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Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Gorilla Grodd

The villainous Grodd heralds from Gorilla City, a secluded citadel populated by super intelligent apes.  Therein Grodd was an unscrupulous scientist who built a special helmet that enabled him to control the minds of others. The Gorilla City security force stopped him from using it in the city, but he escaped capture and eventually wound up in Central City, where he ran afoul of Green Lantern and the Flash. Following a fierce battle, Grodd was seemingly rendered harmless after The Flash ‘crossed a few wires’ in his mind control helmet and tricked him into using it, electrifying the primate’s brain and rendering him comatose. 

Upon recovering, Grodd found that he no longer needed the helmet to control minds. This facilitated his escape from confinement and he began devising a plan to take down the Justice League.  This plan entailed recruiting a group of super villains, a ‘secret society’ whose abilities matched up well against The League.  Meanwhile, he used his mental powers to subtly and progressively turn the League against one another, make them irritated by and mistrusting of one another.  This had the effect of weakening the League, causing them to not work well as a team; thus giving the villains a sizable advantage in battle. Fortunately, the League were able to overcome this deficient and Grodd’s forces were defeated.     

Next Grodd formed the Legion of Doom, a conglomerate of super villains who worked in concert together so to better match the newly expanded Justice League.  Grodd insisted on recruiting Lex Luthor into the Legion, seeing him as too significant a variable not to be folded in; a decision that would prove to be Grodd’s downfall.  

Following a botched scheme that involved Grodd’s temporarily turning the earth’s human population into apes, Luthor succeeded in a coup d'etat and took over the Legion, imprisoning Grodd.  The gorilla’s one-time paramour, Tala, freed Grood and he staged an effort to seize back control of the Legion.  Yet he failed once more and Grodd perished in his battle against Luthor.  

Love a great western movie.

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Red Tornado

The heroic android known as The Red Tornado was a sentient automaton possessing elemental powers. These powers enabled him to summon and control powerful whirlwinds of rising air.  The exact origins of this iteration of the Red Tornado remain untold.  In the DC Comics Universe, the android was created by a villainous scientist as part of a scheme to infiltrate and destroy the Justice League.  Developing a consciousness of his own, the android defied his programming and joined the team in ernest, serving valiantly in many iterations of the League.  

Red Tornado was one of the many heroes asked to join the Justice League when the team expanded its roster following the thwarted Thanagarian Invasion.  He participated in numerous missions, including the defense against the return of Amazo, taking on the threat of the Dark Heart and repelling the Ultimen’s attack on the Watch Tower.  He additionally took part in the final battle against the forces of Darkseid.

March 3, 2005  - Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Powers Boothe and Timothy Olyphant

By Sheryl Aronson The Aero Theater in Santa Monica sponsored a provocative film series by iconic, Oscar winning director Oliver Stone from May 18th – Saturday May 20th.  The films that were previewed were Nixon, U Turn, Natural Born Killers, and Heaven and Earth.  On all three nights, Oliver Stone talked with the audience about the movies.  The Hollywood 360 attended the Q&A of the film, U Turn…