Plastic Man, The - Archives, Volume 5 (Plastic Man Archives)
Nearly all comic book heroes from the 1940s, the first decade of the medium's existence, look primitive and juvenile to modern readers. A rare exception is Cole's Plastic Man, who could stretch his body limitlessly and change his shape into that of almost any other object. Although "Plas" battled criminals in much the same fashion as fellow superheroes, the inherently absurd nature of his powers lent itself to lighthearted treatment, and at that Cole proved peerless. The subject of aNew Yorkerarticle and a book-length tribute by Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman, Cole combined the square-jawed superhero and irrepressible zaniness as no one else has since. The stories in this volume of a series reprinting Plas' 15-year run hail from 1946 and, pitting him against Runyonesque gangsters as well as such bizarre villains as the somnolence-inducing Sleepy Eyes, constitute a fairly typical sampling of his adventures. Cole's inventiveness and graphic skill shine out, despite reproduction of half-century-old pages that leaves something to be desired.Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved