Flash’s Best Villain Finally Gets The Absolute Redesign He Deserves

One of The Flash‘s most important villains seemed to lack a villainous Absolute Universe counterpart, but DC just showed how the classic foe can make his official debut. DC’s Absolute Universe removes Wally West’s safety net, leaving a teenage Wally entirely alone in a harsher world where Darkseid’s oppressive essence influences reality. Wally’s mother is dead, his relationship with his military father is broken, and a tragic laboratory accident kills Barry Allen instead of pairing them up as a heroic duo.

In this gritty timeline, Absolute Grodd departs drastically from the traditional Gorilla Grodd. The innocent young ape is a victim of super-science rather than a telepathic conqueror, adding a glimmer of hope to Wally West’s story. Grodd shares a telepathic touch with Wally, which allows both characters to realize they share identical traumas, including the loss of their mothers and a childhood spent on a military base. This realization inspires Grodd to take a permanent post on Wally’s shoulder as a loyal companion. Sadly, the lingering influence of Dr. Thawne’s experiments suggest a volatile path ahead.

If Wally thought Grodd’s power helped his cause, it’s because he hadn’t met Grodd’s father, the real Absolute Gorilla Grodd.

Absolute Flash Reveals The Real Absolute Gorilla Grodd

Absolute Flash #16; Written By Jeff Lemire; Art By Haining And Adriano Lucas

Wally West and Linda Park are on a mission to learn more about the Still Point and the many scientists involved in its research, hot on the trails of new Absolute Universe characters like Ray Palmer and Silas Stone. Before they can continue their investigation, they reunite with Grodd, who has finally found his father. There’s a big problem, however, as Grodd’s father isn’t as friendly as the young ape. With even stronger telepathic powers, Grodd’s father mind-controls entire groups of police agents and escapes, while Grodd is captured by Trickster.

The Flash’s classic rogues’ gallery isn’t as evil in the Absolute Universe, at least at first. Absolute Grodd is also Wally West’s best friend besides Linda Park. However, the Gorilla Grodd fans know and love may actually exist in Absolute Flash, in the form of Grodd’s father, whose age makes him more weary and confrontational against humans. The older and more powerful Absolute Grodd sees all human beings as a threat, which makes him more likely to evolve into DC’s classic Gorilla Grodd.

While the current young benevolent Grodd is an innocent ally to Wally West, his father could soon become the dark, cynical mirror of the ape’s psychic potential. Instead of creating a high-tech African kingdom like Gorilla City to establish his threat, Absolute Grodd’s villainous father could become a nomadic phantom terror. This elder Grodd possesses overwhelming telepathic mind-control, which he can use not just to defend himself from the authorities, but also inflict widespread psychological damage across Central City, perhaps turning innocent citizens into sleeper agents and orchestrating mass chaos.

Absolute Flash’s Villains Are Yet To Show Their Full Villainous Potential

Absolute Gorilla Grodd Isn’t The Only Character Who Can Still Become A Full-Fledged Supervillain

The remaining antagonists in the Absolute Flash mythos are equally able to undergo a radical evolution that makes them more familiar to lifelong Flash fans. Currently deployed by figureheads to hunt down Wally West, the Absolute Universe’s Rogues are more of a black-ops unit than a colorful collection of Flash nemeses. But as Wally continues to outmaneuver them, the Rogues’ repeated failures may crack their professional facade and cause each individual member to break away from their duties. Once the corporate funding vanishes, the Rogues could reorganize as a tight-knit brotherhood of independent outlaws who target the Flash out of pure personal grievance.

Iconic villains like Captain Cold, Trickster, and Mirror Master are yet to reclaim their classic self-determined identities. DC’s Absolute Universe is designed by Darkseid specifically to be a reality without hope, after all, so Wally West’s enemies can’t continue to be less dangerous than the Flash’s classic rogues’ gallery forever. The Rogues may stop using carefully budgeted military-grade equipment and start weaponizing experimental, highly unstable versions of their signature technology, free from safety protocols or legal oversight. The lava-oozing Absolute Heat Wave and the highly aggressive Grodd Sr. are just a taste of what may lie ahead for Wally West.

Which Absolute Flash villain is your favorite?

Absolute Flash #16 is now available from DC Comics

Created By

Gardner Fox, Harry Lampert, Carmine Infantino

First Appearance

Flash Comics

Alias

Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen, Avery Ho

Alliance

Justice Society of America, Justice League, Teen Titans

Race

Human

Franchise

D.C.