When Captain Comet returned to Earth-One in 1976, after decades traveling through space, the hero immediately encountered a familiar face. While strolling through the streets of San Francisco, the plain clothed Adam Blake witnessed a battle between Green Lantern and two strange beings. One was the costumed criminal known as Hi-Jack, and the other was the sinister simian known as Grodd.
Sizing up the confrontation, observing that Lantern was the aggressor and has the superior advantage with his power ring, Blake assumed his Comet persona to mediate this conflict. Grabbing Hi-Jack and Grodd, he ferried them to safety, where the pair introduced him to the comrades in the Secret Citadel. There, they invited the seemingly unwitting Captain to join their Secret Society, without their revealing they were Super-Villians!
However, when the Society's leader Manhunter tracked Blake down and revealed the truth to him, Adam explained he was already aware of Grodd's rouse and knew their true nature. Seeing this as an opportunity to bring down this powerful crime syndicate from within, Captain Comet agreed to join them. He stated that while Grodd erected telepathic shields around he and his confederates, Comet's mental abilities were able to circumvent this allowing him to learn the truth. It seems that something more tipped him off to Grodd's true nature, a faint memory from his distant past.
In fact, in May 1953, Professor Sacron summoned Blake to Africa where he revealed a secret tribe of intelligent gorillas. One such simian attacked Adam from behind, then had the professor use a machine to transfer the Super-Ape's brain into Comet's body, and visa versa. Despite this advantage, the Captain outwits the Super-Ape and has him imprisoned. He would free himself, this time leading a gang using his telepathic powers, although once more Captain Comet defeated the gorilla.
Who was Super-Ape? Why did he appear in the early 1950s, with the intent of capturing and trading places with Captain Comet? It seems this was the Gorilla Grodd from the late 1970's, after he experienced a series of defeats at Comet's hands. Seizing an opportunity to control his foe's powerful body, which he could later use against his arch-enemy the Flash years later, was to tempting an opportunity to pass up. Still, even knowing his adversary Comet who at the time in the 50's did not know him, Grodd was still unable to capitalize on this to gain victory.
We know that Grodd's super-science would conceivably included time travel, which no doubt was utilized by a few of his Sinister Citadel allies such as Lex Luthor. He was shown with the ability to project his mind into another’s body. And this was a technique his counterpart the Ultra-Humanite had himself used, both in the 1980s and the 1940s, to further his own schemes.
In Ultra's case, this was implemented when he mentally controlled the young members of Infinity, Inc., ensnaring them within his time capsule. Activated by his own alpha-waves, as his brain was connected to his earlier Delores Winters version of the Humanite. Under false pretenses, indicating to Winters that these pawns would help her succeed when Ultra-Ape knew they would fail, he like Grodd proved time was not on his side despite his mastery of it.
And so, while not the earliest tales in Grodd's personal chronology, his two battles with Captain Comet in 1953 in a different gorilla’s body were the first appearance of the Super-Ape... and the revelation of his secret civilization known as Gorilla City. Due to his different appearance, the Captain didn’t suspect his old and new ape adversaries were one in the same.
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