broken, Mogo sought out his old friend Ch’p, an alien squirrel, for help. Unfortunately, Ch’p had died years ago and no one had informed Mogo. While drifting through Ch’p’s old sector of 1014, the last of Mogo’s energy was depleted. Mogo draws a great deal of his power from his Lantern Ring and battery. It doesn’t just fuel his GL powers, it seems to be his primary energy source; it’s essentially his food and water. Without the power of the battery to sustain him, Mogo essentially slipped into a coma.

Mogo might have been doomed to float through space forever, had a group of alien’s not found his unconscious form. To add to Mogo’s misfortune, however, these aliens weren’t the “save the rainforest” type. They proceeded to strip mine Mogo for all of his natural resources. Thankfully, the last GL in the Universe, Kyle Rayner, eventually flew through the area, found Mogo, realized what Mogo was, and used his Power Ring to recharge Mogo’s. When fully awakened, Mogo addressed the settlers and offered to let them stay and provide for them. They said no and abandoned their settlement. Once they were gone, Mogo told Kyle that he was glad they left, and that he’d planned on giving them bad weather for an unspecified amount of time as payback for their pollution. Mogo’s a kind giant, but don’t mess with him. A short time later, the Green Lantern Corps was revived, and Mogo took over as the main trainer, and training ground, for new GL’s. Mogo finally starts to socialize.

Not a lot of variety in his design, is
there?

A few years later, the Blackest Night event occurred. In it, the zombie Black Lantern Corps was formed and the undead Lantern’s waged war against the living. The undead horde proved to be a most formidable foe, given their regenerative abilities coupled with their Black Lantern Rings. It was during this crisis that Mogo became the GL’s MVP, well, more so then he already was. He became the storage yard for any Lantern-less Power Rings, to ensure that no rookie Green Lantern was killed in the fight with the Black Lanterns, and then he became the medical center, protecting the injured GLs and their allies. After a few weeks of this, Mogo had enough. He travelled to Oa during a Black Lantern attack. Mogo flew into the swarm of attacking Black Lanterns and increased his gravity. The zombies were pulled down onto Mogo’s surface. Mogo made the surface where they struck like quicksand and sucked them downward into his very core. The Zombies were trapped in Mogo’s core by gravity, their undead bodies being destroyed faster than they could regenerate. Mogo simply states “They will burn, for all eternity,” when asked what is going to happen to them. To reiterate, to not mess with Mogo. After this event, Mogo returned to his duties of training recruits. I’m willing to bet he prefers socializing with the new recruits than being the big war hero.

Mogo has the standard Green Lantern abilities; energy shield projection, hard-light projections, and universal language translation. He doesn’t utilize the “flight” ability of the ring, obviously. Hard to fly around your planet when you are your own planet. But he does use the rings powers to travel through space faster than the speed of light. Mogo is as aware of what happens on his surface as you are to what happens to your face. He can manipulate his surface, changing the weather, his oceans or his landmasses however he sees fit. If he ever get's bored of his scenery, he can knock down a few mountains, raise a few more, lower his sea level and so on. He can communicate with anyone on or near his surface. I’m unsure if this is pure telepathy or not, being that the versions of Mogo I’ve seen, his voice is like an Earthquake. Deep, gravelly, and literally shaking the ground beneath the feet of whoever he’s talking to. When he’s showing his Corps Pride, he reorganizes his foliage around his equator to form the standard GL symbol. Mogo draws most of the energy he needs from his Ring and GL Power Battery. He’s more depended on it that most Lanterns. If Hal’s ring ever cuts out, he loses his superpowers. If Mogo’s ring power cuts out, he passes out. Kind of inconvenient.

Mogo has appeared only a handful of times in DC Media. It’s kind of understandable that they use him sparingly. People are willing to put up with a lot of weirdness in Comic Book stories, but I could see a living planet putting a lot of people off. That and it’s hard to show a lot of characterization for a planet.

Not sure where Mogo keeps his ring. Does it
just orbit around his core?

There was an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, “The Eyes of Despero,” where Mogo appeared. In it, the powerful alien tyrant Despero attacks the Green Lantern Corps and brainwashes most of the GL’s. Hal Jordan seemingly destroys himself and the Lanterns to protect the universe from Despero’s slave army. His ring travels to Earth, collects Batman and brings him to Oa. Once he freed the three Lanterns in the brig, Guy Gardner, Sinestro, and G’Nort, they chase after Despero. The alien fights them off, and makes a cryptic remark about getting the last GL. The group then has the disturbing revelation that he’s going after Mogo. Once on Mogo, Despero uses his powers to take control, reshaping the planet’s surface into his own horrid likeness. Batman battles Despero, while Guy fights the traitorous Sinestro, and the idiot G’Nort goes into to drain Mogo’s battery. After several idiotic renditions of the Oath, G’Nort gets it right, drains Mogo’s battery, which resets Mogo’s mind. Mogo knocks Despero into deep space and thanks his rescuers.

He was a recurring character on Green Lantern: The Animated Series. His first episode was “Lost Planet.” Hal and his crew come across a planet seemingly doomed by an impending asteroid impact. They detect life signs, and more importantly the ring signature of a fallen comrade. They go down to investigate, and they find several aliens stranded on the rock. Through the course of the episode, we learn that they are all criminals, ranging from implied murderers, tech thieves, and even one former dictator. In the final moments of the episode, Hal realizes that the reason the GL Ring won’t go back to Oa is because it found its new host. The ring makes it pretty easy when it attempts to burrow into Mogo’s surface. Hal quickly drills to the planet’s core and tosses the ring inside. Mogo is instantly energized and blows the Asteroid into ash. He thanks Hal and co and swears to be as great a Lantern as he can be. In a later episode he helps a friendly alien named Saint Walker discover a new source of power, the Blue Lantern. In the mid-season finale, Mogo and Saint Walker arrive to help the GL Kilowag fight off the Red Lantern invasion. Three guys verse an army, odds are against you. Three guys verse an army and one of the guys is a planet, odds are very much in your favor.

Mogo’s run in with Bolphunga the Unrelenting is retold in the direct-to-video movie Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. The movie has several short stories featuring one or more GLs. These include Mogo, Kilowag, and Abin Sur. The story follows my earlier description of the encounter with Bol almost perfectly.

Mogo is one of the most unique characters I’ve come across. Living worlds aren’t anything new in the world of Comics, but Mogo is, to my knowledge, one of the originals and one of the best spins on the idea. He’s immensely powerful, but his early stories do seem to highlight that Mogo is a very lonely being. It must be hard when the smartest creature anywhere near you is yourself. While he can’t do a lot of the same tasks as your typical Lantern, he is still perhaps the most important Lantern. Being the guy that is essentially in charge of recruitment does that. He is the colossal Green Lantern, the strangely powerful, and incredibly lonely, Green Lantern Mogo. Next time, Hate’s Avatar, Atrocitus of the Red Lantern. 

 http://greenlantern.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mogo_Green_Lantern_The_Animated_Series-1.png

 http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/greenlantern/images/b/be/Mogo.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080724053339

 http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/greenlantern/images/1/18/Mogo_Batman_The_Brave_and_The_Bold.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120408011847

 http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/greenlantern/images/3/37/Green_Lantern_Ring.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080513150456

Review: Justice League: Throne of Atlantis

One more DC related post before yet another Marvel theme week. Justice League: Throne of Atlantis is the direct-to-DVD sequel to Justice League: War. It introduces us to the New 52 version of Aquaman. The most notable change being that now, instead of sharing a father, Aquaman and his half-brother Ocean Master share a mother. So, since Aquaman's mother was the always the royal one, Orm now has a legitimate reasons to complain about not getting the top spot. Without further ado, Throne of Atlantis.

What's a Flash got to do to get on the cover?

The movie opens simply enough, with a submarine being attack by a group of aquatic warriors. Hey, it’s simple for a comic book. After the entire crew were slaughtered by the Atlanteans, we jump to Victor having a pleasant dream about being completely organic again. He’s rudely awakened by his cybernetics, badly flirts with one of his technicians, and is tasked with checking out the sub being sunk. So, you know, a usual Tuesday for Cyborg. He also tells his superior, Colonel Steven Trevor, that despite what he and the world seem to hope, the Justice League really isn’t a thing. Way to be a Negative Nancy, Cyborg. We jump to Superman and Wonder Woman having a date in Greece and contemplating their similarities and differences to Gods. So, yeah, we’re wasting our limited Justice League hour on this again. We then jump again to Arthur Curry, future Aquaman, drinking heavily at a seaside pub. He’s chatting with a lobster in a tank about his woes, chiefly that his Dad had just passed away. When someone tries to buy and eat said lobster, Arthur kind of flips out and a bar brawl ensues. Arthur’s half Atlantean physiology helps him beat the snot out of the five guys he was fighting with relative ease. The entire time he’s observed first by a red headed woman at the bar and then a scientist on the street. The main thug tries to knife Arthur when his back was turned, but unfortunately for him the knife snapped on his body. Arthur frees the lobster, and as he walks away, the woman in the trench coat drops it, reveals her Atlantean garb then jumps into the ocean.

We then join Cyborg as he begins checking out the submarine. He hacks the system, learning that the missiles he was sent to retrieve are missing. He’s then attacked by several Atlantean warriors, just barely escaping the group. Back with Arthur, he enters the lighthouse, bemoans his father’s death again, and drunkenly walks past several photos of his father, including a shot of his parents. We jump again to Cyborg and the only two Justice League members to respond to his summons, Shazam and the Flash. Flash then quickly gathers the rest of the League, by ruining Green Lantern’s attempts to score a date, and interrupting Superman and Wonder Woman’s civilian date. GL flies off when he finds out Batman didn’t show up, and helps Batman capture a group of henchmen working for the Scarecrow. Batman’s less than thrilled, because he was planning to scare the urine out of the henchmen and threaten them for information. Batman’s kind of a jerk.

She and Aquaman have about three conversations with each other.
Which, obviously, leads to the two of them becoming a thing.
Just like in real life... Right?

We check back with Arthur again, who is rather bizarrely crying over the one picture of his parents that he has before the lighthouse light. It’s pretty dang weird. Back with the League, they’re investigating the sub that they somehow pulled out of the ocean. They’re rather shocked to learn that the fish people are involved. Wonder Woman explains the Amazon’s old legend of Atlantis, how the ancient city’s citizens were saved when the city sunk by their king’s magic trident. Shazam suggest they look into a Dr. Shin, who has some bizarre Atlantis  theories that Cyborg thinks could be helpful. Batman and Superman go to check it out, while the rest of the League is tasked by Batman with finding Atlantis. Dick move, Batman. We jump back to Atlantis, where Arthur’s half-brother Orm is plotting with Black Manta. The two villains reveal they preemptively struck the sub while going to an audience with Orm’s mother. Mommy dearest is less than thrilled with Orm attacking the sub. Orm angrily berates his mother for not getting payback for the death of his father. The previous King of Atlantis having been killed in a volcanic explosion, caused by Darkseid’s invasion. Queen Atlana won’t have it, and orders her son to sit down, shut up, and do as he’s told. But more politely. Atlana reveals to her chief guard, Mera (the red head from the bar) that Arthur is to be king and sends Mera to collect her first born.

We flashback to Arthur’s childhood, where he remembers seeing his mother in the ocean. With her trident. Scary awesome mom. She gives him a loving kiss on the forehead before casting him back to the lighthouse. Thomas Curry is less than thrilled to hear this, but assures Arthur he’ll always be there for him. A hung over Arthur wakes up, and depressingly shaves. Such a sad sack. Well, we jump to Dr. Shin, who is excitedly discussing his work with his assistant, whom is revealed to be Black Manta. Manta loads up his sub with the stolen missiles, cloaks it to look like an American sub, and sends some Atlanteans to kill Shin and Arthur. While that’s going on, Black Manta attacks Atlantis in the cloaked sub. Jerk. Arthur holds his own against the Atlantean hit squad, but Atlantis doesn’t fare so well against the “attack.” Arthur is overwhelmed by the Atlanteans, but he’s saved at the last second by Mera. Can you guess where this is going? Bow chica wow wow.

Sigh... is there a fictional royal family that doesn't try to kill
each other?

Jump again, I'm starting to feel like some sort of flea or jumping bean, we see Batman and Superman enter Shin’s home. Together they learn that Shin’s work was centered on Arthur. Dun Dun DUUAAA! In Atlantis, Queen Atlana works to keep the peace, while Orm keeps trying to start a war. Atlana shuts them up using the magic trident, and decrees that she’ll broker a peace with the Justice League. In the ocean, Mera explained a bit more of Arthur’s background. Apparently Atlana was forced to leave Thomas and Arthur, princesses can’t marry peasants regardless of realm I guess. She outfits Arthur in some old Atlantean armor. Meanwhile, the Justice League searches for Atlantis, before being sent to find Arthur. Arthur tries to run from his destiny, before being attacked by sea-beasts. The two are able to hold off long enough for the Justice League to show up and even the odds. Arthur and Mera have moment, and then the Justice League agree to help them save Atlantis.

In the throne room Orm and Black Manta have an argument, and then try to again convince Atlana to attacking the surface. Atlana reveals she knew that Manta and Orm were behind the attack on Atlantis, and Orm stabs his mother in the back. Dick move, Orm. The Justice League is attacked in Atlantis, and meet Orm, now in his Ocean Master gear. He boasts about murdering his mother, sick weirdo, and about his plans to conquer the surface. The race is on to stop the insane Orm and his plans for conquest.

The good first, as always. The animation on this movie is beautiful. Stuff moves in the water like it’s supposed to, and the various energy/magic bolts are really well done. They throw in some CGI animation towards the end, for some of the troops marching and the Atlantean war machines, but it doesn’t look that out of place. Voice acting is top notch, with just about all of the JL members being returning cast members. Arthur is also pretty well done as the depressed hero, being forced to not only deal with the loss of the only family he’d ever known, as well as the pretty big shocker that he’s only half human. Kind of a lot to deal with in a week.

Team gets a bit bigger. Now they have TWO magic guys.

The bad is pretty minimal, again. I really don’t understand why they seem to insist that these movies are only a little over an hour. It really forces them to rush a lot of plot and character development. Particularly with Orm, who starts off as an evil whiner and really doesn’t go anywhere.  Adding another fifteen-twenty minutes to these movies would really clean up that particular problem, among others. Again, I felt that Superman and Wonder Woman’s relationship is kind of stuffed in there. Doesn’t really add anything, other than to give the two of them more screen time. Guy’s like Green Lantern and the Flash could have used a little more screen time, but since they weren’t a huge part of the comic story, I can’t be too mad about it.

I give this one a B+. I dropped the grade down a bit from the last time, chiefly because that short run time still really makes it hard to cover everything in the timeframe. You can only do so much in an hour, and it's hardly enough time for a movie. Heck, it's more of a two part episode of a very short lived TV show. It's still an enjoyable introduction to one of DC’s most powerful heroes, Aquaman, and a good continuation of the story started in Justice League: War. Next time, we start another theme week, for the Fantastic Four. Whoopee. 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League:_Throne_of_Atlantis#/media/File:Justice_League_-_Throne_of_Atlantis.jpg

 http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20150114141534/marvel_dc/images/4/4d/Mera_Throne_of_Atlantis_0001.jpg

 http://dcmovies.wikia.com/wiki/File:Justice_League_Throne_of_Atlantis_-_14_Queen_Atlanna.png

 http://www.comicvine.com/reviews/justice-league-throne-of-atlantis/1900-3799/