The Mystery of Rubberman: Plentiful Plastic

Among the rogues gallery of adversaries which the golden age Robotman faced throughout his lengthy career on Earth-Two, one undoubtedly bore him a striking resemblance to a long-lost All-Star ally of his years earlier. In fact, the resemblance wasn't just uncanny, but his true origins were even more so, as we unwind this mystery.

This foe known as Rubberman led a gang in a payroll heist, witnessed by scientist Paul Dennis and his intelligent cybernetic canine Robbie. In fact, Dennis and his pet were Robotman and Robotdog, and shortly after witnessing this crime in action, they purused the criminals and were rebelled by their pliable leader.

This led the robotic duo to visit a local circus, where the attraction's owner refers them to the local fire eater who knew the recently departed Indian rubber man personnally. However, when approached by the metal man and his dog, the fire eater breathes intense flames that nearly melt the pair's metallic frames. Dousing their fiery-tempered foe, Robotman and Robbie track down Rubberman himself, who ensnared them in liquid rubber hardened around them. Despite this, the heroes escaped and subdued Rubberman and his gang.

But some questions can be asked: Who was this Rubberman? Why did he resemble a former teammate of Robotman who disappeared years earlier? In fact, this artificial being was a replica of the original Plastic Man, himself a member of the All-Star Squadron who joined the Freedom Fighters and left their native world of Earth-Two to protect the parallel planet of Earth-X.

Prior to Plastic Man's departure from Earth-Two, a gangster allied with a criminal mastermind created synthetic Plastic Men, with the same abilities and appearance of the original, which he used to initiate a crime wave. During this caper, Woozy Winks had himself transformed through this process into a version of his partner Plastic Man. After the pair defeated the crooks behind the elastic clones, apparently all the Plastic Men were eliminated, although conceivably at least one seemingly remained behind. This being reverted to the criminal mindset of Plastic Man's former identity as criminal Eel O'Brien.

And on another parallel planet, Earth-One. the young hero known as Robbie Reed. the possessor of the H-Dial. This lad could "Dial 'H' for Hero" , allowing him to become various superheroes. Twice, Robby become a clone of Plastic Man, first as a hero and years later as a misguided villain for a brief period. During his second adventure in this identity, Robby was defeated by the Plastic Man native to his world, who helped Reed recover his sanity once their battled had concluded.