Plastic Man. The man, the myth, the legend. A true hero, one who lives on in the hearts of millions, one who wasn’t missing for close to 6 years during the New 52 and Rebirth. Yes, that’s right. It’s time to talk about that Plastic Man. With his long-overdue reappearance in “Dark Nights: Metal” & “The Terrifics” and the announcement of a brand-new mini-series by Gail Simone, I thought it’d be nice to jump back and check out a piece his last solo-series and see how well it holds up. Mild spoilers ahead.
Written, Illustrated, Colored, and Lettered by Kyle BakerCover by Kyle BakerTime has gone crazy, and it’s affecting all of the DCU! Who would do this? And why?
Before I get into the issue, a quick history check to help situate us. “Plastic Man” ran for 20 issues from 2003-2006, during which DC had two big events happen: “Identity Crisis” and “Infinite Crisis.” I bring this up because issue #8, this issue, came out one month after the first issue of “Identity Crisis” so it’s hard to say if pieces of the contents of this issue are a direct reaction to that issue. What can be said is that the entirety of this run is a reaction to the constant crises, event comics, and DC Comic’s love for grim and gritty, “serious” books like the aforementioned “Identity Crisis.”
This reaction takes the form of satire that mostly holds up today. I say mostly because while the critiques and lampooning of the comics world hold up, some of the means by which he illustrates that critique is handled poorly by today’s standards. I’ll get back to that in a minute but first, the good.
Baker is a very versatile cartoonist, effortlessly switching between styles and tones in his art to great comedic effect. The opening page is a splash page in the style of Alex Ross ala “Kingdom Come,” complete with the self-serious, broody narration that should accompany the regal looking Plas and Woozy. If you didn’t know the tone of the book, you might think the tone of the project was serious, the popular image of Plastic Man notwithstanding.
The next page, however solidifies the gag by showing five panels that are just doctored photos, with various random object colored to be like Plastic Man, as the overlaid narration continues until in the sixth panel, we return to Baker’s regular, cartoony style. From there on out, Baker tows a fine line between the simpler designs of Plastic Man and his supporting case and the more heavily inked and crosshatched designs of the Justice League/serious, superhero Plastic Man.
In fact, this switch in tone is what makes this issue work so well. Narratively, it’s a mess but a mess that feels intentional. This two-issue arc is all about continuity and the ways in which these major, continuity changing events are over-hyped, overly-serious and fail to understand the characters they purport to represent. Baker’s writing style isn’t one of subtlety so this is spelled out in the dialogue but that transparency is part of what makes the issue funny and biting towards the kind of comic book fans and publishing decisions that are detrimental to the medium as a whole.
The other part is how far Baker pushes Plastic Man’s form changes. Plas is always stretching and shifting, always in new, more ridiculous forms. All of Baker’s characters are exaggerated but with Plastic Man, he’s able to literally do whatever he wants and it works.
For example, on the third page, Plastic Man is cleaning the apartment with his face as a vacuum cleaner while he washes dishes in an apron. On the next page, he’s drawn in his slightly buff form and pours non-alcoholic martini ingredients into his leotard, transforms his butt into a mixer, and then in a position only Gumby could be stretched into, extends his tongue out with the martini on it. It is physical comedy done to a degree that can only really be accomplished with a character like Plastic Man. This exaggeration extends to the Justice League as well, only theirs comes in the form of the overly-dramatic posing and ejaculations (in the old sense of the word).
Continued belowThis brings me to one of the downsides of this comic. Remember how I said some of the comic’s choices haven’t aged so well? Well, the two big places this happens is in the sheer density of motion and activity per panel and in the ways in which Baker represents continuity changes in the Justice League. The first isn’t so much a time-problem and more of something that can be overwhelming to a first time or fourth time reader.
When Plastic Man’s “wife” appears with his “son,” every character is doing something or saying something, making each page feel like a mad-cap rush. It leads to plenty of great jokes and panels but on the whole, it is exhausting to read. It is a testament to Baker’s cartooning that just through his art I could hear Plastic Man’s “son” and he annoyed the hell out of me. I have a feeling that was the point but it made the experience no less tiring.
On the Justice League side, Baker chose to illustrate the effects of continuity fuckery by having Lincoln not be assassinated and therefore everyone started to become very racist and very sexist. Seeing the phrase “boys will be boys” spoken by Wonder Woman after Abraham Lincoln pinched her butt was a squirm worthy moment. Which, again, felt intentional considering Special Agent Morgan’s swift kick to Abraham Lincoln’s face right after, revealing him to actually be John Wilkes Boothe.
While this is all an accurate albeit exaggerated portrayal of early (and some modern) comics, reading it in light of the Me Too movement and Comicsgate’s harassment of POC, trans and female creators, it doesn’t sit well. Maybe it’s the way it’s kind of brushed over or maybe it’s the way it’s part of the nonsensical but hilarious plot but it was a couple pages that could use some rewriting. Or maybe I’m reading the scene incorrectly and the satire wouldn’t work otherwise. I suspect not but considering a lot has changed in the way we approach our media in the 14 years since this came out, it feels necessary to at least bring up and attempt to wrestle with.
Looking beyond those two pages, however, Kyle Baker’s “Plastic Man” holds up remarkably well and is possibly just as accurate a lampoon and brutal take-down of the Big Two as ever. If you can, buy these issues digitally or find back issues because there has been nothing like it in a long time. Cheers Eel.
