Stretchable heroes. Good guys whose main super ability is that of stretching. There have been a number of these characters over the decades and stretching has been –to varying degrees–integral to the character. But credit to the various comic companies for giving us a twist in each case to differentiate the characters.
Stretching, by and large, is seen as a somewhat goofy power, but in the world of comics and cartooning, it can be visual gold. It gives writers and artists’ imaginations a workout and opens up visual possibilities. So yeah, you can play the ability for laughs or go deeper, more dangerous.
It started in 1941 with Plastic man in Police Comics #1 from Quality Comics (later acquired by DC Comics). Of course Plas is about more than *just* stretching. His name was Patrick “Eel” O’Brian, a criminal who got shot and ended up in a chemical bath which -after seeping into his wound–transformed and transmuted his cellular structure. He can literally form any shape, going flat as a pancake or inflate to the size of a dirigible. Blast a hole through him with a cannon, he’ll just close up the hole. Rip him apart, he’ll just reform. He has total control over his molecular structure and can assume any shape, or take the appearance of anyone. After gaining his powers, he decided to go straight. He is the physical embodiment of a cartoon. And his personality is that of Jim Carrey in his wackier movies. *Missed opportunity there, Hollywood! Although at one point, he did get his own Saturday morning cartoon show, for however long that lasted.
Plas has usually been played for laughs and worked as a bit player here and there providing comic relief. Maybe his biggest moment in the spotlight was being member of the Justice League of America under writer Grant Morrison. He’s had a couple of series over the years as well. His sometimes sidekick back in the day was another, broader level of comic relief in the form of Woozy Winks. I include Plas on this list because he stretches but stretching, really, is kind of the least of his abilities when you come down to it. A character like that who literally can’t be hurt or maybe not even be able to die, seems like even after almost 80 years, we’ve only scratched the surface on this guy.
In 1960, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, penciler Carmine Infantino and inker Murphy Anderson created a sort of sidekick/guest star for the Flash in his book. They wanted a stretchy guy so they created Ralph Dibny, The Elongated Man. Ralph basically drank a concentrated extract of Gingold, which made him elastic. Schwartz and company only went to this trouble because they hadn’t realized that DC bought the rights to Plastic Man. They could have saved themselves the effort but in the end, The Elongated Man was born.
But what set Ralph apart? He was the polar opposite to Plastic man, as stretching was his main and only power, period. But he was also a detective and when he sensed a mystery, his rubbery nose twitched. Eh–It was the ’60’s and it was DC Comics. But maybe his biggest and best defining character was his love for his wife Sue. For many a year, they made a great team, solving cases together, and both served as members of Justice League Europe. Unfortunately, after the mid ’80’s, comics began to get darker and darker and fans ate it up, so they got darker and darker. A whole miniseries called Identity Crisis centered around the graphic rape and brutal murder of Sue Dibny, which spun off Ralph on a downward spiral and things just got steadily darker from there.
In 1961, Marvel decided to try their hand at a stretchy superhero, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought us the Fantastic Four. What makes Reed Richards maybe the most impressive character on this list is that his stretching abilities, acquired by exposure to cosmic rays along with the rest of the FF, are, for Reed, a side note. He really doesn’t even need them when it comes right down to it.
Because he’s the smartest guy on the planet, and he’s the leader of the team. A team which includes his wife Sue, brother in law Johnny and best friend Ben, three of the most powerful and dangerous people on earth. And if need be, he can stretch. Reed has historically been one of the most respected leaders, heroes and big brains in the business. The only nod to any flashiness was his chosen superhero name of Mr. Fantastic. Eh, it was ’61, Stan was excited. Bottom line, Richards’ brain saved this planet, this universe more times than you’d think. And he stretches.
Of course, *when* he stretches, he can be very dangerous. It all depends on how angry he is and what the situation calls for.
Honorable mention #1 goes to Rita Farr, Elasti-girl of the Doom Patrol. First appearing in 1963, thanks to the affect of consuming strange volcanic gases on location filming for her latest film, Rita could grow to the size of a giant or shrink down to a couple inches tall. She could also just size up or down any part of her body. But her name was Elasti-girl, so, okay. She’s also been tied to the Teen Titans off and on through the decades and appears on the Doom Patrol tv show. I’m not entirely sure if she classifies as a shape-changer, a hero that changes size, or both, and sometimes the effect seems to be like stretching.
Honorable mention #2 goes to teenage Kamala Khan, who first appeared in 2013, and thanks to Inhuman genes, she acquired shapeshifting abilities, which she appears to utilize by means of enlarging her limbs, or fists or stretching. Kind of seems to be similar to the Rita Farr conundrum. This relative newbie to the superhero world will be getting her own Disney Plus tv show as well.
But a search through the ‘net reveals other characters I either forgot or never heard of…
*Thin man – evidently predating Plastic Man, this Marvel character climbed a mountain and had his body altered by the people he found there. He gained elasticity, could become very thin, and battled along side Captain America and others during WWII. I never heard of this guy, so I’m not sure if his stretchability ended at just thinning him out or what.
*Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece eats Gum gum fruit and gained elasticity which he uses to great advantage in hand to hand combat, which, when you think about it, makes all the sense in the world, extending your reach, focusing more power into punches and kicks.
*Offspring — Luke O’Brian, the son of Plastic man, seemingly with all his abilities. Don’t know if he survived the many DC reboots like the New 52 and Rebirth.
*Skin– this mutant connected with Generation X can stretch… his skin. I’m not sure how that worked out for him.
*Rubbermaid– also connected to the X-men, she was actually made of rubber, which allowed her remarkable elasticity but, unlike some who were more durable, she also was vulnerable to anything that could effect rubber, such as fire.
There are others in the flat category, Flat-man, or Paper doll, basically flat characters who can stretch, others who are more metal or liquid metal like the X-men’s Mercury or members of DC’s Metal men.
And yes, I could very well be forgetting someone, a random villain or various independent characters who never got the spotlight.
I’d investigate further, but my schedule’s just not that flexible.
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