Hellgrammite (comics)

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Hellgrammite
Action Comics 673.jpg
Hellgrammite as depicted in Action Comics #673 (January 1992). Art by Dan Jurgens and Bob McLeod.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance The Brave and the Bold #80 (November 1968)
Created by Bob Haney, Neal Adams
In-story information
Alter egoRoderick Rose
Species Metahuman
Team affiliations Intergang
Notable aliasesRobert Dobson
Abilities

Hellgrammite (Roderick Rose) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an enemy of Superman, Batman, the Creeper, Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Contents

In the series Supergirl , the Hellgrammite is portrayed by Justice Leak.

Publication history

Hellgrammite made his debut in The Brave and the Bold #80 (November 1968) created by Bob Haney and Neal Adams. [1] In this issue, he battled Batman and the Creeper.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

An entomologist named Roderick Rose, the Hellgrammite subjects himself to a mutagenic process that transforms him into a grasshopper-like insectoid. [2] He has superhuman physical abilities and can crawl on walls and generate durable cocoons. [3] A number of his schemes revolve around transforming others into weaker, subordinate versions of himself, leading to clashes with Batman and the Creeper in The Brave and the Bold #80, and with Green Arrow and the Black Canary in World's Finest Comics #248-249.

Post-Crisis

In the post-Crisis DC Universe, the Hellgrammite returns as a recurring foe for Superman, first encountering the Man of Steel after being hired (by then-LexCorp board member George Markham) to kill Lex Luthor. [4] During the Underworld Unleashed crossover, he makes a deal with Neron, trading his soul to gain increased physical powers and an improved ability to transform others into his drones. In a one-shot issue, Underworld Unleashed: Patterns of Fear #1, it was stated that he had once used the alias Robert Dobson.

Although there were rumors of Hellgrammite's death as a member of the Suicide Squad during the Imperiex crisis, it was instead a similar villain named the Larvanaut who died. He later appeared alive in the "One Year Later" event as an assassin for Intergang.

Following the destruction of Star City at the hands of Prometheus, the new Batman leads a newly formed Justice League in a hunt to track down the various villains who helped Prometheus in his plot. The team finds Hellgrammite and several other villains attempting to flee the country and a battle ensues. Hellgrammite is ultimately defeated after Donna Troy ties up a villainess named Harpi with her lasso, and then swings her into the villain, knocking both of them out. [5]

Powers and abilities

Hellgrammite is super-strong and durable, able to jump long distances, secrete adhesives, and produce cocoons that can transform those imprisoned in them into drone versions of himself. In both forms, he has expertise in entomology.

In other media

Television

Video games

Hellgrammite appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure . [8]

Miscellaneous

Hellgrammite appears in Adventures in the DC Universe #17. [9]

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References

  1. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 142. ISBN   978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 156. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
  3. Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 180. ISBN   9780345501066.
  4. Newstime,p. 10(May 1993).DC Comics.
  5. Justice League of America (vol. 2) #43 (May 2010)
  6. "Hellgrammite Voice - Batman: The Brave and the Bold (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved June 15, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  7. Dornbush, Jonathon (July 29, 2015). "Supergirl casts Justice Leak as Hellgrammite". EW.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  9. "Adventures in the DC Universe #17 - All Hellgrammite Breaks Loose (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved June 15, 2024.