Quick Rating: Et tu…
Title: Despair

Writer: Kyle Baker
Artist: Kyle Baker
Editor: Joey Cavalieri

I had started to lose faith. My attention had begun to wander. Somehow I really liked this issue. Maybe it was the occasional surprise. Maybe the pacing just felt a little better. Maybe it was just nice to finally be able to sit outside and read a comic book. But I liked this sad, sad issue. Woozy is dead and it is funeral time. The investigation into Plastic Man’s crimes finally takes a turn in his favor. All in all, I felt like stuff happened. I like it when stuff happens.

Kyle Baker continues to draw as though he learned by tracing Ren and Stimpy off his television screen. And if you’ve ever tried, you know that’s not easy with all the static electricity. No other superhero than Plastic Man is so perfect for this style. Somewhere, I hope Jack Cole rests peacefully, knowing that one of his most famous creations is in good hands.

So, why do we still publish periodic comics in pamphlet format? Is there any remotely good reason? It costs more in resources and to the ultimate consumer than collected format. Even the lengthiest Victorian serial had more occur in each individual installment (and was usually published on a much more rapid schedule). Why tolerate a format which promises little and usually delivers? Does it actually take you an hour to read a three dollar comic?

It is arguably unfair to complain about comic book formats when reviewing a particular comic, especially one that I liked. And I realize that I’m not the first to suggest the demise of the pamphlet format. Yet, Plastic Man is seemingly destined for the trade paperback world. It is carrying a long story arc that requires knowledge of the previous issues. At times, events move at a glacial pace. Subtle references might be missed unless you’re inclined to reread the prior issues upon acquisition of each new one. All of this is true of many of the best titles over the years: Grendel, Usagi Yojimbo, Watchmen, Swamp Thing, Sandman, etc. In all those cases, the trade paperbacks made a big splash. Perhaps it’s time to stop subscribing to comic books.

Hey, issue four sold much better than most of Vertigo’s output in March, so maybe Plastic Man will make the long haul.

May, 2004

Quick Rating: Squishy
Title: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Writer/Artist: Kyle Baker
Editor: Joey Cavalieri

Why am I losing interest in Plastic Man? Is it just not that interesting? Do I have the attention span of a gnat? Is the story moving too slowly? Do I just need to relax and let the tale wash over me? Should I continue to make my purchasing decisions based on the desire to have something to review? Should I stay or should I go? Am I a spring or an autumn?

In this issue of Plastic Man, Plastic Man investigates the accusation of murder that has been pinned on Eel O’Brian (his not-so-secret identity). Also, Woozy Winks, Plastic Man’s long-suffering sidekick, lands in a difficult situation. The chapter entertains. The art is wacky in a good way.

So, why complain? Because it’s been four months to tell this story. This tends to happen to me with series which insist on long arcs. My patience wears thin because it too often feels like a two hour movie that should have been cut in half. If I had simply horded the issues and read them all at once, then I have little doubt that I would love them.

Everyone who has read a magazine or a comic book can remember the first time they ran into those horrible words “continued next month.” You could not believe the inhumanity. And yet the problem is compounded month after month in comic books. Who can honestly give a damn about Woozy or Robin or Speedy for half a year? When this storyline began in Plastic Man, we were still awaiting the first heavy snowfall of winter. Now, the first buds of spring are peaking out and it’s still continued next month.

Do I think the story should always end in each issue? Of course not. I enjoy the groundwork being laid for future developments, but I don’t necessarily appreciate a hundred fifty page book being broken into five bite-size chunks.

So, the story is still good, I think. The art continues to entertain. But I want something else to happen. I’m really starting not to care.

February, 2004

Quick Rating: Wacky, but in a good way
Title: Rubber Banned

Writer/Artist: Kyle Baker
Editor: Joey Cavalieri

If you’ve spent any time watching cartoons on televisionlately, then you’ve probably noticed that they share the same hypnotic effect of music videos. Time passes, drool pools, and your buttocks become a major gravitational power. It’s so easy to just sit here… and watch that little rabbit… and that little creature with the stripes… and…

What was I talking about? Ohh, yes- Plastic Man— this issue begins where the last one concluded. The police have realized that Plas is the criminal Eel O’Brian. They try to apprehend him and wackiness ensues.

Kyle Baker wants the Plastic Man comic book to be a cartoon. The problem is that you have to turn the pages. Comedy is all about… well, pacing. (Jack Benny probably said that first and if he didn’t then he should have.) This is particularly true with slapstick. Imagine a pie fight. Now imagine the film focusing a little longer on each impact — less funny. In a cartoon, the pacing is predetermined and the viewer experiences the pacing as set by the makers of the cartoon. With a comic book, you can reach for your drink and the magazine and the joke wait for you to come back. Yet, the pacing is gone. I’m not saying that it can’t be done- just that readers make it harder. (The corollary being that, if we’d stop reading comic books altogether, then they would be funnier.)

So, Kyle Baker has a tough job laid out for him, especially since this looks like it may become an on-going series. (You heard it here first- 2004 is the year of plastic.) So, the first two-thirds of this issue rely on trademark Plastic Man slapstick and they’re funny, but sometimes it gets a little off- and I think it may be the pacing. Then, the JLA shows up and we switch humor gears to satire. The pacing becomes a little less important and the humor blasts off. If nothing else, the issue is worth it for the interaction between Batman and Superman. Maybe that’s just because the humor plays much more into single panels rather than the extended art required for more physical jokes.

January, 2004