Hellgrammite (Roderick Rose) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an enemy of Superman.[1]

Hellgrammite
Hellgrammite as seen on the cover of Action Comics #673 (January 1992).
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 ego	Roderick Rose
Species	Metahuman
Team affiliations	Intergang
Notable aliases	Robert Dobson
Abilities	Superhuman strength and leaping Adhesive secretion Durable exoskeleton Transforming cocoons

In the series Supergirl, the Hellgrammite is depicted as alien where he 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.[2] 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.[3] He possesses superhuman strength and leaping abilities, the power to secrete adhesives and weave transformative or imprisoning cocoons and a durable exoskeleton.[4] 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)[5] to kill Lex Luthor. During the Underworld Unleashed crossover, he makes a deal with Neron, trading his soul in return for 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 has been seen alive One Year Later, still a member of Superman's rogues' gallery, acting 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.[6]

Powers and abilities

Hellgrammite is super-strong and durable, able to jump long distances, secrete adhesives, and produce cocoons for imprisoning his foes or transforming them into drone versions of himself. In both forms, he is a brilliant entomologist.

In other media

Television

• Hellgrammite appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Cat and the Canary" as a member of Roulette's Meta-Brawl and later as a member of the Secret Society, participating in the ensuing mutiny siding with Grodd and defeating the Cheetah. He and several other villains were later frozen by Killer Frost and blown up by Darkseid in the series finale.
• Hellgrammite appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Time Out for Vengeance!", voiced by John DiMaggio. Hellgrammite resurfaced at a construction site in Gotham City and fought Batman once again. Hellgrammite decided to turn Batman into his slave and bound the hero in his adhesive secretion. The Creeper saved Batman and the two defeated Hellgrammite.
• The character of Greg Arkin aka "Bugboy" portrayed by Chad Donella in the Smallville season one episode "Metamorphosis" has similar powers to Hellgrammite. An older Arkin appeared in season ten "Homecoming" where he returned alive. Greg went to Clark's girlfriend, Lois Lane, and asked her to deliver a message to Clark (not knowing that Clark was watching from outside of time). Greg told Lois that Clark had set him straight and wanted to thank him. Afterwards, Greg left the reunion.
• Hellgrammite appears in the Supergirl episode "Stronger Together", portrayed by Justice Leak.[7] This version is a member of an alien race known as Hellgrammites where he is able to camouflage and disguise himself as a humanoid. He also possesses superhuman strength and the ability to shoot spikes with sufficient strength to penetrate metal. Due to his alien chemistry, he hunts DDT sources to survive, that being the closest analogue to his race's food. He is one of the aliens that escaped from the Kryptonian prison Fort Rozz when it crashed on Earth after accidentally being pulled out of the Phantom Zone. Hellgrammite is forced by Astra to capture her niece Supergirl and is later defeated during a fight with Alex Danvers, leading to his incarceration in DEO desert facility. He later appears in the season four episode "Ahimsa", also portrayed by Justice Leak. He and Kopy are released from D.E.O. custody by Mercy Graves and Otis Graves (with the help of DEO mole) in order to further their anti-alien activity at the time when the Kryptonite they dispersed in the air disabled Supergirl. The two of them attack a carnival where they fought an armored Supergirl, Alex and Guardian. After the Kopy is defeated and the Kryptonite in the air is gone, Supergirl defeated the Hellgrammite. When Mercy and Otis appeared to threaten Supergirl, the Hellgrammite killed them before surrendering to the DEO, although Otis later turned up alive in later episodes.

Miscellaneous

• The animated Hellgrammite was also featured in an issue of Adventures in the DC Universe, which loosely adapted The Brave and the Bold #80.[8]

References

External links

• Hellgrammite at DC Database

На других языках

[it] Hellgrammite