tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3024420441109756132.post1059134182775396438..comments2024-03-23T11:45:42.089-07:00Comments on Cole's Comics: Plastic Man Fights A Gang of Grotesques (1949) – The Strange, Dark Last Comic Book Stories of Jack ColePaul C.Tumeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05398929835829679477noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3024420441109756132.post-69365966653189170322015-06-23T07:51:19.176-07:002015-06-23T07:51:19.176-07:00This story was reprinted in a 1960s Plastic Man co...This story was reprinted in a 1960s Plastic Man comic book,which reprinted the contents of Police # 95(but not the same cover).There are two other Plastic Man reprint comics of the 1960s that I have-and they also reprint old classics from the late 1940s. Richard Rankehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09117175619228209421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3024420441109756132.post-57563788635996692312010-01-03T09:27:01.077-08:002010-01-03T09:27:01.077-08:00Mickey Mouse is not the only pop culture icon to b...Mickey Mouse is not the only pop culture icon to be invoked in this 11 pager as the sound effects on the splash show -- though why Woozy's belly should be crackling is anybody's guess.<br /><br />At this stage in Cole's career you see him using many more grotesque antagonists than he had earlier -- the last handful of Midnight strips he did, for instance, are peopled with some odd ducks indeed.<br /><br />The most interesting thing about this story is that the catalyst for all the action, and therefore perhaps the most inportant character, barely makes an appearance. As Cole dutifully reminds at tale's end, it is all for Terrace Topside that these crooks (who are in obvious need of a mastermind) go after Plas. Topside, however, shows up in only four panels over the course of the story and is involved in none of the action. He's not even a "bad guy" anymore (or not in this story, at least). Of course, the REAL reason these goons engage in their antics is a fear of Plas himself, isn't it? And not even their fear, really, but Topside's fear -- somebody else's fear! It's rather sophisticated, really, but no surprise there when you're reading Cole.<br /><br />By the way, Wooz and Plas sure do a lotta reading.Tamfoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08007519945208611127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3024420441109756132.post-8365939263363484552010-01-01T14:04:55.566-08:002010-01-01T14:04:55.566-08:00Thanks for your insightful comments on these stori...Thanks for your insightful comments on these stories, oeconomist.com! Happy New Year!Paul C.Tumeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05398929835829679477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3024420441109756132.post-52491892604308898032010-01-01T12:05:56.627-08:002010-01-01T12:05:56.627-08:00This particular story happens to be the first Cole...This particular story happens to be the first Cole-created adventure of Plastic Man that I showed to my girlfriend. It isn't my favorite, but I felt that it was fairly representative.<br /><br />Your comparison with the later work of Bill Elder is dead-on. And it's a d_mn'd shame that <i>Mad</i>'s “Plastic Sam” — which has at least one terrifically funny joke (“Hated to do that to poor old Woozy”) — was drawn by Russ Heath, seeming to do barely more than ink Kutzman's rough lay-outs, rather than by Elder.Daniel [oeconomist.com]https://www.blogger.com/profile/06763094285750736837noreply@blogger.com