Plastic and Metal square off in this review of Plastic Man No More! #2.
Plastic Man No More! #2
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Art: Alex Lins and Jacob Edgar
Main Cover: Alex Lins
Variant Covers: Riley Rossmo
Release Date: October 2, 2024
This review might contain spoilers
Plastic Man No More! #2 arrived on the shelves this week. Patrick “Eel” O’Brian (AKA Plastic Man) is coming apart at the seams, quite literally. When Eel discovers he’s slowly dying, and that his son may be at risk of the same fate, he enlists the help of petroleum chemist Dr. Vera and his ol’ pal Woozy. In a last-ditch effort to save his life, Eel hatches a plan to set off a bomb with enough radiation to re-ignite his elastic powers. But to do so… he’ll have to return to his old ways, and become a crook once more.
A fantastic set-up sees Eel work with the Metal Men to rescue their teammate, Uranium, from the clutches of Dr. No-Face. Little do they know, Eel has an ulterior agenda: kidnap Uranium out from under them and force him to power a bomb with enough radiation to nuke his plastic powers back to status quo! But Eel should know by now… his life never quite goes according to plan. The twist ending of the issue lays out a whole host of new story opportunities to be resolved in the final half of the series.
Balancing the zaniness of the Plastic Man brand, Christopher Cantwell injects enough personal profundity into the mix of Plastic Man No More! #2 to make a lead we care for and about, despite his iffy track record as a goofy hero. Not only is Eel working to reverse his demise, but this may very well be the only way to prevent his son from undergoing the same fate. Estranged from his family, Eel chose the Justice League over those in his own life.
Now, faced with mortality, he’s suddenly overcome with the realization of just how much he sacrificed. In the B-story, his son Luke tries to tell his mother the news, but she shirks him away, unable to combat her complicated emotions. This sincerity supplements the otherwise upbeat Bam! Kapow! style of comic book fare. Likewise, a terrific use of our favorite C-list characters (Detective Chimp, Metamorpho, Dr. No-Face, etc.) makes this a story where anything can and will happen.
Less constricted by the lore of heavy hitters like Batman and Superman, and aided by the Black Label imprint’s leeway, Cantwell seems freer to push the boundaries of what we can expect from an “unserious” do-gooder like Plastic Man. Artists Jacob Edgar and Alex Lins employ a bevy of tricks to convey the duality of tone in Plastic Man No More! #2. Flashback scenes are bright pastels, the city is lit up with sun rays, Plastic Man is happy and spry. The present? Not so much. Panels with the Justice League are cartoony and loose, signifying their cavalier disregard toward him – he’s a joke! But on his own, he’s illustrated with more respect, more attention, more depth.
As Plastic Man reinvents himself, we too see him in a new light. Funny, heartfelt, and fresh – Plastic Man No More! is an unexpected hit!
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