Jack Cole and Plastic Man And Me!

Forms Stretched to Their Limits - Jack Cole and Plastic Man is an absolutely fascinating book, as unique as any I own, at once fascinating, bizarre, and abundantly vivid.

This book published in 2001 by Chronicle Books and designed by the creative and sometimes controversial Chip Kidd offers up vintage Plastic Man comic book stories and others created by the late great Jack Cole blended in with an essay written by Art Spiegelman for The New Yorker a few years before.  You can read that essay (minus the art) here. That essay is presented on actual pages of plastic, the very stuff which gave Cole's hero his name.

Spiegelman reveals his lifelong fascination with the work of Cole, which dubs among the most peculiar and weirdly compelling in the long history of comics and a significant influence on the creators of MAD who followed him. Spiegelman's essay follows along the broad contours of Cole's comic book career, following him from his early days in the Harry "A" Chesler shop and later over to Busy Arnold's Quality Comics line where he eventually created his signature hero Plastic Man. The success, both financially and artistically made Cole's reputation, Plastic Man made him famous.

His stint on True Crime Comics and in particular a yarn called "Murder, Morphine, and Me" made him infamous when a panel from that story became an evocative bit of evidence for Dr. Frederic Wertham in his notorious Seduction of the Innocent. That story is included here and is some relentless reading.

(Like they say in the travel folders, Miss Duncan -- "Getting there is half the fun.")

After leaving comics, Cole found enormous success as a cartoonist both with a syndicated strip and with Playboy magazine. But that didn't stop his successful attempt at suicide on a dusty road in 1958. The causes of Cole's suicide are unknown, and this essay doesn't answer the question, but reading such a heartfelt reflection on the life and career of Jack Cole gave me more empathy for an artist who despite success many in his field could only dream of did not find the peace of mind he needed.

But Plastic Man will not die. The pliable hero who has survived the passing of his creator, the demise of his original comic book company and the cancellation of all of his self-titled series to date. Plastic Man was one of the originals, created by Jack Cole for Quality Comics, there was little chance that this superhero was going to be considered a Superman knock-off.

His ability to transform his ductile body into anything and his beginnings a criminal all gave Plas a distinction found in no other series.

A cavalcade of dandy artists have tried to evoke that Cole magic over the decades in the many attempts to restart Plastic Man's career, among them Gil Kane, Ramona Fradon and a personal favorite of mine Joe Staton. Plas is a hero who is fun, but to be successful cannot be treated like a joke.

Now I have to confess that I first encountered Plastic Man in a vintage issue of The Brave and the Bold and to be honest I didn't fully understand the character. I was confused and thought he was made of plastic, and didn't realize until later that the work "plastic" meant pliable in shape and that the character nearly pre-dates the widespread use of the stuff which has in many ways defined the modern world. I bet I'm not the only one to make that error.

Plastic Man really confused me when I was a mere tyro reading comics in those halcyon days of the late 60's. He'd show up now and again in an issue of The Brave and the Bold or maybe House of Mystery and he even had his own series for a time, but he never seemed to be a real part of the DC Universe, always an oddball. I'd read the Golden Age origin story in The Great Comic Book Heroes and knew he was a reformed criminal, so maybe that had something to do with it.  

I stumbled across the amazing parody in some MAD reprint or other. I have it several times over now. Fantastic work by Russ Heath and Harvey Kurtzman. 

DC revived Plastic Man's comic in 1976, this time drawn by the more than capable Ramona Fradon. 

But I really fell in love the zany character when Joe Staton illustrated his adventures in the pages of Adventure Comics. 

Staton along with Nicola Cuti had created E-Man some years before, a hero at least in part inspired by Plastic Man. Here are some Groovy splash pages. 

DC has worked off and on over the many years to kickstart a Plastic Man series. Kyle Baker's version is often cited as a highlight. 

Anyway, despite all this, I was more than a bit surprised when he got his own cartoon show. Nonetheless I remember it as a passably entertaining animated adventure of its time with a heavy emphasis on humor and with all the travails of limited television cartooning.

Anyway, despite all this, I was more than a bit surprised when he got his own cartoon show. Nonetheless I remember it as a passably entertaining animated adventure of its time with a heavy emphasis on humor and with all the travails of limited television cartooning.

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