The First (and Only) Live-Action Plastic Man Goes to the 1984 Democratic National Convention

There's no current shortage of live-action superheroes running around these days -- I mean, did you ever think we'd see a day where there would be a live-action Crimson Fox? -- but there's still plenty of untapped potential in the comic book archives. 

Where, for example, is Plastic Man?  The Jack Cole-created stretchy crime fighter has been far from an unknown figure since his first appearance in 1941, commanding several solo comic book series along with his own cartoon and plenty of appearances in other DC Comics-related properties.  Sure, his powers are a bit tough to do in live-action, but that's what terrible CGI is for!  It is a bit odd that the character, a fun-loving creation with a good back story, decent name recognition and an affable sense of humor that would appeal to younger audiences, has never appeared as a live-action figure.

Except that one time.

In 1984, Arlington Television picked up the two-season animated TV series "The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show" for syndication a few years after the show had concluded its Saturday morning run on ABC.  Not content to just repackage the old material, director Steve Whiting shot additional bookend footage for the show, featuring actor and comedian Mark Taylor (billed as "Taylor Marks") as the lead character in all his plastic glory.


The segments aren't exactly action packed - they're mostly making Plas making gags about the show coupled with some rudimentary special effects.  But the costume design is good, and Taylor seems to be having a good time, so it's not all that shocking that the syndicated package became a minor hit, with Taylor's Plas getting the attention of the San Francisco-based "Evening Magazine."

In fact, Taylor's incarnation of Plastic Man was enough of a hit that Whiting and Taylor took it on the road to the 1984 Democratic National Convention.  According to Noblemania's great interview with him, "I did a more lame version of what [Sasha Baron Cohen's 'Borat'] did so well."

Sadly, Taylor's Plastic Man didn't fare much better than the Democrats that year, and he was soon retired to the footnotes of history.  Taylor went on to continue his stand-up comedy work and, as of 2011, works in a hospital as a physical therapist - a perfectly appropriate calling for someone whose portrayal of an infamous comic book character who can assume any physical form is, to date, the definitive one.

The Less-than-Auspicious Other Debuts of Wonder Woman

The common consensus seems to be that Wonder Woman's appearance in BATMAN V. SUPERMAN, the first (or second, if you count 1989's ALYAS BATMAN AND ROBIN) time the character has appeared in a feature-length theatrical film as a live human being, is the highlight of the movie.  However, Diana Prince's earlier debuts in other formats haven't been nearly so notable or well-received.

The first time the character appeared in live-action was in the prospective television pilot for a "Wonder Woman" TV series entitled "Who's Afraid of Diana Prince?" in 1967.  Clearly inspired by the successful "Batman" series of the time, Elle Walker plays Diana, who lives with her nagging mother who demands she not go save the world on an empty stomach.  She does, briefly, become Wonder Woman (and is then played by Linda Harrison), but mostly it looks like a zany comedy about a man-crazy single woman who sometimes saves the world.  It's... not good.


Wonder Woman's animated debut came along a few years later, and may be even less noteworthy, as she's not even the star.  In the 1972 episode of "The Brady Kids" animated series, itself a spin-off of "The Brady Bunch" but with fewer parents and more magical talking birds with the voice of Larry Storch (as was the style at the time), Jan Brady visits the university library in order to research Euclid and meets librarian Diana Prince.  When the aforementioned magical talking bird zaps them back to ancient Greece, zaniness ensues.



As with much '70s kids animation, it's pretty awful, and the randomly-appearing laugh track (which even goes off when Wonder Woman makes her first appearance!) doesn't help matters any.  At least Wonder Woman gets to do something and the Grecian setting pays some reference to her origins, so it's mildly better than the 1967 pilot -- or it would be, if it wasn't over four times as long.

Jamie Farr meets Red Sonja (played by the co-creator of "Elfquest") on "The Mike Douglas Show" in 1977

There's a lot going on in terms of fandom history in this clip from a July episode of "The Mike Douglas Show."  The man being interviewed is Phil Seuling, a comic book convention organizer and distributor who was responsible for the "direct market" as founder of Sea Gate Distributors in 1972, distributing comics directly to comic book specialty stores.  (He was also a voice in Ralph Bakshi's FRITZ THE CAT.)  There's Jamie Farr eagerly pointing out all of the Fawcett comics characters and discussing Wonder Woman's "mod" changes.  And there's also some early cosplay, as Wendy Pini, who would co-create "Elfquest" with her husband the next year, comes out on stage dressed as Red Sonja.  (The guy with the white hair is Jerry Lester, a regular comedian and personality who hosted one of the first late-night talk shows.)

Evening Entertainment: Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn and Sarah Silverman in the comic book store pilot SUPER NERDS

How does a sitcom featuring noted Andy Milligan fan Patton Oswalt and current "Deadpool" writer Brian Posehn working in a comic book store not get picked up?  Espeically when it has Sarah Silverman as a customer?  The laugh track doesn't help and it lacks some polish, but there's certainly potential there.  It's still an interesting piece of nerd culture history, though when it was made in 2000, it may have been a bit ahead of the times in terms of the cultural zeitgeist, as Evan Dorkin's similar WELCOME TO ELTINGVILLE pilot suffered the same fate two years later.  Watch it before it gets pulled!

Morning Cartoon: The Atom fights beetles in a 1967 Filmation adventure

There's been a bit of speculation recently as to what the costume ot The Atom, the DC comics character that can shrink to the size of, well, an atom, will look like when it appears on "Arrow," so I figured it might be worthwhile to take a look at an earlier incarnation of the Mighty Mite.  In this episode of the 1967 Filmation series, our hero highs bugs with rather disturbing-looking human features.  Through the magic alchemy of nature's most awesome sources of energy!

Nestor Carbonell is Batmanuel in "The Tick"

Inexplicably non-eyeshadowed actor Carbonell turns 47 today, and while he may be more known now for his roles on "Lost" and "Bates Motel," he'll always be Batmanuel to me.  This minisode of the live-action "The Tick" features Batmanuel covering for the big blue crackpot.

TV's Jimmy Olsen, Jack Larson, hosts a Thanksgiving Superman marathon on the character's 50th anniversary

For several years, Larson, who played spunky bow-tied reporter Jimmy Olsen on "The Adventures of Superman," hosted a Superman marathon on television, featuring episodes from the '50s TV series.  This 1988 compilation acts as a mini-documentary on the character on his 50th anniversary, featuring interviews with "Adventures"' Lois Lane, Noel Neill and a look at the history of the man of steel.

Evening Entertainment: Celebrate Charles Schultz's birthday with 1985's YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN

Sure, there's a Peanuts Thanksgiving special to watch, but why not take a look at one of the more obscure TV specials based on Charles Schultz's beloved characters?  This 50-minute special originally aired in November of 1985 is an animated (and shortened) adaptation of the 1967 musical that starred Gary Burghoff (!) in its initial off-Broadway run.  Snoopy has a narrated voice, which is a bit distracting, but as an adaptation of the stage musical, it makes sense.

2001 pilot for "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" reboot starring Markie Post

Oh, sure, NOW the CW is all about superhero shows.  This wasn't the case in 2001, when the pre-CW WB Network commissioned this pilot for a prospective series reviving Sid and Marty Krofft's fondly-remembered but completely silly distaff dynamic duo starring Deidre Hall.  This pilot plays the concept for laughs, starring Markie Post as an alcoholic, bitter, surly Electra Woman, who gets a brand new Dyna Girl in an effort to revive her career.  It's actually an entertainingly misanthropic good time, but it makes sense that it wouldn't have been turned into a series -- the original isn't exactly well-known, and the concept of the reboot would just tick off humorless fans of the first series.

The Batman OnStar commercials of Andrew Davis with Curtis Armstrong as the Joker

Birthday boy Andrew Davis is a famous, big-time director of THE FUGITIVE, UNDER SIEGE and COLLATERAL DAMAGE, but in 1990, he directed a series of Batman-centric ads for OnStar, the system that allows you to unlock your car by remote.  (It was a big deal in 1990.)  Here they all are, combined into one really strange-looking narrative featuring Michael Gough returning as Alfred and Curtis Armstong as the Joker.  (Batman is not played by Michael Keaton, but rather Bruce Thomas, who later voiced Jim Gordon in the SON OF BATMAN animated film.  So you can used THAT as a trivia point along the lines of "What actor has played both Batman AND Jim Gordon?")

Superman fights the forces of the evil Nick O'Teen in this 80s commercial

I don't believe there are any plans to revive Nick O'Teen for the new Superman films, which is a shame, as it's be great to have a break from Lex Luthor again.  He did, however, appear in print form as well.

Animated short based on Peter Bagge's "Hate"

Writer and artist Bagge has mentioned numerous attempts to turn his cult favorite comic series "Hate," the story of Buddy Bradley, a relatively ambitionless New Jersey audiophile, but the closest it ever came was this animated short, seen in the grunge documentary HYPE!.  The animation is good, but man, Buddy's voice seems all wrong.

The Teen Titans battle alien robots in 1967's Filmation adventure

Sure, a new, live-action TV series based on the Teen Titans may be in the works, but could it possibly live up to the lofty heights set my the super-team's 1967 Filmation series?  You know, the one where they couldn't even get Robin because the rights to him were otherwise occupied, Kid Flash had a strange composite costume, the animation was poor and the plotting was... questionable, even to the eyes of eager 7-year-olds.  Did anyone associated with this even have a basic understanding of physics?

Batman and Robin shop at Zayre

Good thing the now-defunct department store Zayre is open 24 hours a day until Christmas! The most surprising thing here is that it's clearly a Dynamic Duo from the '60s live-action TV series, and they couldn't get Adam West OR Burt Ward.

Watch This Thing - Vintage VHS trailer for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

Utilizing some classic flicks and well-placed effects, Frank Ireland's "vintage" VHS trailer re-imagines CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER as a late '80s Cannon flick, and it looks just as entertaining as the actual film.  Who knows, the movie might have been improved with the addition of Jeff Fahey.  (What wouldn't?)  Albert Pyun couldn't have done better.

Watch This Thing - Hey Kids, It's the Anarchies!

And now, a brand new dance to watch and learn!  In 1986, Todd Graham created APOCALYPSE POOH, a mash-up of "Winnie the Pooh" and APOCALYPSE NOW that took on a life of its own in the underground VHS trading circuit of the era.  (You can read all about him in my interview with him here!)  His immediate follow-up is a similarly-inspired mix of the clean-cut Archie Comics gang and the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen."  It is perfect.

Watch This Thing - 11 minute documentary on Steve Ditko's Randian antihero The Question

This past weekend marked the 87th birthday of Steve Ditko, the reclusive comic book writer and artist who co-created the likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the Ted Kord Blue Beetle.  He also created the underrated The Question, the character who provided the basis for Watchmen's Rorschach.  Here's a brief documentary on The Question, featuring interviews with comic book artist Rick Burchett, writers Greg Rucka and Denny O'Neil and actor Jeffrey Combs, who voiced the character on the "Justice League" animated series.

Watch This Thing - Artist Sergio Aragonés in a 1991 interview for a USC student film

Sergio Aragones' work has been seen in the pages of Mad Magazine and in the likes of his most famous creation, "Groo the Wanderer" for decades, and his style is unmistakable. In this interview from 1991 shot for a USC film school short, Aragones talks about his history with overcoming the language barrier, his teaming with the equally-great Mark Evanier (who is also interviewed) and more. (Sadly, he doesn't talk about his role in NORMAN, IS THAT YOU?, but maybe that's on the cutting room floor.) I believe the director is the Michael Markowitz who later served as a supervising producer on "Duckman."