The Plastic Man Archives, Vol. 1 by Jack ColeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Plastic Man Archives Volume 1 contains the Plastic Man stories from Police Comics 1-20.
I've read a few of the later Plastic Man Archives but after a couple misfires, I found this for a cool $25 still in shrink wrap.
Jack Cole was still working the kinks out for most of this volume but Plastic Man is the Quality era Plastic Man from the very beginning, stretching and busting criminals. The book doesn't really come together for me until Woozy Winks is introduced. Up until then, the cops provide the comic relief to the straitlaced Plastic Man. Plas spends a helluva lot of time as Eel O'Brian in this one, something that is completely phased out in the other volumes I read.
Cole's style is dynamic and has an animated feel. Plastic Man doesn't do as much novel shapeshifting as he does in later volumes, but like I said, Cole was still working out the kinks in this volume. The stories are 8-12 pages in length so they feel a little rushed by today's standards and there are some racist depictions of foreigners but that's hard to avoid in comics from this time period.
The Plastic Man Archives Volume 1 is a great introduction to Plastic Man even though the strip wasn't in its prime just yet. Four out of five stars.
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