Wikipedia

Elongated Man

"Dibny" redirects here. For his wife, seeSue Dibny.

Elongated Man (Randolph William "Ralph" Dibny)is asuperheroappearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byDC Comics.He first appeared inThe Flash#112 (February 25, 1960).[1]

Elongated Man
Elongated Man as depicted inWho's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe#7 (September 1985). Art byCarmine Infantino.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Flash#112 (February 25, 1960)
Created byJohn Broome
(writer)
Carmine Infantino(artist)
In-story information
Alter egoRandolph William "Ralph" Dibny
SpeciesMetahuman(formerly)
Ghost(currently)
Team affiliationsJustice League
Doom Patrol
Black Lantern Corps
Secret Six
Justice League Europe
Justice League Task Force
PartnershipsSue Dibny
Flash (Barry Allen)
Abilities(As a metahuman):
  • Elasticity
  • Superhuman durability, agility, and sense of smell

(As a ghost):

  • Non-corporeal form

(Both):

  • Deductive reasoning skills
  • Talented chemist

The character made hislive-actiondebut onThe CW's live-actionArrowversetelevision seriesThe Flash,portrayed byHartley Sawyer.

Publication history

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Elongated Man was created by writerJohn BroomeandpencilerCarmine 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 Manwas available due to DC obtaining the rights to him in 1956 alongside otherQuality Comicsproperties. However, Infantino and inkerMurphy Andersonstated that they never used Plastic Man as a reference for anything.[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 Statesin a convertible with his wife, searching for them.[7]Sometimes they would travel the world or meet other DC superheroes likeBatman,Green Lantern,theAtomandZatanna.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.

Fictional character biography

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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 learningchemistryand 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 AgeDC 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 operaticannals of superhero comic books.

Identity Crisis

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Main article:Identity Crisis (DC Comics)

Ralph Dibny played a central role in the events ofIdentity Crisis,with the main arc of the series revolving around Sue Dibny being murdered. Ralph and Sue'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 andJSAmembers (and to a lesser extent, members of thesupervillaincommunity).

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 Buddiesin the miniseriesFormerly Known as the Justice Leagueand 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.

52

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Main article:52 (comics)

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 Dibny that she is in a cult that believes thatSuperboycan be resurrected. She steals Ralph's wedding ring after the cult members try to drown Ralph[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 Jordancome with him. Despite his initial agreement, Dibny and his friends disrupt the ceremony, but the effigy of Sue crawls to Dibny and calls out to him as it burns; Dibny suffers anervous breakdownas a result.[15]

During Week 18, other members of the Croatoan Society (Detective Chimp,Terri Thirteen,and Edogawa Sangaku) findTim Trenchdead 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 Dibny and promises to fulfill his desires if he makes certain sacrifices.[16]Dibny journeys with the helmet through theafterlivesof several cultures, where he is cautioned about the use of magic.[volume & issue needed]

During Week 27, theSpectrepromises to resurrect Sue in exchange for Dibny taking vengeance onJean Loring,but Dibny is unable to do so.[17]

During Week 32, Ralph ventures toNanda Parbatand gets into a fight with the Yeti. TheAccomplished Perfect Physiciancomes to the rescue. Both he and the Yeti are members of theGreat Ten,defenders ofChina.At Nanda Parbat,Rama Kushnatells Dibny, "The end is already written."[18]

During week 42, Dibny 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 toNeronin exchange for his own 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 too late that the binding spell responds only to Dibny's commands: through his death, Ralph has trapped Faust and Neron in the tower, seemingly for all eternity, though his methods of doing so are unknown.[19]His spirit is later seen reunited with his wife.[20]However, Neron is able to escape almost immediately. During theBlack Adam:The Dark Agesminiseries, 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 aparanormalphenomenon has just occurred.[1]

One Year Later

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Main article:One Year Later

InBlue Beetle#16,Traci 13mentions that Ralph and Sue adopted her following her mother's death.

In the 2007-08Black AdamminiseriesDark Ages,it is shown that Ralph's remains are still inside Fate's Tower when Teth-Adam asks Faust if his deal to trick Dibny had worked. Ralph's skeleton is used by Faust to create the illusion that Adam's attempt at resurrectingIsishad 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 toBoston Brand / Deadman.

Reign in Hell

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Ralph and Sue, in their ghostly forms, appear beforeDoctor Occultwith news of the war brewing in Hell. Sent byGiovanni "John" Zatarawho, 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]

Blackest Night

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Main article:Blackest Night

InBlackest Night#0, Ralph and Sue Dibny are revived asBlack Lanternsbefore being killed again when theIndigo Tribedestroys their rings.[22][23][24]The Flash hopes that theWhite Entitywill resurrect the two, only to be told that they are not coming back.[25]

The New 52

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In September 2011,The New 52reboots 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 theRiddlerwho in this incarnation of the team serves as "Mockingbird."[26]After having reunited with his wife, Dibny makes his return as the costumed Elongated Man inSecret Six(vol. 4) #12.

Powers and abilities

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Elongated Man gained his abilities by drinking a refined version of a soft drink named Gingold that contains the extract of a (fictional) fruit, gingo. It was revealed inInvasion#3 that he is ametahuman,and the Gingoid elixir interacted with his latent genes. An ordinary human would not develop such powers through ingesting the extract. In fact, most people are extremely allergic to highly concentrated Gingold. The only other hero in the DCU who uses Gingold isStretch,a member ofHero Hotlinewho 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 professionaldetectiveand 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.

Other versions

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In other media

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Television

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Elongated Man (left) alongsideBooster Gold(right) andSkeets(background) inJustice League Unlimited.
Hartley Sawyer as Elongated Man inThe Flash
  • Elongated Man appears inJustice League Unlimited,voiced byJeremy Piven.[29]This version is a member of theJustice League.
  • Elongated Man appears inBatman: The Brave and the Bold,voiced by Sean Donnellan.[29]This version possesses shapeshifting abilities and a rivalry withPlastic Man.
  • Elongated Man appears inMad,voiced byRalph Garman.[citation needed]
  • Elongated Man appears in theYoung Justiceepisode "Terminus", voiced byDavid Kaye.[29]This version is a member of the Justice League.
  • Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man appears in media set in theArrowverse,portrayed byHartley Sawyer.[30]
    • Dibny first appears inThe Flashtelevision series[31][32]as a recurring character in thefourth seasonbefore being promoted to series regular for thefifthandsixthseasons. While he was originally stated to be deceased due toEobard Thawne's particle accelerator explosion in thefirst season,Dibny's death was undone following the destruction of the "Flashpoint"timeline in thethird seasonbefore he makes his first appearance in the fourth season episode "Elongated Journey Into Night".[33]This version was a police detective for the Central City Police Department untilBarry Allendiscovered that he had committedperjuryby planting evidence. After Dibny was ousted from the police force, he became aprivate investigatorspecializing in infidelity cases. He acquires his elastic powers after theThinkermanipulates Team Flash into opening a breach, which exposed Dibny todark matter.After discovering Dibny's powers, Allen takes him toS.T.A.R. Labsto stabilize. Deciding to give him a second chance after hearing he only planted the evidence because he was certain that the suspect was guilty but was unable to prove it, Allen adds Dibny to the S.T.A.R. Labs team and helps him become a superhero. Throughout the season, Dibny substitutes for Allen while the latter serves time in prison, but the media sees him as a joke and initially dubs him the "Stretchy Man" before calling him Elongated Man due to a misunderstanding. Dibny also develops the ability to morph into other people, which he uses to free Allen from prison. In the fifth and sixth seasons, Dibny launches an investigation intoCaitlin Snow's childhood, helps Team Flash combatCicada,and is hired to findSue Dearbon.Upon eventually finding her, only to learn she is a thief, he works to reform her. In June 2020, Sawyer was fired fromThe Flashafter controversy surrounding his past social media posts involving racist and misogynistic references in the wake of theGeorge Floyd protestssurfaced.[34]Due to this, an uncredited actor portrayed Dibny in theseventh seasonepisode "Mother". Prior to and during the beginning of the seventh season, Dibny and Dearbon went off the grid in light ofEva McCullochframing the latter for murder. They return to assist Team Flash in their final confrontation with McCulloch, but Dibny suffers grievous burns while raiding aBlack Holefacility and is forced to wear a mask to protect himself. Once Dearbon is exonerated following McCulloch's defeat, she and Dibny leave to travel the world and stop other criminal organizations like Black Hole.
    • Dibny appears in thecrossoverevent "Crisis on Infinite Earths".[35]

Film

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Video games

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Elongated Man appears as a character summon inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[36]

References

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  1. ^abBeatty, Scott(2008), "Elongated Man", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.),The DC Comics Encyclopedia,New York:Dorling Kindersley,p. 114,ISBN978-0-7566-4119-1,OCLC213309017
  2. ^Misiroglu, Gina (2012).The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes.Visible Ink Press. pp. 130–131.ISBN9781578593972.
  3. ^Amash, Jim (2010).Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur.Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing.p. 80.ISBN978-1605490250.[Jim Amash]: Was there any discussion about Plastic Man when you did 'The Elongated Man' with Julie? [Carmine Infantino]: No, he never mentioned him.
  4. ^Harvey, R.C.(2003).The Life and Art of Murphy Anderson.Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 150.ISBN978-1893905214.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.
  5. ^"Elongated Man".Don Markstein's Toonopedia.Archivedfrom the original on May 27, 2024.Retrieved2011-04-25....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.
  6. ^Infantino, Carmine (2001).The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino.Vanguard Productions. p. 65.ISBN978-1887591126.
  7. ^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016).The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe.DK Publishing. p. 101.ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
  8. ^Greenberger, Robert (2008).The Essential Batman Encyclopedia.Del Rey. pp. 128–129.ISBN9780345501066.
  9. ^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019).DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle.DK Publishing. p. 94.ISBN978-1-4654-8578-6.
  10. ^52Week One (May 10, 2006)
  11. ^52Week Two (May 17, 2006)
  12. ^52Week Four (May 31, 2006)
  13. ^52Week Eleven (July 19, 2006)
  14. ^52Week Twelve (July 26, 2006)
  15. ^52Week Thirteen (August 2, 2006)
  16. ^52Week Eighteen (September 6, 2006)
  17. ^52Week Twenty-Seven (November 8, 2006)
  18. ^52Week Thirty-Two (December 13, 2006)
  19. ^52Week Forty-Two (February 21, 2007)
  20. ^52Week Fifty-Two (May 2, 2007)
  21. ^Reign in Hell#1 (September 2008)
  22. ^Blackest Night#1 (July 2009)
  23. ^Blackest Night#2 (August 2009)
  24. ^Blackest Night#3 (September 2009)
  25. ^Blackest Night#8 (May 2010)
  26. ^Secret Six(vol. 4) #3 (June 2015)
  27. ^Countdown to Final Crisis#18
  28. ^Countdown to Final Crisis#17
  29. ^abc"Elongated Man Voices (DC Universe)".Behind The Voice Actors.RetrievedDecember 13,2023.A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  30. ^Ching, Albert (July 31, 2017)."The Flash Casts Its Elongated Man To The Season 4".Comic Book Resources.RetrievedJuly 31,2017.
  31. ^Pedersen, Erik (June 15, 2018)."'The Flash': Hartley Sawyer Upped To Series Regular on the CW Superhero Drama ".Deadline Hollywood.Archivedfrom the original on June 15, 2018.RetrievedDecember 14,2018.
  32. ^Anderson, Jenna (January 30, 2018)."'The Flash' Plans an Unlikely Escape in 'True Colors' Preview ".comicbook.com.RetrievedNovember 28,2023.
  33. ^Agard, Chancellor (October 31, 2017)."The Flash: About that Ralph Dibny reference in season 1..."Entertainment Weekly.RetrievedMarch 29,2018.
  34. ^Petski, Denise (June 8, 2020)."'The Flash': Hartley Sawyer Fired After Racist, Misogynist Tweets Resurface ".Deadline Hollywood.Archivedfrom the original on June 8, 2020.RetrievedJune 8,2020.
  35. ^Francisco, Eric (October 10, 2019)."New" Crisis on Infinite Earths "photos blow away 'Avengers: Endgame'".Inverse.Archivedfrom the original on October 11, 2019.RetrievedOctober 11,2019.
  36. ^Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013)."DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide".IGN.RetrievedJuly 23,2024.
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