What's Up With The CW's Ralph?

It's no question that the incarnation of Ralph Dibny on The Flash TV show is very different from the version seen in the comics from 1960 to quite recently. Is this being unfaithful to the character?

The classic incarnation of Ralph was a good guy after Barry Allen discovers that he has no hidden agenda. Shortly into his appearances, he entered a marriage he remained committed to. He's a glutton for attention, however, in a good-fashioned manner, which contrasted to his fellow superheroes' secret identities, even when he joins the Justice League.

Ralph on the CW is morally questionable in his first couple of appearances. Barry reveals that he was formerly a police officer, discharged after committing perjury by faking evidence in order to ensure a man he believed was guilty was punished. After running into him, Barry discovers that Ralph is blackmailing the mayor with evidence of infidelity. At the last minute, Ralph decides not to go through with it and helps Barry apprehend the mayor. In his second appearance, it's revealed he's the number one customer at a strip club, but he loses his place of honor when he's accused of stealing money and gets into a fight. (He claims he's getting change, but it's unclear as to if this claim is on the up and up.)

So, why would they depict Ralph like this? Well, producers have said they want to build Ralph into the hero we know from the comics. It's a character development arc that we've only just begun.

But why is it so at odds from the character we know? The answer is, Ralph's personality from the comics is rather bland. He uses his powers to help people and solve mysteries, and that's it. He was created to be a supporting character for Barry Allen. In fact, many characters from the Silver Age and earlier were pretty bland with little depth to their characterization.

Over the many years, comic companies have tackled this by revising the origins of their characters. Marvel characters would have more stories from their past revealed while DC would sometimes do this, but more often they'd revise origins. For example, Barry Allen's mother being murdered is a rather recent addition to Flash lore. And now, finally, Ralph's origins have been revisited.

In Gail Simone's 2014-2016 run on Secret Six, we were introduced to a new version of Ralph for the "New 52" continuity of Earth Prime. He works in a criminal organization because "Mockingbird"(the Riddler) has Sue and uses his elongating powers to disguise himself as a heavyset man named Damon Wells, a.k.a. Big Shot. In addition, there is no scene where he uses gingo extract, gingo fruit, or Gingold soda or any mention of it. He seemingly just has these powers.

So, does the CW version of Ralph tie in to what we saw in Secret Six? Is this a mega franchise wide revision of Ralph's character? Possibly. We've yet to see Ralph appear since Rebirth began. Perhaps when we do, his backstory will be similar to what has been happening on The Flash.

But is there precedent for Ralph doing dubious or illegal things or even just being a jerk? To answer the latter first, yes. Many of us view classic Ralph through rose-tinted glasses, but his insistence on being the center of attention can easily be seen as being a jerk. Nowhere is this clearer than in Secret Origins #30, in which Ralph returns to his hometown and finding everyone not fawning over him, makes a few dismissive comments about them.

And yes to the former, although not under his usual will. In The Flash #252-253, Ralph turns into a supervillain called The Molder. He has the power to change the shape of anything he touches, and this involves actually killing Barry by turning him into a pile of putty. (Barry is revived due to weirdo science of course.) I've always interpreted this as Ralph having a dark side he usually doesn't turn to.

Finally, Ralph has been the subject of a lot of humor on the CW while he was generally wasn't in the classic comics. This has caused some to assume they're mixing aspects of Plastic Man into his character. However, I'd point these critics in the direction of Justice League Europe, where Ralph became more of a comic character.

With all of this, I'd say the CW version of Ralph Dibny is based on how different writers have interpreted the character through the comics over the years, done to complement the show's current lineup of characters. They had a number of nice guys in Barry, Cisco and Joe West, so bringing some of Ralph's rarely highlighted characteristics to the forefront provides some variety to the cast and an interesting new take on a classic DC superhero.

P.S. - I just remembered that Ralph was a private investigator in the Flashpoint Elseworlds miniseries (not to be confused with the continuity reboot event), just as he was on The Flash.