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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 30, 2022 15:19:50 GMT -5
There are not a lot of stretchable superheroes, but there are some good ones.
Mr. Fantastic is a great character, the backbone of the Fantastic Four and the world's smartest human.
Plastic Man has become very popular. That whacky ex-criminal has had two Saturday morning cartoon!
Elongated Man is the Stretchable Sleuth, the Ductile Detective, and the first stretchy superhero to be a member of the Justice League.
Elastic Lad, AKA Jimmy Olsen, is Superman's best pal an an honorary member of the Legion of Super-Heroes!
Which is your favorite?
While Mr. Fantastic is a great character (he and Ben Grimm are the Fantastic Four as far as I'm concerned - you can throw the Storms in a blender for all I care) and Plastic Man is a lot of fun, I 'm going to back a loser and vote for Elongated Man. I love Ralph, I love Ralph and Sue together, and I love his nose twitching weird mystery solving!
I imagine Mr Fantastic will win this thing with Plastic Man finishing second, but oh well.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jan 30, 2022 16:37:38 GMT -5
I generally think stretchy superheroes are lame, but I went for Mr. Fantastic, even though he's by far the least interesting member of the Fantastic Four.
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Post by berkley on Jan 30, 2022 17:09:23 GMT -5
Yeah, never one f my favourite powers, I think because even as a kid I sensed it worked against one of the basic attractions of superhero comics, described by Grant Morrison as "beautiful people doing amazing things" or something like that. With the stretchy powers you have one of those things, the amazing, but not the beautiful, since by its very nature this grotesque distortion of the human body is anything but beautiful. I've always found it visually, aesthetically repulsive.
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Post by foxley on Jan 30, 2022 17:13:53 GMT -5
I went for Ralph because, unlike the others, he is someone I would actually want to hang out with. Plus he is a detective almost on a par with Batman (which Bats himself acknowledges) and I like detectives. It never rang true for me when Batman pushed for Plas to gain JLA membership instead of Ralph.
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Post by majestic on Jan 30, 2022 17:35:40 GMT -5
Plastic Man. His original 1940s stories are some of the best Golden Age stories. His powers lend themselves to being slightly goofy rather than serious like Mr Fantastic. Elongated Man would be my second choice and I think he works better on a team.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2022 17:36:18 GMT -5
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Post by tarkintino on Jan 30, 2022 19:05:30 GMT -5
Reed Richards; most of his stretching feats were not just for "comic book effect" but would often serve some specific purpose (e.g. containing a threat, deflection, etc.). Best personality of this class of comic character as she was not a jokester.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 30, 2022 19:05:47 GMT -5
I'd almost go with other, for E-Man; but, he wasn't a stretchy hero as much as able to shift shape, while mostly inspired by Plastic Man. He kind of carried forward the inventiveness of the Jack Cole Plastic Man comics, more than the imitations. They emphasized the stretching, while E-Man captured the transformation into other objects. People kind of forget that Plastic Man emulated not only the stretchyness of plastic, but the ability to mold it into different shapes.
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Post by tolworthy on Jan 30, 2022 19:19:55 GMT -5
 Lawrence Dawson? I guess he doesn't count as a superhero. Lovely Steve Ditko story though. From Fantastic Fears 5, Jan 1954. I love how Ditko did a "Fantastic Fears" stretchy guy seven years before the "Fantastic Four" stretchy guy. Whole issue: comicbookplus.com/?dlid=14729 |
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Post by majestic on Jan 30, 2022 19:24:12 GMT -5
I'd almost go with other, for E-Man; but, he wasn't a stretchy hero as much as able to shift shape, while mostly inspired by Plastic Man. He kind of carried forward the inventiveness of the Jack Cole Plastic Man comics, more than the imitations. They emphasized the stretching, while E-Man captured the transformation into other objects. People kind of forget that Plastic Man emulated not only the stretchyness of plastic, but the ability to mold it into different shapes. loved the E-Man title. Would like to see a collected version. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 30, 2022 19:34:17 GMT -5
I went for Ralph because, unlike the others, he is someone I would actually want to hang out with. Plus he is a detective almost on a par with Batman (which Bats himself acknowledges) and I like detectives. It never rang true for me when Batman pushed for Plas to gain JLA membership instead of Ralph. Thank you. I really though I'd be the only one to vote for Ralph. But of course I would expect good taste from somebody with a Legion of Super-Heroes avatar.  |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 30, 2022 20:21:21 GMT -5
No contest for me.... Ms. Marvel. I feel like Reed Richards is more a scientist than a stretchy guy. I'd pick Plastic Man of the choices, he's definitely the most entertaining.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2022 20:30:07 GMT -5
I went with Elastic Lad, I just really like Silver Age Jimmy, plus he was an honorary Legionnaire.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 30, 2022 20:49:23 GMT -5
Plastic Man pulls ahead in the home stretch.
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Post by MDG on Jan 30, 2022 21:07:29 GMT -5
I went with Plastic Man, depending on how he's handled. Truth be told, I have a harder time accepting stretchy heroes than pretty much anything else. I think it's because it's basically on a very physical level and I don't think the human body and systems could take that kind of disruption. When it's something like just shrinking/growing or changing into an animal, I can buy it, but not lengthening (and thinning) blood vessels or bones becoming flexible and quickly regaining the correct rigid form again (and, yes, I realize I'm overthinking it).
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