Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Elongated Man's Stretchable Sleuth



Ralph Dibny was fascinated by contortionists as a kid, and found that one thing they all seemed to have in common was an addiction to the soft drink Gingold. Why, it would take quite a detective to put that together, based on a fixation with pliability. Could this convergence possibly lead to Ralph's isolating the active ingredient in Gingold, dosing up on the stuff regular, and enhancing his performance to become a second rate Plastic Man? Indeed!

Unlike Eel O'Brien, Ralph was only thought to be a crook when he made his debut as the Elongated Man, making fast friends with the Flash. I guess he lacked that certain something though, because he wasn't offered more than a back-up series, and it took years to land a spot on the Justice League. In the meantime, Ralph gained fame enough to attract the attention of a delightful heiress, and his marriage to Sue Dibny was about the most original and noteworthy thing about him.

From second banana to background team player, Elongated Man rode his association with the Justice League until their first volume was canceled. Even with the slim pickings available, Justice League International still left Ralph on the shelf for two years, until they needed to staff a spin-off team. Once they burned the engine up on that one, Elongated Man was retired until such a time as he and his wife could be used to fuel the tragedy in a crossover, and they were both permanently laid to rest.

Solo Blog
Ralph Dibny, the World-Famous Elongated Man

Ductile Detective
Who's Who Vol.VII: The Elongated Man (9/85)
The Top 10 Elongated Man Covers
Ralph Dibny Can't Keep It Together (Identity Crisis #1, 2004)

22,300 Miles above the Earth
Justice League of America #133-134 (8-9/76)
Justice League of America #221-223 (12/93-2/84)
Blue Devil #4, #5 (10/84)

"Oh, NO! Lake Michigan!"
Justice League of America Annual #2 (1984)
The New Teen Titans #4 (1/85)
Justice League of America #233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238,239, #241, #242, #243
JLA Classified #23 (Late July, 2006)
JLA: Incarnations #5 (11/2001): 1st Story, 3rd Story
Infinity Inc. #19 (10/85)
Justice League of America #244 (11/85)
Justice League of America Annual #3 (1985)
Justice League of America #246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 255, 257
Legends #1 (11/86), #2
Justice League of America #258 (1/87)
Legends #3-6 (1-4/87)

Europa
Justice League Spectacular #1 (1992)

Identity Crisis
The Flash #208-209 (May-June ’04)
Identity Crisis #1 (8/04), #2-5 (Sep-Dec. 2004), #6, #7
JLA#115, #116
Batman and the Outsiders #1-5 (December 2007-May 2008)
Green Lantern #43 (Early September 2009)
Blackest Night #1, #2, #3

Elseworlds
Detroit League in JLA/Avengers (2003)
Justice #5, #6, #8

Signed Glossies

One Word: Plastics
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3 comments:

Rafa Rivas said...

Hi, I was wondering if you were interested in crossing links.

I have Ralph Dibny article at my site, www.pop-cult.net (http://www.pop-cult.net/Wikitainment/index.php/Elongated_Man) and a blog that is all about him at http://ralphdibnytheworld-famouselongatedman.blogspot.com/

So far, my blog has 3 posts about the fist 3 Elongated man stories and how they defined Ralph's lifestyle on and off panel (they require a lot of reading between the lines). I could make a brief post recommending your blog (and other related sites if you have them) in my blog and vice versa. It would be a great mutual aid to increase our traffic.

March 17, 2011 at 8:28 PM
Diabolu Frank said...

Glad you liked the headshot I put together for DC Bloodlines. The blog looks good, and I've set you up with links in the sidebar, on the Elongated Man index, at my other blogs, and in a spotlight post.

March 18, 2011 at 2:58 AM
Rafa Rivas said...

Wow, you work fast! I'll have some links to your site by tonight. Thank you.

March 18, 2011 at 4:19 PM

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