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The Plastic Man Archives
The Plastic Man Archives, Vol. 2
Plastic Man #1 (Summer 1943) and Plastic Man stories from Police Comics #21-30 (August 1943-May 1944), with an introduction by Ron Goulart.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Jack Cole
158 books12 followersJack Ralph Cole was an American cartoonist best known for creating the comedic superhero Plastic Man, and his cartoons for Playboy Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 7, 2019
Weird, irreverent, and comic, these have (mostly) aged surprisingly well. In fact, the sensibility feels more 1960s than 1940s . . . which makes it a shame that Jack Cole never got to see what sort of reception his works would have received in the psychedelic era.
The Game of Death - ****
The one where Plas infiltrates an underground blood sports cult, featuring tiger-wrestling and a lot of impersonation. A good introduction to the character, and a good choice for the Retro Hugo nominee.
Now You See It, Now You Don't - *
The one with the excruciatingly racist depiction of Japanese people that I wish I hadn't read. Yes, I know there was a war on; yes, I've read whole books about US anti-Japanese propaganda, and I realize this is far from the worst of it. It still hasn't aged well.
Willie McGoon, Dope - **
The ultimate lesson of "be nice to people with intellectual disabilities" is a good one, I guess, but the way it's delivered makes me head tilt a lot.
Go West, Young Plastic Man, Go West - ***
A good old-fashioned Western that gives Plas good opportunities to show off his powers. Largely forgettable but amusing.
The Menace of Serpina - **
I am confused about the plot here, which involves railroads conspiring against buses in a way that does not match my understanding of 1940s transportation politics and policy, but there are individual scenes that are great, including snake-wresting and Plas taunting the bartender.
The Eyes Have It! - ***
The one featuring a child-selling ring and a young boy whose superpower is being preternaturally cute. Weirdly paced and surprisingly dark compared to previous episodes.
The Ghost Train - ****
In which people dressed up in halloween costumes apparently make plausible ghosts. Train mysteries are one of my favorite sub-genres of locked room mysteries, and I enjoyed the twist here a lot.
The Hundred Plastic Men - ***
The one where a made scientist duplicates plastic man to hilarious effect. There's very little plot, and I don't care; this one is all about the sight gags.
The Rare Edition Murders - **
A convoluted con-man scene that just didn't hold my interest.
Body, Mind and Soul - ***
The one where Plas's secret past as a criminal is revealed, making me wonder why, given his rather chaotic personality, he isn't still a criminal. Also there is inexplicably an honest to god werewolf. There is a lot of comic crammed into these 16 pages
Woozy Winks, Juror - ***
I could not begin to explain why I like Woozy--and yet I do, so I enjoyed this Woozy-led caper.
Plastic Man - The Movie - ***
The one where Plastic Man goes to consult on a movie about a murder he solved, and ends up solving another murder. It's all very clever and neatly structured--maybe a little too neat.
Death in Derlin's Castle - ***
The one where we find out that Plas and Woozy live together and use the bathroom together, raising all kinds of questions in my 2010s mind (and probably none at all in the minds of contemporary readers). Some solid action sequences, including a cool one with an elevator.
Blinky Winks and Goose Louie - ***
The one where we remember WWII is going on (reading this alongside Wonder Woman's contemporary run really highlights how little Plastic Man deals with the war, though I guess his position with the domestic FBI makes that natural) and investigate a black-market butter racket.
The Game of Death - ****
The one where Plas infiltrates an underground blood sports cult, featuring tiger-wrestling and a lot of impersonation. A good introduction to the character, and a good choice for the Retro Hugo nominee.
Now You See It, Now You Don't - *
The one with the excruciatingly racist depiction of Japanese people that I wish I hadn't read. Yes, I know there was a war on; yes, I've read whole books about US anti-Japanese propaganda, and I realize this is far from the worst of it. It still hasn't aged well.
Willie McGoon, Dope - **
The ultimate lesson of "be nice to people with intellectual disabilities" is a good one, I guess, but the way it's delivered makes me head tilt a lot.
Go West, Young Plastic Man, Go West - ***
A good old-fashioned Western that gives Plas good opportunities to show off his powers. Largely forgettable but amusing.
The Menace of Serpina - **
I am confused about the plot here, which involves railroads conspiring against buses in a way that does not match my understanding of 1940s transportation politics and policy, but there are individual scenes that are great, including snake-wresting and Plas taunting the bartender.
The Eyes Have It! - ***
The one featuring a child-selling ring and a young boy whose superpower is being preternaturally cute. Weirdly paced and surprisingly dark compared to previous episodes.
The Ghost Train - ****
In which people dressed up in halloween costumes apparently make plausible ghosts. Train mysteries are one of my favorite sub-genres of locked room mysteries, and I enjoyed the twist here a lot.
The Hundred Plastic Men - ***
The one where a made scientist duplicates plastic man to hilarious effect. There's very little plot, and I don't care; this one is all about the sight gags.
The Rare Edition Murders - **
A convoluted con-man scene that just didn't hold my interest.
Body, Mind and Soul - ***
The one where Plas's secret past as a criminal is revealed, making me wonder why, given his rather chaotic personality, he isn't still a criminal. Also there is inexplicably an honest to god werewolf. There is a lot of comic crammed into these 16 pages
Woozy Winks, Juror - ***
I could not begin to explain why I like Woozy--and yet I do, so I enjoyed this Woozy-led caper.
Plastic Man - The Movie - ***
The one where Plastic Man goes to consult on a movie about a murder he solved, and ends up solving another murder. It's all very clever and neatly structured--maybe a little too neat.
Death in Derlin's Castle - ***
The one where we find out that Plas and Woozy live together and use the bathroom together, raising all kinds of questions in my 2010s mind (and probably none at all in the minds of contemporary readers). Some solid action sequences, including a cool one with an elevator.
Blinky Winks and Goose Louie - ***
The one where we remember WWII is going on (reading this alongside Wonder Woman's contemporary run really highlights how little Plastic Man deals with the war, though I guess his position with the domestic FBI makes that natural) and investigate a black-market butter racket.
October 15, 2012
Terrific art. The stories age better than most of their contemporary comics, but you should still know that these are Golden Age yarns before you sit down with it.
June 29, 2024
Jack Cole's artwork and story ideas are greatly improved here in Vol. 2 of these DC Archives. Cole's almost cartoon-y artwork is in sharp contrast to the levels of violence portrayed in these issues. I love how much fighting and killing occurs, and how Plastic Man sorts of shrugs his shoulders in a matter of fact, business as usual manner. The covers and splash pages are extremely creative, and it's apparent that Police Comics' co-headlining feature, The Spirit by Will Eisner, had a profound impact on Cole. It's kind of funny, because The Spirit seems to garner a lot of respect from modern day comic book fans, while Plastic Man has been relegated to the dust bins of history. Plastic Man was much more popular "back in the day" than The Spirit.
Another thing that I love about these comics from the '30s and '40s are the fashions and living conditions of the time. The phones have separate receiver and mouthpieces. The cars all have bulbous fenders and grills. Every gangster wears a suit, zoot or otherwise, and have stylish hats to boot. I love the slang and other lingo of the time. This stuff is just a lot of fun to read.
Another thing that I love about these comics from the '30s and '40s are the fashions and living conditions of the time. The phones have separate receiver and mouthpieces. The cars all have bulbous fenders and grills. Every gangster wears a suit, zoot or otherwise, and have stylish hats to boot. I love the slang and other lingo of the time. This stuff is just a lot of fun to read.
September 22, 2018
I do love Plastic Man. Cole's cheerfully inventive stretching images, the off-the-wall humor, the strip's ability to jump from mystery to horror to complete humor and back. It helps that Plas is his own straight man, rather than the funny loonie guy everyone in the 21st century writes him as.
For one example, there's a death cult that recruits people by gambling games — the roulette ball is a frog and if he lands on the wrong slot, he's electrocuted. Another game has the players try and kill a canary; if it lands on their square when it falls to the ground, they win!
Or the wild splash page to "The Rare Edition Murders," or ... well, this remains one of my favorite Golden Age or any era strips.
For one example, there's a death cult that recruits people by gambling games — the roulette ball is a frog and if he lands on the wrong slot, he's electrocuted. Another game has the players try and kill a canary; if it lands on their square when it falls to the ground, they win!
Or the wild splash page to "The Rare Edition Murders," or ... well, this remains one of my favorite Golden Age or any era strips.
July 11, 2019
I mean, it's a stretchy plastic guy running around chasing mobsters in absurd crime situations. What's not to love? Cole's artwork is the star - the imagination and fluency he brought to the creation of a rubbery force of nature is amazing.
April 6, 2020
How did Batman and Superman make any money in the 40's when Plastic Man looked this good?
September 15, 2021
Short review: Influential, dynamic, slick, a joy to behold. We lost something when comics started moving in a more realistic art direction.
December 18, 2024
There are a couple of weak stories, but mostly this is Jack Cole at his best.
April 28, 2013
Odd stuff, very Jim-dandy earnest in writing style (as most things kids-oriented from mid-century usually were), and hardly horrifying, exciting or surprising by today's standards. (Doesn't even entertain half as much as then-era Bugs Bunny, which is odd.)
This stuff is *so* out-of-date in fact that it slips beyond much critical comparison and becomes its own thing. Reading the whole of the Plastic Man #1 stories up front, I followed along even without modern entertainment values - it was dead-easy to read, and every page or two you'd see some weird Stretch Armstrong action to live up the action.
I'm not going to finish this - I think I learned enough about Jack Cole's style and birthing of the red rubbery dude to let me know what's what, and I'm glad I took the time to reach back into comics history like this. However, it makes me crave the post-modern slant on Plastic Man, where he's finally diagnosed as completely insane and incapable of relating to the world through anything but ridiculous body-warping imagery. *That's* a vision of Plas I can't get enough of. (Was that one of the last good ideas that Frank Miller brought to the world? I should verify, but I'm not gonna bother.)
This stuff is *so* out-of-date in fact that it slips beyond much critical comparison and becomes its own thing. Reading the whole of the Plastic Man #1 stories up front, I followed along even without modern entertainment values - it was dead-easy to read, and every page or two you'd see some weird Stretch Armstrong action to live up the action.
I'm not going to finish this - I think I learned enough about Jack Cole's style and birthing of the red rubbery dude to let me know what's what, and I'm glad I took the time to reach back into comics history like this. However, it makes me crave the post-modern slant on Plastic Man, where he's finally diagnosed as completely insane and incapable of relating to the world through anything but ridiculous body-warping imagery. *That's* a vision of Plas I can't get enough of. (Was that one of the last good ideas that Frank Miller brought to the world? I should verify, but I'm not gonna bother.)
June 3, 2019
Plastic Man #1: The Game of Death, by Jack Cole.
The artwork is pretty good, especially for the time. It's light and stylized to fit the absurdity of Plastic Man. The writing is mostly just ok, although it has a nice humorous tone that keeps the reader entertained. Although Plastic Man's sidekick, Woozy, is meant to be comic relief, he's not a complete bumbling fool and actually provides Plas with needed help.
The artwork is pretty good, especially for the time. It's light and stylized to fit the absurdity of Plastic Man. The writing is mostly just ok, although it has a nice humorous tone that keeps the reader entertained. Although Plastic Man's sidekick, Woozy, is meant to be comic relief, he's not a complete bumbling fool and actually provides Plas with needed help.
August 30, 2012
Worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews