A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

No major spoilers! And cooked with no MSG!

I’ve been meaning to put in a word or two regarding the Identity Crisis mini-series of DC comics which ended in December but I’ve put it off. Luckily a friend (thanks Budj!) sent over a copy of the Mango Comics‘ (same people who relaunched Darna in 2003) one-shot of Mars Ravelo’s Lastikman.

Why lucky? Aside from getting an unexpected care package this Holiday, I get a chance to do a parallel look at both stories, both involving stretchy superheroes. And I can then mold all my bad puns to all shapes and sizes. Heh.

Identity Crisis 1-7

The mini-series starts off shockingly with a mysterious murder of Elongated Man’s wife. Month after month, as the DC Universe’s Big Guns (that’ll be the Justice League - Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, the Flash…ad nauseaum) investigates the murder, they begin to realize that the killer(s) know their secret identities. With their secret identities revealed, the families of these costumed heroes have become pawns in an insidious plot. The killer even went as far as threatening Mrs. S. herself - Lois Lane! (imagine that…)

The story by Brad Meltzer starts off strongly enough. We feel for Elongated Man a detective who may have the ability to contort his rubbery body but nevertheless still a man. He breaks down and become agitated after his wife’s murder. Who wouldn’t be if a dear family member is taken from you that way, correct? We also see a host of second-tier villains - not bad-ass enough to be considered major threats but desperate enough to do any work-for-hire.

It was a nice change to look at these not so well known characters and be given the spotlight for a change. We see them during their off hours — watching tv, playing cards or doing some side-jobs — something rarely seen in comic books (or in their other media incarnations for that matter). Here we see them worry about the families who are utterly human, and utter helpless and who have suddenly become a target for the villains.

As the story winds it way to the inevitable conclusion, we see the mystery deepen. Was the murder a response to an immoral act made by the heroes themselves on one of their enemies during one desperate moment in the past? Would it even be possible it could be one from their own ranks?

Unfortunately the last issue was anti-climactic. Even the Rags Morales’ art seemed to have deteriorated and appeared rushed. After the cliff-hanger of #6, the last issue was a bust, pandering to a more popular conclusion rather than take risk and let it affect the rest of the DC universe’s continuity. Identity Crisis is indeed a roller-coaster ride from start to end only remember that coaster rides at the end, is always a let down. Or you can say the ending was a stretch.

Mars Ravelo’s Lastikman One Shot

From one stretchy man’s tragedy to another’s rubbery misadventures - Mars Ravelo’s Lastikman gets dusted off for the comics again (he’s made more appearances in movies than comics of late), this time getting the queer (as in strange) makeover some 40 years after his first appearance in Aliwan Komiks in 1965. (And yes Elongated Man appeared earlier in 1960, Plastic Man preceded both appearing in August 1941. The stretchers have spanned quite a few decades, no?)

I say it’s strange because Lastikman’s origins may not be as popular as Darna’s and this time he’s revealed as an alien. (Actually it’s explained in the afterword by writer Gerry Alanguilan that Lastikman was indeed an alien when he first appeared in Aliwan.) It’s a jarring change for me especially if, like me, your first encounter with Lastikman was in the 1968 Von Serna (tatay ni Snooky!) movie. It was in black & white and it was constantly shown on channel 9 during the afternoons back in the 80s when I was growing up. I can still remember that scene where Serna as Lastikman was trapped in a concrete block by goons. To escape, he stretched himself so thin to go through an airhole. For a 9 year-old kid, that special effect was indeed special. I can still remember it vividly and that’s how I remember Lastikman. (Oh and later on as he escaped, he transformed himself as a car tire…a checkered car tire. He didn’t roll - he bounced.) The last couple of Lastikmen who appeared in the movies were all normal humans who were transformed via the Powers Given by Aliens Origin or through the Save A Tree, Get Magical Powers Origin.

So yes, 2005’s Lastikman has his similarities with Superman (in which Alanguilan has had the opportunity to ink for DC). When an amnesiac Lastikman arrives on Earth he gets adopted by a widower, Don Rufo and his kids Toto and Vinya (also, as we understand, from the 1965 incarnation).

As the story progresses and Lastikman learns to become comfortable on Earth, he slowly finds out where he’s from and what he was meant to do. With the help of his Earth-bound family, Lastikman decides to take control of his own fate.

The story is a fun a read, Alanguilan keeping it light and complemented by Arnold Arre’s drawings. Unlike the jarring dialogue of Mango’s Darna, the interplay of Taglish dialogue and stylized art works and moves the story at a brisk pace. It is only at certain moments during the Main Conflict when the tone suddenly changes and it felt tacked on. The story really flows when Lastikman tries to do good in his adopted planet, inadvertedly finding himself in comic situations. (Chocnut gets a nice shout out on this one.)

But thank goodness the creators behind the book decided to do a one-shot issue instead of spreading the story over several months (like Darna before it). It’s a satisfying read and definitely worth the Php 150 (the price of some foreign comicbooks, btw — and it’s nicely printed too if you pay attention to such things). It certainly leaves the reader craving for more of this Lastikman’s adventures. It won’t be *ahem* a stretch that we’ll see more of him.

1960s Lastikman

2005 Mangofied Lastikman