Hawley Griffin

Hawley Griffin
File:LOEGriffin2 Hawley Griffin on Horsell Common
Publication information
Publisher	Wildstorm/DC Comics
First appearance	The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I, #2
Created by	Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill
In-story information
Team affiliations	The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Martians, himself
Notable aliases	Invisible Man the First
Abilities	Invisibility

Hawley Griffin is a character created by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, and appearing in volumes one and two of their comic, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Sources

He is based on Giffin, the titular character of H. G. Wells' novel The Invisible Man. In the book, Wells only gave the character a last name; Moore gave him the surname Hawley as a reference to the serial murderer Hawley Crippen.

Fictional biography

The Invisible Man ends with Griffin being surrounded and beaten to death by a mob after going insane and attempting to start an "epoch of the Invisible Man" with himself as ruler of the world. In the plot line of the League, Griffin escaped the mob, who actually killed an innocent albino who Griffin had made invisible as means of a decoy. He then escaped to a girls' school run by Miss Rosa Coote, having his way with the students and resulting in a number of "immaculate conceptions."

In issue 2 of the first volume, after acquiring Dr. Jekyll, Campion Bond dispatched Mina Murray, Allan Quartermain, and Captain Nemo. The three stay the night, and Miss Murray manages to capture him while he rapes Pollyanna. They return him to the League headquarters at the Secret Annexe of the British Museum, where in exchange for a pardon for his crimes, a search for a cure to his invisibility, and a large sum of money, Griffin agrees to join the League.

Throughout the rest of Volume I, Griffin participated in the fight against the Devil Doctor and Professor Moriarty; it was by his shadowing of Bond back to MI5 that he learned that Moriarty was M. Throughout the adventure, he often stated his low view of the rest of humanity (even murdering an innocent police officer because he was cold and wanted the man's clothing) and nearly abandoned the rest of the team by trying to take the Victoria when Moriarty's airship began to fall, but remained a member of the team.

That changed starting in Volume II, issue 2. After witnessing the Horsell Offensive at the start of the Martian invasion and listening to Nemo's statements concerning their weaponry, Griffin came to the conclusion that mankind was doomed, and made an alliance with the Martians: he would help them conquer the world, and in return he would rule it alongside them. To this end, he stole plans for the defence of London from the Annexe, assaulting and humiliating Miss Murray in the process. He also advises the Martians on the nature of the Nautilus, suggesting they infest the Thames with the red weed to impede it.

In Volume II, issue 5 Griffin returns to the Annexe, where Hyde was waiting for him. The first volume had established that Hyde could see Griffin via infrared vision, as well as smell him; Hyde had formed an attraction to Murray, and in revenge for how Griffin treated her, Hyde raped him to death. As in the original novel, upon his death he becomes visible again; however, the reader is only shown the omnipresent bloodstains caused by Hyde's assault.

Other appearances

In the film adaptation, the name of the character could not be used due to copyright reasons. Along with a change in backstory and motivation, a new Invisible Man character was created named Rodney Skinner.

In Kevin J. Anderson's novel The Martian War, set in a world where Wells drew inspiration for his novels from (fictional) real-life events and people, the Invisible Man is also named Hawley Griffin, and also betrays Britain during a crisis involving the Martians (although to the German Empire, not to the Martians themselves). Anderson wrote the novelization of the League film and has said that even prior to that he was a long-time fan of the League comic.