King Solovar

KING SOLOVAR

Real Name: Solovar

Class: Gorilla City gorilla

Occupation: King

Group Affiliation: formerly Black Lantern Corps

Known Relatives: Nnamdi (son), Ulgo (nephew)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Gorilla City, Africa

First Appearance: Flash II #106 (April-May, 1959)

Powers: Solovar possessed all the strength of a gorilla with a brilliant ntellect and the power of mind over matter. Solovar was a wise and just king.

History: (Flash I #106) - When King Solovar of Gorilla Citty was taken by a human expedition to the Congo his rival Gorilla Grodd knew the time was right to fulfill his dream of taking over first Gorilla City and then the world. He flew his nuclear-powered craft to Central City, hiding out in the park. Gorilla Grodd couldn’t help but being spotted on occasion, and his rumors of his existence frightened the citizens of Central City. Actor Fred Perason, start of “The Great Gorilla” play, called his friend Barry (Flash) Allen, saying he was worried he was the mysterious gorilla because he’d been playing the role of one for so long it might have affected his mind. He had no memory of his last stage performance, which was supposedly his most realistic one yet. Pearson didn’t realize that Gorilla Grodd, looking for a place to hide out for a few hours, knocked him out and took his place on stage. Barry promised he’d investigate. Gorilla Grodd was searching for Solovar, hoping to steal his power of force of mind so he could mind control others. He spotted a circus traveling through town and by luck Solovar was one of the animals being kept in a cage. Grodd used his telepathy to learn force of mind from Solovar, bragging about what he’d do with his new power. When Grodd left Solovar knew he had no choice but to escape his cage and find Flash, who he believed was the only man capable of stopping Grodd. Flash was shocked to be speaking to a talking gorilla, but after Solovar explained the situation Flash agreed to help. Flash sped Solovar back to Africa and confronted Grodd. Grodd had already mind controlled the residents of Gorilla City, planning on using them as soldiers to conquer the rest of the world. Flash created a whirlwind under Grodd before he could use his force of mind on him, and Solovar, rightfully restored to his throne, had Grodd imprisoned. Solovar told Flash that the whirlwind he created had knocked the knowledge of force of mind out of Grodd’s head and he no longer possesed the power. Solovar said he feared what would happen to Gorilla City if the outside world ever learned of them and Flash promised to never reveal the location of Solovar’s secret city.

(Flash I #107) - Gorilla Grodd had only pretended to lose his force of mind power, and used it to escape captivity. Solovar sent a distress signal to Flash, who ran to Africa in seconds, but was confused when he saw no sign of Gorilla City,. Solovar used a device to keep Gorilla City on a vibrational plane that couldn’t be observed by humans, and turned the device off to allow Flash entry. Solovar kept a register of the vibrational frequency of everyone in Gorilla city, and used it to determine that Grodd was miles underneath the city. Flash used his supserpeed to drill himself underground until he found Grodd, who’d discovered an underground world populated by Bird-People. Grodd had already used his force of mind on them, planning on making them into an army to conquer the world. He’d also developed a devolutionizer ray that would turn Solovar and the citizens of gorilla city into ordinary apes. Grodd fired the devolutionizer at Flash using a setting that caused the Mola, the strange underground atmosphere, to crystallize around Flash’s body. The encased Flash toppled forward, damaging the devolutionizer and Grodd cursed him for delaying his plans of conquest while he repaired it. Grodd instructed the Bird-People to place Flash in the town square as a warning to all who would oppose Grodd’s plans. Flash couldn’t move in the crystalline Mola, but managed to rock himself back and forth on the pedestal he’d been placed on until he fell over and the Mola shattered. Flash confronted Grodd again, and created a whirlwind around him, but Grodd was strong enough to break free. Flash was worried about his size and strength, but with his speed he was able to punch Grodd a hundred times before the villain could lay a hand on him, felling him. With Grodd unconscious the Bird-People regained their senses and thanked Flash for freeing them. Flash handed Grodd over to Solovar, who promised to keep a closer eye on him.

Comments: Created by John Broome & Carmine Infantino.

Solovar's appearance in Flash I #106 was reprinted in Flash Annual I #1.

Solovar had a cameo in Flash II #194.