Plastic Man coming to DVD

Small Screen Specials, Series and Direct-To-Video
Post Reply
AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 2394
Joined: October 18th, 2007

Plastic Man coming to DVD

Post by gaastra » October 27th, 2008, 7:56 am

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Plasti ... nned/10762

Plastic man cartoon is coming to dvd!

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Post by Ben » October 27th, 2008, 8:31 am

I think Dan may well find a pre-existing thread for this topic! :)

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 9996
Joined: September 1st, 2006

Post by Daniel » October 27th, 2008, 3:17 pm

All I found was this and I'm not even sure if it's the same thing. :?

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » October 27th, 2008, 3:39 pm

Totally different, topic, guys... Totally different.

I was talking about the rejected pilot for a new, proposed Plastic Man series.

The Plastic Man series being released on DVD is the late 1970s Ruby-Spears animated series => the one with the Plastic Jet, Hula Hula (ethnic replacement for Woozy Winks), and Penny, Plastic Man's girlfriend/fiance/later wife in the series.

The show isn't that good but it's remembered by a lot of people and is the best known version of Plastic Man for the general public.

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 9996
Joined: September 1st, 2006

Post by Daniel » October 27th, 2008, 4:42 pm

Thanks for clearing that up, thought they sounded different! As you can tell, I know very little about Plastic Man. ;)

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » October 27th, 2008, 10:09 pm

Eh, no problem...

Although Ben should have cleared it up!

I'm disappointed in you, Ben! :cry:

Surely, you know the way of Plas? :cry:

Comics aren't all Batman and Superman after all! :!:




Seriously, I think the best stuff are generally the lighter-hearted series like the original Plastic Man, Captain Marvel, and Spirit comics.

Me no like the dark and angst-ridden minefields of today's pop culture much at all. Pop culture has become way, way too negative, self-indulgent, and vacuous.

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Post by Randall » October 27th, 2008, 10:43 pm

Jack Cole's Plastic Man is great stuff. I have a few of the Archive editions. I also enjoyed the Levitz/Staton run in Adventure Comics in the 1970s-80s. The more recent Baker run was an award-winner, but I found it too slight for my tastes; I just didn't warm to it like I felt I was supposed to, based on all the good word on it.

I do have a tape of the old TV show. It's about on par with HB's Dynomutt, which is to say not all that great, but fun nonetheless. I'll welcome it on DVD.

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 1923
Joined: December 16th, 2004
Location: Burbank, Calif.

Post by droosan » October 27th, 2008, 10:47 pm

I rather liked Kyle Baker's recent 20-issue revival of the Plastic Man comic book; his loose 'cartoony' style is very appealing, and worked well with the light humor. Much moreso than the aforementioned Cartoon Network pilot, which is fun .. but whose design aesthetic seemed a bit too grotesquely 'Spümcó' for its own good. :wink:

Image


Jack Cole's original Police Comics work is the undisputed 'best' incarnation, though! :!:

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Post by Ben » October 28th, 2008, 9:44 am

Sorry George!

All I remembered was there was a thread with the words "Plastic" and "Man" in it somewhere. When you're dealing with as much as we do around here, it's hard to keep tabs on specifics!

But, you're right...this is its own topic (hence my not merging them)! :)


Must admit a bit of a Plastic Man appreciation here too: out of all the more "comic" characters that were "non-heroic" heroes (if ya get my drift), he was always my favorite.

Kyle Baker needs to get himself a new signature though, unless he wants to be seen as a Walt Disney? It never fails to amuse me just how many artists shape their letters in a Disneyfied "signature"...they all do it! ;)

Still, love that concept of the character, even if it is a bit Spumco as Droo says.

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » October 28th, 2008, 12:03 pm

Randall wrote:Jack Cole's Plastic Man is great stuff. I have a few of the Archive editions. I also enjoyed the Levitz/Staton run in Adventure Comics in the 1970s-80s. The more recent Baker run was an award-winner, but I found it too slight for my tastes; I just didn't warm to it like I felt I was supposed to, based on all the good word on it.

I do have a tape of the old TV show. It's about on par with HB's Dynomutt, which is to say not all that great, but fun nonetheless. I'll welcome it on DVD.
Baker's Plastic Man run initially put me off because of the cartooning style but after I checked out both trades from the library I began to appreciate it. I think he "got it" although his Plas is more jokey than Cole's was. Cole's Plastic Man, as whacky was as his powers were, existed in a surreal world and Plas was often the most sane character in the stories!

I've read others of Baker's work and own two of his graphic novels, but his Plastic Man was different than his other stuff.

Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, and other current DC writers just do not understand the Plastic Man character. He's been repurposed into a jokey, annoying Jim Carrey-type character that he was never intended to be.

As for the rest of Plas, I've really only enjoyed the classic Jack Cole Plastic Man. Prior to getting my two Plas Archives (Volumes One and Five -- I really need to get the others when I can afford them!), I'd only read reprints of the very first Plastic Man story and the story that introduced Woozy Winks. Since then, I've read through at least Volume Five of the Archives through interlibrary loan.

The library system in my area is great for graphic novels! Somebody in the Columbus library system LIKES graphic novels and orders a lot of this stuff. Unfortunately, most series' runs are incomplete. For instance, the library system has, at most, perhaps the first five-seven volumes of several DC Archives. Many others in this series only have one volume available for borrowing.

The high price tags on these books tends to make them very low sellers.

The best prices I've found for any Archives online or at used bookstores is half-off. I was able to get four of them half-off about two years ago through the Half-Price bookstore chain. Since then, nada. Online you generally get down to about $35 for most Archives.

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Post by Randall » October 28th, 2008, 10:21 pm

I liked the art OK on Baker's Plas, but even he seemed intent on making Plas too jokey. As you said, the fun of Cole's Plastic Man was that Plas was often the sanest one in the stories. During the Baker run, I stopped after the first storyline.

Plas was way too nutty in the JLA stories. I thought it was brilliant for Morrison to include him, as he is as iconic as the others on the team; but he loses his charm on a team of "straight men", making him by necessity the fool. Ethan Van Scriver is working on a new take, and insists he'll get it right, but until then I'll catch up on my Archives readings, as I still have Volumes 2-4 in shrinkwrap (I lucked out getting them cheap on eBay).

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » October 29th, 2008, 12:22 am

I recently met Van Sciver at the Mid-Ohio Con.

Nice guy! He even autographed and personally sketched a Hal Jordan drawing (in green ink!) in my hardcover collection of the Green Lantern: Rebirth mini-series.

He's also got the SAME tastes that I do in Golden Age comics! Big fan of Plas, Captain Marvel, and The Spirit.

I wish him the best with Plastic Man... Nobody's quite gotten it right since Jack Cole, though.

First, though, he needs to finish the Flash: Rebirth series he's doing with Geoff Johns and polish off whatever his part is in next year's GL crossover event, "Blackest Night."

He's one of the few bright spots in comics now.

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Post by Randall » October 29th, 2008, 1:06 am

Hey, I met Van Sciver at the San Diego show! It was at the preview night, and I was giddy, so I actually bought his sketchbook (with Flash on the cover).

Post Reply