Is Elongated Man a significant character?

[The Toyroom]

I think DC got full rights to use Plastic Man finally and they just tossed poor Ralph aside and turned his wife into a nutbag.

There was nothing wrong with Sue Dibny...Jean Loring, the Atom's ex-wife, is the nutjob who murdered Sue..

[Cosmicman]

To me, Elongated Man was the main man on the Justice League and a lot of books in the 70s and some 80s. (and some 90s....JLE?)

I think DC got full rights to use Plastic Man finally and they just tossed poor Ralph aside and turned his wife into a nutbag.
Sadly, I will always love the Elongated Man. He was a classic hero for me growing up.

I used to love his nose when he said he was on a hunch or looking for a clue, how it was stretch and twitch. Those were the classic comics/days.

[samurainoir]

Waid did a great story (I think it was with Bryan hitch art) in JLA that separated the heroes with secret identities from their alter egos. I think Eel/plastic man was handled quite well in that context.

There was a plastic man mini in the eighties that had a very fun device, where the cartoony style old school plastic man style art was shown to be Plastic Man's POV of the world. Morrison might have licked up on that from his run.

[The Toyroom]

Ralph fan here.

Elongated Man is a character. Plastic Man is a caricature.

To me Batman is the only one that's really able to play off Plastic Man (probably due to Brave and the Bold stories from years ago), so he's an
odd fit for me in JLA...I prefer Ralph who has more history with the team and interaction with more characters like Batman, Hawkman, The Atom, The Flash...

[Random Axe]

Ralph fan here.

Elongated Man is a character. Plastic Man is a caricature.

[thunderbolt]

Ray has the technology, so I halfway expect him to get back to it eventually.

[The Toyroom]

Ray Palmer has work. He's in Frankenstein.

Yes but he's not the Atom right now...un-deceased Ryan Choi is again...

[thunderbolt]

Ray Palmer has work. He's in Frankenstein.

[The Toyroom]

Never cared for the character but his treatment of the last few years has been appalling.

He's not the only one...Martian Manhunter, The Ray Palmer Atom, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. have all gotten the shaft the last several years..

[palitoy]

Never cared for the character but his treatment of the last few years has been appalling.

[CaptainTrenchcoat]

This was posted on the tni site:

Mattel issued the following statement on their Facebook page in regards to rumors floating around about a possibility of a DC Universe Classics Elongated Man and the Masters of the Universe Classics Snake-Man-At-Arms figure that was shown at NYCC. To sum up they basically say they can do a Elongated Man figure if they want to and that Man-At-Arms WILL NOT have an alternate 200x head. Now I don't know where the rumors about Elongated Man started from but I will say we were ones who reported about an alternate head for Man-At-Arms, mainly because Mattel at their panel made brought up the fact the body sculpt was based on the 200x design and indicated this was done to give collectors an opportunity to get a modern sculpted version of the 200x Man-At-Arms figure with this. Maybe we read to much into that but if their is no alternate head to use with the 200x body, then our question is what is the point????? Here is the full statement from Mattel about both figures:


1: Mattel can’t do Elongated Man



Okay. 100% not true. I must have made a statement (as has always been the case) reconfirming that, yes, it is still true that DC and Warner Bros has final say on our character selection, but in no way have they ever bared us from doing a character like Elongated Man!



In fact just the opposite; DC and Warner Bros. have been amazing partners, always helping us to push the limit on character selection like Lobo in JLU and Swamp Thing in DCUC!



Ralph is in no way off limits. In fact we have already done him several times. We even did an Elongated Man figure in JLU in an outfit he didn’t even wear on the show. That is how cool he is. There always seems to be one figure “we haven’t gotten to yet” that fans have thoughts was off limits or wasn’t going to happen. Be it Martian Manhunter, Flash 1 or now Elongated Man. The answer is always; just because your favorite figure is not out yet does not mean he or she won’t be in the line one day, keep your suggestions coming!



If any websites reported a quote from me stating the opposite, I did not give any sit down interviews at NYCC, so this “quote” may have been strung together from different things orally overheard in the booth to different people. No statement of this type was officially announced or provided by Mattel or given to any site as a quote or interview. It sounds like it is a misinterpretation of a few things overheard in passing and then attributed (falsely) to me as a direct quote.

[Figuremod73]

I like strange characters so EM and plas are great to me.
I think i read once in an old 60s letter column that EM wouldnt have been created if they knew they were getting the rights to Plasticman
He deserves to be an action figure more than some of the ones ive seen. uugh!

[PNGwynne]

I agree with Anthony--I always thought Ralph should be a literal "Thin Man" Nick Charles-type detective, with Sue as his Nora. They were so well-handled in JLI.

For me, Plas & Ralph have distinct abilities, & I think Ralph can be individualized by a talented writer.

What DC did to Sue & Ralph was very, very disturbing to me.

[The Toyroom]

If we can have mutiple, rainbow-colored lanterns, we can have two stretchy dudes.

That whole recent wave with Blue Flash, Orange Lex, Yellow Scarecrow, etc. was a complete "PASS" for me...

[Earth 2 Chris]

I like Ralph. I think most forget he was primarily a Detective, and the stretching was more of just a visual stimulant in his stories. I think Ralph suffered after Julius Schwartz retired. It think Julie liked his character and tried to find places to spotlight him, such as JLA. What DC did to him and Sue was a sign of things to come under DiDio's reign.

DCUC has let in a lot of less significant characters, Ralph should get his due. I agree Plastic Man is more famous and more important in comic history, but the line can support two pliable guys. If we can have mutiple, rainbow-colored lanterns, we can have two stretchy dudes.

Chris