A rubbery return

 Just to warn readers, if you are worried about reading spoilers on the newest issues of Flashpoint - do not read any further if you want to be surprised on your own, without my help.

Here we go. In case you haven't been following/have no interest in reading the newest Flashpoint series, Plastic Man is back in all his rubbery glory. I thought this needed to be posted since I was hoping he wouldn't be cut out during the revamp and reissuing of the 52 titles in September. His return made me confident that his character is here to stay, and more importantly, to play a bigger role than I ever could have expected.

Back in the days when Plas was nothing more than a criminal, Patrick "Eel" O'Brian lived his life as a safe cracker in a gang, but when a heist went wrong, he was accidentally exposed an unknown chemical, which changed his body drastically, giving him the ability to stretch, bend, expand, shrink and twist every single inch of his body. He then devoted his life thereafter to fighting crime. In the Flashpoint universe, Plastic Man is a superpowered bad guy. Not much has been said about him yet, since technically the only thing he's done so far was grotesquely force himself out of another person's body through their mouth.

Plas in all his glory in the first issue of Flashpoint: Legion of Doom

Dont' get me wrong, this definitely wasn't a bad thing. It was actually one of the more amusing, intense moves I've read in a comic in a long time, it was only a tiny bit out of character - which I enjoy for this series. I just don't want him to stay this way forever, although a bit more of a violent, out of control Plastic Man ala TDKSB* post-Flashpoint would be refreshing.



To me, Plastic Man has always been one of the greatest, most original heroes. His origin story is an amazing tale of redemption, changing his criminal ways to protect the innocent - so why change it after 70 years?

What will happen to the new Detective Comics #27?

Legendary.

As of this week, all 52 issues coming this September have been unveiled. At first, this news upset me. I have been collecting the complete run of Detective Comics on and off since I was just a child. In fact, my very first comic dates back to 1995, when I was only 4 years old. Today, I have over 500 issues of Detective Comics, showing no signs of slowing. Since the news of the renumbering, I have been skeptical. It has been a few weeks since the announcement, so I have had some time to think about the future of Batman, but more importantly (to me): the new Detective Comics #27. What will happen with this issue?

The original issue is sought after by tons of fans worldwide, including myself. Only those with enough money are lucky enough to get themselves an original copy. Now, Detective Comics #27 will come again. But what will it look like? What kind of story will be told? As of right now, there is no news as to what will happen with the renewed issue of the one that started it all. I know exactly what I want to see happen. I want to see is the a similar story like that of #27 from 1939, but redrawn in a modern style, the way they did it here (see below). Although the story was not necessarily important or crucial, it would be amazing to see more depth within the story, to have it adapt into something much bigger. This would be the ultimate homage to me. Keep the ears, the belt and the retro bat-logo. As for the cover art, pay respects to the legendary cover by recreating it color for color. Such an iconic cover deserves proper treatment when it comes to a redesign, and there would be no better way than to use the great, vivid colors used on the original.

The idea of redrawing and re-paneling the pages of Detective Comics #27 is not a new one. It has been done on a few different occasions. Here are a few that have been made over the years.

Detective Comics #853 by Andy Kubert

Kingdom Come Tribute Card by Alex Ross

Detective Comics #627

The original.

An amazing modernized version of the Golden Age Batman by Michael Walsh.

On top of that, I know Grant Morrison gets a lot of negative feedback, but he is one of my favorite writers. Although I'm not a huge Inc. fan, it is enjoyable. Besides, who references the Golden and Silver Ages of Batman more than Morrison? They should get him back on Batman issues, and this one especially.

Oh, and bring back Plastic Man. That is all. (for now)

Adam