Metamorpho: The Element Man

by Al Ewing, Steve Lieber (Illustrator)

Meet Rex Mason, a.k.a. Metamorpho, the Element Man! With the ability to trans-form himself into any element, Rex’s powers make him incredibly strong, incrediblyadaptable, and incredibly weird! Rex Mason’s powers are beyond hecan transform his body into any element, using its chemical properties to alterhis shape, size, strength, and more! But with strange powers come even strangerconflicts! Join Rex as he faces down villains who can match him change-for-change,global syndicates of evil, and the darkness of his own ever-transforming heart.You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll probably be a little freaked out!Superstar creative team Al Ewing (Absolute Green Lantern, Immortal Hulk) and SteveLieber (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen) have teamed up to explore the adventures (andmisadventures) of one of DC’s most bizarre heroes!Collects The Element Man #1-6

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels

136 pages, Paperback

Published September 23, 2025

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inventive, accessible, and hilarious, and no Batman, which explains why they only did six issues.

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ewing deja de lado las continuidades y la gravedad para ofrecer una lectura fresca y desenfadada que grita a los cuatro vientos Edad de Plata. Para ello escribe aventuras autoconclusivas que se ríen con saña del afán de notoriedad en las redes, la mercantilización de los contratos de defensa, los enemigos cósmicos... Marida genial un dibujo como el de un Lieber que sabe explotar lo cotidiano y lo aventurero mientras ofrece todo un repertorio de gestos, muecas, poses...; saca petróleo de todo lo cómico de estas historietas dignas herederas de las mejores páginas de la Liga de Giffen y DeMatteis.

[Arthur Marchetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

gibi interessante, divertido e de um personagem que eu nao conhecia muito; gostei da leitura, mas é para quem espera leituras menos cheias de ação e com mais trocadilhos

[Luke Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buy war bonds.

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's certainly nice to look at, thanks to Steve Lieber's art, but it's just not funny or novel enough to sustain interest over 6 issues of annoyingly wordy adventures.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gracias al nuevo panorama ALL IN (o seguramente por el debut live action en la nueva película de Superman), tenemos una miniserie de Metamorpho: EL HOMBRE ELEMENTO. Singular personalidad heroíca del DCverse que amalgamaba mucho de otros héroes y dinámicas pijameras en un personaje que siempre personificaba ese "freakismo" pulp y vintage incluso cuando Batman u otros personajes le "obligaban" a adaptarse a dinámicas más "serias" y oscura. Pero con Al Ewing al frente y sin ganas de replicar algo a lo Inmortal Hulk, esta miniserie se embarca en mantener ese encanto clásico de las historias iniciáticas de Bob Haney y la más recientemente fallecida dibujante Ramona Fradon. Para lo cual el dibujante Steve Lieber aparece como anillo al guante al autor como pasó con Mark Russell y la miniserie previa de One Star Squadron, con la que esta propuesta comparte mucho estilo e ideas de mantener la ingenuidad y desparpajo clásico de esa "Silver Age" suficientenente modernizada para la auto parodia con la que el Hombre Elemento y compañía juegan muy a su favor en estos números que aún logran proponer una saga de amenaza apocalíptica en la que milagrosamente ni Batman hace acto de presencia pudiendo aludir a su historia en común con el concepto de Outsiders. Así que si disfrutas de este ejercicio narrativo y estético, esta miniserie supondrá una lectura refrescantemente divertida en este panorama de la amenaza existencial de Darkseid God pero solucionada a puñetazo limpio en el DC KO. Por mucho que mantenga el legado particula del personaje, Ewing consigue que hasta el lector más casual se enamore de Rex o cualquiera de sus ideas o personajes de apoyo más delirantes (vamos, JAVA) al término del primer número.

[Alex Sarll]

Al Ewing's first DC series, like too many of his Marvel books, ends sooner than it should have, a tantalising glimpse of what would in any just world have been an epic run (or at least a couple more volumes). The Element Man has always been a pretty goofy character (notwithstanding the fact that the most widely read story drawing on his mythos is an issue of existential body horror in another series entirely), and Ewing fully leans into that. Hell, why wouldn't you when Metamorpho works for an amoral tycoon with whose daughter he's in love and whose defrosted caveman butler wants him dead? Anyone who doesn't think that's a great set-up is reading the wrong comic. In order to really bring out the Silver Age vibes, they're relocated to hip, happening Jump City, and narrated in a style that's somewhere between Batman '66 and the pastiche Stan of Ewing's Defenders. But it's not entirely a retro exercise: yes, the atmosphere and fashions are groovy, and the Mad Mod gets what must be his first significant role in a while, but there are also mobiles, social media follows, stories ruthlessly lampooning the current clusterfuck of big business devouring creative output in the name of AI. But unlike, say, the recent work of Mark Russell, it all remains incredibly good fun, filled with daffy homages and Ewing's knack, right back to his El Sombra novels, for a lyric drop perfectly timed to set me off. Comfortably the best new thing I've read from DC since Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, and it's no coincidence that that had Steve Lieber art too.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A Steve Lieber-drawn story bursting with densely-worded Silver Age DC camp immediately gave me flashbacks to the Jimmy Olsen limited series from a few years ago (which I hated), but this is comparatively less over the top. It eschews the Olsen comic’s rigid formal mimicry of old panel design choices and 2-3 page counts for its gag stories, and while it’s sillier and more densely-worded than most contemporary comics, it’s much less scattershot and verbose than Olsen is. While I still don’t love it, I appreciated this take on Silver Age camp more (though I could see fans of the Jimmy Olsen comic finding it a pale imitation).

On the plus side, the old-school levity can be refreshing when it’s not being dragged down by wordplay that’s inconsistently entertaining in its relentless alliteration and puns, the chemistry concepts that Metamorpho’s powers allow the plot are smart fun, and Lieber’s art is vibrant and nice to look at.

“Finally, all that wasteful creativity will be outsourced to machines—leaving humans free to spend their time on what truly matters…Big Business!”

“The Mod was right when he first programmed me—there’s power in reactionary nostalgia! But there’s even more power in this enormous gun!”

“With the correct verbal prompt, this same artificial intelligence will spit out the recipe for Metamorpho II!”
“I thought you said you were going to use your own genius…?”
“I’m giving the prompt aren’t I?”

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this collection. Mtamorpho is one of those DC characters who shows up a lot but I never felt a strong connection too. His early stories are a bit too silly and his mythology is a bit dated - reminds me of the Archie, Veronica, Mr. Lodge and Reggie dynamic with Metamorpho being Archie, Sapphire Stagg being Veronica (in love with him), Mr. Stagg being the billionaire father who hates Metamorpho and Java being the guy in love with Sapphire who hates Metamorpho.

But within this limited cast of characters, Al Ewing makes it a fun, humourous adventure and kept me entertained from beginning to end. And the artist Steve Lieber is quickly becoming one of my favourites (he did a Jimmy Olsen run that is one of my favs). I am sure Steve helped elevate the humour.

I can't really tell you too much of the story - it didn't have a lasting effect on me - BUT it did make sense and it did make use of the the Element Man using his Element powers. I say that because sometimes I feel humourous books focus too much on the humour and forget "write a story where the main protagonist has a role in resolving the conflict". So I am happy the story worked - but if you get this collection - get it for the humour, the fun and the great art. And if you are a Metamorpho fan (which I admittedly am not) I think it does the character the character's history proud.

Do I feel I know him BETTEr as a character now? No. But it was a fun adventure with a character I already knew.

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just makes my head hurt...

Trying to force the 60's Silver Age back IN THE MIDDLE of 'All In' is just jarring, discordant, and half-assed. Nothing in this six issue miniseries makes sense. It's just a love letter to Metamorpho's wiki page.

If you love the Batman '66 comic and the campy TV show, you might dig this

Element Gal: a spy; agreed to be experimented on to dupe Rex's powers; 60's era
Element Woman: originally from the Flashpoint universe; just casually dropped into continuity
E-dog: ...a dog given the powers of Metamorpho; thank 'The Terrifics' again.
Algon: the FIRST(?) Metamorpho; featured in 'The Terrifics' (DC's FF 'tribute')
======
Bonus: The Mad Mod AND Solaris in the same series? The heck...
Bonus Bonus: Death #4 for ol' Metamorpho (and given a 'Death of Robin' 1-800 # moment)

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deliberate throwback to the zany style of Bob Haney's Silver Age Metamorpho. Ewing seems to have a lot of love for that era, capturing both the tone of Haney's writing and using a number of elements (sorry!) such as Urania Blackwell, C.Y.C.L.O.P.S. (no relation) and the Thunderer and throwing in a bunch of other stuff besides. There's a plot too, but it seems almost incidental.
As a fan of Silver Age Metamorpho, I enjoyed this, and I'm impressed Ewing could make it work. The downside, to the extent there is one, is that over the past 10-11 years we've had the New 52 Metamorpho, the Metamorpho in the Terrifics, the Metamorpho in Mark Waid's World's Finest and now this one. I don't object to out-of-c0ntinuity stories but these days it often seems like everything's written out of continuity (there's one scene in #3 that lampshades that).

[Ángel Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al Ewing se lo pasa genial, y nosotros también, con este tebeo que parece sacado directamente de la Silver Age, tal vez la mejor época de la historia de los cómics, o, al menos, la más divertida. El dibujo de Lieber acompaña para hacer una historieta bastante redonda, para todos los públicos, con un casting de personajes encantador y, por lo tanto, condenada al fracaso en estos tiempos absurdos en los que tenemos la desgracia de vivir. Cancelada en el número seis.

Por cierto, el gag de los bonos de guerra, el mejor que he visto en cualquier medio en muchísimo tiempo.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Metamorpho has always been a silly concept, and this reboot keeps that goofiness alive. This compilation of the recent Metamorpho mini-series is a pastiche of 1960s Silver Age hijinks, including roll-call splash pages and wordy captions. None of it makes a lick of sense, it's meant to be a fun, relaxing adventure, and it succeeds on that level. Steve Lieber's artwork captures the cartoony goodness this title deserves.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this out of stubbornness. I've come to have certain expectations from Ewing, but his attempt at revisiting DC Comics camp era style of story telling didn't work for me then (I really didn't like the Batman television show) nor now.

[Peter Baran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most fun I have had in a comic book this year, with Al Ewing just relaxing into his sixties pastoche mode whilst letting his daft plot brain uncoil too. Lieber draws this stuff beautifully too - so obviously it was cancelled...

[Kevin MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad to see this series end. Al Ewing was bringing us some great Silver Age goodness, although it may not be the last we see of these characters.

[Matt town · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite creative and clever but too much text on a page!

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like an oldies comic with modern art which is fun.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weird mishmash of classic comics, parody and pastiche, it feels like empty calories without much to chew on. Lieber's art is great as always.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but a bit over the top (even for me).

[Jean J · Rating 4 out of 5]

periodically brilliant but also kind of exhausting

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of Al Ewing, I admit that I feel I lack some required background on Metamorpho to fully appreciate the experimental nature of this comic. The comic is undeniably fun though.

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy, koo koo, and way-out. Metamorpho as Stardust was inspired!!

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 this just wasn't for me. I've read little of Al Ewing but this feels different from all I've read before. Allegedly to get Ewing out of Marvel and into DC they greenlit this as his passion project. Which if true makes sense because damn does he love Metamorpho and the Silver Age comic wackiness. It has oodles of Silver Age feels but with more modern pacing and art. I will say as the story continued on I was enjoying more of the hijinks with Metamorpho and the Stagg Family's uneasy tension of everyone messing with everyone. But it still ultimately was a bit of a flop for me. I think for those who'd enjoy this though it was a nice callback to an era long lost.