DC Reprinting Plastic Man's First Appearance Amid DCU Rumors

Plastic Man was a huge character at one point. Could he be returning to the screen?

By Russ Burlingame - May 28, 2024 10:21 am EDT

This summer, DC is reprinting Police Comics #1, featuring the first appearances of Firebrand, Plastic Man, Phantom Lady, and the Human Bomb. Originally published by Quality Comics, Police Comics #1 is in the public domain and widely available on digital sites, but DC uses, and owns trademarks for, most Quality Comics characters. Not only have these characters appeared in numerous DC stories since the 1980s crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, but they have been prominently featured in some, like Infinite Crisis and Freedom Fighters. Releasing a new, recolored and remastered version of Police Comics also likely gives DC a fresh coat of paint in terms of copyright, allowing them to differentiate their version from the relatively low-quality scans circulating online.

The news of a facsimile edition of Police Comics #1 comes on the heels of speculation that Warner Bros. plans to exploit Plastic Man in the forthcoming DC Universe (on film and TV) from producers James Gunn and Peter Safran.

"Who would've thought 11 years ago the two most popular rides in the world are Guardians of the Galaxy ride?" Gunn said back in February. "Two most popular rides in the world are based on a comic that fucking 20,000 people knew. And so being able to try to create these other properties, use our diamonds, our Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, to prop up our Booster Golds or Green Lanterns or Plastic Mans or whatever is important."

It's hard to call that a conclusive statement -- it sounds very much like he was pulling a kind of random example of a B-list character -- but "random" might not be easy to prove when every other IP mentioned there has an upcoming project that has already been announced. While Wonder Woman 3 might not be coming anytime soon, there's still an Amazons-related project joining Superman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Booster Gold, and Lanterns.

You can see the solicitation text below.

POLICE COMICS #1 FACSIMILE EDITION

Written by JACK COLE, S.M. IGER, GEORGE BRENNER, GILL FOX, CLARK WILLIAMS, VERN HENKEL, AL BRYANT, FRED GUARDINEER, ARTHUR PEDDY, and PAUL GUSTAVSON
Art by JACK COLE, REED CRANDALL, GEORGE BRENNER, GILL FOX, CLARK WILLIAMS, VERN HENKEL, AL BRYANT, FRED GUARDINEER, and PAUL GUSTAVSON
Cover by GILL FOX

$6.99 US | 64 pages
ON SALE 8/7/24

Prepare your eyes for the frame-bursting, mind-stretching introduction of Plastic Man from the limitless imagination of Jack Cole! This full facsimile reprinting of the Golden Age classic also features the first appearance of Phantom Lady and more.

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