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The Plastic Man Archives
The Plastic Man Archives, Vol. 4
Bursting onto the comic-book scene in 1941, Plastic Man was a bright spot in a Golden Age of heroes, standing out as one of the most unusual and innovative creations of the time. A reformed criminal turned do-gooder, Plastic Man stretched the definition of the strong-jawed, straight-faced super-hero to its absolute limits. Pitted against an equally odd and colorful group of foes and paired with the indescribably strange sidekick Woozy Winks in the pages of Quality Publishing's Police Comics, "Plas" quickly gained in popularity and soon graduated to his own title. Collected here for the first time are the Plastic Man features from the third issue of Plastic Man Comics, and issues 41-49 of Police Comics, all written and drawn by Jack Cole, Plas's creator and one of the most highly regarded talents in the history of comics. This volume also includes an insightful foreword by international comics historian Andreas Knigge.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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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 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 28, 2019
Plastic Man Archives Volume 4 contains Police Comics 41-49 plus Plastic Man #3, all with art by Jack Cole.
On the heels of my last Plastic Man Archives experience, I snapped this one up on the cheap.
The stories themselves, as with the last volume, are nothing to write home about. Plastic Man continues his FBI career, chasing criminals and keeping Woozy Winks out of trouble. Sure, there are also hypnotists, a wizard, a mad scientist, and 1940s era racial stereotypes, but it's basically light-hearted a crime book.
Speaking of which, how did Plastic Man come to be portrayed as kind of a goofball in most depictions by DC? In his original appearances, he's a fairly straight-laced FBI agent who makes the best of his somewhat ridiculous powers.
Anyway, Jack Cole's art on Plastic Man deserves its revered reputation. Cole's cartoony style, later used in the Saturday Evening Post and Playboy, uses bold colors and clean lines and he's endlessly coming up with new ways to showcase Plastic Man's stretching abilities. It's a style perfectly suited to a time when comics could be pure fun without being self-conscious about it.
Even the backgrounds are well done. I caught myself looking at bookshelves in the background in a few panels. Speaking of panels, Cole usually did six or seven per page. He didn't go crazy with odd perspectives but he didn't have to with all the crazy stuff he had Plas doing.
You can see echoes of Jack Cole's style even in artists today, like Michael Allred, Scott McCloud, and others. Hell, even the Archie digests I have in my basement show some Jack Cole influence.
The Plastic Man Archives Volume 4 is a nice encapsulation of everything good about Golden Age comics. 4 out of 5 stars.
On the heels of my last Plastic Man Archives experience, I snapped this one up on the cheap.
The stories themselves, as with the last volume, are nothing to write home about. Plastic Man continues his FBI career, chasing criminals and keeping Woozy Winks out of trouble. Sure, there are also hypnotists, a wizard, a mad scientist, and 1940s era racial stereotypes, but it's basically light-hearted a crime book.
Speaking of which, how did Plastic Man come to be portrayed as kind of a goofball in most depictions by DC? In his original appearances, he's a fairly straight-laced FBI agent who makes the best of his somewhat ridiculous powers.
Anyway, Jack Cole's art on Plastic Man deserves its revered reputation. Cole's cartoony style, later used in the Saturday Evening Post and Playboy, uses bold colors and clean lines and he's endlessly coming up with new ways to showcase Plastic Man's stretching abilities. It's a style perfectly suited to a time when comics could be pure fun without being self-conscious about it.
Even the backgrounds are well done. I caught myself looking at bookshelves in the background in a few panels. Speaking of panels, Cole usually did six or seven per page. He didn't go crazy with odd perspectives but he didn't have to with all the crazy stuff he had Plas doing.
You can see echoes of Jack Cole's style even in artists today, like Michael Allred, Scott McCloud, and others. Hell, even the Archie digests I have in my basement show some Jack Cole influence.
The Plastic Man Archives Volume 4 is a nice encapsulation of everything good about Golden Age comics. 4 out of 5 stars.
November 13, 2015
This is an unusual superhero that is elastic and this "Plastic Man" is made out of rubber. Anyone who likes comics will want to read this.
May 22, 2025
A collection of some of the finest Plastic Man stories ever reprinted.
December 9, 2012
Worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews