Doctor Fate and Aquaman rescue Solomon Grundy, intent on using him to help battle an ancient evil. The pairing of these heroes is an homage to the Marvel Comics superhero team The Defenders and the plot is based upon H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.[1] Hawkgirl's atheism is shaken by Grundy's sacrifice to recover his soul, and to a lesser extentby the reliance of Wonder Woman and Aquaman on their deities when in need.