| Elongated Man | |
|---|---|
 Elongated Man as depicted inWho's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #7 (September 1985). Art byCarmine Infantino. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The Flash #112 (February 25, 1960) |
| Created by | John Broome (writer) Carmine Infantino (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Randolph William "Ralph" Dibny |
| Species | Metahuman (formerly) Ghost (currently) |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Doom Patrol Black Lantern Corps Secret Six Justice League Europe Justice League Task Force |
| Partnerships | Sue Dibny The Flash Plastic Man |
| Abilities | (As a metahuman):
(As a ghost):
(Both):
|
Elongated Man (Randolph William "Ralph" Dibny) is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. He first appeared inThe Flash #112 (February 25, 1960).[1]
The character made hislive-action debut onThe CW's live-actionArrowverse television seriesThe Flash, portrayed byHartley Sawyer. Additionally,Jeremy Piven, Sean Donnellan, andDavid Kaye have voiced the character in animation.
Elongated Man was created by writerJohn Broome andpencilerCarmine Infantino, with significant input from editorJulius Schwartz, who wanted a new supporting character for theFlash.[2] Schwartz has noted that Elongated Man was only created because he had not realized thatPlastic Man was available due to DC obtaining the rights to him in 1956 alongside otherQuality Comics properties. However, Infantino and inkerMurphy Anderson stated that they never used Plastic Man as a reference.[3][4][5]
In his 2000 autobiography,The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino, the artist wrote, "I really liked Elongated Man because it was comical and I enjoyed drawing comedy. It was also one of my favorite strips, because it was as close to animation as I could do in a comic book. I liked being able to test the limits of the comic book form and this strip allowed me to do that."[6]
Elongated Man received a solo backup feature inDetective Comics, where he was redefined as a detective who loves odd mysteries and travels theUnited States in a convertible with his wife, searching for them.[7] Sometimes they would travel the world or meet other DC superheroes likeBatman,Green Lantern, theAtom andZatanna. This feature became sporadic during the late '60s and throughout the '70s. However, in 1973, he became a member of the Justice League of America, and he is mostly seen in that title from 1973 to 1995.
As a teenager, Ralph Dibny was fascinated by contortionists, or people who displayed feats of agility and suppleness. He learned that all of the body-benders he spoke with drank a popular soda called "Gingold". Ralph set to work learningchemistry and developed a super-concentrated extract of the rare "gingo" fruit of theYucatán, which gave him his elasticity.[8] In his first appearance, the Flash suspects Elongated Man is behind several crimes, but he helps capture the criminals, who reveal they used a helicopter to frame him.[9]
Ralph Dibny was one of the earliestSilver Age DC heroes to reveal his secret identity to the public, and also one of the first to marry his love interest. After teaming up with several other superheroes like Batman, Green Lantern, the Atom, Zatanna and the Justice League of America, he became a member of the team. Eventually, his wife Sue Dibny became a member as well. The couple was also notable in having a stable, happy, and relatively trouble-free marriage—an anomaly in thesoap operatic annals of superhero comic books.
Ralph Dibny played a central role in the events ofIdentity Crisis, with the main arc of the series revolving around Sue Dibny being murdered. The two's relationship, and the events that led to and resulted from her death, were used as primary narrative devices throughout the series for examining the respective personal relationships of other JLA andJSA members.
The effect of Sue's death on Ralph (compounded by the fact that Sue was apparently pregnant at the time of her death) would come to shape his character significantly in the events followingIdentity Crisis, eventually culminating at the end of the weekly series52.
Ralph and Sue appeared as members of the Justice League offshoot theSuper Buddies in the miniseriesFormerly Known as the Justice League and its sequel story arc "I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League" published inJLA: Classified #4–9. The latter arc was produced beforeIdentity Crisis, but published afterwards. A running joke in "I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League" involves the possibility of Sue's pregnancy.
In the 2006 weekly series52, a grief-stricken Ralph Dibny is contemplating suicide when he is informed that Sue's gravestone has been vandalized[10] with an inverted version of Superman's 'S' symbol—the Kryptonian symbol for resurrection. He confrontsCassie Sandsmark,[11] and she tells Ralph that she is in a cult that believes thatSuperboy can be resurrected. She steals Ralph's wedding ring after the cult members try to drown him.[12]
During Week 11, after scaring some cult members and chasing them off, he gets a report that someone broke into a storage container in Opal City and stole Sue's clothes.[13] In Week 12, Ralph finds Wonder Girl and she tells him they stole the clothes and ring to make a Sue dummy. She invites him to the ceremony.[14]
During Week 13, Ralph goes to the ceremony.Metamorpho, theGreen Arrow,Zauriel, andHal Jordan come with him. Despite his initial agreement, Ralph and his friends disrupt the ceremony, but the effigy of Sue crawls to Ralph and calls out to him as it burns; Ralph suffers anervous breakdown as a result.[15]
During Week 18, other members of the Croatoan Society (Detective Chimp,Terri Thirteen, and Edogawa Sangaku) findTim Trench dead with the helmet ofDoctor Fate, Nabu. Ralph comes to investigate and asks for help from the Shadowpact, Detective Chimp's other group. A voice from within the helm of Doctor Fate, unheard by the other members of the group, speaks to Ralph and promises to fulfill his desires if he makes certain sacrifices.[16] Ralph journeys with the helmet through theafterlives of several cultures, where he is cautioned about the use of magic.[volume & issue needed]
During Week 27, theSpectre promises to resurrect Sue in exchange for Ralph taking vengeance onJean Loring, but Ralph is unable to do so.[17]
During Week 32, Ralph ventures toNanda Parbat and gets into a fight with the Yeti. TheAccomplished Perfect Physician comes to the rescue. Both he and the Yeti are members of theGreat Ten, defenders ofChina. At Nanda Parbat,Rama Kushna tells Dibny, "The end is already written."[18]
During week 42, Ralph is in Doctor Fate's tower. He begins the spell to resurrect Sue, puts on the helmet of Fate, and shoots it, revealingFelix Faust, who was posing as Nabu. Faust planned to trade Dibny's soul toNeron in exchange for his freedom. Ralph reveals that he was aware of Faust's identity for some time, and that the binding spell surrounding the tower is designed to imprison Faust, not to counter any negative effects of the spell. Neron appears and kills Dibny, only to realize that the binding spell responds only to Dibny's commands: through his death, Ralph has trapped Faust and Neron in the tower.[19] His spirit is later seen reunited with his wife.[20] However, Neron is able to escape almost immediately. During theBlack Adam: The Dark Ages miniseries, Faust is shown to escape with the help of Black Adam and a resurrectedIsis, who is under Faust's mental control. These events take place just prior toCountdown, indicating that Faust had only been there for a few weeks.[volume & issue needed]
At the end of Week 52, it is revealed that Dibny's magical, wish-granting gun (a souvenir from "the Anselmo Case", a reference toThe Life Story of the Flash) worked—Ralph's last wish was to be reunited with his wife, even in death—and that Ralph and Sue are now reunited as ghost detectives, investigating a school where aparanormal phenomenon has just occurred.[1]
InBlue Beetle #16,Traci 13 mentions that Ralph and Sue adopted her following her mother's death.
In the 2007-08Black Adam miniseriesDark Ages, it is shown that Ralph's remains are still inside Fate's Tower when Teth-Adam asks Faust if his deal to trick Ralph had worked. Ralph's skeleton is used by Faust to create the illusion that Adam's attempt at resurrectingIsis had failed.
InBatman and the Outsiders (vol. 2) #5, it is revealed (after appearing unknown in the previous two issues) that Ralph and Sue have gained or discovered the ability to possess human bodies, similar toDeadman.
Ralph and Sue, in their ghostly forms, appear beforeDoctor Occult with news of the war brewing in Hell. Sent byZatara who, as a member of the Hell Resistance Movement, hopes to take advantage of the war, they ask Doctor Occult to aid him in his plan. They then dissipate and leave him to make his decision.[21]
InBlackest Night, Ralph and Sue Dibny are revived asBlack Lanterns before being killed when theIndigo Tribe destroys their rings.[22] The Flash hopes that theWhite Entity will resurrect the two, only to be told that they are not coming back.[23]
In September 2011,The New 52 reboots DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Ralph Dibny is a rogue member of theSecret Six, under the alias of Damon Wells a.k.a. Big Shot, reporting to theRiddler who in this incarnation of the team serves as "Mockingbird."[24] After having reunited with his wife, Dibny makes his return as the costumed Elongated Man inSecret Six (vol. 4) #12.
Elongated Man gained his abilities by drinking a refined version of a soft drink named Gingold that contains gingo fruit extract. It was revealed inInvasion #3 that he is ametahuman, and the Gingold interacted with his latent genes. An ordinary human would not develop such powers through ingesting the extract. In fact, most people are allergic to concentrated Gingold. The only other hero in the DCU who uses Gingold isStretch, a member ofHero Hotline who has been using the compound since the 1940s.
As his name suggests, Elongated Man can stretch his limbs and body to superhuman lengths and sizes. These stretching powers grant him heightened agility, enabling flexibility and coordination that is beyond the natural limits of the human body. He can contort his body into various positions and sizes impossible for ordinary humans, such as being entirely flat so that he can slip under a door, or using his fingers to pick conventional locks. He can also use it for disguise by changing the shape of his face, although this is painful and difficult for him. Ralph's physiology has greater physical limitations thanPlastic Man; there is a limit to how far he can stretch his finite bodily mass, and he cannot open holes in his body as Plastic Man can.
Elongated Man's powers also greatly augment his durability. He is largely able to withstand corrosives, punctures and concussions without sustaining injury. It has been demonstrated that he is resistant to high velocities that would kill an ordinary person and that he is also more resistant to blasts from energy weapons that would kill ordinary humans. His physiology is more like that of an ordinary human than Plastic Man; he is not nearly invulnerable like Plastic Man.
In addition to his stretching abilities, Elongated Man is a professionaldetective and highly skilled indeductive reasoning. He is considered one of the most brilliant detectives in the DC Universe, comparable toBatman. He is a talented amateur chemist as well. A meta-side effect of his powers coupled with his detective skills is enhancedolfactory sense, allowing him to "smell" when something is "not right", or if a clue or mystery is at hand. This results in a rubbery nosetwitch.
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Elongated Man appears as a character summon inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[34]
[Jim Amash]: Was there any discussion about Plastic Man when you did 'The Elongated Man' with Julie? [Carmine Infantino]: No, he never mentioned him.
Not knowing that DC owned these old Quality characters—and Julie'll deny it, I guess, and say they wanted to do something different—but they came up with the Elongated Man instead of Plastic Man, and they came up with the Atom instead of Doll Man. They could have resurrected either of these two characters ... [b]ut the whole concept of Plastic Man would have escaped them. It's just crazy humor, and it needs someone who really understands that stuff.
...editor Julius Schwartz later said that if he'd known DC owned the name 'Plastic Man' (which it had acquired when Quality Comics, Plas's publisher, sold its properties to DC in 1956), he'd never have chosen such an unwieldy name for his own character.
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