Solovar

For many years, Solovar was the leader of a hidden city of hyper-intelligent gorillas. Renowned for his wisdom and psychic powers, he was virtually unchallenged—except by the villainous Grodd. This rivalry was so great that, after Solovar had been captured by humans (he played dumb to keep Gorilla City’s existence secret), Grodd followed him to Central City to learn the secrets of Solovar’s force-of-mind powers.

It was that stop in Central City that led to a rivalry between Grodd and the Flash, as well as an alliance between the speedster and Solovar. The Flash helped the gorilla leader escape, and became the first human to learn of the city’s existence—and its location.

Under Solovar’s guidance, Gorilla City was a technological utopia. He advocated peace—with each other and with humans—and was behind two diplomatic overtures to the human world. The second, sadly, was cut short by his assassination (JLA Annual #3, 1999), resulting in a brief war between humans and the super-simians. Solovar was briefly succeeded by his nephew Ulgo, then later by his son Nnamdi.

• Primary Sources
• Art Credits
• Profiles in Print
• Silver-Age Appearances
• Legacy-Era Appearances
• Further Notes

Primary Sources

• “Menace of the Super-Gorilla” - Flash #106 (April–May 1959), John Broome*

Art

• Flash (first series) #294 (February 1981) - Don Heck

Profiles

• The DC Comics Encyclopedia as King Solovar (2004)

Significant Silver-Age Appearances

• Flash #106 (May 1959): “Menace of the Super-Gorilla!” John Broome
• Flash #107 (July 1959): “Return of the Super-Gorilla!” John Broome
• Flash #127 (March 1962): “Reign of the Super-Gorilla,” John Broome (cameo)
• Flash #155 (September 1965): “The Gauntlet of Super-Villains,” John Broome
• Flash Super Spectacular (September 1978): “Beyond the Super-Speed Barrier,” Cary Bates
• Flash #294 (February 1981): “The Fiend the World Forgot!” Cary Bates
• Flash #295 (March 1981): “In Grodd We Trust!” Cary Bates
• Flash #331 (March 1984): “Dead Heat!” Cary Bates
• Flash #342 (February 1985): “Smash-Up,” Cary Bates

Significant Legacy-Era Appearances

• Secret Origins #40 (May 1989): “Gorillas in Our Midst,” Cary Bates and Greg Weisman
• Secret Origins #41 (June 1989): “A Rogue By Any Other Name,” Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn
• Green Lantern #30 (Early October 1992): “Gorilla Warfare Part 1: The Troule With Gorillas,” Gerard Jones
• JLA Annual #3 (1999): “Gorilla Warfare,” Len Kaminski

Notes

*Solovar’s first few appearances are available in The Flash Archives Volume 1 and in Showcase Presents: The Flash Volume 1.

Home