Two of DC’s oldest immortal villains have just formed a connection that neither of them wanted.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for “7 Days” by Marv Wolfman, Tom Mandrake, Sion Mandrake, and Carlos M. Mangual, found in the pages of DC’s The Doomed and the Damned #1, on sale now.
Immortality is not a new concept to DC comics. Whether an immortal character is a literal god or someone a bit more terrestrial, the rules are generally the same: they just can’t die. With so many different takes on the idea of never-ending life in the DC universe, it’s interesting to see where the lines begin to bleed together. Such is the case in the short story “7 Days” found within DC’s The Doomed and the Damned #1. This story opens with Ra’s Al Ghul standing over the grave of Solomon Grundy, waiting for the undying brute to break free from his coffin once again.
Ra’s Al Ghul, often referred to as the Demon’s Head, has come to take something from Grundy: the secret to life everlasting. As happens almost every time that Grundy comes back from the dead, he is confused, unaware of who is speaking to him, as well as having no memories of himself or even his own name. Ra’s Al Ghul wastes no time telling Grundy that he is going to be his own personal Solomon Grundy, and that he intends to steal Grundy’s eternal life for himself. As Ra’s conjures an ethereal vortex to capture the walking corpse, Grundy finds himself transported somewhere else, floating between Ra’s and Talia Al Ghul, the latter of which is guarding a Lazarus Pit.
Ra’s instructs Talia that now is her time to act, and she takes the hand of her father as well as Grundy’s to form a chain. This is what allows Ra’s to steal Grundy’s life force for himself, with Talia acting as the filter so that Ra’s isn’t killed by Grundy’s sheer power. Ra’s is rejuvenated at the expense of Grundy’s strength. Finding himself weak, and describing the pain as being burned from the inside out, Grundy is looking for payback — and he wants Ra’s Al Ghul’s head.
Swearing that he will kill Ra’s for making him feel weak, Grundy lashes out, still able to punch through stone walls with ease even in his deteriorated state. Grundy is too slow for the reinvigorated Demon’s Head, though, and after taking several sword slashes to the face, is decapitated by Ra’s. The Demon’s Head proclaims that with Solomon Grundy’s death, the Lazarus Pit will be restored to its former glory, and will once again have the power to bring the dead back to life. Ra’s and Talia discard Solomon Grundy’s body and severed head in the waters near the cemetery, the older Al Ghul telling his daughter that now that he is once again undying, none will stop his endeavors, no matter how long it takes him to achieve his goals. But Grundy isn’t done with him.