Kyle Baker
Plastic Man: On The Lam (2004)
Author: Kyle Baker
Genre: Graphic Novel (Superhero)
Plot Summary:
Plastic Man is a superhero with a very elastic personality. Plastic Man can strech, twist and bend into any shape imaginable, even into those shapes that aren't imaginable. Plastic Man can be in two places at once and is a fantastic crime fighter. He has a sarcastic sense of humor and a woozy sidekick that seem to be his downfall. Plastic Man used to be Eel O'Brian, a really bad bad guy. On his last job as a bad guy at a chemical plant he was shot by a security gaurd and fell into a vat of acid. He escaped the chemical plant but was still being prusued by the police. He ran all night and finally ended up at a monastary where he recuperated and found that he had an amazing ability to strech his body into all sorts of inconcievable shapes. He then turns to a life without crime working for the FBI as a superhero. Unfortunetly Eel O'Brian is accussed of murder, the FBI finds out that Plastic Man is really Eel O'Brian and Plastic man has to run for his life while trying to find out who framed him for murder.
Geographical Setting: Mammoth City (fictional)
Time Period: 20th century
Series: first in the Plastic Man series
Appeal Characteristics:
The story line is easy to follow, the action comes hard and fast making this a quick read. The art work is well done in a full color layout that is engaging to look at. The novel pokes fun at comics and superheroes and is quite funny in that respect. Plastic Man is always finding new and ingenious ways to get himself out of sticky and deadly situations.
Read-alikes: Readers who enjoyed Plastic Man: On the Lam should try some of the following titles: Spyboy: The Deadly Gourmet Affair by Peter David, which has the same element of humor that can be found in on the Lam; Decoy by Eli Williams, which is about a cop that comes in contact with aliens and is able to rid the world of crime (it also has good, colorful art work); X-Men: Evolution by Devin Grayson, a classic tale of superheroes (however, this graphic novel does not feature the same "cartoony" type of art but does have the same type of story; Tom Strong: Book 1 by Alan Moore, Chris Sprouse, and Alan Gordon, which is the tale of a young boy raised by scientist parents who becomes a superhero and fights evil (its artwork has a comic style; and Plastic Man, Volume 2: Rubber Bandits, second in the series by Kyle Baker.
Red Flags: some violence...okay, a lot of violence.
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