I've been picking up the later Showcase Presents Justice League of America volumes that pick up where the Justice League Archives leave off. That saves me the trouble of pulling out those now forty year old books while letting me relive those halcyon days of my youth just as I started mis-spending it on comic books! While Justice League of America #103 was the FIRST comic I ever had, I do remembering getting this one: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #105 (My'73) soon afterwards when this guy joined the team!
Of course I had no idea how LONG it took the Stretchable Sleuth to become a member but he soon became a favorite of mine!
This issue, "Specter In the Shadows!" was written by Len Wein, drawn by Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano and edited, natch', by Julius Schwartz. It begins with Ralph Dibny, the World Famous Elongated Man AKA the only hero to publicly reveal his secret identity and his lovely, charming, tolerate and incredibly wealthy wife Sue enjoying an afternoon at an art museum when suddenly it is invaded by The Putty People, living masses of cookie dough who begin stealing the frames off the paintings. Ralph, understandably taken off guard, tries to stop them but even with Sue's valiant help, fails as they bounce away with their wooden booty. The whole affair gets Ralph's nose all a'twitching while is normal for him so he summons the Justice League which most definitely not normal for him!
We get a flashback where Green Lantern (why not his buddy the Flash?) brings the Dibnys to the JLA Satellite where they proudly announce that Ralph is now their newest member! This leaves him speechless (for a change) with Sue saying it's about time!
Back to the present, the Elongated Man explains how his day has been to the JLA who politely try not to laugh. I mean a stretchy guy beat by Putty People! These things never happen to Reed Richards! Suddenly the Dastardly Dough-Boys attack THREE other cities so it's "Splitting-Up-The-Team" time!
- In the northeastern town of Desolation (Pennsylvania??), the Flash, the Atom and Green Arrow try to prevent the Putty People from stealing coal from a mine with the coal gas preventing GA from using his arrows. However said gas knocks out our heroes until a strong breeze underground revives them! The Emerald Archer nets them while the Scarlet Speedster spins them around. But they turn into a balloon (Wha??) and float away so high and quickly that our heroes can't stop them! (WHA????)
- BTW, the Flash has this little trick of racing to the scene while dragging another hero behind him in his backdraft! I have no idea how that works for the other guy! Then again, how does the Atom stay on the Flash's shoulder while he's running at super speed?
- Next in Motor City (why not just say Detroit?), Superman and Black Canary find the Malleable Menaces stealing tires! While Superman has some fun, the Canary gets clobbered in two panels and is on a conveyor belt to her doom. Since Giordano is inking this one, she looks really sexy laying there about to be crushed to death. A mysterious stranger creates a wind strong enough to carry the Blonde Bombshell away but neither she nor the Man of Steel (who apparently doesn't keep an eye out for his not-invulnerable teammates) are able to stop the Puttys from escaping!
- In an oil rig off the California coast, Green Lantern and the Elongated Man stop the Puttys from stealing oil drums with GL doing all the heavy lifting while Ralph takes the plunge with a single Putty Man. Horrified GL sees only the Putty Man emerge and dives in to find Ralph only to be ensnared by golden seaweed (of course). A whirlpool suddenly appears to save him but Hal is distraught over Ralph's loss!
Back at the Satellite, the JLA mourns their fallen comrade and wonder how to tell Sue Dibny (with all eyes on the Flash as they're discussing this). Suddenly they receive a JLA emergency signal from the Everglades but can't tell who sent it. (Uh guys, it could be Batman, Aquaman or Hawkman!! Try a little brainwork!) Once they get there they see a giant mechanical hive that produces Putty People! They get attacked and the Black Canary gets saved by.....the Elongated Man who went undercover as a Putty Man to find their base. Think about that for moment! Ralph was wearing a Putty Man like an outfit. Did they find out that the Puttys are not alive?
Anyway after burying "alive" the opposing Puttys, Ralph tells the team that the hive is about to self-destruct and it's surrounded by a force field. They manage to crack it so the Atom can diffuse it but the Tiny Titan fails. Again suddenly a giant tornado whisks the hive into outer space where it explodes harmlessly. This time the stranger confronts the JLA who realize that he has saved their bacons four times already. He reveals himself to be the thought-to-be-blown-to smithereens.......................................RED TORNADO who joins next issue!
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It's obvious that Len Wein and Julius Schwartz have a great affection for the Elongated Man. Ralph is in eleven of Wein's fifteen issues and all three of his JLA/JSA team-ups. But his big issue is very weird. He does encounter the Putty People first, brings in the JLA and finds their lair but he doesn't stop them. Or saves the JLA. The Red Tornado does, effectively stealing Ralph's thunder and he joins the team next issue, thus Ralph's not even the newest JLAer anymore. It made more sense for the Elongated Man to join the JLA than the Red Tornado, another character that I have great affection for, which should shock no one.
Next: Why did it take the Elongated Man THIRTEEN years to join?
Replies
Philip Portelli said:
BTW, the Flash has this little trick of racing to the scene while dragging another hero behind him in his backdraft! I have no idea how that works for the other guy! Then again, how does the Atom stay on the Flash's shoulder while he's running at super speed?
As I recall, they came up with an aura that protects the Flash from being destroyed by the friction-generated heat (and I guess the wind) of his superspeed. This also protects his costume and anything he is carrying, such as The Atom. I guess this probably extends to anyone he is dragging in his wake. I know I dragged one or two bad guys to jail this way.
This was one of my first JLA stories too.
The Flash has often carried people at super-speed without their burning up, so presumably his aura extends around whatever he's carrying. However, if the aura only protects the Flash against friction effects it doesn't explain why the Atom doesn't fall off the Flash's shoulder when the Flash accelerates, why things the Flash carries don't get crushed against his body when he accelerates, and why his internal organs don't get crushed against the back of his body.
I suppose those he drags in his wake might be protected by the wake from the air friction effect, but don't know about wakes to say if it might protect them completely. If any part of them ventured outside it I suppose it would be torn off. When the Flash stopped they wouldn't: presumably they'd feel like they'd slammed into a brick wall and be ignited by the air friction.
I've also been buying the later SHOWCASES to get the reprints from where the ARCHIVES had left off--even though I have the original comcs--but I haven't gotten around to reading them yet.
I did read every Elongated Man story (except IDENTITY CRISIS and a few 52 or Countdown appearances), some years back when I set about reading all of them in chronological order.
I have mixed feelings about Ralph joiining the JLA as it changes his character. When he was a DETECTIVE back-up character (where I first discovered him--and he quickly became one of my most favourite characters), there was room to develop his relationship with Sue and his deductive abilities.
Like wtih other Schwartz-edited characters in the dark period of the '70s, when all these guys lost their homes or had to share space in rotating back-up spots with each other, the Justice League membership is like a booby prize. It's a slot just to hold Elongated Man in our memory, so he doesn't completely slip into limbo to be forgotten. And with so many members in the JLA, there's not enough room to develop them as rounded characters. So EM ends up being the joker in the deck.
One thing I was noting in my chronological reading, some years ago, was all of Ralph's panel appearances--where he might appear in a story but never get anything to say. And the typical thing is for EM to appear in a group shot, with him stretching his neck so his head appears somewhere else in the group. I took to calling these neck shots.
So while it might have taken a long time for Ralph to gain Justice League membership, I'm not sure he was better off for it when it came along.
I know about Flash's aura. I just find it hard to believe that he could "pick up" a passenger, travel with them at super-speed, keep them horizontal for the whole trip, lets them breathe normally, in Green Arrow's case: keeps his hat on and somehow is able to stop without the passenger who's about a foot behind him crashing into him!
That's some aura!
The Elongated Man debuted in THE FLASH #112 (My'60) becoming part of his supporting cast. He reappeared in Flash #115 (S'60) and #119 (Ma'61) but not on the cover, but was listed on the top. He was on the cover of FLASH #124 (N'61) but he wasn't that prominent; besides how does one compete with a SPACE BOOMERANG? His team-up with Kid Flash was on the bottom of #130 (Au'62) and he was cover featured on #134 (F'63) and #138 (Au'63). He was probably the earliest eligible Silver Age character not to be part of the JLA. This was probably due to his lack of a regular spot. That changed in DETECTIVE COMICS #327 (My'64), complete with an appearance on the cover which would be rather rare.
By that time the JLA had expanded to nine members with Superman and Batman more active and with the creators more interested in Hawkman joining than the Elongated Man. So there was no need and no room for Ralph in the League.
In fact, the Elongated Man guest starred with the team only once in the Silver Age in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #51 (F'67) due to his meeting Zatanna. The problem was it wasn't really him in the JLA story but then again it wasn't really the Justice League either. So his involvement did little to increase his chances at membership.
However by 1973, both Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter were out of the JLA, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Hawkman and the Atom lost their solo books with only the featureless Black Canary joining. The Phantom Stranger was offered membership but he would hardly be a regular. So the time was right for this veteran DC hero to join the Justice League and many fans would agree with Sue Dibny and say "It's about time!"
NEXT: The Elongated Man: Yea or Nay!
I notice Ralph's arrival was also the point at which the title went bimonthly for a while. Previously, discounting the reprint issues, it had been eight-times-a-year since #9. From #110 to #116 it was giant-sized, carrying normal-size lead stories backed by reprints. From #117 it went back down to a standard size and went monthly.
Later, it went giant-sized again, this time with all-new contents, for ##139-157, then down to 25 pages, which was in line with other titles during the DC Explosion, for ##158-160, then to 22 or 23 for ##161-165. (According to the GCD the #161 story was cut down from 25 pages.) From #166 it went down to the standard-at-the-time 17. The page-count increased again, as other DC titles did in 1980, with #182, which would be why that issue has an Elongated Man back-up story instead of a full-length one. The following issue was Dick Dillin's last.
Incidentally, although the DC Explosion fizzled, the 1980 change was a return to what had been planned for it; longer-page counts with back-up series in most titles.
I tend to agree with the statement someone made earlier. Ralph didn't really belong there. He was never an action hero, to use a Charlton term. He was a detective who used his powers to sneak around ("An ear in the fireplace?!")and solve mysteries. He didn't tend to get into brawls with bad guys.
The process of becoming a member of the Justice League is fairly simple. You get nominated, you get discussed about, you get voted on then if you're accepted, you get informed. Sometimes that backfires in the case of Metamorpho. But the Elongated Man was nominated way back in Justice League of America #4 but lost to Green Arrow and it took him one hundred more issues to finally get the nod. But why in context to the series?
As I said before, when the League had ten members, they felt that was enough. Yes they went after Metamorpho but the Element Man had such unique and effective powers that they felt that they had a responsibility to ask him to join. Then both Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter left, Black Canary suffered a terrible tragedy and moved to Earth-One to recover and Snapper Carr betrayed them unwittingly to the Joker. They had to abandon their old HQ for a satellite. Green Arrow lost his fortune and found a brand new attitude. Green Lantern's core values were shattered and his power halved. Batman lost his Robin and restructured his crimefighting career. Aquaman became a father, the Flash a husband. Even Superman's life was about to change.
In short, the JLA didn't elect any new members because they didn't want to bring in any newcomers during this eventful and traumatic period. The League had to redefine itself and they had to do so with each other first without any added factors. Over time, they settled down and realized it was time to get some new blood but who?
Maybe SUPERGIRL? Nah, that's crazy!!
Looking back, I'm thinking about Justice League of America #100 (Au'72). Before the main adventure began, the JLA were celebrating their 100th meeting and invited to the party Metamorpho, Zatanna and the Elongated Man because of their help in the past. But then where were Robin, Batgirl, Hawkgirl, Mera, the Vigilante, the Creeper and Sargon the Sorcerer? Why these three? Was it part of a vetting process to see which one might fit in with the current JLA? They all did good work during the mission but it was Ralph who got elected. It all came to votes at the end. But who voted for him, if the result did not have to be unanimous?
Obviously there's his good friend the Flash. Batman worked with him in DETECTIVE #331 (S'64), DETECTIVE #343 (S'65) and BATMAN #177 (D'65). The Atom did so in Batman #177 and Detective #368 (O'67) as well as being on his team in Justice League #100. Green Lantern was impressed in Detective #350 (Ap'66). Thus GL could have spoke to Green Arrow and Black Canary about him, Batman to Superman, the Atom to Hawkman and the Flash to Aquaman and faster than you could say "Stretchable Sleuth", we have a new JLA member!
Next: Elongated Bits of Info!
I do think the primary reason for Elongated Man getting membership was Len Wein--plus Schwartz, Dillin and Giordano were all familiar with the character. Wein was most likely the reason that Phantom Stranger got membership, too--even though PS rarely showed up for meetings. In story, I would guess that Batman and Flash were pushing for Ralph.
By the way, Batman also cameo appeared in EM's back-up feature in DETECTIVE COMICS 339 (May '65)--when Hugh Rankin was trying to win membership in the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City--and in DETECTIVE COMICS 373 (April '68)--when Ralph filled in for Batman to capture the Riddler.
Richard Willis said:
That may have been my comment to which you refer, Mr. Willis. It was precisely those reasons why I felt the Elongated Man was unsuitable for League membership. The only times he tackled super-villains or powerful alien enemies was when he was teamed with the Flash (or, on one occasion, Kid Flash).
As a solo operator, in his back-up series in Detective Comics, he never tackled a super-villain or any threat that was potentially Earth-shaking. He was Roy Raymond or Captain Compass with his own gimmick, the ability to stretch. (O.K., yeah, he beat the Riddler in Detective Comics # 373, but that's hardly what one would call Earth-shaking. Robin, the Boy Wonder, could have done that on a half-way decent day.)
If I had been a voting member of the Justice League and examining Dibny's track record as a hero, I would have voted "no" to his membership.
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