PlastiCast EP. 006: JLA #60 — Merry Christmas, Justice League–now die!

PlastiCast comes to this holiday party with plenty of Christmas cheer! And fisticuffs! And demons! In this episode, Max talks about JLA #60, a festive holiday story as told by Plastic Man, and featuring Santa Claus, Neron, and ... the Winks family?! Also in this episode, the latest Plastic Man news, and your comments in the Plastic Mail Bag!

Check out images for this episode here!

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Opening theme: “The Plastic Man Theme” from The Invasion of The Plastic Men (Power Records)
Closing music: “Plastic Man” by The Kinks

Dialogue from Justice League Action, "Party Animal" (S1-E46)
Thanks for listening!

6 responses to “PlastiCast EP. 006: JLA #60 — Merry Christmas, Justice League–now die!

  1. Happy holidays, Plasticast!

    It was in the pages of JLA that I really got to know Plastic Man. So, getting to see this story again was a real Christmas treat. I particularly like that Martian Manhunter was willing to help his fellow JLAer out. I guess it makes sense that shape-changers would want to stick together.

  2. YAY PlastiCast is back! Great way to end 2020.

    I have said before, I always thought Plas belonged in the JLA and I loved him in the book during these years. This is a very charming story, reminiscent of Len Wein’s JLA Xmas classic from JLA #110.

    Not to demand too much right after posting an episode, but Max I’d love to hear you discuss a potential Plas movie–what would you like to see? Would PlasticWoman alter the concept too much? etc.

  3. Oh, I love this comic! Waid is one of my favorite writers, and his run on JLA was excellent. Especially the spotlight he gave Plas. He felt more relevant in this run than in Morrison’s. I agree with you about seeing a home life for Plas. Also, this felt like a possible solo series pitch.

    On a tangent, I’ve been binging through Scooby-Doo Team-Up, and read the Plastic Man story today. So good, and gave the classic straight man version of Plas, with Woozy along for the ride. Gotta admit, Scooby TU has had so many name drops and Easter Eggs, I really expected there to be some mention of his cartoon. But I’m not disappointed that didn’t happen. Not much. Maybe a little. I’m gonna cry for a minute. …. Ok, all better.

    I’ll second hearing your pitch for Plastic Man movies, but you know, I’d also dig your thoughts on a new comic series. What creative team you’d like, premise to bring Plas to a new generation, etc.

    Thanks for the great show, and happy holidays!

  4. I join Shag in the “Elongated Man is the Leaguer” camp, as well as the less-cited “Morrison’s expanded pantheon hobbled the book” opinion. I’m not opposed to Plas being on a team, but not this team. I was also burnt out on JLA by this time, so I shoved the issue in a longbox marked “future coverage on my WebTV Martian Manhunter page” and, well, that hasn’t been a thing in decades.

    Another vote for a movie speculation episode. I personally think that it’s extremely tricky to alter Plastic Man, as I agree with art spiegelman that the (Caucasoid) flesh tone in ample supply is part of his costume. He also starts out as a violent gun-wielding criminal and is often an obnoxious sex pest, so race-swapping seems like an extremely dicey proposition. It’s the exact opposite for my rationale that you have to race-swap Captain Marvel specifically because he’s a Superman-like paragon of virtue in a universe that already has a whiteboy Superman. On the other hand, while Plastic WhoaMan seems a bit unwieldy on the tongue, that’s probably what it would take to force Warner Brothers into doing a straight Jack Cole take, which is the only one that I have any interest in seeing. Also, as a lady-person, it would be easier for me to grapple with the altered aesthetics if it meant allowing her to cover up. In fact, being a woman, you could keep virtually anything from past interpretations and it would still be quasi-progressive.

  5. Fun episode! I had forgotten about this one. Waid’s run is underrated, and I wish he’d stuck around longer. I really didn’t care for where the book went after Waid left, but I bought it anyway.

    I think of Ralph as more of the League’s “stretchy guy” but Plas brings his own dynamic to this version of the team, so I never minded the switch-up. And if you are going “iconic”, well, Plas’ Golden Age success still resonates in a similar fashion to Captain Marvel/Shazam.

    Chris

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