Ross from The Brave and the Bold ...The Lost Issues! Created this interesting photoshop cover.
I think they would make an interesting couple. A title with them opening a detective agency in Manhattan would be a total hit. The Grimm & Dibny Detective Agency, Ralph would be the intelectual, Ben would be the tough street guy and Sue their business manager.
To read from its creator go to The Brave and the Bold... The Lost Issues!: The Thing and Elongated Man. There are plenty of other weird team-up covers to enjoy there.
I like his opinion on Ralph and his spot on the Justice League, the character has been doing terrible after the mid 90s.
Cue rimshot.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely more of a Plastic Man fan, but it's sort of like comparing Captain America to the Shield. There may be some basic similarities, but when written correctly, they're nothing alike. I HATED the Plastic Man cartoon as a kid, because making him a domesticated goofball doesn't work. Eel O'Brien is a penitent ex-thug driven to stop the evil that men do in an insane world, joined by his recidivist sidekick. A guy referred to as a Pliable Paladin should not be associated with the obnoxious comedy of Jim Carrey. No version of Plastic Man, but especially that one, is suitable for the JLA.
Elongated Man is a character I'm ambivalent toward. I really like his wife and their relationship, but the hero himself always seems like a slackass c-lister. I have yet to read a truly great Stretchable Sleuth story. He's usually written as a watered down version of what Plas is supposed to be, transplanted from Jack Cole's realm to the less compelling areas of the DC Universe. He sounds interesting as the gloryhound dilettante detective, but I only have secondhand info on that.
I knew Ralph's career was over while reading Identity Crisis #1. Once you ice his better half, where do you go? I initially imagined him elongating his fingers into knives and becoming the Warblade of the DCU. They went with my second thought, suicidal ideation. This relationship was an island of sweetness in the ocean of excrement that has enveloped the line, so the tsunami of crap was as horrible as it was inevitable. Even if they were resurrected, Elongated Man still has to overcome Aquamania-- the phenomena where a hero digs such a deep hole with his tragedies, it takes decades to even halfway climb out.
I think you'd be surprised, but I agree. Mainly because I'm sure you are talking about Gerard Jones' EM, the one that sounds like a slackass, watered down version of the annoying version of Plastic Man. Giffen's version gets perfect lines and characterization, but he's still too lazy. Giffen and DeMatteis never gave Ralph an opportunity to shine as a detective. Only Mike Barr and Mark Waid made decent translations of the diligent and sharp detective of the silver age. In the silver age, he occupied most of his day time with mysteries of all magnitudes. However, most of them were just thefts. Mike and Mark gave him darker cases.
ReplyDeleteIf they pull a Ryan Choi with Ralph and Sue, I think there would be no Aquamania.