posted March 31, 2003 12:43 PM            

The book details how revolutionary Cole (and Plastic Man) was. How he shaped the medium and used it in ways nobody had previously thought of.

posted March 31, 2003 01:20 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by deejay:
Nothing about Cole's life seemed interesting enough to warrant a biography by such a high profile talent like Art Spiegelman. I also wasn't impressed by the Plastic Man material reprinted in the book...

---

Spiegelman's text started life as a New Yorker article. (The magazine actually had a Plas cover by Art that week.) I don't believe it was expanded or rewritten at all for the book; it just had a bunch of Kidd design thrown around it. I think the story of an immensely creative, ambitious artist who never recognized his own greatest work for what it was, who went on to widespread, if brief fame in the mainstream as Playboy's cartoonist, and who eventually killed himself under somewhat mysterious but clearly tragic circumstances, is one of the more compelling stories in comics' history, and opens a window onto the way the industry operated back then.

If you don't think Cole warrants the interest, I assume you don't think much of Golden Age comics in general. Along with Eisner's Spirit, Cole's Plastic Man represents some of the very best, and most innovative work ever done in comics, then or now. Just compare Cole's composition and storytelling to say, what was being published in All-Star Comics at the same time.

Clearly Spiegelman himself considers Cole very important, and he knows some stuff about comics. Comics historians in general rank Cole among the highest of "high profile talent". There's no accounting for taste or visceral reactions to art, but when reading Plastic Man, please try to understand the context of what you're looking at.

I suspect you'll be left cold in any case, but the best, most polished work on the strip reprinted so far can be found in Plastic Man Archives #2, #3 or #4. it's all great stuff. While considerably cruder, the material in #1 has an amazing vitality and is, of course, historically significant. It's one of the few Archives series I always make sure to buy the day it comes out.

Cole

posted March 31, 2003 02:00 PM            

That says more about you and the paupacity of interesting comic biographies than about how interesting Jack Cole was. Just because he committed suicide doesn't make him particulary noteworthy. If his life was fascinating then Spiegelman did a singularly poor job of making it an involving read.

posted March 31, 2003 02:10 PM            

Whether you find Cole's life to be interesting or not is irelevant to the question of whether hsi life story warrants a biography. Cole's contribution to the medium in and of itself warrants the biography. The landscape of comics was radically changed by Cole's character. His layouts and designs along with Eisners reshaped the industry. Compare his early works with the rest of Goldne Age fare, and you can see how mnay light years ahread Cole was of his time. Cole's life, and death are also of particular interest because despite the immense popularity of his creations, Cole was eberrased of his contribution to the field of comics, a sentiment still pervasive in the fiels, where creators would still rather admit that they were doing something else. Cole was a brilliant and creative man, whose life and tragic death left an indelible mark on the industry.

Still, I may well give volume 2 or 3 a look.[/B][/QUOTE]

posted March 31, 2003 02:11 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Coleo:
Spiegelman's text started life as a New Yorker article. (The magazine actually had a Plas cover by Art that week.) I don't believe it was expanded or rewritten at all for the book; it just had a bunch of Kidd design thrown around it. I think the story of an immensely creative, ambitious artist who never recognized his own greatest work for what it was, who went on to widespread, if brief fame in the mainstream as Playboy's cartoonist, and who eventually killed himself under somewhat mysterious but clearly tragic circumstances, is one of the more compelling stories in comics' history, and opens a window onto the way the industry operated back then.

If you don't think Cole warrants the interest, I assume you don't think much of Golden Age comics in general. Along with Eisner's Spirit, Cole's Plastic Man represents some of the very best, and most innovative work ever done in comics, then or now. Just compare Cole's composition and storytelling to say, what was being published in All-Star Comics at the same time.

Clearly Spiegelman himself considers Cole very important, and he knows some stuff about comics. Comics historians in general rank Cole among the highest of "high profile talent". There's no accounting for taste or visceral reactions to art, but when reading Plastic Man, please try to understand the context of what you're looking at.

I suspect you'll be left cold in any case, but the best, most polished work on the strip reprinted so far can be found in Plastic Man Archives #2, #3 or #4. it's all great stuff. While considerably cruder, the material in #1 has an amazing vitality and is, of course, historically significant. It's one of the few Archives series I always make sure to buy the day it comes out.

Cole

PS--The first story I ever wrote, at age 4, (with help from Mom on the IBM Selectric) involved Plastic Man giving the Elongated Man a "stretchy beating."

---

posted March 31, 2003 02:21 PM            

Lou Fine is a fave as well. Love Reed Crandell too.

That's about it though.

posted March 31, 2003 02:24 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by stoter1:
Cole was a brilliant and creative man, whose life and tragic death left an indelible mark on the industry.
[/B]

---

That sounds like wishful thinking to me. His death had no impact on the comics industry at all.

posted March 31, 2003 08:50 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by CMCINTYRE3600:
I think he was looking for the context. Just a little more information about what's so great about it, and actually I'd appreciate it too. I've never read any GA Plastic Man except for what was in the Greatest Golden Age stories ever told and, while I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I understand the resons why this guy has the reputation that he has. If anyone can go into it with any more detail, it would get great.
Chris

---

If the only Plastic Man story you've ever read is the one in Greatest Golden Age Stories, I can see why you would be confused. That story wasn't even written by Cole. I think it was picked because it had a super-villain in it. Or maybe they had black and white proofs. It certainly wasn't representative. Vol 2 of the Archives contains "Plastic Man and the Game of Death" from Plastic Man number 1. That's what Plastic Man was all about. Sort of a dark, gloomy, EC kind of humor book.

posted April 01, 2003 03:18 AM               

Although now there are better known knock-offs of Plastic Man like Reed Richards and Elongated Man and Elastic Lad (Jimmy Olsen), in 1940 there was nothing like Plastic Man in its visual gymnastics and totally wonky point of view. These qualities did not really carry over in the later imitations. He was a much more original character than many people recognize these days, because he seems to be just one among several stretching characters.

If you like the Spirit (and have the Archives) and want to see some more Cole art, his run on the Sunday section starts at the very end of volume 7 and he is the primary artist in volume 8. It is pretty easy to recognize his art because his back up characters and villains tend to be 10 times more interesting visually than those by the other artists in those 2 archives. (As an aside, Lou Fine is off the Spirit from 8/22/43-7/30/44).

I found the Spiegelman article to be quite interesting, but it was just an article reprinted with some art and Chip Kidd design as said above.

I have enjoyed all of the Plastic Man volumes. Probably I would choose vol.2 or 3 if I had to. Some may prefer vol.4.