DC has spy satellites trained on me at all times...
I've been praying for a Showcase Presents edition for Elongated Man. And now, it's coming in June:
SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE ELONGATED MAN TP
Writers: John Broome and Gardner Fox
Artists: Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams, Murphy Anderson and Gil Kane
Collects stories from THE FLASH #112, 115, 119, 124, 130, 134 and 138 and DETECTIVE COMICS #327-371.
560 pages, $16.99 U.S.
I called this back in December on some message board or another. Ralph is apparently in the spotlight. While I can't say I like what they've done to him since Identity Crisis, I will now have a collection of stories from back in the good ol' days.
You shall all buy it because you love me, and because it will be Good.
Comics should be good, right?
SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE ELONGATED MAN TP
Writers: John Broome and Gardner Fox
Artists: Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams, Murphy Anderson and Gil Kane
Collects stories from THE FLASH #112, 115, 119, 124, 130, 134 and 138 and DETECTIVE COMICS #327-371.
560 pages, $16.99 U.S.
I called this back in December on some message board or another. Ralph is apparently in the spotlight. While I can't say I like what they've done to him since Identity Crisis, I will now have a collection of stories from back in the good ol' days.
You shall all buy it because you love me, and because it will be Good.
Comics should be good, right?
posted by Bill Reed at 3/13/2006 07:53:00 PM
13 Comments:
Love Gardner Fox, but John Broome is painful to read. I'll be skipping that.
I'm no Flash expert so all of my Flashes pre-306 are the Showcase issue and Flash of two earths.
So I wouldn't know if Broome is painful to read.
>>Ralph is apparently in the spotlight. While I can't say I like what they've done to him since Identity Crisis, I will now have a collection of stories from back in the good ol' days.<<
You don't like that they're *finally* returning him to his roots as a grim, lone avenger? I say, thank God someone came along who understands that the Elongated Man is a character essentially motivated by horror and personal tragedy. Every night, after a hard day's brooding, Ralph should shoot himself on to the mean streets like a rubber band of white-hot vigilante justice, careening like an out-of-control superball on a personal quest for vengeance. Also, his new arch-enemy should be Jean Loring/Eclipso. That way, they can also give him a power up by letting him turn his hands into knives or spikes or something. In short, I'm thrilled that they've begun the arduous, but ultimately rewarding process of stripping every single layer of love and humanity out of Ralph's life, one by one, until all that remains is a totally awesome superhero.
This is how I felt when they finally released Dracula vs. Apocalypse!
What amazes me is that it took this long for them to set the stage for a grim and gritty Elongated Man. I'd also love to see anonymous's vision for such a thing. If Kyle Baker was writing and drawing it. Or maybe Peter Bagge. Someone to totally take the piss out of it. Because, played for laughs, it would be sheer brilliance.
I think even if it was played for laughs, it still wouldn't be as funny as a DC comic played straight. Looking at a weepy Elongated Man sticking a gun in his mouth while listening to an answering machine is so hilariously cliched and ham-fisted that it makes me want to buy 52 to get more unintentional laughter, kind of like watching an Ed Wood movie.
Hmm. While it sounds horrible and out of character, would a gun in the mouth even kill Ralph? Wouldn't the bullet just stretch out the back of his head and shoot back? And you can't drop him off a building because he'll bounce, he probably floats too well to drown, and gas probably turns him into a zeppelin. (For some reason, Plastic Man trying and failing to kill himself would be severely funny, but the same for Ralph is just sad.)
Anyway, I'm not enough of a fan of the character for this one. Now, the Godzilla Essential...
I hadn't thought about that, T., but you are right. I never thought I'd say that, but facts is facts.
"Hmm. While it sounds horrible and out of character, would a gun in the mouth even kill Ralph? Wouldn't the bullet just stretch out the back of his head and shoot back? And you can't drop him off a building because he'll bounce, he probably floats too well to drown, and gas probably turns him into a zeppelin. (For some reason, Plastic Man trying and failing to kill himself would be severely funny, but the same for Ralph is just sad.)"
That's part of the humor! A grieving Ralph trying and failing miserably trying to commit suicide! It would be wonderful in its awful taste, intentionally or not!
"That's part of the humor! A grieving Ralph trying and failing miserably trying to commit suicide! It would be wonderful in its awful taste, intentionally or not!"
Wasn't that called GLA: Misassembled?
Well, it'd depend if Ralph has had any Gingold since Identity Crisis. If he's off the juice...
Nice post! Can’t wait for the next one. Keep stuff like this coming.
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