Customer Reviews

The Plastic Man Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jack Cole's reputation stands primarily on the reputation of his most famous character, Plastic Man, and rightly so. These stories are terrific treats from the Golden Age of comics, and demonstrate why so many people rate Cole as one of the great comic book creators, often naming him in the same sentence with Will Eisner.

Plastic Man first appeared in the anthology series "Police Comics" #1, published in 1941 by Quality Comics (DC obtained Quality's stable after Quality went out of business). In his foreword, Will Eisner recalls that Cole had been hired by Quality to more or less produce a clone to Eisner's own "The Spirit". Instead, Cole took a different route, creating his own distinct Plastic Man.

For those not familiar with the character, criminal Eel O'Brien leads a gang of crooks on a robbery in a chemical plant. When the police arrive, Eel is shot. Acid seeps into his wound. Left behind by his men, Eel escapes the police, and is rescued by a kindly monk. The next morning, Eel discovers that the acid has given his body elastic abilities, allowing him to take any shapes. Touched by the monk's kindness, Eel resolves to use his powers for good, and takes on the identity of Plastic Man. Working as Eel, he is able to get inside info on criminal gangs. As Plastic Man, he works in the employ of the police (and later the FBI) to take down criminals.

Plastic Man faces a variety of criminals, some fairly conventional (a dope ring, a group of Axis spies) to the bizarre (a brain that won't die, a thug whose lower body has been replaced by a peg, and man-eating trees). He also gets a sidekick, another former criminal, Woozy Winks. After saving a mystic's live, Woozy lives under a spell which protects him from all harm. As the series progresses, his power is a little less constant. Largely, Winks is a terrific running joke.

" The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 1" collects the Plastic Man stories from "Police Comics" #s 1-20, which covers a great deal of material. We get to see a variety of changes in Plastic Man's commercial career. In the first issue, Plastic Man was the fourth or fifth story, and the cover belonged to a character called Firebrand. Subsequently, Plastic Man become the star of the covers, sharing only with Eisner's Spirit, whose adventures were being reprinted in "Police". The page count of the stories went up, and Cole began using the Eisnerian technique of a splash page to introduce the story.

But Cole never simply aped Eisner, or anyone else. Plastic Man stayed distinct, maintaining a precarious balance between laugh out loud funny, and out-and-out creepy. This is particularly interesting in light of the fact that since Cole's death, Plastic Man has been played mostly for laughs (see, e.g., Kyle Baker's current series published by DC). Cole had no problem with depicting acts of violence juxtaposed with comedy. People unfamiliar with the original work will find this a bit jarring. Nonetheless, Cole could and did make the balance work.

DC seems to have fast tracked this particular Archive series. This a good thing. I look forward to picking up the rest of the series.

Plastic Man was an odd character for his time. At his conception, the genre of the super hero was still in its infancy, with very few of the super hero icons established. The "big three," Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, were already here. Plastic Man broke strange new ground. He was perhaps the first (and most durable; he's still around in the pages of JLA) parody of the super hero. His powers themselves are a recipe for wackiness. He had and still has one of the strangest costumes in comics. He was, as far as I know, the first comics character to have the overused "fell into a vat of chemicals" origin that has also given us characters such as the Joker and Mr. Freeze. The strangest and most unique part of him in my eyes is his paradoxical beginnings and his resulting secret identity. Eel O'Brien was a ruthless criminal. He had the accident that turned him into Plastic Man. Upon discovering his powers, he immediately reevaluated his station in life and resovled to use his new powers to make ammends for his past wrongdoings. It was that simple. But he has the stranges secret identity in comicdom. In those days, he retained his Eel O'Brien identity and acted as a spy on the mob. So, he's still constantly on the run for police; conversely, Plastic Man is a badge carrying member of the police force. His exploits are surprising for one who knows him in current DC comics continuity. These days, although he has been handled very well, he is mostly used for comic relief (as was probably Jack Cole's intention). But during the Golden Age, he had a much darker side. He is, at times, actually quite violent, and transforms himself into bizarre torutre devices to torment his enemies. This book also sees the introduction of one of the most absurd sidekicks in comics: Woozy Winks, a man who nature will not allow to be harmed. His origin is funny, however. Upon recieving his super powers, he initially decides to use them for evil at the flip of the coin. Overall, this is a very fun book for those who know the Plastic Man of today and want to see more of him.

Out of the five archives on Plastic Man to date I like this one the best (but this is not to say the rest are bad 2-5 are mearly terrific while this one is Plaz-tastic).

Jack Cole set out to just put some bread on the table but he ended up creating what I consider to be a dream on paper.

In later volumes a fleet of ghost artists takes over the adventures of the stretchable sherlock with some pretty good results but this is Cole's finest hour.l

This is a magnificent addition to DC's Archive series reprinting the first 20 Plastic Man strories from Quality's Police Comics in all their glory, including full page cover reproductions from each issue. The replication is superb and colors appear to be rendered acurately from my recollection of the 1940's originals.

Those familiar with Jack Cole's work will already be aware of his technique of rendering serious subjects in a whimsical manner. He had the unique ability of creating surreal worlds balanced precariously between realiasm and cartoonish absurdity. Furthermore, Jack Cole's Plastic Man has a noirish simplicity that distinguishes his character from the plethora of superheros created by other illustrators, past and present.

My one caveat: This book would be deserving of a five star rating if not for the poorly rendered dust jacket illustration. Since this book is entirely devoted to Jack Cole and his creation, it would have made more sense to use one of the master illustrators own depictions of the character on the dustjacket. It is my hope that DC is monitoring these reviews and will correct this error in judgement on reissues of this and future volumes in the series.

Plastic Man was the first Super Hero who had his own distinct personality; he was the first to have been a former criminal, and he was the first one to know how loony and fun his world was. And now, his first adventures are back in this wonderful Archive edition. Jack Cole, Plastic Man's creator, broke ground that is only now being broken again by today's comic book artists. Cole excelled as a writer, inker, letterer and penciler, very unusual then and now. Plastic Man was obviously a labor of love for him, as evidenced by the wild plots, characters and the sublime ability to put all that into pictures. The most important thing about Plastic Man and his pal Woozy Winks was that they actually enjoyed their surrealistic adventures. Plastic Man AKA Eel O' Brian, had a great time tying himself into knots, boucing like a super ball, and using his arms as lariats. It's like Cole actually contemplated what an imaginative mind could do with such a gift. Cole made it fun for the reader by introducing some of the most original villains the comics' world has to offer. Again, Cole artwork is only matched by his stories. Both are edgy and out of this world. I'm afraid I can't do justice to these stories by describing them. Cole's talent stood out over 50 years ago and it stands out now. The Plastic Man character was not created from a cookie cutter. He was fresh, unique, and wildy inventive. It has remained that way. Although pricey, this edition is worth it. If you think that wahy today's artisits are producing is special, think again. Cole already did it. Highly recommended.

I had never read a Jack Cole comic before this book. I see now why he is so highly regarded. His work in this volume reminds me of the early career of Will Eisner. Check it out!

Jack cole did alot of great work in his life. His work for playboy is legendary, he did the original daredevil and other strips as well before creating this masterpiece. Plastic man was unlike most comics of the day , it had humor and lots of fun stories. It's both for adults and kids at the same time and the art was fantastic. The reprint series here was thankfully done before dc stopped remastering their editions and just repinted faded comics like in starman volume two. Yeuck. This series was restored and looks great. SO dc needs to go back to this restoring work again just like this series.

Plastic Man was a hit in the late '30s for artist Jack Cole, who worked with Will Eisner (of "The Spirit" fame - in face, Eisner writes the introduction to this volume). Plastic Man is "Eels" O'Brian, a notorious gangster who has acid spilled on him in a heist gone wrong. He is saved by a kind monk, who inspires him to fight criminals. As Plastic Man (or as "Eels" O'Brian, whichever can help his cause) he busts gangsters, an Asian opium ring, pinball crooks, Madam Brawn's gang of notorious female gangsters, Those Hands (disembodied hands that steal compulsively), the United Crooks of America, the evil Magnetic eight ball, Hairy Arms, a 17th century warlock/scientist who lives on in an infected brain, a corrupt sculptor, submarine nazis, weather Nazis in Mexico (Hitler makes a quick appearance), an Indian medicine man, evil actors in the Maniac House, and a freaky scientist with his forest of evil animated animal-trees (and tree-animals). He saves a bald beauty, spars intellectually with Woozy Winks and gets enlisted with the FBI. He also encounters strange sidekicks, like a dopey Western Union guy, who helps him bust Nazi collaborators, and Woozy Winks, a dopey fat guy who is charmed with a spell that protects him from personal harm. In the surreal final episode, Woozy takes on the magicians Abba and Dabba, while Plas recovers from an explosion. The artwork, layout and design is sensational, with a great use of black, and a trippy talking microphone "narrating" the proceedings. Some drug references, including opium, someone feeds "Eels" reefer to make him go crazy, someone else gives Woozy "loco pills" (LSD?). Great, surrealistic fun that was many years ahead of his time. He was doing tripped-out Jack Kirby-like stuff way before Kirby was. With his tale of a hero who gains super powers after some chemical was spilled on him, and who keeps a secret identity so that he can fight crime, he's not all to different from Eisner's The Spirit anyway - although he's definitely a lot stranger.

It is always great to find the roots behind any story be it friend or fiend. I grew up a few years into production of "Plas" and wondered how this plyable hero and Goofy sidekick came about. This First rate book was a great read and reflects the "PC" of the late 40's early 50's.
It was nice to see the Jack Cole, the author / Artist get up to speed.
I would recommend this read to any fan. I now have 3 out of the 8 Volumes and will methodically aquire the complete set.

Jack Cole's Plastic Man was one of the most original heroes ever created. A former criminal who fights crime with a body that can stretch into any form. More comics today should be like this simple character from the 40s. The stories in this Archive stand up remarkably well and are still fun.