The new feature inspired by great cosplay and fan art where I imagine various DC properties taken to the small screen and wonder aloud just what their shows would be like. Today's pitch: Plastic Man.
Cosplay by: Alex Rae
Every DC show so far as "unlocked" a different part of the DC Universe, and I've tried to think of these program proposals in the same way. So who unlocked the more humorous side of the DCU? Each series that actually made it to television has a dark streak (they only seem relatively light compared to DC's movies), a streak I'd like to break with Plastic Man. Well, Plas doesn't break, he bends, but you get the picture. It's a superhero comedy with zany stretching effects (and The Incredibles proved the power was fun and cool) and lots of punchlines. It's DC's answer to The Tick.
So who would appear? Faithful sidekick Woozy Winks, of course, and I'd love to see a full supporting/recurring cast of characters culled from DC's humor titles - Angel and the Ape, Stanley and his Monster, the Inferior Five, Ambush Bug, even an adventures in babysitting episode starring Sugar & Spike - but I wouldn't even mind a call-back to the characters from the Plastic Man cartoon (Baby Plas would be stretching it, however - I KILL ME!). And then there are non-humor villains who have become laughable with time (or perhaps were never deserving of our respect). The guys from Justice League Antarctica. The Condiment King. Egg Fu. Crazy Quilt. The Ten-Eyed Man. You know the ones I mean. It would be an incredible feat, but I think Plastic Man could work as a high-concept sitcom à la Community with exciting cartoon action and edgy superhero parody. Hard sell, but as long as we're dreaming...
What would YOUR Plastic Man live action show be like?
Every DC show so far as "unlocked" a different part of the DC Universe, and I've tried to think of these program proposals in the same way. So who unlocked the more humorous side of the DCU? Each series that actually made it to television has a dark streak (they only seem relatively light compared to DC's movies), a streak I'd like to break with Plastic Man. Well, Plas doesn't break, he bends, but you get the picture. It's a superhero comedy with zany stretching effects (and The Incredibles proved the power was fun and cool) and lots of punchlines. It's DC's answer to The Tick.
So who would appear? Faithful sidekick Woozy Winks, of course, and I'd love to see a full supporting/recurring cast of characters culled from DC's humor titles - Angel and the Ape, Stanley and his Monster, the Inferior Five, Ambush Bug, even an adventures in babysitting episode starring Sugar & Spike - but I wouldn't even mind a call-back to the characters from the Plastic Man cartoon (Baby Plas would be stretching it, however - I KILL ME!). And then there are non-humor villains who have become laughable with time (or perhaps were never deserving of our respect). The guys from Justice League Antarctica. The Condiment King. Egg Fu. Crazy Quilt. The Ten-Eyed Man. You know the ones I mean. It would be an incredible feat, but I think Plastic Man could work as a high-concept sitcom à la Community with exciting cartoon action and edgy superhero parody. Hard sell, but as long as we're dreaming...
What would YOUR Plastic Man live action show be like?
Comments
Also perhaps steal a concept from the cartoons, where Plastic Man is regarded as the poor man's Ralph Dibny.
Truth be told, I don't know where I stand on Plastic Man being zany or straight in a zany world. I quite liked the notion, in Phil Foglio's late 80s mini-series, that Plas saw the world as a cartoon, with "reality check" pages drawn by Kevin Nowlan breaking in once per issue to prove the point.
Is this series a cartoon with live action elements?!