Frederick Delmar (New Earth)

From DC Database

Goldenrod

"False pity won't save you. I hurt more than you can imagine."

--Goldenrod

Real Name: Fred Delmar
Nicknames: Golden Boy; Goldilocks; Weed-Face
Former Aliases: No known former aliases
Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases

Status

Occupation: Former lawyer
Legal Status: Goldenrod was a citizen of the United States with no criminal record; presently declared legally deceased.
Identity: Secret
Marital Status: Married
Group Affiliation: No known group affiliation
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York City

Origin

At one point in his life, Harvard graduate Fred Delmar was a successful law attorney. Soon after his wife gave birth to their first child however, the Delmars came upon hard financial times, and Fred's firm went bankrupt. Desperate for money, Fred turned towards any avenue that offered him a way out of his financial crisis.

A New York based company called Ollins Medical Lab was looking for test subjects willing to volunteer to try out a new anti-histamine drug called Nuvafed. Bruce Bonwit, head of Ollins' research programs approached the company's patent lawyer, Ted Benton Jr., and asked his assistance. Benton agreed to help Bonwit find a willing test subject and contacted Fred Delmar. Delmar jumped at the opportunity to make some extra money, and the Ollins associates assured him that their experiments were completely safe.

They injected the Nuvafed anti-histamine into Fred's body, but did not acquire the results they desired. Rather than improving Fred's health, he suffered a violent reaction and died on the operating table. Ollins was not willing to publicly announce his failure and he instructed his colleagues to dispose of Fred's body. They drove him out into the middle of a deserted field in upstate New York, and dumped him into the tall grass.

The Nuvafed in Delmar's body reacted with the vegetation of the surrounding area. The drug generated spores, which pollinated Fred's form, transforming him into a monstrous plant creature known as Goldenrod.

Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York City
Place of Death: Matawan, New Jersey
Known Relatives: An unnamed wife and child.
First Appearance: Firestorm (Volume 2) #19
Final Appearance: Firestorm (Volume 2) #19

History

As Goldenrod, Fred Delmar was now a creature driven completely by a passion for revenge. His goal was to seek out and destroy everyone involved with destroying his life. First, he traveled back to Manhattan and raided the law offices of Benton & Benton. He killed a night watchman named Bernie Jones and left a trail of spores all across the building – spores that eventually took root and grew into monstrous vines stretching throughout the lobby and the service elevator. He ransacked Benton's office and found address information for all of Ollins' employees.

Goldenrod then went to Ollins Medical Lab only to find it empty. He flew into a rampage and began destroying a room full of chemicals and lab equipment. The local hero known as Firestorm tracked him down and flew into the laboratory. He tried to stop Goldenrod, but the monster turned and produced a spray of concentrated pollen directly into Firestorm's eyes. While the hero wheeled around blind with pain, Goldenrod made his escape.

His next target was the home of Dr. Bruce Bonwit in Matawan, New Jersey. He burst into Bonwit's house and infected him with lethal doses of histamine. Bonwit fell backwards in a convulsive state as his body broke out in hives. Firestorm arrived and fought Goldenrod a second time. By this point, he had learned of Delmar's tragic history and tried in vain to calm him, but Goldenrod continued to attack him with his chemical spray. Firestorm used his molecular rearrangement powers to open a crevice in the Earth behind him. He fired a blast of nuclear energy at Goldenrod, driving him backwards into the pit. In that moment, the human essence of Fred Delmar took root in the Goldenrod body. Realizing that he could no longer continue to exist as he was, he chose to discorporate his physical form, transforming into a free-floating cloud of pollen. Goldenrod's dispersed molecules blew away into the night wind.

Characteristics

Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: (as Delmar) Blue; (as Goldenrod) Black
Hair: (as Delmar) Brown; (as Goldenrod) none
Skin: Goldenrod's skin had a textured yellow-hue.
Unusual Features: Goldenrod's entire body was composed of vegetative material

Powers

Known Powers: Goldenrod possessed the ability to produce grains of pollen from any part of his body. He could compact these grains into concentrated doses and direct them at potential victims, causing any number of allergic reactions. High dosages of histamine chemicals within his pollen would often yield fatal reactions in his intended targets.

Goldenrod also possessed the ability to disperse his own physical body at will – a power that enabled him to seed the immediate environment causing instantaneous plant growth in the surrounding area. Goldenrod maintained limited control over the plants he seeded, and could command them to attack or entangle his victims.
Known Abilities: As Fred Delmar, Goldenrod possessed academic knowledge of the law
Strength Level: Strength level unknown

Miscellaneous

Equipment: No known equipment.
Transportation: No known transportation.
Weapons: No known weapons.

Notes

• The character of Goldenrod was created by Gerry and Carla Conway.

• Whether Goldenrod is truly dead remains to be seen. To date, he has yet to reconstitute his physical form.

Trivia

• Goldenrod is actually a plant commonly reputed to cause hay fever in human beings.

Recommended Readings

• Firestorm (Volume 2)
• Swamp Thing (Volume 1)

Related Articles

• Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond/Martin Stein)
• Ollins Medical Lab
• Nuvafed

External Links

• None

References

• None