Granny Goodness is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Goodness has appeared in various media outside comics, primarily in association with Darkseid and the New Gods. Ed Asner, Deborah Strang, and Cloris Leachman, among others, have voiced the character in animation.
Publication history
Granny Goodness first appeared in
Mister Miracle #2 (May 1971) and was created by
Jack Kirby.
Her appearance was modeled after
Phyllis Diller.
[ Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution (Bloomsbury, 2004)]
Fictional character biography
Granny Goodness was originally part of the Lowlies, the oppressed peasant class of Apokolips.
She was removed from her parents and trained to be one of
Darkseid's elite, the "Hounds". During her training, Goodness is given a guard dog named Mercy, who she develops a close bond with. Goodness is forced to kill Mercy to become a Hound; Darkseid is impressed and tells Goodness that she has graduated with honors.
After proving herself to be one of Darkseid's elite and most reliable soldiers, Goodness is tasked with running the "Orphanage", a training camp for his minions.[ Mister Miracle #9 (September 1972)]
In Amazons Attack!, Granny Goodness poses as Athena, manipulating the Amazons into going to war.[ Countdown to Final Crisis #10 (February 2008)]
Goodness is reincarnated on Earth, along with the other New Gods, as a member of Darkseid's gang. However, her body is destroyed by Black Alice.[ Birds of Prey #118 (July 2008)] In the "Final Crisis" storyline, Goodness takes the body of the Alpha Lantern Kraken and uses it to attack John Stewart and frame Hal Jordan for the assault.[ Final Crisis #2 (August 2008)]
Powers and abilities
As a
New Gods, Granny Goodness possesses superhuman physical abilities and is functionally immortal. She also wields advanced weaponry, including the Mega-Rod, a staff that can project concussive energy blasts.
Reception
Granny Goodness has been described as a symbol of the "monstrous feminine" who "violates traditional paradigms of motherhood and femininity" through her wickedness, as opposed to more traditional, nurturing depictions of motherhood in fiction.
[O'Brien, Annamarie. "'How Can I Refuse You, Mother Box?!' Abjection and Objectification of Motherhood in Jack Kirby's Fourth World". ImageText 7, no. 4. (2014)]
Other versions
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An alternate timeline variant of Granny Goodness who fused with a Mother Box, gaining teleportation and pyrokinesis, appears in the "Rock of Ages" storyline.
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Granny Harkness, a fusion of Granny Goodness and Marvel Comics character Agatha Harkness, appears in the Amalgam Comics one-shot Bullets and Bracelets.
In other media
Television
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Granny Goodness appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), voiced by Ed Asner.
[ 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.]
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Introduced in , this version is the second leader of Intergang following Bruno Mannheim's death before being defeated by Supergirl and forced out of the position.
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Goodness appears in Justice League Unlimited. Following Darkseid's death in the Justice League episode "Twilight", she battles Virman Vundabar for control of Apokolips.
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Granny Goodness makes a cameo appearance in a flashback in the Legion of Super Heroes episode "Unnatural Alliances" as Imperiex's former master on Apokolips.
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Granny Goodness appears in Smallville, portrayed by Nancy Bell in "Salvation" and by Christine Willes in the tenth season.
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Granny Goodness appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Cloris Leachman.
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Granny Goodness appears in , voiced by Deborah Strang.
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Granny Goodness appears in the Harley Quinn episode "Inner (Para) Demons", voiced by Jessica Walter.
Film
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Granny Goodness appears in , voiced again by Ed Asner.
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An alternate universe variant of Granny Goodness appears in a flashback in , voiced by Khary Payton.
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Granny Goodness appears in Zack Snyder's Justice League through computer-generated imagery (CGI), modeled after the aunt of Wētā FX artist Jojo Aguilar.
Video games
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Granny Goodness appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Lainie Frasier.
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Granny Goodness appears as a boss and unlockable playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Diane Delano.
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Granny Goodness appears as a support card in the mobile version of .
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Granny Goodness appears as a character summon in .
Miscellaneous
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Granny Goodness appears in DC Super Hero Girls and its tie-in films, voiced by April Stewart.
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Granny Goodness appears in DC X Sonic the Hedgehog.
External links
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target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> DCU Guide: Granny Goodness
