What is DC Comics' The Grid? All about the time when Cyborg became evil

The Grid (Image via DC Comics)
The Grid (Image via DC Comics)

Since its founding in 1934, DC Comics has created a number of characters who rely on technology. Be it the brains over brawn Lex Luthor or the hyper-intelligent alien Brainiac. The characters were hugely popular among comic book readers. The creators at DC took it a step further and brought technology to life, be it Doom Patrol’s Robot Man, Amazo Android, the Red Tornado, or our favorite Titan Cyborg.

DC comic creators kicked up their creativity and created an even more technologically advanced character. A supervillain who is the literal embodiment of a computer virus, The Grid. The nemesis of Victor Stone aka Cyborg, The Grid is better than his human counterpart in all aspects. He has better technology, he is smarter than Cyborg, all he lacks, and all he wants is something that no computer possesses, human emotions.

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DC Comics computer virus The Grid has taken control over Cyborg and even the Mobius Chair

After getting caught in a father box explosion, only a little remained of Victor Stone, a high school athlete. His father, Silas Stone, a scientist, conducted an experiment on his mortal remains and attached them to a robotic prosthesis. He transformed his son into a Cyborg – a living computer. Created by DC Comics writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, Cyborg was a fan favorite and is the founding member of the Justice League.

As Cyborg learned about the technological marvels of his body, he discovered that through his large communication network, he can keep an eye on every superhero and villain on the planet. However, the ethical dilemma of invading people’s privacy led him to create a secondary cybernetic system that stores all the data out of Cyborg’s conscious oversight. Hence, if a superhuman goes rogue, Victor can now access this cybernetic system and have the data about the superhero ready for him.

As time passed, the software called The Grid started gaining sentience. Learning from the viruses, trojans, and malware it encountered, the program grew into a massive neural network inside Cyborg but under the radar. Member of Crime Syndicate Rhonda Pineda aka Atomica learned about The Grid when she hacked in to gain data about the Justice League.

During the Trinity War event of the New 52, Atomica unleashed The Grid as it took over Cyborg’s machine body ejecting out Victor Stone’s human half. Created by the former president of DC Comics and Entertainment Geoff Johns and artist Ivan Reiss, the Grid first appeared in October 2013, in Justice League Vol 2 #23.

The Grid joined The Crime Syndicate and aided the nefarious gang as the supercomputer scoped its enemies, revealing their weaknesses. Grid helped the syndicate take over the global telecommunications network, all this for the hopeless dream of gaining human emotions.

Cyborg, now equipped with a better robotic body thanks to his father, was now ready to battle the Grid. A wild twist to the tale of Pinocchio, the Grid’s mission to discover emotions turned out to be a failure when Victor Stone and the Metal Men terminated the Grid.

The Grid seemed to survive the attack and was last seen in the Darkseid Wars along with his syndicate team partner, Owlman. The Grid and Owlman claimed possession of the Mobius chair, a space-time vehicle with knowledge of the entire multiverse. In a quest to attain sentience, The Grid and Owlman were vaporized by DC Comic character, Doctor Manhattan.

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Edited by Babylona Bora