Can you imagine seeing this cover back in 1960? There's the Flash running after some fantastic rogue with a pretty incredible power about to catch him.
Um, E.M., you didn't think this through. You have elasticity, but Barry has super speed. By the time you're done thinking that, Barry will totally have caught you. Also, grammar police here, you mean "I can capture him!" The I is missing from the cover, and this scan came from a modern reprint.
So, remember that the original audience was supposed to approach this story with no knowledge as to who the Elongated Man was. He doesn't wear primary colors like most super heroes, he's wearing purple, like a villain. He wears a mask like a robber. This cover is supposed to sell the character as a potential rogue. In fact, when I first saw this cover, I wondered if he was a villain.
Little aside, I recreated this cover in Photoshop as best as I could recently to celebrate Elongated Man coming to The Flash TV show in a couple weeks, played by Hartley Sawyer. The Flash costume isn't the current one, and the Elongated Man costume was based on this original one, sans mask. (Hartley Sawyer is also the face on the blog banner I made.) As I get better pictures to work with, I may be revising the picture to be more in line with the show.
Now onto that splash page.
Now, we know it's a dream scene and physical elasticity like that is impossible, but Elongated Man (I am ready to start calling him by his proper name, but I'm writing as if you're unfamiliar with the character) would surely be falling over with him shifting his upper body away from the support of his legs.
Also, apparently Barry Allen sleeps in his Flash costume, so if someone happened to walk in on him sleeping, well, secret identity over.
The art style is fairly pleasant. It's done by the legendary Carmine Infantino with inks by Joe Giella. John Broome wrote with Julius Schwartz as editor. Schwartz and Infantino are credited with creating the Elongated Man.
Now onto page 1.
But now to panel 3, Barry's blocked from saving the day by the unexpected appearance of the Elongated Man. Again, stretching past the point where his legs should be supporting his upper body. The important thing is, the kitten is okay.
The implications of panels 4 and 5 are perfectly in line with the character of the Elongated Man as he would develop. He stays at the scene of the rescue to talk to the press, here represented by a photographer and Iris West, Barry's girlfriend, who thinks her dialogue.
Now, the final panel, do we assume the Elongated Man is replying to an off-panel question? Because we don't see Iris say anything, she's just thinking.
There's not a lot to say here about the plot, but I will note that if by some chance this was your first exposure to the Flash, this page subtly gives you the basics: that his real name is Barry Allen, that his dual identity is a secret, and how he stores his costume.
I do like that picture of Elongated Man in the final panel. And wow, what a nice mop of hair you have there, sir. Although, once again, that method of stretching out like that shouldn't work. I could imagine someone revisiting this scene and Flash helping Elongated Man anchor himself to the pier, though. That could work. Hmmm, maybe one of the tricks of being elastic means you can shift your center of balance and how you anchor yourself.
Now the narrator steps aside to show us the origin of the Elongated Man, who is actually named Ralph Dibny. So yay, we can call him Ralph now!
There's a lot to read into Ralph's origin here that would eventually get expanded on in the Secret Origins series in the 1980s. Ralph's older brother is named Ken and is later depicted as the typical football star and later mayor. Their hometown would be revealed as Waymore, Nebraska.
So, Ralph was fascinated by a circus contortionist as a kid. Well, Ralph, I got fascinated by one too when I turned 18. His name is Daniel Browning Smith and is considered the most flexible man in the world. And by reading up on him, I know the answer you're looking for, buddy.
Ralph goes to the contortionist's tent to ask him about his secret. Ah, the days when you could depict a kid approaching a strange man without everyone assuming something sinister.
Well, Ralph doesn't have such a great time over the next years and hits a low point until he realizes all of the contortionists he's met drink a soda called Gingold.
Gingold is of course the key to Ralph's pursuit. However, in real life, contortionists have a rare condition called hyperflexibility, which is exactly what it sounds like. It allows them to safely dislocate their joints and bend themselves in ways most of us find impossible. While I wouldn't discount that there is likely diet and exercise and certain supplements they can take to keep themselves flexible, that's really what it is, Ralph. You're either born with it or not.
Panel 2 perfectly gives us the feeling of Ralph feeling like it was all for nothing. If this panel had no dialogue, we'd still get the idea of what happened.
Okay, now for the next two panels which show Ralph stretching for the first time. And maybe we're supposed to think he's placing the pot back on the window, but the position of the pot looks exactly the same in both panels. So apparently, Ralph can stretch at super speed? And of course, the "ambition" at the end is the teaser as to what Ralph's actual intentions are.
In the next story, we'll find the gingo fruit that is the main ingredient of gingold, but as we're about to not mention it again in this tale, there's later developments with it gingold in the comics. It would be retconned that most people are allergic to gingold, and Ralph is one of the rare people who isn't. Later still, it would be retconned that Ralph's powers are a result of him being a metahuman and drinking the gingold extract or eating the fruit or drinking the soda simply triggered elasticity powers. A future story in The Flash would deal with Ralph exhibiting different powers when he drinks gingold while being carried by Barry at super speed. Personally, I'd like to think Ralph might have several different powers and he's only found a couple of specific triggers for them.
In addition, Ralph says he can stretch "almost indefinitely." At least one later comic would reveal his limit is 100 yards. That's not even a mile, Ralph... I'll just assume that was excitement.
Barry's thoughts are interrupted by a phone call from Iris. Which is a really weird phone call considering Iris says "Hello!" rather than letting Barry do it, and Barry says absolutely nothing but just reacts to recognizing Iris' voice. This is not how typical phone conversations work, guys.
Now, to avoid this blog presenting the entire story, I'm skipping the next two pages. Iris informs Barry that the Flash has close competition for Picture News' Man of the Year. Now determined that Ralph is actually a crook seeking to win over the citizens of Central City, Barry goes to expose Ralph. He heads to a museum that is postponing an exhibit featuring Ming vases to prevent theft. Barry tells them to go ahead and do it and begins patrolling the museum.
And here comes the scene we saw rendered on the cover in greater detail. Again, grabbing Barry wasn't going to work, Ralph, he's moving too fast for you.
That last panel shows Ralph looking rather thin. Typically elastic heroes get depicted as skinny guys. Jack Cole's original Plastic Man had broad shoulders, though, and Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four was depicted by Jack Kirby as being pretty ripped. Later artists have certainly drawn them looking much thinner. Ralph would be depicted as looking a bit more toned than super-skinny. Maybe after he discovered the secret of Gingold, he started working out.
Ralph then explains himself to Barry, including giving his real name when the crooks are nearby. They might be knocked out, but they could come to and overhear. At this point, Ralph is doing the secret identity thing, although it would soon vanish and he'd become the first National Publications superhero not to have one. Maybe it's because he's extremely bad at keeping it.
In addition, he says he vows to use his powers only in emergencies or to help people, the story now telling us that he's a hero. Thing is, in later stories, Ralph becomes a gloryhound, seeking media attention. The bit at the beginning where he answers questions from the press fits perfectly with that. This declaration of limiting his use of his powers doesn't.
Barry finds the leader of the gang in a getaway car and manages to stop the car and apprehend the leader. After questioning, the police chief reveals that the crimes pinned on the Elongated Man were committed with a helicopter. I guess the people of Central City sleep very soundly if they can sleep through a helicopter flying so close to the ground.
It's a nice image to close the story, particularly when you consider the legacy these two characters have together.
Except for the fact that in that last panel, Barry drops Ralph's real first name in a room full of people looking directly at them! Barry, you are the worst.
So, what have we learned? Basically that there's some weird inconsistencies in the story that clash with later established canon. Apparently, contortionists stretch in the DC universe, and Iris and Barry don't know how phone calls are supposed to work. However, that's mainly with the dialogue. Infantino wonderfully draws Ralph in his debut and gives each panel a sense of energy and motion. Perhaps the art isn't the best seen at the time, but I can't complain about it either.
So, that's the debut of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. Join us next time when we go over Ralph's second story.
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