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Metamorpho: The Element Man (2024-) #1
To know him is to love him -- that fab freak who can change himself into any element in the human body! He’s the one and only Rex Mason, alias Metamorpho... but can even he win out against Cy.C.L.O.P.S., the hairy eyeball of crime that gazes from the top of the pop charts to the lowest depths of evil -- and even into the far-off, far-out Ra-Realm? To find out, the Element Man must survive a hand-picked assassin who can match him change for change... and that's just the first issue!Join us for this covalent bond of friends and foes in the brand new ongoing series from superstar team Al Ewing and Steve Lieber!
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Published December 26, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 26, 2024
fun throwback issue
the creative team indulges in a retro style as they build Metamorpho into a new form.
it's a fun first issue.
the creative team indulges in a retro style as they build Metamorpho into a new form.
it's a fun first issue.
January 25, 2025
This throwback to 60s-70s comics won't be for everyone, especially with the constant rhyming lingo and puns. But I've been in the mood for lighter stories recently and this really did the trick! Just some clean, silly, campy fun.
December 27, 2024
Welcome metamaniacs! This was such a fun and campy reintroduction to the character and this issue really did a good job at sliding us right into the ridiculous world and origin of metamorpho while providing a slew of mysteries to setup the rest of the series. I especially love that the opening page is very reminiscent of older comics, with a side bar with the character portraits to introduce them and a whole piece of art that never happens in to rest of the issue to get you hooked, it’s hilarious and I love it.
But then this issue throws us back, way back. No clue where we even are but we are introduced to Prince Ra-man, which I can only assume is somehow connected to the same orb of Raw drawn from the meteor that gave Rex Mason his powers and turned him into metamorpho. We witness the Prince as he has just defeated the servant of the master who would challenge the rule of the six sided sun. I m very lost at what is happening but seeing a six sided son in the distance is a bit helpful in indicating we are not on earth. This is especially true when solar law kicks into place and the Prince delivers the final blow upon his opponent using his “mind mastery.” The opponent is fully defeated and the penalty must be paid to the demon sun. As the Prince looks up the second sun explodes!! I’m really hoping that was supposed to happen and didn’t come as a surprise lol, but the Prince also spoke of the six sided sun being destroyed if his opponent won, so I’m assuming that’s just solar law. And now I’m really wondering how much the demon sun exploding plays into the history of metamorpho.
But that is for a later time, as we now jump to JUMP CITY. Only the grooviest and nondescript city in the dc universe. “When is jump city? It’s the future—and it’s now, baby, now!!” “How is jump city? Just swell, thanks for asking!” I love this humor so much, you want to know where it is, don’t think about it, just think of all the dreams that are built and hearts broken. But jump city is also the new home to Stagg Industries HQ! And just like Stagg’s enemies he is always one jump ahead. We now shift our focus to Mister 3, as he transverse the building and slips into the building right past Java. Can’t really blame the caveman, mister 3 was able to turn into a puddle to slip by and gain access to the metamorpho files for the new mysterious organization C.Y.C.L.O.P.S.
But did you really think they would leave Java alone to defend their new state of the art building? As mister 3 is looking through the historical file of metamorpho, the one and only hero jumps out of the screen, having disguised himself as an extra layer of glass on the monitor! Hahahaha, he has been watching mister 3 to try and find out what he wants and who he is working for. But things immediately go sour for metamorpho as mister 3 starts shining a bright light on metamorpho, it seems like nothing…but then he realizes he can’t change his hand into a titanium fist. As mister 3 turns up the power on the light, metamorpho starts to revert to a goopy state where he is unable to keep his body together…just like when he first became metamorpho and at that time Sapphire was the only thing that taught him how to pull himself together.
Just as all seems lost for metamorpho the rest of our titular cast pop in, including Java, Simon Stagg and his daughter/metamorpho love interest, Sapphire. It’s also funny to see that the very one sided love triangle between metamorpho and sapphires thriving relationship and Java looking from afar to impress her, is still going strong, but geez Java has got to move on one of these days. And with the way he back talks Stagg in this issue it seems he is quite fed up with everything. Even disregarding Stagg’s orders, Java decides to try and bring down mister 3 to help defend sapphire, but he then finds out why the villain is called mister 3. Because he can switch his body between the three states of matter. And within his hands mister 3’s head turns into water, reforms, and blasts Java away.
Sapphire doesn’t see mister 3’s shape shifting as that big a deal, metamorpho can do the same thing! But now really isn’t the best time…and that’s when Stagg realizes what’s happening. He then goes to pull out his own orb of ra hoping that the light from broth will cancel each other out. They do not, and instead Stagg orders Java to take the cooling system for the computer room they are in and blast mister 3 with it. It’s a pretty beefy super chilled Freon system and it forces mister 3 to run away before his molecular motion completely stops. With mister 3’s light now gone it gives a chance for Rex to reform himself back up and go after mister 3.
But just as he rounds the corner he runs into Urania Blackwell aka Element Gal! I’m actually unfamiliar with this character but it turns out as an agent of S.H.A.D.E. they sent the thrill seeker on a mission to try and duplicate metamorpho’s powers through the same meteor. It worked and she claims to be the improved version…although apparent a lot of other shade agents died trying to do the same thing. It also appears she is super flirtatious with Rex and would rather drag him along to thrill seek the rest of the world instead of seeing him work for Stagg. It is kind of funny that Rex stays with Stagg as his is “developing a cure” but we all know neither of them actually want to get rid of his powers. But then Rex remembers why she may really be her…mister 3 was her handler at SHADE!! It turns out mister 3 was also curious about gaining those powers and stole shade’s own orb of Ra and took it to the opposition, which is where CY.C.L.O.P.S. comes in.
The two elements catch up to mister 3 as he is in a gas state and he immediately blasts them with the light to make them weaker and loose control. Luckily he is a bit weaker in a gas state and they can form together a bit more than before, but it won’t be long until he finishes them off for good. Would have been helpful if he told element gal about that before they ran in lol. But in a last ditch effort Rex claws his way over to the junction box, and then gets EG to follow his lead by turning into pure copper! Once they are done he slams into the electrical wiring and they combine together to form an electrical charge. Rex remembers a peace of chemistry, a fourth state of matter you can achieve by running heavy electricity through an insulating gas: PLASMA! They are able to combine together and blast mister 3 into mister 4, knocking him out cold.
EG asks how he knew it would be the right gas, and to be honest Rex didn’t know, but he was going to kill them regardless so he would if only looked stupid for a second. But even thought EG and her flirtatious ways piss Sapphire off completely, EG isn’t going anywhere. Mister 3 was her to milk someone and that means EG is staying as Rex’s official SHADE bodyguard. “Freak did a death have to stick together—at least for now…” As the issue ends we see metamorpho vow to find out what project sunrise is and to put a stop to it especially as they know it starts with the death of metamorpho!
But then this issue throws us back, way back. No clue where we even are but we are introduced to Prince Ra-man, which I can only assume is somehow connected to the same orb of Raw drawn from the meteor that gave Rex Mason his powers and turned him into metamorpho. We witness the Prince as he has just defeated the servant of the master who would challenge the rule of the six sided sun. I m very lost at what is happening but seeing a six sided son in the distance is a bit helpful in indicating we are not on earth. This is especially true when solar law kicks into place and the Prince delivers the final blow upon his opponent using his “mind mastery.” The opponent is fully defeated and the penalty must be paid to the demon sun. As the Prince looks up the second sun explodes!! I’m really hoping that was supposed to happen and didn’t come as a surprise lol, but the Prince also spoke of the six sided sun being destroyed if his opponent won, so I’m assuming that’s just solar law. And now I’m really wondering how much the demon sun exploding plays into the history of metamorpho.
But that is for a later time, as we now jump to JUMP CITY. Only the grooviest and nondescript city in the dc universe. “When is jump city? It’s the future—and it’s now, baby, now!!” “How is jump city? Just swell, thanks for asking!” I love this humor so much, you want to know where it is, don’t think about it, just think of all the dreams that are built and hearts broken. But jump city is also the new home to Stagg Industries HQ! And just like Stagg’s enemies he is always one jump ahead. We now shift our focus to Mister 3, as he transverse the building and slips into the building right past Java. Can’t really blame the caveman, mister 3 was able to turn into a puddle to slip by and gain access to the metamorpho files for the new mysterious organization C.Y.C.L.O.P.S.
But did you really think they would leave Java alone to defend their new state of the art building? As mister 3 is looking through the historical file of metamorpho, the one and only hero jumps out of the screen, having disguised himself as an extra layer of glass on the monitor! Hahahaha, he has been watching mister 3 to try and find out what he wants and who he is working for. But things immediately go sour for metamorpho as mister 3 starts shining a bright light on metamorpho, it seems like nothing…but then he realizes he can’t change his hand into a titanium fist. As mister 3 turns up the power on the light, metamorpho starts to revert to a goopy state where he is unable to keep his body together…just like when he first became metamorpho and at that time Sapphire was the only thing that taught him how to pull himself together.
Just as all seems lost for metamorpho the rest of our titular cast pop in, including Java, Simon Stagg and his daughter/metamorpho love interest, Sapphire. It’s also funny to see that the very one sided love triangle between metamorpho and sapphires thriving relationship and Java looking from afar to impress her, is still going strong, but geez Java has got to move on one of these days. And with the way he back talks Stagg in this issue it seems he is quite fed up with everything. Even disregarding Stagg’s orders, Java decides to try and bring down mister 3 to help defend sapphire, but he then finds out why the villain is called mister 3. Because he can switch his body between the three states of matter. And within his hands mister 3’s head turns into water, reforms, and blasts Java away.
Sapphire doesn’t see mister 3’s shape shifting as that big a deal, metamorpho can do the same thing! But now really isn’t the best time…and that’s when Stagg realizes what’s happening. He then goes to pull out his own orb of ra hoping that the light from broth will cancel each other out. They do not, and instead Stagg orders Java to take the cooling system for the computer room they are in and blast mister 3 with it. It’s a pretty beefy super chilled Freon system and it forces mister 3 to run away before his molecular motion completely stops. With mister 3’s light now gone it gives a chance for Rex to reform himself back up and go after mister 3.
But just as he rounds the corner he runs into Urania Blackwell aka Element Gal! I’m actually unfamiliar with this character but it turns out as an agent of S.H.A.D.E. they sent the thrill seeker on a mission to try and duplicate metamorpho’s powers through the same meteor. It worked and she claims to be the improved version…although apparent a lot of other shade agents died trying to do the same thing. It also appears she is super flirtatious with Rex and would rather drag him along to thrill seek the rest of the world instead of seeing him work for Stagg. It is kind of funny that Rex stays with Stagg as his is “developing a cure” but we all know neither of them actually want to get rid of his powers. But then Rex remembers why she may really be her…mister 3 was her handler at SHADE!! It turns out mister 3 was also curious about gaining those powers and stole shade’s own orb of Ra and took it to the opposition, which is where CY.C.L.O.P.S. comes in.
The two elements catch up to mister 3 as he is in a gas state and he immediately blasts them with the light to make them weaker and loose control. Luckily he is a bit weaker in a gas state and they can form together a bit more than before, but it won’t be long until he finishes them off for good. Would have been helpful if he told element gal about that before they ran in lol. But in a last ditch effort Rex claws his way over to the junction box, and then gets EG to follow his lead by turning into pure copper! Once they are done he slams into the electrical wiring and they combine together to form an electrical charge. Rex remembers a peace of chemistry, a fourth state of matter you can achieve by running heavy electricity through an insulating gas: PLASMA! They are able to combine together and blast mister 3 into mister 4, knocking him out cold.
EG asks how he knew it would be the right gas, and to be honest Rex didn’t know, but he was going to kill them regardless so he would if only looked stupid for a second. But even thought EG and her flirtatious ways piss Sapphire off completely, EG isn’t going anywhere. Mister 3 was her to milk someone and that means EG is staying as Rex’s official SHADE bodyguard. “Freak did a death have to stick together—at least for now…” As the issue ends we see metamorpho vow to find out what project sunrise is and to put a stop to it especially as they know it starts with the death of metamorpho!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2025
I like old-fashioned comics. But, usually when I say that, I'm referring to the 80s or 90s. This was more of a nod to the 60s, or even earlier.
Why did characters sometimes speak in rhyme, but then randomly drop it? Why did some characters make puns, but not always?
I like Rainy Blackwell better than I like Metamorpho. Like a lot of people, I learned about her from her story in Sandman. Her story was melancholy and bittersweet, which is my jam. We learned that having a spy turned into an obvious metahuman really hampers the amount of spy work she can do. So, her life became a very quiet, solitary thing, and she craved death. In Sandman, she was even granted it.
... But, not anymore. She got better after Rebirth, I guess. She shows up here, still working for her spy organization, and now her primary goal seems to be getting into Metamorpho's elemental pants.
It's an odd, silly book so far, but I'll keep reading it. It's weird, but it's not too bad.
Why did characters sometimes speak in rhyme, but then randomly drop it? Why did some characters make puns, but not always?
I like Rainy Blackwell better than I like Metamorpho. Like a lot of people, I learned about her from her story in Sandman. Her story was melancholy and bittersweet, which is my jam. We learned that having a spy turned into an obvious metahuman really hampers the amount of spy work she can do. So, her life became a very quiet, solitary thing, and she craved death. In Sandman, she was even granted it.
... But, not anymore. She got better after Rebirth, I guess. She shows up here, still working for her spy organization, and now her primary goal seems to be getting into Metamorpho's elemental pants.
It's an odd, silly book so far, but I'll keep reading it. It's weird, but it's not too bad.
Read
December 28, 2024No star-rating. I cannot tell whether I hate it or love it.
I understand Ewing's affinity for – and attempt to bring back and normalize – those long-vaunted thought balloons. I understand that, here, he has embraced – and mastered – 70s-era disco douchebagspeak; I mean, he is CLEARLY a much better writer than this clunky dreck. But knowing Ewing's other work make this cringe come off as brilliant. Leiber (at Ewing's request?) even has Metamorpho breaking the 4th wall to wink at the reader.
I want to set this on fire and pretend it never saw the light of day, but I suspect I'll be compelled to pick up the next ish. Perhaps I'm a situational masochist.
I understand Ewing's affinity for – and attempt to bring back and normalize – those long-vaunted thought balloons. I understand that, here, he has embraced – and mastered – 70s-era disco douchebagspeak; I mean, he is CLEARLY a much better writer than this clunky dreck. But knowing Ewing's other work make this cringe come off as brilliant. Leiber (at Ewing's request?) even has Metamorpho breaking the 4th wall to wink at the reader.
I want to set this on fire and pretend it never saw the light of day, but I suspect I'll be compelled to pick up the next ish. Perhaps I'm a situational masochist.
January 17, 2025
It was ok.
I can appreciate the campy-ness of it all. Its kind of cool that they did that. Metamorpho is already a ridiculous out there concept so it's not bad that they used cheesy and campy dialogue. But was it good? The plot could use some more love. The dialogue could be toned back by a lot. Every word out of their mouths is just 1940s speak. I can see that working for an issue or two, but I don't think I can sit through a whole 6 issues of that kind of dialogue. Just my opinion.
I can appreciate the campy-ness of it all. Its kind of cool that they did that. Metamorpho is already a ridiculous out there concept so it's not bad that they used cheesy and campy dialogue. But was it good? The plot could use some more love. The dialogue could be toned back by a lot. Every word out of their mouths is just 1940s speak. I can see that working for an issue or two, but I don't think I can sit through a whole 6 issues of that kind of dialogue. Just my opinion.
June 4, 2025
I normally enjoy older comics…not this one.
I always thought this character never got the respect he deserved because of how campy and cheesy he is. So why would you do a throwback comic style? Especially in 2024. It makes no sense! The writing is cheesy. The action is dull. A major disrespect to all the characters within this issue.
I always thought this character never got the respect he deserved because of how campy and cheesy he is. So why would you do a throwback comic style? Especially in 2024. It makes no sense! The writing is cheesy. The action is dull. A major disrespect to all the characters within this issue.
December 28, 2024
Has a very silver age sensibility. It was sort of funny. Lieber's art is good, but not his top shelf work from the fix, superior foes or jimmy Olsen.
I'll read the trade but I won't continue with singles.
I'll read the trade but I won't continue with singles.
January 27, 2025
Eww, this felt like reading a really old comic, but not in a good way. The lines were too cheesy, and there is a reason that that eye sore of a font disappeared. It's a shame as Metamorpho deserved better.
March 6, 2025
Rex is back
One of my favorite comic books from my childhood. A unique character done with humor and action.
Interesting start to a new series in reminiscent of the old fun days of comic books
One of my favorite comic books from my childhood. A unique character done with humor and action.
Interesting start to a new series in reminiscent of the old fun days of comic books
March 28, 2025
nice. cool. i’d read more, but not peak. but really good. 84.6
July 11, 2025
Freaky ass comic
January 3, 2026
Still trying to get a feel for this series.
January 2, 2025
ewing is really on his stan lee shit here and i am eating it up. cheeky fellow!!
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