For All Mankind #43

12 responses to “For All Mankind #43”

1. Just finished listening to another great episode of the podcast and want to tell Mike that not only did he do a great job discussing the stories and bringing up great points – but also that I LOVED your vocal rendition of the Plastic Man theme song!
   ‘For All Mankind’ NEEDS more musical numbers!

   Rob – I have been on a fair number of your shows [I’m not exactly sure where I am with my Robbie-count], and Shagg and Chris didn’t want to do it – so I guess I’M going to have to be the one to let you down gently, respectfully, and thoughtfully – – – the Futurio saga was never concluded in the remaining 4 issues of Super Friends.
   And although there was a solicitation for an Alex Ross painted treasury-sized wrap up entitled ‘Futurio X Marks The Spot’, sadly, that never came to be because Alex decided to create the Wendy, Marvin, Wonder Dog, and Snapper Carr story instead.

   HOWEVER it does mean that ‘For All Mankind’ can have a bonus episdoe where the story can finally be completed! I’ll play the role of Overlord!

   2

   Reply

   1. I’m glad to hear other people remember that old LP record with the cool theme songs and radio style drama. I haven’t heard them since the 80s but could probably still sing both the Plastic Man and Metamorpho themes from memory. (“The one, the incredible elastic man! Always in great shape for the shape he’s in …”)

      Thanks for another trip down memory lane. I’m looking forward to seeing where this podcast goes in a few months after issue 47.

      Reply

2. Another great episode . Glad to plastic man back in
   Action Jackson . Isn’t there a movie called action Jackson ? Don’t know never seen it . Wonder full guess as always .

   1

   Reply

   1. Yep, released in 1988 and starring the one-and-only Carl Weathers. It was a blaxploitation film made about a decade and a half too late.

      1

      Reply

      1. Thanks for the info I’ll make a note to check it out later .

         Reply

3. Alan scot’s oath does’nt ryme!
   I would have LOVED More superfriends with Plastic man. PLASTIC man and Batman should be hanging out out all the time!
   Also I think a dc comic from the 1970s making a joke about an actor always on vaction must be Johnny Carson.

   Reply

4. Yeah, Futurio XX really does look like a Vian from TOS, and man, yeah, those guys were always a little bit gross. And I get why you’d mention Vin Diesel in relation to the “XXX” reference, but one that would have been more relevant given the publication date of this comic book is John Holmes…

   Otherwise, I never knew before that there were some Plastic Man back-ups in Super Friends. I used to love the Plas stories in Adventure Comics by Pasko, Staton et al. (also loved the Levitz/Ditko Starman), and now more than ever do I want some kind of Plastic Man collected edition that would include the stories from Super Friends that I’ve never read before.

   Reply

5. Fun discussion guys. At the time, I was confused by Futurio, because T.O. Morrow had a similar look briefly in Red Tornado’s strip in World’s Finest for a hot minute, around the same time. Overlord was a dark-haired guy with a mustache, so the confusion with Morrow continued. I thought they were intended to be the same character!

   Green Fury hanging around reminds me of how Black Canary slowly gained membership in the JSA. First she was participating in missions thanks to her connection to Johnny Thunder (she debuted in his strip), then she took Johnny’s place, and finally became a full-fledged member. Had SF continued, would ENB have given her official status? Secured entry to the Hall of Justice? Unlimited access to the Kleenex supply? Would she have replaced anyone on the team? Heven forbid, but maybe the often forgotten Aquaman? Or maybe Robin, since ENB may have had to bow to Wolfman and Perez and the growing popularity of NTT (which Tanghal was inking)?

   Reply

6. Regarding the rescue of Superman by Green Fury. She didn’t simply “change the color” of the red sun field around Superman, as if changing the color of things was yet another new power she possessed (like her dazzle power, which still seems random despite the precedent set by her previous appearance). Stars get their colors according to their surface temperatures, and a red sun is cooler than a yellow one. Thus, by adding fire/heat to the field, it naturally changed colors to yellow. The real anti-science thing about this rescue isn’t the changing colors, but rather that even a “cool” red sun has a surface temperature of about 4,000 degrees Kelvin, much too hot to be in proximity to any matter on Earth’s surface (perhaps especially a de-powered Superman mere inches away from the field on all sides!).

   Note to Overlord: you won’t be able to name your next clone Futurio XXX. By the naming scheme you’ve set up, it would have to be Futurio XXXM! A billion is, after all, a THOUSAND times a million, not just ten, and “Futurio XXM” won’t work, since XM would be 990. Both the fist and third “Xs” need to be the multiplier, with the second X being 10 and the M for 1000, for this to work. (Yes, I’ve thought about this way too much)

   Reply

7. Since listening to your show I have become fascinated by E Nelson Bridwell. Might it be possible to hear an episode on the mystery man with the encyclopaedic knowledge?

   Reply

8. Fun issue, fun podcast, nice job Rob and Mike. As an old LSH writer ENB really should have followed form and had Green Fury named a Super Friend at the end of this issue. She adds such a refreshing vibe to the team. As for the villain of the piece, the latest Futurio really isn’t that impressive. Why is it comic book big brains tend to be bald? I suppose it all give Hector Hammond an advantage with bald-averse ladies.

   Nice to see Plas in here. I wonder if Joe Staton was drawing this strip with one eye on the Dick Tracy cartoon strip; the whole series reads like an auditor piece. If so, I’m glad it worked!

   Reply

9. Great show, Rob and Mike. Oh boy, it’s the only thing that makes me fear for our future more than Florida politics: Futurio! He’s back, and more veiny than ever.

   For a genius, Overlord has some pretty lame plans. Overlord should nix the clone scheme, get the next 15 World Series winners from Futurio XX, then dump that affront to nature into an acid bath and move to Vegas.

   Futurio isn’t much better. There’s a million ways he could incapacitate the Super Friends all at once. Instead, he sets them up in individual escapable force fields and takes some DNA from Wonder Woman with a grocery store scanner. I do appreciate the smug “ta ta” wave Futurio XX gives the heroes after thwarting them. I guess he’s evolved past the “middle finger kiss” move.

   Nice work by Robin taking out the convergence of street toughs while the Eurythmics were strutting touch hands. And what an eclectic group of thugs. You have the “down at the marina” thug with horizontal striped shirt and knife; a couple “so’s your old man” classic 50’s thugs with clubs and zipped up jackets; a matching sweatsuit “athleisure wear” thug; and finally (my favorite) a punk wearing a shirt that says “punk.”

   Hey, this week Aquaman was able to get in a punch! “Well, at least I got to drop one of these clowns before Futurio showed up. Ugh, look at his cranium, somebody should throw a loin cloth over it. How are we supposed to defeat him, make him turn his head and cough? Geez, he’s the only guy who has to manscape his head. And hang on, he meant to trap me in a bubble that’s hot and dry? Oh, so, Captain Testes master plan was to send me to Scottsdale? Eh, who cares, Green Flame got us out of it. Good thing, too, my new weed guy is supposed to meet me here… Ah, nuts. He’s the pirate I punched out. (slaps unconscious thug’s face) Um, are you Kevin? Hey, Kevin! Wake up, man! I brought cash!”

   Oh no! There’re only four more issues of the Super Friends left! Maybe it’s for the best. I’m really gigging deep for these pop duo references.

   Reply