What's the deal with Metamorpho?

[ctc]

....he seems to show up in a lot of stuff DC does. Is he that popular?

Don C.

[palitoy]

He is a great background character and I do admit to liking him. I've never bought any of his comics but plenty of titles he was in.

But maybe that's me, I tend to like things with "Aquaman and down" type characters, B teams.

[madmarva]

The guys that do Warners DC toons seem to like him a lot. Didn't care for the version served up on The latest Batman toon. Too much like Hulk.

He's a girl in the New 52, but called Element Girl or Element Woman.

[palitoy]

The guys that do Warners DC toons seem to like him a lot. Didn't care for the version served up on The latest Batman toon. Too much like Hulk.

Yeah, it was one of the ones BATB got wrong.

He's a girl in the New 52, but called Element Girl or Element Woman.

She was in the silver age too.

[Scousebadger]

She was in the silver age too.

Yup, and got famously killed off by Neil Gaiman in an edition of The Sandman

[thunderbolt]

love his original 60's run, a comic that desperately needs an archive.

[ctc]

>The guys that do Warners DC toons seem to like him a lot.

That's what started the question. A friend pointed that out; how he's essentially the DC cartoon's Ralph Wiggum. Even in the comics, he's never a mainliner, but he's ALWAYS there. Somewhere....

Don C.

[Earth 2 Chris]

He's the Element MAAAANNNN!!! (If you've ever heard the bizarre Power Records Metamporpho story, you'd get it).

I think one reason Metamorpho keeps coming back into animation is his design. Ramona Fradon's designs for Rex and his supporting cast were tailor-made for animation. It seemed like a great cartoon even back in the 60s. And in fact, in the 60s, Filmation was developing Metamorpho for segments in another anthology show, that would also feature Wonder Woman. Apparently Metamorpho was a HUGE seller for DC upon his debut, but the interest quickly cooled off.

I didn't care for B&B's take on Metamorpho (or any of the Outsiders) either. I did like the almost straight adaptation on JL.

Chris

[ctc]

>He's the Element MAAAANNNN!!!

Hee hee heee.... I can hear it now. (A friend of mine was OBSESSED with that album.)

>Apparently Metamorpho was a HUGE seller for DC upon his debut, but the interest quickly cooled off

Hmmmm.... odd. He's basically a more monster looking Plastic Man. I wonder if that has anything to do with it? (Stretchy guys seemd to have been all the rage for a while.)

Don C.

[johnnystorm]

I always loved Metamorpho solo & in the Brave & Bold stories by Bob Haney, but never liked him as part of a group, either JLA or Outsiders. When he's in a group he tends to be the dumb strong guy who provides quick exits and shield during attacks. Rex Mason was an adventurer by trade of the Indiana Jones variety. He might be lovesick over Sapphire Stagg, but he's not a moron.

He has a cool freaky look, oddball supporting cast, and nifty powers you could play around with. but he needs the right artist- Ramona Fradon nailed it, Dick Dillin got it, so did Jim Aparo. Other artists tend to want to emphasis the "monsterish" aspect, when he needs a humorous touch.

I love that Metamorpho/Plastic Man 45 too!

[Mego MkIV]

I mainly remember Metamorpho from Batman and The Outsiders I guess later he was in Justice League Europe.

[huedell]

I love that Metamorpho/Plastic Man 45 too!

That 45 is a prime of example of why (I believe) we're talking about him in Don's context right this minute. He's a classic character that the DCU just can't let get buried. There are other characters that are like that that have good runs from time to time. Dare-I-say The Creeper is one of them. How about Black Lightning, even?

Will the more minor characters created in the 90s and 2000s have similar fates of eternal utilization cycling? Maybe. Maybe not.

I always loved Metamorpho solo & in the Brave & Bold stories by Bob Haney, but never liked him as part of a group, either JLA or Outsiders. When he's in a group he tends to be the dumb strong guy who provides quick exits and shield during attacks. Rex Mason was an adventurer by trade of the Indiana Jones variety. He might be lovesick over Sapphire Stagg, but he's not a moron.

I don't know much about Rex, but I tend to fall in love w/what I believe are the "basics" of any given character. And, yes, I'd say Rex isn't a moron/oaf/monster... and that's evidenced by the original foundation of Metamorpho stock characters that include Java, who IS that "oafish dolt" kind of character. At least that's what I get from reading up on Java and seeing him in that one episode of JL.

Speaking of which... I haven't been watching any of the newer shows that have had Metamorpho in 'em... but I saw that "Timm" JL episode with Rex... and dang, I can't believe no one's mentioned that episode in this thread so far, yet there's all this talk of Metamorpho being portrayed inaccurately in these newer more frequent incarnations.

Wouldn't you agree that the JL episode essentially nailed the basics of the character?

EDITED TO ADD: And that JL show *was* a "Warner Bros-era" production.