Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: arkham city, Batman, dc comics, gotham, solomon grundy

New Origins For Solomon Grundy And Gotham in Arkham City (Spoilers)

Originally, Solomon Grundy was the late 19th-century wealthy merchant Cyrus Gold, who is murdered and his body is disposed of in Slaughter Swamp, near Gotham City. Fifty years later, in the Green Lantern strip in All-American Comics #61 in 1941, his corpse is reanimated as a huge shambling figure (composed partly of the swamp matter that has accumulated around the body over the decades) with almost no memory of its past life.

The Post-Crisis version of Solomon Grundy saw his resurrection as an attempt by the Parliament Of Trees to create a Plant Elemental but failed. Other versions showed that Cyrus Gold was a miserly paedophile killed by an engaged mob, but as Slaughter Swamp is a point in space where time means nothing, this could be an unreliable version. It is later revealed that he committed suicide, calling the Solomon Grundy curse upon him.

In today's Arkham City: The Order Of The World, it is revealed that Solomon Grundy goes much further back…

Previously in the comics, it was established that a Norwegian mercenary, Captain Jon Logerquist, founded Gotham City in 1635 and the British later took it over—a story that parallels the founding of New York by the Dutch (as New Amsterdam) and later takeover by the British. Now it appears to be junking the Norwegians and getting closer to New York's history by having it founded by the Dutch.

And as Gotham grows so do its "madhouses". It was notably in New York City in the nineteenth century that journalist Nellie Bly had herself committed to Blackwell's in order to report on the truth within, writing "Ten Days In A Mad-House", which saw conditions improve.

Although sometimes it is only the branding that changes…

ARKHAM CITY THE ORDER OF THE WORLD #3 (OF 6) 
(W) Dan Watters (A) Dani (CA) Sam Wolfe Connelly
Solomon Grundy has lived many lives over a great many years. Now, located by Ten-Eyed Man's strange, but nonetheless effective, methods, he leads Dr. Joy and her many-eyed friend on a tour of the hidden history of Gotham City and the madness at its core.
Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 12/07/2021

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