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Showcase Presents #12
Showcase Presents: The Elongated Man, Vol. 1
This value-priced collection features over 500 pages of classic comics showcasing the adventures of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man- a mystery-solving super-hero with the ability to stretch his body into nearly any shape. Proud of his abilities, he becomes the first hero to reveal his secret identity to the public while solving crimes along with his adoring wife, Sue.Together, they travel the world to ferret out clues, solve crimes and bring down evil-doers of all sorts while crossing paths with Batman and Robin, the Flash, Green Lantern and Zatanna.
560 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2006
3 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
John Broome
432 books14 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bro...
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bro...
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 16, 2018
I’ve long had a soft spot for 60's DC. The stories are often corny, and the plots nonsensical, but there's an endearing quality to many of them.
The Elongated Man started out in the pages of the Flash, but, after a few years, graduated to his own series of backup stories in Detective Comics. Raph Dibney was a Midwestern fellow who grew up fascinated by the traditional rubber man act in circuses. Trying to ferret out their secret, he noticed they all drank the same brand of soft drink: Gingold (stop rolling your eyes; the implausibilities have barely even begun.) Isolating the essence of a tropical fruit that was the main ingredient of the drink, he drank the resulting potion and gained stretching powers to join the long line of rubber-bodied superheroes: Mr. Fantastic, Plastic Man, Jimmy Olsen as Elastic Lad, etc. It's not the absolute most BS origin story I’ve ever read, but it's possibly in the top ten.
Fortunately, Elongated Man was blessed with some talented creators working on his tales. Writing duties were courtesy of John Broome and Gardner Fox, both DC mainstays of the era. Most of the art in this volume is courtesy of the legendary Carmine Infantino. Infantino’s work starts looking a bit sloppy around the two-thirds mark--I speculate he was taking on too many projects at once … I seem to remember reading somewhere that he had a bad habit of doing that on occasion--and we start to see other hands step in on the art, including the even more legendary Gil Kane and Neal Adams.
There are some truly bizarre moments. In one story, EM has followed some crooks to an old house. In order to listen in on their conversation, he climbs to the roof and stretches his ear down the chimney. One of the crooks happens to spot the ear in the fireplace, and, rather than recoiling in horror at the surreality, shouts, “An ear--in the fireplace! He must be up on the roof!” Because what else would an ear in the fireplace mean? Many of the stories seem to have been written first as eye-catching splash pages, and then the rest of the story cobbled together to justify that initial image. It's not a bad technique, but it does result in some really crazy stories.
While all of the talents involved with this book have done better, more memorable work, these stories aren't bad. It's a nice snapshot of what DC was like during the 60's up until 1968 anyway. It's probably something of an acquired taste, but it's worth dipping into if you're curious.
The Elongated Man started out in the pages of the Flash, but, after a few years, graduated to his own series of backup stories in Detective Comics. Raph Dibney was a Midwestern fellow who grew up fascinated by the traditional rubber man act in circuses. Trying to ferret out their secret, he noticed they all drank the same brand of soft drink: Gingold (stop rolling your eyes; the implausibilities have barely even begun.) Isolating the essence of a tropical fruit that was the main ingredient of the drink, he drank the resulting potion and gained stretching powers to join the long line of rubber-bodied superheroes: Mr. Fantastic, Plastic Man, Jimmy Olsen as Elastic Lad, etc. It's not the absolute most BS origin story I’ve ever read, but it's possibly in the top ten.
Fortunately, Elongated Man was blessed with some talented creators working on his tales. Writing duties were courtesy of John Broome and Gardner Fox, both DC mainstays of the era. Most of the art in this volume is courtesy of the legendary Carmine Infantino. Infantino’s work starts looking a bit sloppy around the two-thirds mark--I speculate he was taking on too many projects at once … I seem to remember reading somewhere that he had a bad habit of doing that on occasion--and we start to see other hands step in on the art, including the even more legendary Gil Kane and Neal Adams.
There are some truly bizarre moments. In one story, EM has followed some crooks to an old house. In order to listen in on their conversation, he climbs to the roof and stretches his ear down the chimney. One of the crooks happens to spot the ear in the fireplace, and, rather than recoiling in horror at the surreality, shouts, “An ear--in the fireplace! He must be up on the roof!” Because what else would an ear in the fireplace mean? Many of the stories seem to have been written first as eye-catching splash pages, and then the rest of the story cobbled together to justify that initial image. It's not a bad technique, but it does result in some really crazy stories.
While all of the talents involved with this book have done better, more memorable work, these stories aren't bad. It's a nice snapshot of what DC was like during the 60's up until 1968 anyway. It's probably something of an acquired taste, but it's worth dipping into if you're curious.
April 24, 2013
Let me tell you what's great about this collection.
Ralph Dibny (the titular Elongated Man) was introduced as a sideline character in Flash in the late 1950s, and frankly his first few stories weren't very interesting. However, when the character was moved to the back pages of Detective Comics, he developed into something special. Most of the stories here are Ralph and his wife Sue solving mysteries. They aren't superhero stories (although Batman and Robin do show up from time to time) - they're detective stories. Ralph and Sue have character. They banter like Nick and Nora Charles. The late Carmine Infantino provided most of the art (and the writing, post-Flash) and while the earlier work is unremarkable the later stuff really pops. Infantino was inking his own pencils and you can tell he had a strong artistic vision for the EM stories. It's fun stuff that you don't find now.
This book also makes me look at Identity Crisis differently. Although I grew up with EM's appearances in the Justice League, his character was never written to be much more than a less-able Plastic Man, which is a shame.
Ralph Dibny (the titular Elongated Man) was introduced as a sideline character in Flash in the late 1950s, and frankly his first few stories weren't very interesting. However, when the character was moved to the back pages of Detective Comics, he developed into something special. Most of the stories here are Ralph and his wife Sue solving mysteries. They aren't superhero stories (although Batman and Robin do show up from time to time) - they're detective stories. Ralph and Sue have character. They banter like Nick and Nora Charles. The late Carmine Infantino provided most of the art (and the writing, post-Flash) and while the earlier work is unremarkable the later stuff really pops. Infantino was inking his own pencils and you can tell he had a strong artistic vision for the EM stories. It's fun stuff that you don't find now.
This book also makes me look at Identity Crisis differently. Although I grew up with EM's appearances in the Justice League, his character was never written to be much more than a less-able Plastic Man, which is a shame.
December 25, 2008
The Elongated Man was the filler story in Detective Magazine during the 1960's. In the beginning he was just okay, no great shakes, but as Batman (the primary story) got cornier and sillier with his TV popularity the secondary character got cooler an cooler. Why? Carmine Infantino not only wrote and pencilled the stories but inked them as well, so the artwork had a beautiful scratchy look about it. It was easily the most artsy/sketchy superhero stories you've ever seen. There was a bizarre unique style to all the stories that rendered The Elongated Man as much more than another stretchy superhero.
October 8, 2022
2004's Identity Crisis proved that Ralph Dibny and Sue Dearbon Dibny were the heart and soul of the DC Universe. With the tragic death of Sue and Ralph's emotional spiral that resulted in his death months later, things in the DCU just never were the same. It's been nearly 20 years and despite a promise of a ghostly return of the Dibnys that never came to be, and a New 52 reboot, it's been a lonely tenure without the true Elongated Man and wife...
The Elongated Man debuted in the pages The Flash #112. A former circus performer and entertainer, Ralph Dibny became independently wealthy. So, he was afforded the opportunity to use his gingold extract induced stretching powers and become an amateur detective known as the Elongated Man. During Ralph's time in Central City with the Flash, the Elongated Man mostly fought super villains and those with high-powered tech. But when Ralph meet Sue, all things changed.
Sue was just as wealthy as Ralph thanks to her parents. So, Ralph dropped the whole secret identity thing, got married and traveled the world. Yet it seemed that everywhere the Dibny's trekked, a mystery was sure to follow.
If Ralph caught the slightest whiff of trouble brewing, his rubber nose would wiggle like crazy. That usually signaled for Sue to either sight-see or shop alone and for Ralph to suit up to solve the crime. Sometimes, Sue would assist, begrudgingly and at the end of the story, EM might shower his beloved with gifts or at the very least a kiss. Regardless, the Dibny's were a match made in Heaven and it's a darn same Brad Meltzer treated the pair like hell...
The Elongated Man was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. Sure, we first meet EM in the pages of The Flash. But once he and Sue moved over to Detective Comics, the character really came into his own. Mostly because Infantino took over the reigns.
Infantino's mystery stories were complex. His scenery was photo-realistic. And his art was unencumbered. (Legend has it that EM was the only artwork Infantino was allowed to ink himself due to his nigh ubiquitous demand over at DC.) Pretty much the only thing that didn't make sense about the character was despite having revealed his identity to the public, Dibny would change into his EM costume before going to 'work'. It's not like Ralph couldn't stretch in his days clothes. He did that in like every story!
The Elongated Man was also pretty violent. He really socks and slams ciminals to an effect that makes a Frank Miller Batman look tame. I don't know how this got by the censors. Maybe it's cause with EM's stretch powers, the CCA heads thought that those tales were more like Looney Tunes than a super hero comic.
My favorite stories included the time Ralph was summoned by Thomas Kalmaku to help with Hal Jordan get his memory back, a caper involving some 'disappearing' money, and the Dibny's adventures in Paris and Monte Carlo. All of them had really tricky mysteries that got the gray matter turning! The team-up with Batman and Robin was fun. And it was always great to see The Flash when Carmine Infantino is involved, even if I've read those stories a dozen times prior.
You'd think that Sue's materialistic tendencies would cause marital woes with Ralph. You'd also think that Ralph's incessant need to solve mysteries would cause martial woes with Sue. However, these two are soul mates. No, they're puzzle pieces! The couple might get on each other's nerves; but they fit together perfectly!
We've never gotten our promised ghostly mysteries of Ralph and Sue. I also don't think we'll ever get a volume 2 either. Honestly, I don't know why this book was given a Volume 1 status. EM's last Silver Age solo story occurs in Detective #371, which is in this book! This just doesn't make sense. But this isn't the first time DC made such a goof with the Showcase Presents collections. Regardless of the missteps, I loved getting to spend time with the Dibnys!
The Elongated Man debuted in the pages The Flash #112. A former circus performer and entertainer, Ralph Dibny became independently wealthy. So, he was afforded the opportunity to use his gingold extract induced stretching powers and become an amateur detective known as the Elongated Man. During Ralph's time in Central City with the Flash, the Elongated Man mostly fought super villains and those with high-powered tech. But when Ralph meet Sue, all things changed.
Sue was just as wealthy as Ralph thanks to her parents. So, Ralph dropped the whole secret identity thing, got married and traveled the world. Yet it seemed that everywhere the Dibny's trekked, a mystery was sure to follow.
If Ralph caught the slightest whiff of trouble brewing, his rubber nose would wiggle like crazy. That usually signaled for Sue to either sight-see or shop alone and for Ralph to suit up to solve the crime. Sometimes, Sue would assist, begrudgingly and at the end of the story, EM might shower his beloved with gifts or at the very least a kiss. Regardless, the Dibny's were a match made in Heaven and it's a darn same Brad Meltzer treated the pair like hell...
The Elongated Man was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. Sure, we first meet EM in the pages of The Flash. But once he and Sue moved over to Detective Comics, the character really came into his own. Mostly because Infantino took over the reigns.
Infantino's mystery stories were complex. His scenery was photo-realistic. And his art was unencumbered. (Legend has it that EM was the only artwork Infantino was allowed to ink himself due to his nigh ubiquitous demand over at DC.) Pretty much the only thing that didn't make sense about the character was despite having revealed his identity to the public, Dibny would change into his EM costume before going to 'work'. It's not like Ralph couldn't stretch in his days clothes. He did that in like every story!
The Elongated Man was also pretty violent. He really socks and slams ciminals to an effect that makes a Frank Miller Batman look tame. I don't know how this got by the censors. Maybe it's cause with EM's stretch powers, the CCA heads thought that those tales were more like Looney Tunes than a super hero comic.
My favorite stories included the time Ralph was summoned by Thomas Kalmaku to help with Hal Jordan get his memory back, a caper involving some 'disappearing' money, and the Dibny's adventures in Paris and Monte Carlo. All of them had really tricky mysteries that got the gray matter turning! The team-up with Batman and Robin was fun. And it was always great to see The Flash when Carmine Infantino is involved, even if I've read those stories a dozen times prior.
You'd think that Sue's materialistic tendencies would cause marital woes with Ralph. You'd also think that Ralph's incessant need to solve mysteries would cause martial woes with Sue. However, these two are soul mates. No, they're puzzle pieces! The couple might get on each other's nerves; but they fit together perfectly!
We've never gotten our promised ghostly mysteries of Ralph and Sue. I also don't think we'll ever get a volume 2 either. Honestly, I don't know why this book was given a Volume 1 status. EM's last Silver Age solo story occurs in Detective #371, which is in this book! This just doesn't make sense. But this isn't the first time DC made such a goof with the Showcase Presents collections. Regardless of the missteps, I loved getting to spend time with the Dibnys!
December 7, 2017
I am a huge fan of DC superheroes; from Superman to Wonder Woman to Supergirl to Flash to Green Lantern. I also love some of the more obscure heroes, in this case the Elongated Man. As the name implies, Elongated Man can stretch and reshape his body in amazing ways; using those abilities to fight crime.
Ralph Dibny is the Elongated Man. He and his wife Sue Dibny travel the countryside by auto, finding and solving little mysteries. They are deeply in love, and greatly support each other.
Unlike other DC heroes, Ralph has no secret identity. He has revealed a long time ago that Ralph Dibny and the Elongated Man are one and the same. The world knows him by both names.
In DC lore, EM is considered a great detective; second only to Batman.
These are reprints of comic book stories from the 1960s. Elongated Man was the backup feature in Detective Comics, after being introduced in Flash comics.
There is a certain charm to these stories. They are not great literature, but they are fun. When Ralph "smells" a mystery, his nose twitches wildly, vibrating and sometimes elongating.
This collection includes the following unusual titles: "Curious case of the barn-door bandit", "Puzzle of the purple pony", "Break up the bottleneck gang"," Case of the curious compass", "The man who hated money", "The 13 o'clock robbery", "The ship that sank twice"; and many more.
Ralph Dibny is the Elongated Man. He and his wife Sue Dibny travel the countryside by auto, finding and solving little mysteries. They are deeply in love, and greatly support each other.
Unlike other DC heroes, Ralph has no secret identity. He has revealed a long time ago that Ralph Dibny and the Elongated Man are one and the same. The world knows him by both names.
In DC lore, EM is considered a great detective; second only to Batman.
These are reprints of comic book stories from the 1960s. Elongated Man was the backup feature in Detective Comics, after being introduced in Flash comics.
There is a certain charm to these stories. They are not great literature, but they are fun. When Ralph "smells" a mystery, his nose twitches wildly, vibrating and sometimes elongating.
This collection includes the following unusual titles: "Curious case of the barn-door bandit", "Puzzle of the purple pony", "Break up the bottleneck gang"," Case of the curious compass", "The man who hated money", "The 13 o'clock robbery", "The ship that sank twice"; and many more.
February 11, 2023
This is probably better as 8 page back ups. Collected it gets boring and repetitive fast which is why it took me a year to read. To make matters worse his adversaries are all cookie cutter thieves with an occasional alien race thrown in. Rarely does a known costumed villain make an appearance. There's fun in watching EM use various body parts to fight criminals. He can use any part of his body, like an ear, his nose, and hair. I often wondered what it'd be like if he used a butt cheek or his genitalia. The lack of color in no way detracts from the book enjoyment. Coloring in comic books back then was crap.
March 23, 2018
It took six months to read this book, but it's done. Some groaners, some fun tales - some decent chemistry between Ralph and Sue - nice, solid Infantino art...
Nothing that I'd recommend trying to read in a short period of time, but as Silver Age comics go, these stories weren't so bad. Some of the mysteries were pretty lame, but most were decent and fun.
Nothing that I'd recommend trying to read in a short period of time, but as Silver Age comics go, these stories weren't so bad. Some of the mysteries were pretty lame, but most were decent and fun.
December 8, 2017
These eight-page back-up stories get awfully samey when read back to back. Carmen Infantino draws an awesome stretchy guy but Gardner Fox’s implausible mysteries got very tiresome by the end.
August 30, 2022
Just a bunch of fun and silly stuff. Love all the wild shit they make him do with his powers like knocking people out with a single elongated knuckle.
August 8, 2014
This book has a specific charm that was also seen in "Ant-Man" and the Ray Palmer version of "The Atom" (maybe the Al Pratt "Atom", but I've only read him as a member of the Justice Society).
Namely, that a guy with decent, not great, powers takes on a lot of cheap hoods, usually involving a lot of convoluted and/or exotic mysteries. There's a certain realism-ish based thrill of seeing the Atom take out a bunch of guys wearing cheap suits.
Like a lot of these heroes, the Elongated Man starts out a lot better than he finishes in having tight stories that don't seem as swept up in a superhero obsession. Ant-Man is the most famous example (famous in quotes), as he started out as a hero who shrunk to ant size. But then he needed to have "more power", so he became Giant-Man...then Goliath...than Yellowjacket...eventually he switched powers so much that he became known as a partially insane guy who couldn't handle being a superhero.
EM (his nickname apparently) is more in line with the Ray Palmer "Atom". His adventures got crazier too, but they tried to keep them in line with his organic powes. Ray Palmer just got more "science-based" than he did before, fighting a villain who was into botany, and time theory, and even travelling in time to meet historical figures like a good history nerd.
The Elongated Man stories are kind of that good, but they lack depth. For one thing, his romantic interest is insulting to women. At least I think so. Sue is his wife (Atom has a fiancee), and EM seems to enjoy making fun of Sue Dibny, and telling her what to do. The male writers at least started having her complain a bit more, but she still seems a little controlled.
And the adventures are not as exciting as an Atom story (or any good superhero). Atom shrinks his body, jumps around a lot, while EM basically sees a criminal, makes his body longer (not a terrible power I guess), and captures him. It's hard, because they are ostensibly "decective stories", but they're not really. Elongated Man suspects a mystery, he's right on the first try, there's hoods. It's an action book with a long intro, that's it.
It gets better though. For one thing, once the mediocre Carmine Infantino shared art duties with Sid Greene, Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane, and Neal Adams, the art is much more vibrant and less boring, makes the stories more fun to look at. Also, tie-ins with guest stars, like the aformentioned Atom (best story in the book, basically an Atom adventure with EM watching) or Zatanna, these expand the character, make him seem more interesting. And it takes Gardner Fox a while, but his writing gets a little better, and he's much better than John Broome's dull intro stories in "Flash" magazine.
I totally trash EM's marriage, but what makes him work is that he gives off this air of a guy on vacation with his wife (every issue of the comic is a vacation stop), and he senses mysteries, often not wanting to get involved other than his curiousity. It gives a more frank readability than the mediocre Flash/Green Lantern/JLA of the same era.
The fact that each Detective Comics Elongated Man story is only 9 pages long does not hurt readability :)
5/5
Namely, that a guy with decent, not great, powers takes on a lot of cheap hoods, usually involving a lot of convoluted and/or exotic mysteries. There's a certain realism-ish based thrill of seeing the Atom take out a bunch of guys wearing cheap suits.
Like a lot of these heroes, the Elongated Man starts out a lot better than he finishes in having tight stories that don't seem as swept up in a superhero obsession. Ant-Man is the most famous example (famous in quotes), as he started out as a hero who shrunk to ant size. But then he needed to have "more power", so he became Giant-Man...then Goliath...than Yellowjacket...eventually he switched powers so much that he became known as a partially insane guy who couldn't handle being a superhero.
EM (his nickname apparently) is more in line with the Ray Palmer "Atom". His adventures got crazier too, but they tried to keep them in line with his organic powes. Ray Palmer just got more "science-based" than he did before, fighting a villain who was into botany, and time theory, and even travelling in time to meet historical figures like a good history nerd.
The Elongated Man stories are kind of that good, but they lack depth. For one thing, his romantic interest is insulting to women. At least I think so. Sue is his wife (Atom has a fiancee), and EM seems to enjoy making fun of Sue Dibny, and telling her what to do. The male writers at least started having her complain a bit more, but she still seems a little controlled.
And the adventures are not as exciting as an Atom story (or any good superhero). Atom shrinks his body, jumps around a lot, while EM basically sees a criminal, makes his body longer (not a terrible power I guess), and captures him. It's hard, because they are ostensibly "decective stories", but they're not really. Elongated Man suspects a mystery, he's right on the first try, there's hoods. It's an action book with a long intro, that's it.
It gets better though. For one thing, once the mediocre Carmine Infantino shared art duties with Sid Greene, Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane, and Neal Adams, the art is much more vibrant and less boring, makes the stories more fun to look at. Also, tie-ins with guest stars, like the aformentioned Atom (best story in the book, basically an Atom adventure with EM watching) or Zatanna, these expand the character, make him seem more interesting. And it takes Gardner Fox a while, but his writing gets a little better, and he's much better than John Broome's dull intro stories in "Flash" magazine.
I totally trash EM's marriage, but what makes him work is that he gives off this air of a guy on vacation with his wife (every issue of the comic is a vacation stop), and he senses mysteries, often not wanting to get involved other than his curiousity. It gives a more frank readability than the mediocre Flash/Green Lantern/JLA of the same era.
The fact that each Detective Comics Elongated Man story is only 9 pages long does not hurt readability :)
5/5
January 16, 2017
This book collects the silver age adventures of Ralph Dibny's Elongated Man, a superhero with stretching powers. He's the lesser known of the three stretching superheroes (Plastic Man and Marvel's Mister Fantastic being the others.) There are many people who dump on large Black and White collections like Showcase Presents and Marvel Essential for not being color but this book is an example of why those collections are a good idea for many characters. No one is going to give the Elongated Man a full color reprinting, but this book is economical enough to allow readers a chance experience a forgotten treasure. That, plus the Line Work is pretty good particularly in the final portion of the book.
Dibny first appeared in the Flash Comics in Flash #112 in 1960 with Barry becoming suspicious of Elongated Man because Dibny caught criminals before the Flash did. Was Dibny actually behind the crimes? No, he was just a much better detective. From that beginning, Elongated Man made a number of guest appearances in the Flash over the next three years, fighting supervillains like Captain Cold, Pied Piper, and Captain Boomerang. During that time, he made a fortune in entertainment, got married, and became one of the few superheroes to forgo a secret identity.
In 1964, he got his own back-up feature in Detective Comics with Flash and Kid Flash waving and bidding him a fond farewell from a cover of the Flash Comics on the first page. This collection covers appearances from Detective Comics #327-371. The back up features started as 10-page stories though later ones were 8 or 9. The only exception to this is that two issues saw Elongated Man and Batman teaming up for a longer book-length story of 20+ pages. The Atom, the Green Lantern, and Zatana also stop by guest appearances.
However, the majority of the stories are just Ralph and his wife Sue travelling the world solving mysteries and that's really the book's greatest charm. While the big team ups are fun, the light romance element of Ralph and Sue relating to one another are just fun to read. Others have compared it to Nick and Nora Charles and I can't say that's a bad comparison. The cases have as much cleverness as you can pack into 8-10 page comic book story, although a few would have benefited from additional length.
While you can find a story or two that doesn't work, this book is actually an enjoyable tale. Ralph an d Sue are not your typical Silver Age characters and that's part of their charm. So if you're looking for a lighthearted comic with a touch of romance and mystery, this is a great read.
Dibny first appeared in the Flash Comics in Flash #112 in 1960 with Barry becoming suspicious of Elongated Man because Dibny caught criminals before the Flash did. Was Dibny actually behind the crimes? No, he was just a much better detective. From that beginning, Elongated Man made a number of guest appearances in the Flash over the next three years, fighting supervillains like Captain Cold, Pied Piper, and Captain Boomerang. During that time, he made a fortune in entertainment, got married, and became one of the few superheroes to forgo a secret identity.
In 1964, he got his own back-up feature in Detective Comics with Flash and Kid Flash waving and bidding him a fond farewell from a cover of the Flash Comics on the first page. This collection covers appearances from Detective Comics #327-371. The back up features started as 10-page stories though later ones were 8 or 9. The only exception to this is that two issues saw Elongated Man and Batman teaming up for a longer book-length story of 20+ pages. The Atom, the Green Lantern, and Zatana also stop by guest appearances.
However, the majority of the stories are just Ralph and his wife Sue travelling the world solving mysteries and that's really the book's greatest charm. While the big team ups are fun, the light romance element of Ralph and Sue relating to one another are just fun to read. Others have compared it to Nick and Nora Charles and I can't say that's a bad comparison. The cases have as much cleverness as you can pack into 8-10 page comic book story, although a few would have benefited from additional length.
While you can find a story or two that doesn't work, this book is actually an enjoyable tale. Ralph an d Sue are not your typical Silver Age characters and that's part of their charm. So if you're looking for a lighthearted comic with a touch of romance and mystery, this is a great read.
September 23, 2009
Husband and wife travel the country solving mysteries. It just so happens the husband is a super hero that can stretch himself into all kinds of weird shapes and lengths, just to keep this from getting mixed up with all the other husband/wife PI stories.
Great mix of goofy super powers, a fun married couple and a ton of mysteries, some lame, some pretty clever.
Shame how badly DC has treated these characters. Are there any married couples left in modern comics?
Great mix of goofy super powers, a fun married couple and a ton of mysteries, some lame, some pretty clever.
Shame how badly DC has treated these characters. Are there any married couples left in modern comics?
February 19, 2011
I really enjoy the Elongated Man character, but these early installments do not do it for me. These stories were written in the 1960s, and it shows. The writing is really hokey and the much of the art looks amateur. I know this is a classic take on the character, but I much prefer his more modern incarnation.
July 10, 2016
Silver age stories of the ductile detective. The stories are nothing great story wise. Tend to follow a pattern. Some great Infantino art. Best when he inked himself. No super villains as such and only the occasional super hero guest star. Still a great time capsule of a simpler age of comics.
July 29, 2008
Classic old school comic detective stories. Way too much fun!
August 18, 2014
A very good collection of the Elongated Man stories from the 60s and 70s. Most of them are 8 page mysteries, with a lot of action.
January 28, 2022
Fun short stories from Gardner Fox and John Broome featuring the Nick and Nora Charles of comics.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews