Gray Man (DC)
The Gray Man is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
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Biography
The Gray Man was originally a mortal man who lived many centuries ago where he was a sorcerer that led a cabal who wanted to know the hidden mysteries of the world. For many years, he cast spells and enchantments until he passed through the veils of reality. This saw him being confronted by the Lords of Order who were displeased at this mortal overstepping his boundaries and daring to reach too far. As punishment, he was transformed into their servants where he became an immortal being tasked with gathering leftover dream-essence from the dead and to return it to the Order-Realm. This was called Manna by the gods and formed the very fabric of mystical energy in the cosmos. Thus, the Gray Man was tasked with performing this simple duty whilst his main consciousness was exiled to a lone isle where the years of solitude and loneliness drove him to resent his masters. This caused him to seek to turn against his masters and he went rogue with him looking to gather the dream-essence for himself to increase his magical power. (Justice League v1 #5) He had distributed his other-selves where his anger at his existence drew the attention of Doctor Fate. The sorcerer warned the Gray Man that he was attempting to alter his destiny and that he should not deviate from his chosen path. (Justice League v1 #2) Despite the warning, the Gray Man refused to heed Doctor Fate who returned to confront him but was captured by the villain. (Justice League v1 #5) By this point, the Gray Man had taken over the town of Stone Ridge and remade it according to his wishes where it resembled something chaotic instead. As his schemes began to affect the world, he came to see that the Justice League had gathered to stop him as well as to rescue Doctor Fate and Captain Marvel both of whom remained the Gray Man's captives. This led to the Gray Man using his power to mind control Captain Marvel and send him against his compatriots. The powerful Captain Marvel seemed like he could effortlessly defeat the heroes but the mystical energies empowering him meant that controlling him was a difficult task for the Gray Man. At the time, Captain Marvel engaged the equally powerful Martian Manhunter who psychically attacked the mind controlling his comrade. This put further strain on the Gray Man to the point that his control broke freeing both Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate. Doctor Fate then proceeded to battle the Gray Man in a mystical duel. Whilst fighting Doctor Fate, he called upon his Gray Men to attack the Justice League. They then began to swarm them whilst the Gray Man was briefly attacked by the Creeper. Seemingly with the upper hand, he dispatched his other selves to collectively destroy the heroes as he believed he now had enough dream essence to make him an equal to the Lords of Order. This proved to be the final straw as Doctor Fate revealed that he had been holding back in hope of snapping the Gray Man to his senses. Determining that the agent of order had lost his way, he unleashed his full power causing the Gray Man and his other selves to disappear as they faced punishment for their actions. With the Gray Man's disappearance, the threat he posed to the world had ended with the Justice League recovering from their encounter with him. (Justice League v1 #6)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Thus, he came to see the world in gray which over time grew bitter, tired and angry. (Justice League v1 #2) After his transformation, he said that he could no longer sleep nor dream. The growing anger at his fate led to him turning against the Lords of Order who he blamed for his new existence. (Justice League v1 #5) It had been years since he had laughed and he felt that he was no longer capable of doing so. A consequence of this was that he warned his sense of humour had become distorted due to age. (Justice League v1 #6)
The original Gray Man came to believe that he lived in a world devoid of colour, substance, life and vibrancy. (Justice League v1 #6)
Originally, he had been a servant of the Lords of Order until he dared to look upon them. This led to his imprisonment at their hands where he would become a rogue agent. Breaking free from their chains, he embraced freedom and vengeance against his former masters. His anger to them stemmed from his belief that they had robbed him of his life and that they had bled the universe of colour whilst leaving him alone. (Justice League v1 #6)
Powers and abilities
It was said that he had lived for centuries as a puppet of the Lords of Order. (Justice League v1 #6)
With his magic, he was able to witness distant events remotely allowing him to see enemies approaching him. (Justice League v1 #6)
His hands could pierce through a body and the soul of a mortal. Such an attack seemingly could not be blocked through ordinary means and left a person unconscious as a result. (Justice League v1 #6)
The Gray Man was capable of robbing the dream-essence from souls that was a mystical energy which the Lords of Order could mold. Instead of giving it to them, he could have this power to himself. A consequence of this being done to the living though was that it caused mortals to fall into a gray sleep where they experienced nothing but oblivion. Their dreams could then be manipulated to help change reality to match the Gray Man's wishes. (Justice League v1 #6)
He was able to make copies of himself that he called his other selves. (Justice League v1 #2) These other bodies were directed by his controlling consciousness where they could engage in various tasks on his behalf though they themselves had no minds of their own. (Justice League v1 #5) He made use of these 'gray-selves' to enact his various schemes across a world. (Justice League v1 #6)
It was shown that his powers allowed him to control the minds of others and made them his puppets. Such an ability could even be used against super-powered beings. (Justice League v1 #6)
Notes
- The Gray Man was created by J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen and Kevin Maguire where he made his first appearance in Justice League v1 #2 (June, 1987).
Appearances
- Justice League v1: (1987)
- Justice League International v1:
External Links
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