IRA "SUNSHINE" GROSS
Real Name: Ira Gross
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Formerly a
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Beast, Devil-Slayer, Doctor
Strange, Wong
Enemies: Ian Fate
Known Relatives: None known
Aliases: Sunshine
Base of Operations: (formerly)
First Appearance: Defenders I#101 (November, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: None known.
After his death, Ira appeared as a spirit connected to
Devil-Slayer for a brief time.
History: Little is known about the
background of Ira Gross, or how he came by the nickname ‘Sunshine.’
(Defenders I#101 (fb))
– Gross served in
(Defenders I#101) –
Gross was singing and playing his guitar in a rainstorm when he saw
Devil-Slayer coming toward him in a garish costume.
Gross was shocked to see the costume, and complimented
Devil-Slayer on it. Devil-Slayer, thinking
Gross was a demon of sorts, started to physically accost Gross, who
fled and tripped over his own guitar case. He
begged Devil-Slayer to not hurt him. Once
both of them calmed down, Gross invited Devil-Slayer up to his
‘apartment’ and offered him some drugs. Devil-Slayer
lost his cool again and threatened Gross with violence.
Gross begged again, saying that drugs was
the only thing he had. Devil-Slayer left,
promising to return to help Gross after Devil-Slayer had helped himself.
(Defenders I#103 (BTS))
– Devil-Slayer spent his free time trying to help Gross find his lost
humanity.
(Defenders I#104 (fb))
– Devil-Slayer used his telepathic powers to help Gross overcome his
mental addiction to heroin.
(Defenders I#104) –
Gross struggled with the terrible withdrawal symptoms of coming off of
heroin, and begged Devil-Slayer for more drugs. Soon,
though, Gross came to his senses, truly wanting to change.
When a demon delivered a ransom note to Devil-Slayer, the hero
left, leaving Gross alone. Gross took the
ransom letter to Doctor Strange’s mansion, who Devil-Slayer had told
him about, and sent Dr. Strange and the Beast to help Devil-Slayer. Strange left Wong to see to Gross’s medical
needs from the withdrawal. Ian Fate,
seeking revenge on Devil-Slayer, kidnapped Cory Payne, the hero’s
estranged wife. Fate changed his mind,
however, and kidnapped Gross instead, setting Cory free.
Fate used a spell to make Gross look like Cory, to fool
Devil-Slayer. Gross was held in a mystic
prison in another dimension. As
Devil-Slayer moved to save ‘Cory,’ one of the extra-dimensional aliens
tried to kill Devil-Slayer, but Gross (now free) stepped in the way of
the blade and was killed. Devil-Slayer
thought his wife was killed, but soon the illusion faded and Gross’s
form was revealed. Devil-Slayer teleported
away with the corpse.
(Defenders I#110) –
Devil-Slayer teleported himself and Gross’s corpse into the Negative
Zone, where he was determined to let them both explode.
Gross’s spirit appeared to Devil-Slayer, so he teleported them
to a bar and forced a bartender to pour them drinks.
Gross chided Devil-Slayer for giving into alcohol just as Gross
had turned to drugs. Gross’s spirit later
met up with Devil-Slayer again, and prodded him to confront his wife,
Cory, in
Comments: Created by J.M. DeMatteis, Don
Perlin, and Joe Sinnott.
Clarifications:
Ira ‘Sunshine’ Gross has no known connections to
images:
Defenders
I#101, p8, p5
Defenders I#101
(November, 1981)
Defenders I#104
(February, 1982)
Defenders I#110
(August, 1982)
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