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.

Whatever Happened to Binky?

Bertram "Binky" Biggs was a typical teenager who's adventures, or rather misadventures, were notable amid the more renowned contemporaneous superhero tales at the same time. In start contrast with the often tense drama surrounding costumed crusaders protecting the planet, Binky's more comedic antics displayed that now all was serious on Earth. But which Earth? Actually, Earths One and Two, each of which had their own version of Binky.

The golden age Binky debuted in 1948, and proceeded to navigate into young adulthood alongside family and friends. Among these were his older sister Lucy and younger brother "Allergy", as well as his girlfriend Peggy and frenemy Sherwood. His tales continued to be told throughout the next decade until 1958, when apparently he grew up and grew out of his youthful pursuits. An interesting event occurred early on in his courtship of Peggy, when the young couple witnessed a super-feat of the Superman of their world, Earth-Two!

The silver age Binky debuted in 1967, and as with his counterpart he too had big sister Lucy and little brother "Allergy", as well his own Peggy and schoolmate Sherwood. His tales were told only until 1972, at which point he mysteriously disappeared from reality! Where did he go? His friends and family would like to know!

It was later revealed that the red-haired Jonni DC, herself originating from Earth-Two, for a time operated on Earth-One. There she was seemingly self-appointed to erase anomalies from reality, such as a temporal duplicate of Wonder Woman when she was a baby known as Wonder Tot, and the heroine's Chinese foe Egg Fu.

For whatever reason, the Earth-One Binky was also someone whom Jonni believed needed to be removed from reality, leaving those he left behind mystified as to where he went. During this same time period, a massive shift in the cosmic balance occurred through an accidental opened a hyper-space between three separate universes!

This incident occurred when Earth-One research scientist Enrichetta Negrini, activated an experimental hyper-space device, which sent numerous random individuals to each other’s Earths. This drew the enigmatic the Anti-Matter Man from the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward, who's presence might have destroyed all three realities but for the intervention of the Justice League and Justice Society.

In fact, Jonni DC herself may possibly have been one of those individuals from Earth-Two pulled over to Earth-One during this event. And apparently, she was in possession of the spherical "DC-Dial" of Earth-Two's reality, which transformed her into a superhuman entity.

It’s been theorized that Jonni’s actions were motivated as a counter-balance to a similar spherical object,, the H-Dial of Earth-One. This device was discovered around the same time by high school student Robbie Reed, who became various superheroes when he dialed “H-E-R-O”. His girlfriend Suzy Shoemaker on occasion used his H-Dial, such as when she became Gem Girl!

While Suzy and her boyfriend spawned new superhumans, of whom such as Giantman and Mighty Muppet were recurring characters, Suzy’s Earth-Two counterpart Jonni erased some individuals from existence! Whether counterparts Suzy and Jonni met in person is unknown.

Hopefully, the aspiring adventurer Ambush Bug, who sensed a "disturbance in the force", eventually tracked down Binky and reunited him with his loved ones. Yeah, probably not!

Fabled Fabulously Fastidious Follicle Females

Among the various superhuman powers on display throughout the Multiverse, perhaps none is more bizarre than... super-hair! And in these cases, blonde hair, both free flowing and fastidiously fastened!! 

Godiva of England and Rapunzel of Fairyland were both seemingly born with long locks, which were not only surprisingly resilient and resistant to damage, but highly adaptable. Dorcas Leigh used her abilities to become one of the few costumed crusaders of Earth-One’s England. Meanwhile, Rapunzel only occasionally ventured out into the adjacent Earth-Two when it and Fairyland’s barrier briefly opened in late 1947.

Godiva assisted Elongated Man of the Justice League in deactivating one of the deadly devices implanted around the world by the amoral alien scientist Grax. Later, she was recruited by Doctor Mist into his Global Guardians organization, tasked with handling threats across Earth-One… such as during the Crisis on Infinite Earths when she worked alongside Ireland’s Jack O’Lantern. Rapunzel along with the good residents of Fairyland assisted the Justice Society in dealing with the evil Lorelei and her minions’ invasion of Gotham City.

While these heroines had the free flowing hair, another pair of blondes kept theirs more fastidiously fastened. Sugar Plumm was an infant when she first began to have improbably adventures, alongside her life long friend Cecil “Spike” Wilson. Like their Earth-One counterparts Vicki Grant and Chris King, Sugar and Spike were at times granted various superhuman powers through devices gifted to them by others.

The H-Dial given to Vicki not only gave her a variety of abilities, it granted her a freedom she had never before experienced. In her altered bodies, her hair was free flowing, and during her second transformation she mentioned how wonderful it felt to have wind flowing through her hair! Each of her alter egos had a number of different hair styles, and in most instances, she let her follicles flow freely… which seemed counter to her natural preference. Or was it?

As was later made evident, through some unspecified means besides the hairbands she wore, Vicki’s long hair was perpetually fastened into twin pigtails! Whether attending classes at school, playing on her girls basketball team, going out on multiple dates with Chris, or relaxing at home… her hair was always styled this way. Even with intense physical activity, each follicle stayed perfectly in place! 

The only thing that could effect it was water, and then only temporarily as some loose strands of hair on her forehead were soon pulled back… on their own! Another time, when her hairband seemingly snapped off, her hair stayed remarkably together! But was this a natural power she somehow possessed, or something she seemed to be cursed with? Regardless, as a Dial-H for Heroine, Vicki finally got to experience the same feeling as Godiva and Rapunzel… and her personal hero Supergirl… letting her hair down!!!

Along Vicki’s various superheroine identities were: Futura · Sunspot · Ice · Grasshopper · Twilight, Mistress of the Dark · Windsong · Molecular Maiden · Hypno Girl · Midnight Wisp · Strato-Girl, Mistress of the Wind · Goldgirl · Alchemiss · Dimension Girl · Stellar · Ultra Girl · Starlet · Cardinal · Aniwoman · Thumbelina · Tiarra Star · Matter Girl · Echo · Ariel · Black · Weather Witch · Emerald Tiger · Rainbeaux, Mistress of Color · Hummingbird · Hydra, Goddess of the Sea · Hyptella · Sonik · Puma, the She-Cat · Sulphur · Sparrow Hawk · Kismet, Mistress of the Mind Wave · Plant Mistress · Sea`Mist · Harp · Pixie · Snowfall · Glass Lass · Unicorn · Queen of Hearts · Blue Biker · Weaver · Frosty · Tempest · Starburst · Spinning Jenny · Scylla · Sphera · Blazerina · Thundera · Monarch · Miss Hourglass · Sirocco, the Desert Wind · Infra-Violet · Gossamer · Fan · Visionary · Spyglass · Psi-Clone.

Although sadly, after each hour of power had passed,  Vicki regained her normal hair. At least until her next hour of power arrived.

Mentally Manipulating Mathematics Maliciously Mold Minds

Mathematic formulas have unique powers within the Multiverse, manifesting in differing ways depending of the universe they exist within, and that realm’s specific physics. Within Earth-One’s reality this includes the formulas generated by dialing H-Dials, while Earth-Two’s reality operates under a different principle where one can simply utter such a math formula. 

Then there is the unique Anti-Life Formula, which can take away a society’s collective willpower, allowing the person possessing this formula to dominate the minds of a people. Darkseid of the extra-dimensional planet Apokolips sought this formula on Earth-One, attempting to capture select individuals each possessing a portion of it. 

One of Grodd’s intelligent minions from Gorilla City journeyed from that world to Earth-Two, utilizing a weapon upon Johnny Chambers allowing the gorilla to mentally manipulate the reporter’s mind*. This caused him to utter an altered version of his speed formula, “3x2(9yz)4ax”. This “X” factor unleashed an evil attitude within Chambers, as he transformed into the super speedster known as Johnny Quick. Thankfully, the effects were temporary.

The sinister simian’s gun may have channeled the Force of Mind which Grodd and his arch-enemy, Gorilla City leader Solovar, each possess. This mind-control may itself be a version of the Anti-Life Formula, one also possessed by Grodd’s Earth-Two counterpart Ultra-Humanite.

One other variation of a power-inducing formula was that conceived by the evil Doctor Thaddeus Sivana. He found the key combination of number and letters to access the fourth dimension, becoming intangible!

* This also caused Johnny to forget he had previously met, and worked with, the Flash... when they were members of the All-Star Squadron!

Master’s Metahuman Minions or Baron’s Bad Boys

While the dynamic duo of Fairfax faced a variety of colorful foes, a large percentage of them were manufactured metahuman. Developed in the Evil Factory that had been claimed by the mysterious Master, their mission was to capture the young teenager heroes and their H-Dials. Originally, this facility was developed by two lieutenants of Darkseid from Apokolips, Mokkari and Simyan, until Superman’s pal and Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen… along with the Newsboy Legion… shut it down.  That is, until the Master claimed it for himself.

Originally the owner of the first H-dial, young Robby Reed became corrupted when he used the device to split him into two individuals in order to save Earth-One. Transformed into the wicked Master, Reed became amnesiac and obsessed with claiming the two new H-Dials created by his other benevolent self. These were now on the possession of teenagers Chris King and Vicki Grant. The pair, aided by their pal Nick Stevens who used the dial to become the heroic Shifter, overpowered the Master’s minions. Eventually, the three teens were able to reason with Reed, bringing him back to his senses.

A different yet somewhat similar situation occurred on Earth-Two, when a pair of teenagers from the 1970s were transported 17 years into their past to help their infant selves battled bad guys. These kids, Cecil “Spike” Wilson and Sugar Plumm… along with their friend Bernie … were pulled back in time due to Bernie’s prototype time ray. Pursued by the evil Baron and his oafish henchmen Claude and Sidney, the teens created multiple clones of Spike to overwhelm the terrible trio.

The Sugar and Spike babies had many other adventures in the 1960s, even once becoming an heir to the original Red Tornado Ma Hunkle in their Tornado Tot alias. They even met Hunkle’s fellow Justice Society members on one occasion, and in a possible future as adults became metahuman investigators.

__________________

Interestingly, as implausible as many of infant Sugar and Spike’s tales were as taking place on Earth-Two, equally *impossible tales* were told of the infants Kal-El/Clark Kent and Princess Diana when they were Superbaby and Wonder Tot. And yet, at least some of the adventures were seen as canonical on Earth-One. A similar principle would apply to Sugar and Spike’s stories, with the concession being that they were told from a child’s perspective or point-of-view.

S-P-L-I-T - The Fracturing of 2 Dimwitted Dogooders

The power of the H-Dial of Earth-One and its Earth-Two equivalent were powerful enough to transform ordinary men into extraordinary individuals. Two such individuals used their daring devices to actually split themselves into two separate, distinct individuals, motivated partly for good but mostly for love. Or, at least, what they perceived as love... puppy love.

Robby Reed was the resident superhero (well, superheroes) of Middleton Colorado on Earth-One, and had several adventures as various costumed characters, During a summer job as a waiter, Robby briefly forgot about his H-Dial due to a romantic obsession he had with a girl. Later recalling its existence, Reed used it to transform himself into some of his past identities. Only this time, its disues turned him evil, until Plastic Man defeated him.

Later, Robby tried to stop an invading alien from pillaging his world of historic artifacts. During this battle, Reed was tricked into standing on a trap that would unleash all weaponry upon the planet if he moved. Dialing S-P-L-I-T on his H-Dial, he transformed into both a hero and an evil version of himself. While the good side defeated the alien, the malevolent Robby deactived the trap and the dial. This led to both Reeds losing memories of each other and their past lives.

With his brilliant mind, Reed created a series of cloned supervillians, which he unleashed on hero-Reed's two new heroic protégées, Vicki Grant and Chris King. The pair helped Robby regain his sanity and good nature.

On Earth-Two, the mysterious Burp the Twerp* sought the affection of a girl, and used his amazing abilities to transform both his head and body into a stunning looking man. The unfortunate side-effect of this was to leave the original Burp alone once more, without true love by his side. He stayed noble.

Interestingly, the man whom Burp transformed into bore a striking resemblance to another man representing Eliminations, Inc. This man assisted on the defeat of the Justice Society and was the Earth-Two counterpart of Professor Ivo. Ivo was the man who created a synthetic humanoid named Amazo who could replicate all the super powers of most members of the Justice League of America. And Amazo's fashion sense, with various gaudy stripes, bear a striking similiarity to those of The Twerp!

However, although imitating some aspects of one another, it is evident that Amazo’s counterpart on Earth-Two was Akhet, created by the predecessor to Eliminations, Inc., the former government brain trust known as the Binary Brotherhood.

*"Burp the Twerp" was quite possibly the cartoon creation of Robby’s counterpart Scribbly Jibbet, which tapping into the metaphysical energy in his newspaper's office .

Unrequited Love: The Bold & Bossy Blonde and the Resilient & Redheaded Rube

Christopher "Chris" King and Cecil "Spike" Wilson were sometimes seen as a bit... well... thickheaded? Yet underneath this seemingly oblivious exterior was hearts of gold. And what most captivated their hearts? Why the two sassy blonde ladies in their lives, whom they grew to care for more and more as the try grew up side-by-side.

Vicki Grant and Sugar Plumm were extremely confident, making them highly dependable yet somewhat volatile when dealing with the opposed sex. While definitely the more thoughtful in their approach to problems, they benefited from the playful demeanor of the boys in their lives, allowing them to enjoy adventures together.

In alternate futures, these two couples had stressful times ahead. Chris and Vicki were adversaries as her H-Dial corrupted her personality, along with a vicious cult, forcing him to use his H-Dial in battle with the girl he once loved. Spike and Sugar started a private investigator business together, invading metahuman matters, which often brought the pair into conflict over their different methods. But those were only a possible future, not the likely one for either.

While there was never confirmation that Sugar and Spike ever dated, their devotion to one another was quite evident. As heirs to the heroic, if goofy, Cyclone Kids and their protector the original Red Tornado, Plumm and Wilson forged their paths from getting temporary powers on into their later years.

There was amble validation that Vicki and Chris dated on and off throughout their high schools. At times, a rift would form due to Chris’ bitter rivalry and Vicki’s blind loyalty to her ex-boyfriend Brad, and later her brief romantic interest in Nick Stevens. But their H-Dials, granting them various powers and identities for an hour at a time, as well as their friendship drew them back together.

While Vicki and Chris only had approximately 51 recorded adventures which took place during the early 1980s, Sugar and Spike has far more tales chronicled in the mid-1960s. While some of these were more pedestrian in nature, their later stories dealt with gaining unusual abilities through various means. Some of these mirrored those of infant incarnations of the Earth-One Superman and Wonder Woman’s “impossible tales” as Superbaby in Smallville and Wonder Tot on Paradise Island.

The Dial H for Heroes duo attracted the attention of the Justice League on one occasion, when an opponent of theirs whom they were battling erected an unbreakable force field around their town of Fairfax. Later, Superman would meet the pair as reporter Clark Kent while investigating the various one-shot superheroes and superheroines who were appearing there, and assisted them versus their arch-enemy Robby “The Master” Reed and his artificial supervillains.

As for Sugar and Spike, they appeared inexplicably during a photo shoot of the Justice Society. A possible explanation as to why they were there was the team’s honorary member the original Red Tornado was present, and so perhaps she brought along her long time ally Scribbly. This seems logical as he was in the newspaper business and long had illustrated their adventures for his publication. Scribbly then likely brought with him his son and his two infant pals.

Comic Cartoonists Created Costumed Crimefighters

Nick Stevens* was an aspiring young artist while still attending Fairfax High School. His primary interest was in creating superheroes for his handmade comicbooks. In 1982, he became friends with fellow students Vicki Grant and Chris King, who themselves were superheroes thanks to the power dials they mysteriously inherited a year earlier. He, and they, discovered that somehow his creations influenced the dials, causing Chris and Vicki to transform into those specific heroes and heroines. After briefly being mentally manipulated by the mysterious Master to use this ability to manufacture supervillains, Nick regained his senses and helped his schoolmates. 

It was then revealed that the Master was really Robbie Reed, the original Dial H for Hero. After dialing "S-P-L-I-T" in order to become both himself and a superhero in order to save Earth-One, this turned him evil. His heroic alter ego created the two additional power dials then given to Vicki and Chris, after which he was hunted down by Reed. After regaining his sanity and morality, Robbie bequeathed his Dial to Nick. Stevens remained a creative civilian instead of a costumed crimefighter.

On the parallel planet of Earth-Two, another young cartoonist was himself heavily involved with actual superheroes since the 1940s. This lad, Scribbly Jibbet**. lived in a neighborhood where his own younger sister Sisty and her best friend Dinky were secretly the Cyclone Kids***, sidekicks of local superheroine Red Tornado****... herself Ma Hunkle the mother of Dinky. During their various adventures, Scribbly tapped into the metaphysical aspects of his reality through Earth-Prime artist Sheldon Mayer whom they all met.

Among Scribbly's greatest inspirations towards his career chronicling costumed crimefighters was Superman, and years later the revived Seven Soldiers of Victory who returned after having disappeared for decades into past eras. This led Scribbly in his late 40's into a job at Metropolis News, illustrating the city's many prtoectors such as the Man of Steel, the Soldiers, Power Girl and some members of the Justice Society. Jibbet also supplemented this with reporting on their tales as a beat reporter. This led him to become friends with the Shining Knight, who recruited Scribbly to be his partner and newest teammate of the Seven Soldiers, or Law's Legionnaires which was their other team name. During the Convergence event on the world of Talos, they saw the other Soldiers losing their lives save for the Knight and Star-Spangled Kid.

In the intervening years between his boyhood days and those as a Legionnaire, Jibbet ended up marrying and fathering a son named Scribbly Jr. His son became friends with Sugar Plumm and Cecil "Spike" Wilson who, like Sisty and Dinky, at times were secretly heroes... although these kids gained various abilities or devices. These kids, like Vicki**** and Chris, were local legends. 

* Nick Stevens’ Earth-Two counterpart was Bernie the Brain, a super-genius infant who created various devices which he and his friend Sugar and Spike used in several of their adventures.

** Robbie Reed's Earth-Two counterpart Scribbly Sr. may have been the creator of the cartoon brought to life known as "Burp the Twerp" which like Chris’ heroic Dial aliases was multi-talented. 

*** The Cyclone Kids Sisty and Dinky's Earth-One counterparts were Justice League junior members Paco "Vibe" Ramone and Cynthia "Gypsy" Reynolds.

**** Red Tornado aka Ma Hunkle's Earth-One counterpart was Katma Tui who like Ma was inspired by Green Lantern, with Katma becoming the Green Lantern of her space sector.

***** Vicki Grant's greatest power is her hairs' superhuman ability to stay as pigtales at all times!!!

Aquatic Adversaries: The Ladies Tsunami vs Blonde Bombshells

Some dopplegangers on Earths One and Two are mirror images, others appear as more homages to one another. Then there are those that are similar enough yet still individually distinct. While at times, some of these cosmic twins that are superheros and supervillians even meet upon on each world, engaging in parallel conflicts that imitate each other. Such was the case with the counterpart criminals known as Tsuami, and the blonde bombshells who battled them.

On Earth-One, Tsunami sought to distract the citizens of Fairfax, by using her power to generate tidal waves. While the civil authorities were busy saving helpless victims, Tsunami's fellow criminal Distortionex used his powers to break in and rob local banks of their money. However, Vicki Grant and Chris King used their H-Dials to become a pair of temporary heroes in order to defeat the pair. While Vicki didn't have her former powers controlling the elements which she had has Alchemiss, Chris as Neon aptly beat both crooks.

On Earth-Two, Tsunami sought to cripple America, by using her power to generate tidal waves to aid the Imperial Japanese fleet in their bombing raid of that country's oil fields along the west coast. However, Libby Lawrence and Rick Cannon, along with other heroes of the All-Star Squadron such as Starman, battled her and her allies to a standstill. Libby as Liberty Belle, while not a physical match for Tsunami and lacking sonic vibration abilities she would gain later, was still able to orchestrate her foes' retreat.

Both Vicki and Libby would have rematches with the Tsunamis, in a courtroom and in the All-Star Squadron Perisphere headquarters, once more winning the battle.

Wildly Wacky and Weird: Dial H for Hero and Burp the Twerp

Robby Reed was arguably the most powerful superhero of Earth-One, in so much as he had access to an immense variety of superhuman abilities at any time he needed it. Reed accidentally uncovered an ancient H-Dial in a cavern, which he deduced would grant him various powers when he dialed H-E-R-O. This led to dozens of adventures and scores of alter egos, each time he became someone different. Defending his home town of Littleville, Colorado, Robby would face various supervillains including his arch-enemy in Erick Bolton aka the Moon Man, who led a criminal organization known as Thunder. Given the location he lived, Robby never met more well-known superheroes, save one much later.

Despite defeating these cadre of crooks, the temptation toward criminality would tempt him. Robby didn't always use these gifts in the wisest manner, which led to as much trouble as what he had battled.

An individual on Earth-Two who matched the diversity of Robby's powerset was a man known only by two aliases, Burp the Twerp*, of the Super Son-of-a-Gun. The origin of his abilities, and his actual birthname, are unknown... although it does not seem he relies on a device like an H-Dial to manifest these metahuman attributes.

Unlike other mystery men of the 1940's, Burp kept mostly to himself while being preoccupied in some mundane misadventures. However, on at least two occasions, he encountered Plastic Man. And like Plastic Man, Twerp could contort his body into various shapes and likewise favored a red and black costume during his capers.

Robby had himself once device dialed himself into a clone of Plastic Man, a version of whom also lived on Earth-One and had similar tales as that of his Earth-Two counterpart. Shortly after this, the original Plastic Man came out of retirement and assisted Batman on several cases, reestablishing himself once more as both a superhero and a law enforcement officer.

As for Reed, after several successful tales, his situation started to turn dark. First, his evil side manifested when the pitch of a jet booster used by criminals affected him in his heroic personas. This led to partial amnesia, wherein he forgot he had possessed the H-Dial, and when he suddenly remembered his psychke was too fractured to wield the power without becoming corrupt. After this occasion, Robby attempted to resume his heroic activites, and while attempting to save Earth was forced to dial S-P-L-I-T on his H-Dial so he could be two places at once, which led to the creation of a superhero and a supervillain.

As for Burp the Twerp, he would later appear once more in the company of Plastic Man and Plas' partner Woozy Winks, having come to be obsessed with his fellow shape changer. Noticing that the Super Son-of-a-Gun was stalking his pal, Woozy confronted the creepy contortionist and discovered that... but for his lack of attention span... Burp was a serious threat to not only Plastic Man but all other costumed contemporaries. That said, Burp left the pair once proving his point.

In one tale, Burp sought to marry a woman he had been pursuing for quite some time. When she rejected him due to his appearance, he displayed the ability to change heads, though now having handsome features he found she still wasn't satisifed. Next, in his bag of tricks, he pulled out a more fit physical form, which she definitely approved of, and accepted his marriage proposal. However, the original head of Burp recognized this and reasssembled his old body oce more, realizing he was "too good for his own good". This occasion seems to indicate that perhaps he was an artificial life form, such as an adaptable android.

Between the occasion when Robby first turned evil and when he dialed S-P-L-I-T, after recovering from amnesia and regaining his dial, he encountered the actual Plastic Man while acting out some criminal tendencies once more. Plas fought Robby in various forms, including Robby as Plastic Man II once more. After defeated Reed, Plas took possession of the H-Dial to keep the lad from abusing its power. Robby somehow recoved the dial later on, perhaps after Plastic Man deposited it with the law enforcement agency he was working for. It was at this point, when he split himself in two, that he created two versions of himself. Unlike Burp's handsome and original bodies, each of which was still inherantly good, Reed's two bodies were diametrically opposed. One was good, and the other evil. The evil version disposed of the good version, but not before that good version created two new H-Dials with power limitations that would prevent their inheritors from turning evil. These two, Vicki Grant and Chris King, carried on a various superheroes, fighting the artifical supervillains created by Robby's evil Master persona. 

Eventually, Reed regained his sanity and retired.

*  Burp the Twerp was quite possibly the cartoon creation of Scribbly Jibbet, the doppelgänger of Robby Reed, tapping into the metaphysical energy in his newspaper's office to bring Burp to life.

Dial "Q" for Quick: Spelling + Math Equals Adventure!

Robby Reed came upon an alien dial which, when he learned to transcribe it, allowed him to "Dial 'H' for Hero", or so the saying goes. Johnny Chambers acquired from his guardian Professor Gill the means to access a formula making him a superhero. These various formulas in Earth-Two's universe provided a wide range of superhuman abilities, similar to the dial's letter combinations would on Earth-One. However, it was another individual who mirrored Reed in all his strange forms, just as another crimefighter had mirrored Quick's speed superheroics. 

Robby's counterpart on Earth-Two, was young artist SScribbly Jibbet and his wondrously wacky and weird fictional creation known as "Burp the Twerp" aka the Super Son-of-a-Gun. While not relying on a formula like Johnny Quick or Mister Reed, the variety of superhuman abilities manifested by Burp was matched only by Robby. The origin of Burp's powers has never been revealed, although it was later shown that he and his world's Plastic Man had met on at least two occasions while comparing their powers. Although Burp could shapechange into elastic forms as well as displaying powers of other superheroes, his lack on intellect drew his attention away from serious use of his gifts to protect others. As for Johnny's cosmic twin, that would've been the equally quick speedster known as Kid Flash, nephew of Earth-One's Flash.

Robby once transformed into the Earth-One version of Plastic Man. On a later occasion, Reed’s evil persona manifested as a faux Plastic Man who battled the original pliable protector of his world. Robby later split into a hero and villain persona, before regaining his sanity after giving H-dials to two other teens... Chris King and Vicki Grant. 

Various alphabetic and alphanumeric combinations allowed these Robby and Johnny to become something more. Among these were the following awesome abilities:

H.E.R.O. and 3X2(9YZ)4A  unleashed superhuman power for good. 

O.R.E.H. and Z25Y(2AB)6 returned an individual to normal again, 

V.I.L.L.I.A.N. and 3X2(9YZ)4AX turned one into an evil superhuman.

H.O.R.R.O.R. and 4G-7E(3X3W)6X gave one a monstrous physique.

H.E.R.O.I.N.E. and ZYM04N13/1 always granted temporary powers.

S.P.L.I.T. and 5x3(99ZY)444AB provides extra abilities.

H-I-D-E-Y-O-U-R-S-S-E-L-F and 6x4(18yz)8A - helps to conceal these formulas’ powers.

Several undocumented combinations yielded similar effects.

After a series of adventures, Reed gained amnesia after he had saved Earth-One from destruction by dialing S.P.L.I.T. in order to become two individuals, the Wizard who flew off to defeat the villain behind the death trap, and the Master who ingeniously deactivated the global bomb. It was then realized by both individuals that the Wizard possessed all of Reed's inherent good, and the Master all his inherent evil. While the Wizard developed two more power dials like Robby's original dial, the Master slayed his good-nature clone. An evil seed then took root.

These two power dials ended up in the hands of Vicki Grant and Chris King, a pair of high school students in Fairfax who had a more substantial career in their various H-Dial alter egos than had Reed himself. Later, they discovered that they were heirs to a legacy, the locket that she wore and the watch that he wore originated from Robby Reed himself. As the Master, Reed attempted to reclaim both H-Dials using artifically created supervillains, before finally coming to his senses and forsaking evil. Any further career Vicky and Chris had as superheroes would be shortlived.

On Earth-Two, the power couple was the infants known as Sugar and Spike. Born Sugar Plumm and Cecil "Spike" Wilson, the blonde haired girl and red haired boy were instant friends since their first meeting in 1956. Dozens of their adventures, or rather mis-adventures*, were chronicled until 1971, and on a few occasions the pair briefly gained superhuman powers. For instance, on one occasion they were subjected to a size-altering ray that could shrink or enlarge them, another time to a volume X which gave Spike abilities comparable to those of Superman. On yet another occasion, a young brilliant frenemy of theirs developed a Tornado Tot costume for himself, which the kids borrowed while pretending to be the new superhero.

Tornado Tot was no doubt inspired by a previous superhero, Ma Hunkle aka the Red Tornado, who had operated in their neighborhood back in the early 1940s. In fact, Sugar and Spike eventually met the lad who told her tales through his artwork, Scribby Jibbett, who was now himself a father to Scribby Junior whom they met one fine day on the beach. While the devices they stumbled upon were seemingly unrelated, they were perhaps based on the same premise as Johnny Quick's mathematical formula. As for these kids, they later grew up to become professional investigators of strange phenomenon, perhaps inspired by their own past.

* As far-fetched as some of Sugar and Spike’s toddler tales were, this was matched by those of the younger versions of the Earth-One Superman and Wonder Woman, when they were Superbaby and Wonder Tot in Smallville and Paradise Island.

Plentifully Prodigious Plastic Men

One of the iconic heroes in comic book history has to be the stretch sleuth known as Plastic Man, created by legendary writer Jack Cole. And from his initial 1941 appearance in Police Comics #1 through that series' conclusion and that of his own title published during that decade, the former Eel O'Brien became a legend. And a desired property for other publishers, particularly DC Comics which acquired the Quality Comics character.

So in 1966 Plas was reintroduced, or rather it turned out to be his son. Then, the original turned up in a couple of early 1970's Brave and the Bold issues teaming up with Batman. But was this the original? And what became of his son? Well after his own revitalized mid-70's series had concluded, he had a string of Adventure/Super Friends/Worlds Finest Comics solo tales. Intermixed, he was affiliated with at least three teams of champions of three Earths!

Once the dust cleared and time helped place things in perceptive, a few facts were made somewhat clear. The initial incarnation of Plastic Man resided on Earth-Two, home to most golden age heroes. Joining the All-Star Squadron as their FBI liason, he would stick around. During this period he met Captain Marvel from Earth-S, and Uncle Sam who moved to Earth-X. Around this time, an inventive crook created synthetic Plastic Men to bedevil the original. Even Woozy Winks became a stretchy sidekick accidentally and helped his pal to defeat the fakes.

It was the latter that finally motivated Plastic Man to journey with fellow heroes from Earth-Two to this hero-less world to protect it from the Nazi hordes. Sadly, this journey was not kind to this incarnation of Plastic Man, as alluded to by Uncle Sam's cryptic comments decades later. And yet, according to his "Who's Who" entry, this golden age Plastic Man still survived into the present day even though he was thought deceased on Earth-X!

Prior to his departure from Earth-Two, however, 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 may have remained behind to aid Woozy in crime fighting when the original journeyed to Earth-X.

During the Convergence event that pulled various cities and their heroes to a planet outside space and time, Plastic Man along with you fellow Freedom Fighter battled the Nazi villain Silver Ghost. During the conflict, Plas and the Ghost formed an uneasy alliance to track down the origin of deadly cyborgs threatening the citizens of their displaced New York City. After a final battle when the Ghost betrayed his foe turned ally, Plastic Man was left outside and separated from the Fighters. Where this version of the hero ended up in the multitude of cities on Telos wasn't initially revealed. He didn't return to Earth-Two, as the Senate hearing that tried the Justice Society for treason in the 1980's stated that Plastic Man disappeared in the 1940's. It appears that this Plas journeyed to the Gotham City of Earth-Twelve, which was also listed as having temporarily been located on Telos, and on this Earth he ultimately settled down and sired a son in his own image!

The Earth-One Plastic Man first appeared chronologically alongside the Justice League of America in their origin story and later team up with that world's Batman in Brave and the Bold, then would go on to have solo tales in the 1970's in his own title, Super Friends Adventure and World's Finest Comics! After a notable career, this Plastic Man assumed the guise of explorer Kyle Morgan, and was engaged to corrupt businesswoman Ruby Ryder. From this experience, he saw the futility of having a life separate from his superhero persona, and resumed his career as the pliable protector and as an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation with pal Woozy Winks.

This pliable protector found a foe in the young Robby Reed, the possessor of the H-Dial, enabling him to "Dial 'H' for Hero" which he did over a dozen times in his brief career. Twice Robby become a clone of Plastic Man, first as a hero and years later as a misguided villain for a brief period.

Robby's Dial-generated Plas was similar to Burp the Twerp aka the Super Son-of-a-Gun, who had various shape-changing powers and met Earth-Two's Plastic Man on at least two occasions during his chaotic crimefighting career. 

Then there was the wacky 1960's son of the original, Eel O'Brien Jr. and a Plastic Man who had teamed up with the Inferior Five in their issue #6. It was then revealed that the golden age Eel (who originated on Earth-Two) made a home for himself on this third world he traveled to, one that unlike his home-world and his initial adopted world gripped by World War was more comical in nature.

Rather, this was a more lighthearted Earth, and it appears it was there that he carried on his adventures in  his self-titled own magazine during the late 1940s and early 1950s. He eventually married and accidentally bequeathed similar powers to his son, who carried on his legacy. This son Eel Junior would be, in effect, the Earth-Twelve doppelgänger of his dear old, dad the original Plastic Man of Earth-Two.

Eventually, the rigors of stretching his body in various ways causes the original Plastic Man crippling pain, leading to his retirement until called upon to aid his son later on.

Eel Junior existed contemporaneous to the Inferior Five, who were said to reside on Earth-Twelve, on that parallel world prone towards comedic circumstances. However, despite being a second generation hero like the Five (who themselves were the offspring of the golden age Freedom Brigade) Junior did not deem it worthy of joining them. What became of him after his dozen chronicled tales is unknown, as his Earth also encountered the Crisis that had engulfed the Multiverse.

Another Plastic Man was one who appeared alongside Kid Eternity on Earth-S. While this may, on the surface, seem similar to when Earth-One's Robbie Reed used his Dial "H" for Hero device to transform into the malleable manhunter himself on two occasions, this was the Eel O'Brien from the Kid's Eternity dimension, which was attached to Earth-S. It was this Plastic Man's exploits in the middle to latter part of the 1940's that were being chronicled in Police Comics, as mentioned in this particular story... on the Kid's Earth-S. 

Additionally, Blackhawk had tales in his own series during this time and also aided Kid Eternity on occasion. As with Plastic Man, it seems Blackhawk... and by extension his six teammates...migrated from Eternity to Earth-S. Or perhaps remained in the Eternity dimension These heroes continued to operate into the mid 1950's as chronicled in their Quality Comics tales.

Indeed, this legend stretched himself quite thin, in a sense... as five versions of him helped to protect five worlds! So in the end, there was Plastic Man of Earth-Two who was a founding member of the All-Star Squadron and later moved to Earth-X thanks to Uncle Sam, then due to the Convergence moved to Earth-Twelve where he sired that universe's native version of Plastic Man, the Plastic Man from Eternity that Kid Eternity brought to Earth-S where he remained, the Earth-One Plastic Man and his Robby Reed clone. And we aren't even counting the dozens of synthetic Plastic Men that one of the original's foes created in the early 1940's on Earth-Two. Whew!