THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST: Episode 148
The official podcast of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE and FIRESTORM FAN
Episode 148 - Bob Haney Showcase IV with Metamorpho
Back by popular demand, it's another Bob Haney Showcase, this time focusing on Metamorpho, The Element Man! Shag profiles "The Freak and the Billion-Dollar Phantom" by Haney and Ramona Fradon from FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #3 (June 1975), and then Rob tackles "How To Make A Super-Hero" by Haney and Jim Aparo from BRAVE AND THE BOLD #123 (Dec. 1975) starring Batman, Plastic Man, and Metamorpho! It's more Zany Haney! Don't forget kids, use the hashtag #ZanyHaney online for this episode!
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Thank you for making part of my Thanksgiving weekend trek home from Colorado more enjoyable, gentlemen. My kids want me to pull out these two comics from my longboxes to read before bedtime tonight…
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Metamorpho animated series, my understanding from a Brian Cronin “Comic Book Legends Revealed” article is that the Metamorpho and Plastic Man series plans were put on hold in favor of rushing out a new Batman animated series when Filmation suddenly managed to attain the rights in 1968.
Can you imagine how neat it would have been to hear the booming voice of Ted Knight say:
“Metamorpho!
Fab freak of a thousand-and-one changes!
Able to transmute his body into any element and form he can imagine!
Metamorpho!
Once soldier-of-fortune Rex Mason!
Now transformed by a mysterious meteorite, he uses his amazing chemical powers to fight evil!
Along with his beautiful girlfriend, Sapphire,
He travels the globe in search of a cure… and adventure!
Metamorpho! The Element Man!”
I always thought Jim Aparo was the best artist to draw Metamorpho after Ramona Fradon (and it was nice that she came back to illustrate the First Issue Special story). In fact, I always loved the Brave and the Bold series because I liked Mr. Aparo’s take on so many other DC Comics characters…
Ruby Ryder makes one final appearance in a two-part story in The Brave and the Bold #135 and #136… so I suppose that is technically two more appearances…
Pom Poms was a bite-sized chocolate-covered caramel candy that is similar to Milk Duds, though I believe Milk Duds may have been in the market first by a few years or decades (that narrows it down...). I remember seeing Pom Poms in the 1970s under Nabisco, which also sold sister product Junior Mints. And the reason I am mentioning that is, when Tootsie Roll Industries essentially took over the production, they changed the name of Pom Poms to “Junior Caramels” to better connect the two sister products.
Rob, I am sure you will have a blast going through some of the other First Issue Specials. I myself have a soft spot for “Dingbats of Danger Street” only because it demonstrates how Jack Kirby would draw a caricature of… myself.
You will know it when you see it...
I'm coming a little late to this party, but I just wanted to back Xum up — the dastardly Ruby Ryder does indeed make her next (and final) appearance in The Brave and the Bold #135 and #136, this time aided by a cyborg kind of guy as she matches wits with Batman, the Metal Men, and Green Arrow (thanks, Bob Haney!).
ReplyDeleteAnd just because I feel I should mention the obvious, Plastic Man doesn't make even a cameo appearance in these issues (despite being, in my mind, set up to be an ongoing Plas foe). Plastic Man wouldn't show up in Brave and Bold again until issue #148, which, appropriately enough, is a Christmas story.