Grunge (comics)

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Grunge

Grunge by J. Scott Campbell
Publication information
Publisher Wildstorm Productions
First appearance Deathmate Black (February, 1994)
Created by Jim Lee
Brandon Choi
J. Scott Campbell
In story information
Alter ego Percival Edmund Chang
Team affiliations Gen¹³
Abilities Grunge can molecularly bond with and take on the properties of any object he touches.

Grunge is the codename of Percival Edmund Chang, a fictional comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm, and is a member of the superhero team Gen¹³.

Contents

[edit] Character biography

[edit] Character history

Philip Chang sent his son into hiding while he was still an infant. Born in Hong Kong but raised in Seattle, Percival Edmund soon became known as "Grunge", an all-American slacker who knew little about his brave father. He was eventually invited to take part in I.O.'s Project Genesis, where Grunge soon found out he was in a prison-like breeding ground for Gen-Actives. Manifesting his powers, he escaped with his new teammates, a group soon to be called Gen¹³. They take a temporary break and Grunge travels with Freefall to Las Vegas, where he gets into trouble due to a high win rate. His abilities make it seem as if he and Freefall were statues.

Grunge is a skater/surfer and enjoys spending his afternoons sleeping in. Although he with three beautiful superwomen, only Freefall appreciates him for who he really is. However this never stops Grunge from trying to hit on Caitlin Fairchild constantly, in many maneuvers that sometimes violate her right to privacy. Freefall goes unnoticed, despite her feelings for him and Rainmaker attempts to serve as the voice of reason for Grunge's attitude, going roundly ignored.

Despite his personal history, Grunge is dependable on the battlefield, listening to orders when given and improvising new ways to help. His sound system defeated the villain known as Helmut. When the girls were kidnapped by a toy manufacturer, Grunge used the properties of the toys themselves to help rescue them. After a notable round of cluelessness, Grunge travels to the desert alone and confronts a trickster deity who puts him through his paces. He is picked up by his friends, who believe he was just hallucinating everything because he did not bring enough water.

The interruption to regular life brought on by super-powers is normalized a bit when Grunge returns to school. He ends up with Caitlin in high level classes due to his photographic memory. His poor choice in new friends almost leads to the loss of old ones, as they do not like Rainmaker's more peaceful worldviews. It does lead to the release of an angry, super-strong simian that had been experimented upon in the school's laboratories.

Grunge's life is interrupted when I.O. forces blow up his house and slay the robotic housemaid. Grunge and friends travel to a small island where Lynch's friend is operating. Unfortunately the island contains a spaceship, which takes Grunge and Caitlin deep into space. There, he is affected by an alien system and goes on a rampage.

Grunge's second trip into space was not so far, only going so far as the moon in order to help out in the Fire and Heaven incident.

Grunge also appears in two text only Gen13 novels.

[edit] Personality

While on the surface seeming to be nothing more that a typical "frat boy" type, there is more to Grunge than he lets on. He also has a photographic memory but tends to keep this fact to himself for fear of being thought a nerd. Grunge is also an avid fan of comic books and Hong Kong Kung Fu movies and action films. He especially likes the films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and John Woo. A vocal video game lover with an excess of confidence in his gaming skills, Grunge has nonetheless been bested at fighting games by Freefall at least twice.

After the Worldstorm reboot, however, the new Grunge exhibited an even more caring personality. A typical nerd in childhood, he becomes a true man able to reinvent himself even before discovering his powers by trying to change his personality in something more carefree, thus able to relate better with people of his own age. Overprotective and caring, Grunge now exhibits a big brother-like personality on his teammates, using his slacker surface to cheer his only true friends, the Gen13. Grunge now seems more aware of the deeper consequences of his action: after being forced to kill Kid Apollo to defend his friends, he spirals in depression until Rainmaker reassures him.

[edit] Powers and abilities

Grunge has the ability to molecularly bond with anything he comes in contact with. Once he bonds with an object he takes on its physical characteristics. For example, if he bonds with steel he gains increased strength and durability. The limits of his absorption ability were never revealed. He at times was able to meld with the ground beneath him sinking his hands at one place and having them come up at another place. He has also absorbed the properties of sand, from sand in his boot. Instead of gaining the properties of a rock, as sand is just small stones, he gained a form not unlike Marvel's Sandman -- a being comprised of small grains which he can manipulate in a variety of ways.

The full extent of his powers was never fully addressed, with certain abilities seeming to appear out of nowhere and cease to be used soon after. It is revealed that he can actually assume the shape of objects he absorbs. While in the Gen¹³ 'Zine the creators established he was unable to absorb/copy the properties of other superhumans, he has on at least one occasion copied the physical abilities of Caitlin Fairchild. Another oddity that was never fully addressed was his extreme ability to heal himself. In the first mini series his arm can be seen being shattered, but shortly thereafter, it comes back together. He has been shot repeatedly and the bullets were rejected from his body. He seems to have a remarkable healing capacity, but a reason for this is never addressed. One theory is that he bonds with the embedded bullets, an ability shown when he was able to pass through a wall.

Aside from his powers, Grunge is also a skilled martial artist and has a photographic memory.

[edit] Trivia

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