Mystery of the Millionaire Cowboy!

 June 1965 brought Detective Comics #340, featuring Ralph's next adventure, "Mystery of the Millionaire Cowboy!" The issue is available on Comixology and DC Universe, but has only been reprinted in Showcase Presents The Elongated Man.

In the letters page, reader Walt Smith says they preferred Ralph's story to Batman's in #336, "The House of 'Flashy' Traps!" Why? The Flash pops up, and Walt feels that seeing heroes interact outside of The Justice League of America "makes your characters more realistic." Looking back at it now, it seems like faint praise, but I suppose it wasn't common back then, spurring Walt's letter. There's two other letters, but they only comment on Batman's story.

This story was written by John Broome with Carmine Infantino on pencils, Sid Greene on inks, Gaspar Saladino on lettering and Julius Schwartz credited as editor.

The splash page shows Ralph hanging from some rings in a gym as two crooks stretch out his legs, thinking they "got him." The dialogue from Ralph's thought bubble can be read as Ralph being dismissive or wondering if the crooks have a trick up their sleeve. Anyway, Infantino does a fine splash panel. Not exactly eye-catching, though.

The story is set in Midwest City, which says it's famous for culture and night life. There is a real Midwest City in Oklahoma, and currently, it does seem to have quite the night life. I can't tell if it was the same back in 1965, or if Fox just put the name in there because he needed to name the city.

Ralph surprises Sue with tickets to a show titled "A Satellite For Two." While the show was sold out, the theater just added two new balcony seats, which a friend of Ralph's who's in the show managed to procure for him.

Sue puts on a new red dress that Ralph, being extremely cute, admires her in, even elongating his eyes to make them "pop." Infantino is in usual good form, telling the story well in the quick pace the Silver Age used.

Arriving at the theater, Ralph and Sue notice crowds of people who are likely being turned away due to the show being sold out. Getting to their seats, though, they notice that they are the only audience members in attendance. Ralph confirms it by elongating his neck and looking around the seats.

We get a peek of the opening number, introduced by a man dressed as an astronaut saying, "The future is ours, baby! Listen..." Then the song begins "I'll be alone with you in a satellite built for two!"

But... satellites weren't made to carry people...

Ralph's mystery-sniffing nose is set off as the song finishes and applause can be clearly heard. Sure enough, Ralph slips away to investigate, leaving Sue to watch the show on her own.

The story shifts over to an elaborate mansion owned by Mr. Hurd "a wealthy cattleman," who is the titular "Millionaire Cowboy." A group of crooks are demanding he gives them his money or they'll blow the place up. Which seems a little dumb as it'd be unusual for a millionaire to have his money in cash form and not, you know, in a bank or tied up in stocks. The story actually never says he has his money there, so I'm just going to assume the crooks are really stupid.

Mr. Hurd and his wife stall the crooks by playing a game of "cold beans, hot beans" with them, where Mr. Hurd will say they're cold if they're not close to finding the money, or "warm" or "hot" if they're close. They walk past his pool and into a gym, where Hurd claims one guy is getting "hot," and the crook opens a panel on a wall, where a boxing glove springs out and punches him. The crooks are mad and figure they've been had and throw some dynamite into a sitting room.

Luckily, Ralph has arrived and manages to quickly deposit the dynamite into an old, abandoned well, where it harmlessly explodes. He slips into the sitting room and the crooks look back in to find him when they realize the explosion was too far off.

Note that the panel in which the crooks discover Ralph suffers from the recurring problem of the colorist adding in the line of Ralph's collar.

Now we get to the moment from the splash page where the crooks are stretching out Ralph's legs, intending to "stretch him out" in opposite directions, but as soon as they're next to walls, Ralph simply kicks and knocks them out. A footnote explains that Ralph's limit of elasticity is about "100 yards" or 300 feet. Of course, this limit is hardly going to be religiously followed by everyone.

When another crook tries to shoot Ralph, he quickly coils his leg around them, wrapping them up. The other two crooks begin to recover, but Ralph quickly knocks them out by extending his elbows.

The police are called in and take away the crooks while Ralph talks to Mr. Hurd and his wife. Ralph of course asked the front desk about the empty theater and found out that Mr. Hurd had bought out the theater, so Ralph went to his home to investigate.

Mr. Hurd explains that he wanted to see a hit show along with his wife, so they bought out the theater. But for the benefit of the actors, they would play applause from concealed loudspeakers during the show. Of course, the crooks had kept them from attending. However, Mr. Hurd makes a call and promises a nice payout to the cast of the show if they can do another performance, letting Ralph see the show.

The final panel sees the two couples having front row seats, with Mr. Hurd promising to take the Dibnys to the "swankiest" night club in town. Sue decides she'll slip away this time to change into something more formal. After all, she already saw the show earlier.

This story isn't especially great, but it has a good plot. The only thing is just how stupid are those crooks? There wasn't much to say about the art because Infantino did a great job. Ralph's fight with the crooks isn't his most spectacular fight, but it's serviceable.

Next time, Ralph meets the Elongated Man.

TV Review: "Time Bomb"

Well, last week's The Flash saw Ralph return! With no explanation of where he'd been.

Well, the important thing is, he's there.

The previous episode saw a surprise as Cicada/Orlin Dwyer (Chris Klein) was convinced by Barry (Grant Gustin) to take the metahuman cure. Just after it was administered and took effect, however, S.T.A.R. Labs was attacked by another Cicada who abducted Orlin. In the closing moments this second Cicada revealed herself to be an adult Grace Gibbons (Sarah Carter).

In this episode, Team Flash is able to discover that this second Cicada is from the future, having used a stolen time sphere to travel back in time. They even deduce who she is and discover that she's specifically targeting the metahuman who accidentally killed her parents, even though that particular one is a wife and mother.

Meanwhile, Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh) has advised Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) to tell Barry about their working together. However, Sherloque (Tom Cavanagh) is getting ready to tell Team Flash his own deductions.

As for Ralph? He's a little too catty around Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and his new girlfriend Kamilla (Victoria Park), openly talking about working with the team, and gets Kamilla in touch with Iris (Candice Patton) for some photography work. Cisco doesn't appreciate Ralph being this open and bringing his girlfriend into his superhero life. However, Ralph points out that if Cisco is keeping part of his life hidden from Kamilla, he's not sharing everything about him with her.

I thought that moment begins to nicely set Ralph up as the character we know from the comics. With this outlook, it would make sense for him to openly share his superhero life with his wife and maybe even stop having a secret identity.

The Flash will be on break until April 16. This episode left us on an exciting note, leaving us eagerly awaiting its return.

Viewers in the US may view "Time Bomb" at no charge during a limited availability window on the CW website and app. With the current licensing agreement, the entire fifth season of The Flash will be available on Netflix in June, 2019. Digital versions of the episodes may be purchased on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Google Play and other retailers of digital video content. Blu-Ray and DVD copies of the season are expected to be available for sale in or by September, 2019.

Non-US viewers should check their local listings, the websites of the channels that air The Flash, and digital video retailers

TV Review: "Goldfaced" and "Cause and XS"

So, I'm a couple episodes behind on reviewing The Flash... Luckily, it's just a couple. There's been three episodes since, but as we're an Elongated Man blog and Hartley Sawyer didn't appear in the exciting but uneven "King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd," we'll skip that one.

Ralph featured heavily in "Goldfaced" as he and Barry (Grant Gustin) infiltrate the metahuman underground to get a device that'll stop Cicada. However, they are quickly fitted with power-dampening cuffs and made to help Goldface (Damion Poiter) and his men steal a device capable of 3D-printing organ replacements. Our boys are able to convince us that if The Flash were to get cancelled, they'd be quite capable of leading an action-oriented police drama.

Meanwhile, Iris (Candice Patton) sneaks into Cicada's home and he (Chris Klein) returns to find her there, leading to a confrontation. Also, Sherloque (Tom Cavanagh) begins dating Renee Adler (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) despite the criticism of his ex-wives. Barry and Ralph and Iris' plots were great, the Sherloque one, not so much.

In "Cause and XS," Barry goes into the Speed Force for an hour to complete the metahuman cure, leaving Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) as the resident speedster to protect the city. Also, Cisco (Carlos Valdes) has a date! However, that night, Cicada breaks into Iris' office. When Nora goes to rescue her mother, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) is killed, forcing Nora to run so fast she resets time to just after Barry left. However, despite what she does, one of the S.T.A.R. Labs crew is killed by Cicada, or Cecile (Danielle Nicolet).

This was particularly interesting for Elongated Man fans as there is a shot of Ralph stretching his arm across his office to reach a bottle of Gingold.

The Groundhog Day-like plot proved to be the basis of a good episode, just spoiled by a baffling moment right at the end.

And while it doesn't feature Ralph, "King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd" is worth a watch for an impressive fight scene as teased by the title.

Viewers in the US may view these episodes at no charge during a limited availability window on the CW website and app. With the current licensing agreement, the entire fifth season of The Flash will be available on Netflix in June, 2019. Digital versions of the episodes may be purchased on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Google Play and other retailers of digital video content. Blu-Ray and DVD copies of the season are expected to be available for sale in or by September, 2019.

Non-US viewers should check their local listings, the websites of the channels that air The Flash, and digital video retailers

The Counterfeit Crime-Buster!

 I don't typically include the covers of Detective Comics when I do these blogs as they're usually dedicated to the Batman story and Ralph isn't seen at all. But this time, the cover is so wonderfully ridiculous, I have to show it. It was once said that if you put a gorilla on the cover of a comic book, it would sell better. If you go through just about any comic book run from the Silver Age, you will find so many comics featuring them. It even inspired plots and characters, such as Gorilla Grodd in The Flash, Jimmy Olsen's various ape-adventures (whether becoming one or marrying one), and likely the Red Ghost and Super (Stupid) Apes in The Fantastic Four.

Anyway, as Batman faced an ape (again), Ralph was going up against "The Counterfeit Crime-Buster!" in Detective Comics #339, which is available on Comixology and DC Universe as well as being reprinted in Showcase Presents The Elongated Man. It was written by Gardner Fox, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Sid Greene and Julius Schwartz was editor.

 In the letters page, "Break Up The Bottle Neck Gang" faced the scrutiny of the Detective Comics readers. If you remember, I found the plot to be "all over the place" and was disappointed that it relied on Ralph pulling extremely specific tricks and counting on the crooks to fall for them.

After praising the Batman story in that issue, Tom Dietz says "I'm afraid I can't offer such high praise" for Ralph's story. "The art was good, and... the plot... seemed well devised and handled, but somehow it just didn't stick together." He bemoans repeated plot patterns for Ralph and hopes to see something "totally different for the Sultan of Stretch." He suggests a costumed villain "of a humorous vein," bringing up the Joker and Penguin as examples. However, he's not without some appreciation, saying "there were several innovations in the use of EM's power, which is always interesting and pleasant to see."

In contrast, Mike Fredreich returns from the last issue to say he loved the story. "It was excellent! You returned to normal after last issue's disastrous EM story and did a great job. The story was very good and the Infantino-Greene team did the best they have yet done. I especially liked the new stretching tricks EM used... I can just imagine the consternation of the crook who had an ear thrust into his face!"

The splash page looks very eye-grabbing, putting Ralph in a dark room, stretching to super-thin lengths that crooks fail to shoot, despite one of them having a flashlight. This is probably one of the better splash pages in awhile.

Ralph is surprised when he gets a phone call that Sue has been arrested for attempting to use a counterfeit bill. Arriving at the police station, Sue explains that she was given a new $20 bill by Ralph himself.

Ralph's dialogue during Sue's flashbacks seems a little too explanatory, so I'm going to assume this is Sue filling in details being inserted into Ralph's dialogue that he actually didn't say. Kind of like how how Luis in the Ant-Man movies voices all of the characters in his flashbacks.

She further says that she was at a "Maks" store. I don't know if this was a real store in the 60s or if it plays on the name of an existing chain. T.J. Maxx wasn't established until 1976. Looking it up on Google, "Maks" has been applied to several stores. Anyone with insight, the comments are open.

Anyway, she feels sure that someone swapped out her bill with the counterfeit one. She was arrested for trying to pay with a counterfeit bill.

Ralph suggests whoever swapped the bill out was trying to see if Sue could get away with it. But he's a little suspicious, his nose beginning to twitch. He has the police test the bill for fingerprints. (One of the panels misspells "given" as "givin.") The man in the lab finds recent fingerprints belonging to "Husky" Harry Bellows, a mob boss who Ralph exclaims "died over a year ago!"

Sue is probably being treated pretty well considering that she's a debutante and her husband is not just a superhero, but a rich one at that. And he's previously assisted the police.

Ralph now theorizes that the phony bill was placed to warn him and the police that Husky Bellows was still alive and that his gang was going to rob the store. Ralph proposes to stake out the store and keep an eye out for the gang. Sue laments that Ralph gets so caught up in the case that he forgets about her.

We go back to Infantino's super tall panels to show off Ralph stretching up an elevator shaft and through a grille in the floor.

The story tells us that it's "well past midnight" and an hour later before the crooks finally pop up. Instead of apprehending them right away, Ralph trails them, but gets spotted after they raid the safe. The crooks try to fire at him, but Ralph stretching himself "wire thin" across the ceiling in a barely lit room proves to be an effective escape.

Infantino again clearly loves drawing Ralph fighting and evading the crooks' fire. Thing is, the rooms he draws are dark and sparse, so while we're supposed to see the fight go out into the sales floor, the art isn't carrying that across to the reader.

Luckily, Ralph uses the dark and the displays to hide himself and knock out and trip the crooks. On the next page, he enlarges his hand and slams a crook against the ceiling.

In a bit of text not matching art, the text claims a group of crooks is running down an escalator, but the art clearly shows a staircase. One tip is that each step has a rim, which an escalator wouldn't. The other is that escalators are divided into at least two "staircases," one going up, the other going down.

In any case, it seems that while they're running down, Ralph slings himself around the staircase, making them sling back to the top of the stairs.

Ralph gets the police in, and they bemoan that they couldn't trace them back in to their hideout, but Ralph says to check the address on the car's registration as using a fake address would be too risky.

The police bring in Husky Harry and a private detective from Gotham City named Hugh Rankin comes in and reveals he was behind planting the phony $20 on Sue with the intention of getting Ralph's attention to help him catch Harry.

I sure hope Sue got one HECK of an apology.

To prove Hugh's on the up and up, they call in Batman, and Hugh says this was part of his plan to try to get into the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City. Ralph indicates he might be interested in joining sometime.

This story looked more interesting than it actually was. Sue getting involved with the mystery is good, but her involvement was ultimately pointless and did nothing but frustrate her. It's been a moment since we've had a really good story.

Next time, cowboys and a theater.