WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Superman and the Authority #3, on sale now from DC Comics.
In an alternate version of the WildStorm Universe, Superman has attempted to save humanity from itself by forming this world's version of the Authority, after previously failing to make longstanding changes with his old team the Justice League. Boasting a team that mixes up classic WildStorm characters with reimagined DC Universe heroes and antiheroes, the Authority stands at the ready to inspire a new age for humanity that the Man of Tomorrow promised his friend President John F. Kennedy shortly before his assassination in 1963. And now that this new Authority's roster appears to be complete, the team faces its first major threat in the form of the undead supervillain Solomon Grundy, in his most horrifying incarnation yet.
The Golden Age supervillain Ultra-Humanite has gone from being the single brain of an evil scientist to a collective of interlinked consciousnesses all plotting to take over the world and destroy the Man of Steel. With his own private army, Ultra-Humanite lures out the Authority by attacking the G-7 summit in Dubai while Apollo investigates the suspected arrival of a new Eclipso. With Superman's powers waning with age, Kal-El decides to remain back at the team's new Alaskan headquarters, Fort Superman, to observe the situation as his team splits up to handle the simultaneous threats. And in Superman and the Authority #3 -- by Grant Morrison, Mikel Janin, Travel Foreman, Jordie Bellaire, Alex Sinclair and Steve Wands -- the Ultra-Humanite strikes in the form of Solomon Grundy.
Having hacked into the old Justice League's teleportation system, the Ultra-Humanite is able to transport himself into Fort Superman undetected and hide in the headquarters' Hall of Villains, where Superman houses lifelike models of the various enemies he has fought over the years. Just as the Last Son of Krypton realizes he never included a Solomon Grundy model in his collection, Grundy strikes, with one of Ultra-Humanite's brains visibly implanted in the undead monster to serve as one of his pawns. Catching the Man of Steel off-guard and taking advantage of his diminishing strength, the upgraded Grundy is able to easily overpower Superman in his own base of operations and proceed with his fiendish plan.
While Ultra-Humanite was originally introduced as a typical mad scientist, he eventually transferred his brain into the body of a powerful, albino gorilla so he could physically trade blows with the DCU's mightiest superheroes. Recently, Ultra-Humanite began experimenting with building his own army of drones by replacing his victims' brains with his own programming to carry out his bidding. Grundy similarly has a history of changing up his appearance and personality whenever he rises from the grave, with varying ranges of mental acuity and his most recent appearance in the main DCU making him explosively volatile.
With Grundy now upgraded by Ultra-Humanite and serving as one of his most deadly forcible recruits, the Authority has just lost its figurehead and leader to the zombified brute. Ultra-Humanite has literally struck the team where it lives and, with the Justice League's teleporter in tow, he can now dispatch his muscle anywhere in the world in a flash of light. Grundy was always a terrifying monster in his own right but now, connected directly to Ultra-Humanite's hive mind and his genius-level intellect, the undead creature is virtually unstoppable.
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