More C. C. Beck! On the heels of DC’s lawsuit against Fawcett, Beck left comics for more than a decade, but in 1967 he and former Fawcett writer Otto Binder created Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer, because what kid doesn't dream of being able to turn into a UFO, right? Here's the first issue, penciled, inked, colored, and lettered by Beck.
Yeah, I remember Fatman! I had those issues (I can't remember now how many there were -- 3 or 4?) and thought they were great fun. At the time, I'd never heard of Beck or Captain Marvel, as both were from that dark time before I'd ever picked up a comic book, but when I did finally become aware of them I was quickly aware, based on the Fatman books, how much fun I had missed.
Plastic Man had a long and varied history in the Golden Age of comics with over 100 appearances in Police Comics, most of which had him as the cover feature and 64 issues of his own magazine. He outlasted all of the other GA superheroes with the exception of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
Part of this was due to the artistic genius of his creator, Jack Cole. Cole was a master cartoonist and he made full use of his talents to make his pliable character as amusing as possible. When Plas laughed, Cole contorted his features so that he resembled a braying donkey. A recurring theme had him changing himself into an inanimate object, such as a couch or a rug or a lamp in the crooks' hideout, only to reveal himself at the critical moment.
Plastic Man's adventures were published by Quality Comics, which eventually sold out to DC in late 1956. This cover was his last appearance under the Quality banner, cover dated November 1956, which was drawn and inked by Dick Dillin.
He outlasted all of the other GA superheroes with the exception of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
And Aquaman and Green Arrow, who were both continuously published in solo stories throughout the ’50s and ’60s, while Plastic Man disappeared in 1956 when Quality Comics went out of business. Despite Plastic Man’s popularity and durability, the only reason he survived beyond that point was because of the even greater popularity of fellow Quality hero Blackhawk. It was Blackhawk that DC was primarily interested in when they bought the rights to Quality’s characters. DC kept the Blackhawk series going, picking up right where Quality left off (coincidentally with a cover by Dick Dillin) without missing a single month. They didn't bring Plastic Man back until nearly ten years later in 1966.
And Aquaman and Green Arrow, who were both continuously published in solo stories throughout the ’50s and ’60s, while Plastic Man disappeared in 1956 when Quality Comics went out of business.
Good point nweathington. I had totally forgotten about Aquaman and Green Arrow!
C. C. Beck cover for DC’s revival of Captain Marvel: Shazam! #4 (July 1973). Beck hated the scripts, however, and soon he got fed up and quit. The last comic story he drew professionally was published in Shazam! #10 (Feb. 1974).
And so my previous 3 posts bring me to this point. The advent of Plastic Man v2. DC purchased the rights to Quality's characters in late '56 but did this mainly so they could run with Blackhawk (as pointed out by someone else in this thread), G I Combat and Heart Throbs. Plastic Man himself remained dormant for a decade. Sadly Jack Cole committed suicide in 1958 so never saw the revival of his famous creation. Finally DC woke up to the fact that they had a dormant super-hero in their midst, and, without going through the usual process of launching (or re-launching) a character through Showcase they issued Plastic Man #1 in December 1966. The cover was a Gil Kane masterpiece. However it raised a few questions - for me, anyway. Why, for example was Plas saying "You'll never know, commissioner, whom I ran into." Why was he not saying "You'll never guess, commissioner, whom I ran into." Surely that would be more logical. And why did Mr Kane plump for a green background? He carefully delineates between land and sky and then goes and colours the sky in a particularly rich shade of green! (Perhaps this was the inker, rather than the artist). Nevertheless, nearly 50 years on, this is still one of my all-time favourite covers. I don't know why - it just has that certain something for me - perhaps it's an "age" thing!
And so my previous 3 posts bring me to this point. The advent of Plastic Man v2. DC purchased the rights to Quality's characters in late '56 but did this mainly so they could run with Blackhawk (as pointed out by someone else in this thread), G I Combat and Heart Throbs. Plastic Man himself remained dormant for a decade. Sadly Jack Cole committed suicide in 1958 so never saw the revival of his famous creation. Finally DC woke up to the fact that they had a dormant super-hero in their midst, and, without going through the usual process of launching (or re-launching) a character through Showcase they issued Plastic Man #1 in December 1966. The cover was a Gil Kane masterpiece. However it raised a few questions - for me, anyway. Why, for example was Plas saying "You'll never know, commissioner, whom I ran into." Why was he not saying "You'll never guess, commissioner, whom I ran into." Surely that would be more logical. And why did Mr Kane plump for a green background? He carefully delineates between land and sky and then goes and colours the sky in a particularly rich shade of green! (Perhaps this was the inker, rather than the artist). Nevertheless, nearly 50 years on, this is still one of my all-time favourite covers. I don't know why - it just has that certain something for me - perhaps it's an "age" thing!
Dialogue: Old men trying to be hip and failing.
Coloring: The green contrasts with the red more dramatically than blue would. Makes the cover pop.
While I like Kane's composition, I'm not a fan of his beefy, Elvis-looking version of Plas.
If DC already owned Plastic Man in the late 50s, why bother to create Elongated Man in 1960? While I personally find Plas a silly character, he has seriously great name recognition and he benefits from a rich publishing history from the talented Mr. Cole. Plas should have been DC's stretchy hero all along.
If DC already owned Plastic Man in the late 50s, why bother to create Elongated Man in 1960? While I personally find Plas a silly character, he has seriously great name recognition and he benefits from a rich publishing history from the talented Mr. Cole. Plas should have been DC's stretchy hero all along.
Elongated Man was a completely different character, inspired by The Thin Man series of lighthearted mystery movies featuring a husband and wife team of amateur detectives. His name is even a nod to The Thin Man. Other than stretchiness, the characters couldn't be much more different.
And so my previous 3 posts bring me to this point. The advent of Plastic Man v2. DC purchased the rights to Quality's characters in late '56 but did this mainly so they could run with Blackhawk (as pointed out by someone else in this thread), G I Combat and Heart Throbs. Plastic Man himself remained dormant for a decade. Sadly Jack Cole committed suicide in 1958 so never saw the revival of his famous creation. Finally DC woke up to the fact that they had a dormant super-hero in their midst, and, without going through the usual process of launching (or re-launching) a character through Showcase they issued Plastic Man #1 in December 1966. The cover was a Gil Kane masterpiece. However it raised a few questions - for me, anyway. Why, for example was Plas saying "You'll never know, commissioner, whom I ran into." Why was he not saying "You'll never guess, commissioner, whom I ran into." Surely that would be more logical. And why did Mr Kane plump for a green background? He carefully delineates between land and sky and then goes and colours the sky in a particularly rich shade of green! (Perhaps this was the inker, rather than the artist). Nevertheless, nearly 50 years on, this is still one of my all-time favourite covers. I don't know why - it just has that certain something for me - perhaps it's an "age" thing!
Dialogue: Old men trying to be hip and failing.
Coloring: The green contrasts with the red more dramatically than blue would. Makes the cover pop.
While I like Kane's composition, I'm not a fan of his beefy, Elvis-looking version of Plas.
I also doubt the sky's horizon would reach all the way to the edge of the sidewalk. It's conceivable we are looking at it from the street and they are in front of the side of a building with a green wall.
I also doubt the sky's horizon would reach all the way to the edge of the sidewalk. It's conceivable we are looking at it from the street and they are in front of the side of a building with a green wall.
Besides, backgrounds were considered unimportant at the time. Unless they actually conveyed important story information, they just distracted from the action and wasted the time of artist, inker and colorist.
And why did Mr Kane plump for a green background? He carefully delineates between land and sky and then goes and colours the sky in a particularly rich shade of green! (Perhaps this was the inker, rather than the artist).
The production department was responsible for the coloring, probably Sol Harrison did the color guides with the ladies in the back room doing the actual color separations.
As Stewart pointed out, green is the strongest contrast to red, being on the opposite end of the color wheel. I know I've said it before in this thread, but I miss the days when color in comics was used to enhance the storytelling rather than just make things look “real.”
I never really cared for Kane’s take on Plas. For me, the only DC artists to capture the whimsy of Cole’s work were Ramona Fradon and later Joe Staton. Though Carmine Infantino’s two covers, and his Elongated Man stories (which as Stewart said are very different than Plastic Man stories), makes me think he may have handled Plas well too.
I suppose it should also be noted that Kane inked himself on this cover. I've probably said this before here, but Kane is one of the few artists I don't think of as being their own best inker. Kane seemed to prefer the flat, dead line weights he got with his pens and markers (he didn't really use a brush, except maybe for large areas of black), and I'm not a big fan of that approach, especially when it comes to humor material.
Back when the Baxter run started I couldn't make it to a comic shop each month. So the Tales of the Teen Titans reprint title was great to me. Saw this cover earlier whilst flipping through a very unorganized longbox.
Comments
Part of this was due to the artistic genius of his creator, Jack Cole. Cole was a master cartoonist and he made full use of his talents to make his pliable character as amusing as possible. When Plas laughed, Cole contorted his features so that he resembled a braying donkey. A recurring theme had him changing himself into an inanimate object, such as a couch or a rug or a lamp in the crooks' hideout, only to reveal himself at the critical moment.
Plastic Man's adventures were published by Quality Comics, which eventually sold out to DC in late 1956. This cover was his last appearance under the Quality banner, cover dated November 1956, which was drawn and inked by Dick Dillin.
June, 1961
Cover artists: Curt Swan, Sheldon Moldoff, Dick Sprang, Charles Paris
Blackhawk #108 (Jan. 1957) also by Dillin and Cuidera.
Finally DC woke up to the fact that they had a dormant super-hero in their midst, and, without going through the usual process of launching (or re-launching) a character through Showcase they issued Plastic Man #1 in December 1966.
The cover was a Gil Kane masterpiece.
However it raised a few questions - for me, anyway. Why, for example was Plas saying "You'll never know, commissioner, whom I ran into." Why was he not saying "You'll never guess, commissioner, whom I ran into." Surely that would be more logical.
And why did Mr Kane plump for a green background? He carefully delineates between land and sky and then goes and colours the sky in a particularly rich shade of green!
(Perhaps this was the inker, rather than the artist).
Nevertheless, nearly 50 years on, this is still one of my all-time favourite covers. I don't know why - it just has that certain something for me - perhaps it's an "age" thing!
Coloring: The green contrasts with the red more dramatically than blue would. Makes the cover pop.
While I like Kane's composition, I'm not a fan of his beefy, Elvis-looking version of Plas.
As Stewart pointed out, green is the strongest contrast to red, being on the opposite end of the color wheel. I know I've said it before in this thread, but I miss the days when color in comics was used to enhance the storytelling rather than just make things look “real.”
I never really cared for Kane’s take on Plas. For me, the only DC artists to capture the whimsy of Cole’s work were Ramona Fradon and later Joe Staton. Though Carmine Infantino’s two covers, and his Elongated Man stories (which as Stewart said are very different than Plastic Man stories), makes me think he may have handled Plas well too.
Jerry Ordway.
Back when the Baxter run started I couldn't make it to a comic shop each month. So the Tales of the Teen Titans reprint title was great to me. Saw this cover earlier whilst flipping through a very unorganized longbox.