#34 - Solomon Grundy
First Appearance: All-American Comics #67 (Oct 1944)
"Born on a Monday. Christened on Tuesday. Married on Wednesday. Took ill on Thursday. Worse on Friday. Died on Saturday. Buried on Sunday. Is this the end of Solomon Grundy?" ~Solomon Grundy
When I think of the villains who are the most "Gotham", really no one fulfills that more than Solly the Grund (as Jack Knight calls him in Starman). After all, he's literally made of the Slaughter Swamp within the Gotham City limits. Hell, he's been menacing Gothamites for years prior to Joker or Catwoman or the like; Solly was taking on good ol' stick-up-his-butt Alan Scot back in WW2! So in terms of experience, Solly takes the cake.
And yeah, I could point out how he's a capable antagonist for nearly every hero; he can take on Superman, or the JSA, or Batman, or the JLA, or Green Lantern, or Dr. Fate. He can be a visually intriguing boss fight in Arkham City and then be a threat to Amazo in JLU and you never feel that there's a mismatch; that's the beauty of Solly, sure. But the piece I like the most about the Grund is that there's a piece of him that's a gentle soul. I remember when Jade from Infinity, Inc. tamed the brute and befriended him, only to learn that each time Solly is destroyed, he comes back with a new personality. This eventually even led to Jack Knight, Alan Scott and Batman going into Solly's brain and attempting to keep one of his gentle, kind personalities from dying; in probably one of the most moving stories I've ever read, Batman even tries to save the life of a brute who had time and again attempted to rip him apart; and when the team fails, you can tell that it took a deep toll on the Dark Knight. Because, at his core, Grundy isn't monster, he's a lost child. If someone cold only bring out the good in him... ah, but those wishes, those idle dreams of happiness.
That's what makes a good villain.
Greatest Solomon Grundy Story Ever Told: If you disagree with this video as my choice, then you are objectively wrong:
DU LIEST GERADE
Top 100 Batman VILLAINS
SonstigesName basically describes it. It's a list of the top 100 Batman villains. (Note: This isn't MY list. So, if you don't agree with it, don't freak out and rant in the comments)
