Friday Night Fights: GRUNDY SMASH!

What's shaping up to be a fun weekly event here in the comics blogosphere is the Friday Night Fights, graciously hosted by our pal Bahlactus and contributed to by just about everyone with a comics blog! As the name suggests, Friday Night Fights highlights some of the great moments in comic book combat. We can pretend superhero comic books are about higher, loftier things...but at their core, it's all about laying the smackdown! Truly something to celebrate.

My first foray into the Friday Night Fights is taken from Superman #301 (1976), which features a nearly full-issue slugfest between the Man of Steel and the savage Solomon Grundy!
Dimly recalling how some superheroes had doubles from alternate Earths, everyone's favorite swamp zombie wonders if there might be another Solomon Grundy out there to pal around with. In his bizarre supernatural fashion, Grundy decides to simply "walk" between dimensions from Earth-2 (his pre-Crisis address) to the Metropolis of Earth-1, bringing most of Slaughter Swamp along with him!

Predictably, his visit gets the attention of Superman, sparking one of the best knock-down-drag-outs I've ever seen in a comic book.

On the left, I've gathered a few random panels from the battle (click on 'em for a much larger view), but you owe it to yourself to track this baby down and read the whole thing. Illustrated by the amazing Jose Garcia Lopez, the dynamic action and cinematic layouts still blow away most of what passes for comic book art today, and with sound effects like "THOMM!", "SPRANK!", and the classic "BARROOOM!" ("bar room?"), it's a book you'll be glad to add to your collection.

BONUS: If Solomon Grundy throwing Superman around like a ragdoll isn't enough mayhem for you, be sure to check out That's Gotta Hurt!, my look at comic book covers from the Pain Hall of Fame!

Comments

[Kevin Church]

Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday, whoopin' ass on a Friday.

[Mark Engblom]

Feeling vague regret on a Saturday.