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Post by Jesse on May 18, 2014 19:09:15 GMT -5
Originally I had planned to just talk about the self titled series but quickly realized that Plastic Man had appeared in dozens of stories by Jack Cole that were featured in Police Comics. Plastic Man became the main character on each cover starting with Police Comics #5 and remained so for nearly 100 more issues. (That tenure would end with Police Comics #102 in late 1950.) For those who wish to read them both his appearances in Police Comics and Plastic Man are available for free download (along with many others public domain comic books) at The Digital Comics Museum. I'll try to discuss his appearances in chronological order. Plastic Man's first appearance was in Police Comics #1 which was first published in August of 1941 and tells his origin story. (Plastic Man's own series wouldn't debut until Summer of 1943.)  During a robbery at a chemical company gangster Eel O'Brian is shot by a guard, doused with acid and abandoned by his partners.  After escaping he awakes in a rest haven being cared for by a monk who has turned away the police. Discovering that he's been physically changed and with a new outlook on life Eel decides to confront his once criminal cohorts. Pretending to go along with their next heist he instead defeats them and turns them in to the police. He decides he will use his role as a thief to get inside information that will aid his fight against crime.  His second appearance in Police Comics #2 Plastic Man wants to officially join the police force. To do so he has to catch the mob involved in the dope racket as well as the gangster Eel O'Brian (his own alter ego). As The Eel he gets involved with an opium smuggling operation that uses a hearse to drive corpses across the border. He discovers that the mob's drug operation was being run by a senator. Despite the cops being unable to arrest Eel O'Brian, Plastic Man is accepted into the police force.  In Police Comics #3 Plastic Man gets involved in the case of a pinball machine racket. I thought it was a bit weird to see pinball machines (which I would consider a wholesome childhood activity) associated with a criminal enterprise. I can only assume that these kinds of table top games were illegal because they were considered gambling at the time. (?) Plastic Man is actually knocked out cold in this one when the villain uses electrified metal plates in front of the doors and windows. The villain being aware that bullets only bounce off of Plastic Man. Here we discover more about the extent of Plastic Man's invulnerability. A mallet to the head only bounces back in the villain's face and he survives being crushed by a steam roller.  Police Comics #4 features a story where Madam Brawn decides to take over the protection racket with her Crime School for Delinquent Girls. This leads to a gang war with Lefty Goon. Plastic Man warns Madam Brawn that Lefty Goon's mob is coming in full force and then is attacked and overwhelmed by the girls. By the time he's able to free himself Madam Brawn and her girls have already killed off Lefty Goon's mob. Plastic Man warns them to leave town instead of turning them in but Madam Brawn vows revenge. |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 18, 2014 23:51:39 GMT -5
I have a reprint of Police #1. Man, those early Quality comics are CRA-ZEEE!
And so many features! Police Man, Firebrand, Phantom Lady (one of my favorite super-heroines ever), the Human Bomb, the Sword, the Mouthpiece and so on. A lot of the stories are only SIX PAGES!
You got your money's worth!
Plastic Man is easily the best thing in the book, but overall, Police Comics #1 is actually pretty good for a Golden Age comic.
It's so much better than the crapfest that is Military #1! It has the first Blackhawk, and the Miss America origin is not without its charm, but it's mostly pretty bad.
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Post by Hoosier X on May 18, 2014 23:53:51 GMT -5
Plastic Man is actually knocked out cold in this one when the villain uses electrified metal plates in front of the doors and windows. The villain being aware that bullets only bounce off of Plastic Man. Here we discover more about the extent of Plastic Man's invulnerability. A mallet to the head only bounces back in the villain's face and he survives being crushed by a steam roller. That bit about the steamroller sounds great! |
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Post by Jesse on May 18, 2014 23:59:13 GMT -5
 Police Comics #5 is the first issue that features Plastic Man as the main character on the cover. It's also marks the first villain to return, Madam Brawn who appeared in the last issue. Although this could just as easily be considered a two-part story. Plastic Man responds to an alert about female pirates robbing a liner ship after getting an ominous letter from Madam Brawn however it's a trap and Plastic Man is knocked out by gas. Madam Brawn's plan ironically involves molding Plastic Man's face to look like wanted criminal Eel O'Brian, drugging him with marijuana and setting him loose to wreak havoc in an unintentionally hysterical scene right out of Reefer Madness.  Plastic Man comes to his senses after being shot by police. Not realizing how he got there as Eel O'Brian he decides to keep up the ruse firing back but above the cops heads as not to hurt anyone. He escapes, changes into Plastic Man and chases Madam Brawn and her girls back to the docks. While trying to apprehend her Madam Brawn falls backwards on a spike. She asks him why he continued to shoot at the cops after he had recovered and in her dying moment he reveals to her his secret identity.  Police Comics #6 contains the first Plastic Man feature to break the forth wall where he asks the readers if they would like to have nine pages instead of six. Another example of Plastic Man's growing popularity. In the story Plastic Man is called to the scene of a murder where the victim has left a message written in his own blood. He follows a trail at the crime scene to the crooks hide out and discovers they were aided by a pair of disembodied hands. The crooks trap him in an adhesive net and throw him down into a dungeon where he meets the owner of the hands. The man explains that he was cursed to forever steal even after cutting off his own hands. Plastic Man escapes the dungeon and manages to trap the crooks in the same adhesive net. Meanwhile the disembodied hands rob a safe and shoot the guard on duty. Dragging away the loot they are discovered by Plastic Man who in the ensuing fight throws them into a nearby furnace.  In Police Comics #7 Eel O'Brian eludes police after stealing furs so that he can infiltrate the United Crooks of America. After gaining their trust and being initiated he's sent on a heist which he thwarts as Plastic Man. He then gets the crooks to reveal the location of their headquarters so that police can apprehend them.  Police Comics #8 contains the story of a giant eight-ball that emerges from inside a volcano and goes on a path of destruction. The gigantic sphere is being piloted by the evil madman Professor McSneer who uses his "Gold and Silver Magnet" to rob the entire city. Plastic Man manages to drill his way inside and stop the giant eight-ball before it can smash into Kansas City.  In Police Comics #9 the Plastic Man story is increased to nine pages and moved to the beginning of the issue (replacing Firebrand who was the main feature in the first eight issues). The story features a grotesque looking villain with no torso called Hairy Arms who decides to join with the Axis in the war against the United States. After killing his lackeys who wouldn't turn traitor he sends a robot car to kidnap men in the streets to be used as slaves manufacturing an Army of robots. Plastic Man is joined by Officer Plotz (his first time working with a partner) and they investigate one of the kidnappings. They discover Hairy Arms' lair and he manages to escape but not before Plastic Man is able to deduce who he really is. Officer Plotz arrests Mrs. Reknits who is revealed as Hairy Arms in a robotic body as Eel O'Brian rallies his fellow gangsters to defeat the robot army. |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 19, 2014 0:21:43 GMT -5
I went to that site and got distracted by the Red Bee in Hit Comics. I've never read any Golden Age Red Bee. OMG! I love it that he has a favorite bee named Michael who flies around and finds crime for the Red Bee to thwart! Michael rules!
When I was done with that, I read the first Madame Brawn story. Geez Louise! Sisters are doin' it for themselves! And I love how Madame Brawn tells the girls not to smoke because it's bad for your health! I didn't know you were allowed to do that in the 1940s! Wasn't it considered bad for National Recovery?
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 19, 2014 8:02:43 GMT -5
These look really fun! One of these days I'll get to all this stuff ;D
Love the cover to #7!
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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 19, 2014 8:50:21 GMT -5
Anytime I read Plastic Man reprints by Jack Cole,I was never disappointed.And they just get better too
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Post by MDG on May 19, 2014 9:48:02 GMT -5
So, was Plas the longest-lasting, non-DC superhero from the Golden Age? I was surprised that he lasted 'til 56--I thought Quality was out of the business by then.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 19, 2014 9:53:33 GMT -5
So, was Plas the longest-lasting, non-DC superhero from the Golden Age? I was surprised that he lasted 'til 56--I thought Quality was out of the business by then.I I guess it depends on how you view Blackhawk. |
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ironchimp
Full Member
Simian Overlord
Posts: 456 
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Post by ironchimp on May 19, 2014 9:58:58 GMT -5
that's a brutal headbutt
manhunter looks like he really enjoys his work
but what's The Mouthpiece's hook?
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Post by Rob Allen on May 19, 2014 13:48:41 GMT -5
Note that Mrs. Reknits' name spelled backwards is "stinker". Was she introduced earlier in the story?
Quality did last thru '56, and AFAIK Plastic Man was indeed the longest-running non-DC superhero of the Golden Age.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on May 19, 2014 14:46:24 GMT -5
Nice! As I've said before, this and the Ditko Spider-man are my favorite superhero comics "runs." I really wish DC would finish reprinting it - 8 volumes was not enough!
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Post by Jesse on May 19, 2014 15:12:10 GMT -5
That bit about the steamroller sounds great! There have been a few really fun scenes where Plastic Man gets run over. I like that story because we are getting to see more of the extent of his powers. I went to that site and got distracted by the Red Bee in Hit Comics. I've never read any Golden Age Red Bee. OMG! I love it that he has a favorite bee named Michael who flies around and finds crime for the Red Bee to thwart! Michael rules! Golden Age Red Bee looks like he wears plastic bags on his arms. One of the silliest costume designs ever. When I was done with that, I read the first Madame Brawn story. Geez Louise! Sisters are doin' it for themselves! And I love how Madame Brawn tells the girls not to smoke because it's bad for your health! I didn't know you were allowed to do that in the 1940s! Wasn't it considered bad for National Recovery? It's a shame they killed off the character. I dig the whole Rosie the Riveter vibe. My favorite cover so far. The cover artwork improved dramatically with issue #5. Note that Mrs. Reknits' name spelled backwards is "stinker". Was she introduced earlier in the story? Yeah Plastic Man and Officer Plotz get called to Mrs. Reknits' apartment to investigate another kidnapping. She claimed her son was missing and that the ransomers were demanding $50,000 cash but it was a trap. |
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Post by DE Sinclair on May 19, 2014 16:04:40 GMT -5
It doesn't get much better than "Whee!! I'm a killer!!" Never mind that about the only thing he really would have killed off would have been a couple bags of chips and a box of cupcakes.
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Post by gothos on May 19, 2014 16:37:02 GMT -5
Madame Brawn definitely predates Sumuru and Pussy Galore as a "maybe-Lesbian-lady-gangster-with-a-girl-gang" type.
Although the Phantom had a villainess named Sala who probably came first...
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