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Floronic Man

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Floronic Man
Floronic Man as depicted in Saga of the Swamp Thing #24 (May 1984).
Art by Steve Bissette and John Totleben.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAs Jason Woodrue:
The Atom #1 (June–July 1962)
As the Floronic Man:
The Flash #245 (November 1976)
As the Seeder:
Swamp Thing #21 (February 1984)
Created byGardner Fox
Gil Kane
In-story information
Alter egoJason Woodrue
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliationsInjustice Gang
New Guardians
Secret Society of Super Villains
Notable aliasesDr. Jason Woodrue
The Plant Master
Floro
The Seeder
Abilities
  • Plant manipulation
  • Botany expertise

The Floronic Man (Jason Woodrue), also known as the Plant Master, Floro, and the Seeder, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.[1]

The character has been portrayed in live-action by John Glover in the 1997 film Batman & Robin and Kevin Durand in the DC Universe series Swamp Thing.

Publication history

[edit]

He first appeared as an enemy of the Atom in The Atom #1 and was created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane.[2] His Floronic Man appearance first appeared in the Green Lantern backup in The Flash #245. His Seeder appearance first appeared in Swamp Thing #21. He became known as "Floro" and a superhero, in The New Guardians.

Fictional character biography

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Dr. Jason Woodrue first appears in The Atom #1 (June–July 1962). Woodrue is an exile from an interdimensional world (Floria)[3] inhabited by dryads. Woodrue, sometimes called the Plant Master, uses his botanical knowledge to control plants in an attempt to take over the world. He is defeated by the superhero Atom.[1] The Plant Master returns to face the Atom[4] and the Justice League.[5]

In The Flash #245 (November 1976), Woodrue uses an experimental formula to transform into a plant hybrid.[3] Now calling himself the Floronic Man, he is defeated by Green Lantern.[6] After a rematch with the Atom and Wonder Woman,[7] the Floronic Man joins the Secret Society of Super-Villains.[3][8]

In The Saga of the Swamp Thing, Woodrue discovers that Swamp Thing is not Alec Holland, but an intelligent plant who absorbed his memories.[3]

In The Saga of the Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #22 (March 1984), the Floronic Man uses Swamp Thing to contact the Green, a force that connects all plant life on Earth. The Green abandons Floronic Man, who is taken into custody by the Justice League after undergoing a mental breakdown.[3][9]

Black Orchid (1988) reveals that Jason Woodrue was previously a university professor and taught botany to Alec Holland and Pamela Isley.

In Millennium, Woodrue briefly joins the New Guardians as Floro.

Poison Ivy and Floronic Man as depicted in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #57 (December 1996). Art by Dave Taylor.

The Floronic Man returns in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #56 (November 1996). After breaking Poison Ivy out of Arkham with his two underlings Holly and Eva, Floronic Man attempts to distribute cannabis throughout Gotham City before Batman kills him.[10][11]

In Infinite Crisis, the Floronic Man appears as a member of Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains and takes part in the Battle of Metropolis.[12]

In the post-Infinite Crisis DCU, Woodrue is responsible for Pamela Isley's transformation into Poison Ivy.[13]

In The New 52 continuity reboot, Woodrue is reimagined as the Seeder, deriving power from the Green.[14][15] He is later killed in battle with the avatar of the Gray.

Powers and abilities

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In his original form, Jason Woodrue has advanced knowledge of botany, which he utilizes it to accelerate plant growth. As the Floronic Man, Woodrue can merge with and control plants.[16][17]

Other versions

[edit]

An alternate timeline variant of Jason Woodrue appears in Flashpoint Beyond. This version has become Swamp Thing and created an oasis to accommodate refugees and repent for his previous crimes.[18]

In other media

[edit]

Television

[edit]
  • A character loosely based on Jason Woodrue as Plant Master named Straal appears in The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure episode "The Plant Master", voiced by Ted Knight. He is a scientist who discovered a way to use wave patterns to increase plant growth.
  • Jason Woodrue appears in Swamp Thing, portrayed by Kevin Durand.[19] This version seeks to use the properties of Marais, Louisiana's swamp to cure his wife Carolyn's Alzheimer's disease. After learning of the eponymous Swamp Thing, Woodrue collects and eats some of his plant matter before attempting to force Carolyn to do the same, only to be interrupted by Abby Arcane and the Marais Police Department. Woodrue later experiments on himself and transforms into the Floronic Man.

Film

[edit]
Jason Woodrue as depicted in Batman & Robin.

Video games

[edit]

Jason Woodrue as the Floronic Man appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[24]

Jason Woodrue is mentioned in a newspaper clipping in Batman: Arkham Shadow

Miscellaneous

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Jason Woodrue as the Floronic Man appears in Justice League Adventures #6.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b Greenberger, Robert (2008). "Floronic Man". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  2. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  3. ^ a b c d e Veitch, Rick (w), Ewins, Brett (a). "The Secret Origin of The Guardians of the Universe" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 23 (February 1988). DC Comics.
  4. ^ The Atom #24 (April–May 1966). DC Comics.
  5. ^ Justice League of America #61 (March 1968). DC Comics.
  6. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 131–132. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  7. ^ Super-Team Family #14. DC Comics.
  8. ^ The Secret Society of Super-Villains #11 (December 1977). DC Comics.
  9. ^ The Saga of the Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #24 (May 1984). DC Comics.
  10. ^ Starman (vol. 2) #33–35 (August–October 1997). DC Comics.
  11. ^ JLA #115–119 (August–November 2005). DC Comics.
  12. ^ Infinite Crisis #7. DC Comics.
  13. ^ "DCU | Heroes and Villains". Dccomics.com. 2010-04-21. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
  14. ^ Swamp Thing (vol. 2) Annual #1. DC Comics.
  15. ^ Swamp Thing (vol. 5) #24 (Dec. 2013). DC Comics.
  16. ^ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe Vol 1 #8 (October 1985). DC Comics.
  17. ^ Swamp Thing Vol 5 #27 (March 2014). DC Comics.
  18. ^ Flashpoint Beyond #3. DC Comics.
  19. ^ Boucher, Geoff (November 12, 2018). "DC Universe: Lost Actor Kevin Durand Joins Swamp Thing As Villain". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  20. ^ Mayimbe, El (May 19, 2008). "Supermax: Green Arrow Story Details + Villains/Inmates Gallery". LatinoReview.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  21. ^ Goldberg, Matt (April 1, 2013). "JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK Details from Guillermo Del Toro, Reveals another Character on the Team, and More". Collider.
  22. ^ Roman, Julian (August 30, 2017). "Batman and Harley Quinn Review: A Campy, Sex-Fueled 90s Nostalgia Trip". MovieWeb. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  23. ^ "Floronic Man / Jason Woodrue Voice - Batman and Harley Quinn (Movie)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 13, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  24. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  25. ^ Justice League Adventures #6. DC Comics.