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Glorious Godfrey

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Glorious Godfrey
Glorious Godfrey as depicted in The Forever People #7 (March 1972). Art by Jack Kirby.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Forever People #3 (June 1971)
Created byJack Kirby (writer-artist)
In-story information
Alter egoGlorious Gordon Godfrey
SpeciesNew God
Place of originApokolips
Team affiliationsDarkseid's Elite
Galaxy Communications
Notable aliasesG. Gordon Godfrey, Reverend G. Godfrey Goode, Godfrey
Abilities
  • Immortality
  • Superhuman physical attributes
  • Limited mind-control
  • Commands the Army called The Justifiers

Glorious Godfrey is a DC Comics supervillain who is part of The Fourth World series of comic books in the early 1970s.[1]

Publication history

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Glorious Godfrey first appeared in The Forever People #3 (June 1971) and was created by Jack Kirby.[2]

In 1971, an article in The New York Times Magazine about "relevant comics" described "a handsome toothy character named Glorious Godfrey, a revivalist. Godfrey is drawn to look like an actor playing Billy Graham in a Hollywood film biography of Richard Nixon starring George Hamilton".[3] The character was intended to embody the powerful, charismatic speaker who could talk people into justifying violence and evil.[4]

Fictional character biography

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Godfrey as depicted in Legends #4 (February 1987). Art by John Byrne.

Godfrey and his sister Amazing Grace are members of Darkseid's Elite who possess similar mind control powers.[5][6]

In the Legends event, Godfrey assumes the human identity of G. Gordon Godfrey and plots to discredit Earth's superheroes. He obtains Doctor Fate's helmet, but it wipes his mind and leaves him an empty shell.[2]

In Final Crisis, Godfrey possesses human reverend Godfrey Good.[7][8][9]

In The New 52 continuity reboot, Godfrey attempts to obtain the Chaos Shard, a powerful crystal that Darkseid previously wielded.[10][11]

Powers and abilities

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Glorious Godfrey retains several attributes of a native of Apokolips, such as a limited level of superhuman strength, endurance and invulnerability. In addition, Godfrey has extended lifespan which allows him to exist indefinitely and he has an advanced immune system. However, Glorious Godfrey is a sub-par athlete and hand-to-hand combatant, whose greatest gifts are his overwhelming speaking voice and his extraordinary powers of persuasion. Whether these are natural gifts or have been augmented by the power of Darkseid has yet to be determined. Godfrey employs a private army called the Justifiers, composed of Earthmen who believe Godfrey's rhetoric and have had their perceptions completely contorted by Godfrey's words. The special helmets worn by the Justifiers allow Glorious Godfrey to control his soldiers even when they are not in his presence.

Inspiration

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Jack Kirby biographer Mark Evanier states that Glorious Godfrey was based on evangelist Billy Graham: "A lesser villain who toiled in the service of Darkseid was inspired more directly by evangelist Billy Graham, who was then rather difficult to avoid on TV. Kirby was appalled at some of Graham's apocalyptic sermons which — to Jack — were more calculated to instill fear than faith, and to stampede people into service of Graham's causes. Jack called the foe Glorious Godfrey, the name being a Kirbyesque pun. The comic book evangelist was "god-free" and also had some of the traits of TV pitchman Arthur Godfrey, though the main reference and the visual came from Billy Graham. Not evident in on the pages he drew was Jack's belief — which he expressed on several occasions — that Graham and the president he counseled [Nixon] were both virulent anti-Semites".[12]

In other media

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Television

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  • G. Gordon Godfrey appears in the Justice League two-part episode "Eclipsed", voiced by Enrico Colantoni.[13] This version is the host of a sensationalist talk show that he uses to attack the Justice League's credibility. After the Justice League defeat Eclipso, Godfrey's sponsors drop him and his show is moved to an undesirable time slot of 4 AM.
  • Gordon Godfrey appears in Smallville, portrayed by Michael Daingerfield. This version is a human shock jock who attacks vigilantes, superheroes, and illegal aliens. After being possessed by Darkseid, he writes a best-selling book discrediting superheroes in the hopes of sowing mistrust and doubt and making Earth's population lose faith in their heroes. Lois Lane tries to expose Godfrey and Darkseid, but the latter fully takes over the former's body and tortures her to lure Clark Kent to him. Darkseid later meets with Granny Goodness, DeSaad, and a brainwashed Oliver Queen in an attempt to remove Kent's powers with Gold Kryptonite. However, Kent frees Queen, who confronts and kills Godfrey, Goodness, and DeSaad.
  • G. Gordon Godfrey appears in Young Justice, voiced by Tim Curry in the second season and by James Arnold Taylor in the third.[14][13] This version is a xenophobic news show host.

Film

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G. Gordon Godfrey appears in Reign of the Supermen, voiced by an uncredited Trevor Devall. This version is an editorialist who wrote an article on how Earth's people need to be their own heroes instead of relying on metahumans.

Video games

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G. Gordon Godfrey appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  2. ^ a b Wallace, Dan (2008), "Glorious Godfrey", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 138, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC 213309017
  3. ^ Braun, Saul (May 2, 1971). "Shazam! Here Comes Captain Relevant". The New York Times Magazine. p. 55. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. ^ Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 978-1605490564.
  5. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  6. ^ The Forever People #6-7 (February–March 1972)
  7. ^ Final Crisis #1
  8. ^ Final Crisis #5 (2008)
  9. ^ Final Crisis: Secret Files and Origins (December 2008)
  10. ^ Batman and Ra's al Ghul #32 (2014)
  11. ^ Batman and Ra's al Ghul #33 (2014)
  12. ^ "Master Villains - News From ME". News From ME. March 7, 2002. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "G. Gordon Godfrey Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 15, 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.
  14. ^ Byrne, Craig (26 April 2012). "Young Justice Interview: Greg Weisman & Brandon Vietti Talk Saturday's Season Premiere - KSiteTV". ksitetv.com.
  15. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
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