The Elongated Man is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is a reserve member of the Justice League. His first appearance was The Flash vol. 1, #112 (May 12, 1960). He was partially created by Julius Schwartz, who noted he only created the character because he didn't realize DC Comics had acquired Plastic Man in 1956. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to first comic book to feature a character. ... The Flash. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year (133rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Broome (aka: pen names John Osgood and Edgar Ray Meritt) was a writer-contributor to DC Comics. ... Cover for Spider-Woman #8 (November 1978). ... The Justice League, sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short, is a fictional DC Universe superhero team. ... The Super Buddies are a team of comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe who appeared in the six-issue Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries in 2003, and its 2005 sequel, I Cant Believe Its Not the Justice League (published in JLA Classified). ... This article contains a trivia section. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... [[ For the bands, see Superheroes (band) and Super Heroines. ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... Cover to the History of the DC Universe trade paperback. ... The Justice League, sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short, is a fictional DC Universe superhero team. ... The Flash. ... Julius Schwartz, editor for DC Comics Julius Julie Schwartz (June 19, 1915 - February 8, 2004) was a comic book and pulp magazine editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. ... Plastic Man (Patrick Eel OBrian) is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. ...

The character has won and been nominated for several awards over the years, including winning the 1961 Alley Award for Best Supporting Character.

Fictional character biography

According to his origin, as a teenager, Ralph Dibny adored contortionists, or people who displayed feats of agility and suppleness. He learned that all of the body-benders he spoke with drank a popular soda called "Gingold." Ralph set to work learning chemistry and developed a super-concentrated extract of the rare Gingo fruit, which gave him his elasticity. Contortionist performing Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is an unusual form of acrobatic display which involves the bending of the human body into positions that would be impossible for most people to achieve. ... Chemistry - the study of atoms, made of nuclei (conglomeration of center particles) and electrons (outer particles), and the structures they form. ...

Ralph Dibny was one of the earliest Silver Age DC heroes to reveal his secret identity to the public, and also one of the first to marry his love interest. He and his wife Sue Dibny became effectively partners, solving mysteries and participating in Justice League adventures as equals. They were also notable in having a stable, happy, and relatively trouble-free marriage — an anomaly in the soap operatic annals of comic books. Fans of the characters often referred to Ralph and Sue as the "Nick and Nora Charles of the super-hero set" (a reference to The Thin Man movies). Showcase #4 (Oct. ... Susan Sue Dearbon Dibny is a fictional character from DC comics. ... The Justice League, sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short, is a fictional DC Universe superhero team. ... For Philippine soap opera, see Teleserye. ... Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy in the 1939 film Another Thin Man) Nick and Nora Charles, or Mr. ... The Thin Man was the first of six comic detective films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a hard-drinking and flirtatious married couple who banter wittily as they easily solve crimes. ...

In Identity Crisis #1, published in June 2004, tragedy struck the Dibnys, when Sue was murdered in their home just before she was going to surprise her husband with the news that she was pregnant. Ralph and Sue also appeared as members of the Justice League offshoot the Super Buddies in the miniseries Formerly Known as the Justice League and its sequel story arc "I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League". published in JLA: Classified #4-9. The latter arc was produced before Identity Crisis but published afterwards. Unfortunately, a running joke in "I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League" involves the possibility of Sue's pregnancy, and seems somewhat morbid after Identity Crisis. Identity Crisis is a seven-issue comic book limited series published by DC Comics in 2004, written by Brad Meltzer and penciled by Rags Morales. ... The Super Buddies are a team of comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe who appeared in the six-issue Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries in 2003, and its 2005 sequel, I Cant Believe Its Not the Justice League (published in JLA Classified). ... The Justice League is a DC Comics superhero team. ... The Super Buddies are a team of comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe who appeared in the six-issue Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries in 2003, and its 2005 sequel, I Cant Believe Its Not the Justice League (published in JLA Classified). ...

In the 2006 weekly series 52, Ralph Dibny has a gun to his head when he is informed that Sue's gravestone has been vandalized with an inverted version of Superman's 'S' symbol — the Kryptonian symbol for resurrection. He confronts Cassandra Sandsmark, and she tells Dibny that she is in a cult that believes that Superboy can be resurrected, but that they would like to try it first with Sue. Despite his initial agreement, Dibny and his friends disrupt the ceremony, but the effigy of Sue crawls to Dibny and calls out to him as it burns; Dibny suffers a nervous breakdown as a result. 52 is the title of a comic book limited series published by DC Comics, which debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. ... Cassandra Cassie Sandsmark, aka Wonder Girl, is a DC Comics superheroine. ... Superboy, also known by his Kryptonian name Kon-El and his human alias Conner Kent, is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe. ...

A voice from within the helm of Doctor Fate speaks to Dibny and promises to fulfill his desires if he makes certain sacrifices. Dibny journeys with the helm through the afterlives of several cultures, where he is cautioned about the use of magic. The Spectre promises to resurrect Sue in exchange for Dibny's taking vengeance on Jean Loring, but Dibny is unable to do so. Doctor Fate is a DC Comics superhero and wizard, best known as a member of the Justice Society of America. ... The afterlife, or life after death, is a generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual, experiential, or ghost-like, beyond this world (eg. ... The Spectre is a fictional cosmic entity and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. ... Jean Loring is a fictional character from DC Comics. ...

Ralph and Sue reunited as ghost

At Nanda Parbat, Rama Kushna tells Dibny, "The end is already written." In Dr. Fate's tower, Dibny begins the spell to resurrect Sue, puts on the helmet of Fate, and shoots it, revealing Felix Faust, who was posing as Nabu. Faust planned to trade Dibny's soul to Neron in exchange for his own freedom. Ralph reveals that he was aware of Faust's identity for some time, and that the binding spell surrounding the tower is designed to imprison Faust, not to counter any negative effects of the spell. Neron appears and kills Dibny, only to realize too late that the binding spell responds only to Dibny's commands: Through his death Ralph has trapped Faust and Neron in the tower, seemingly for eternity, though this victory is short lived as both villains are able to escape seemingly almost immediately. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 668 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (935 × 839 pixel, file size: 161 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Ralph and Sue reunited as ghost at the end of the 52 series the picture serves to describe the final fate of the character This... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 668 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (935 × 839 pixel, file size: 161 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Ralph and Sue reunited as ghost at the end of the 52 series the picture serves to describe the final fate of the character This... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Doctor Fate, as seen in Justice League Unlimited Doctor Fate is a comic book superhero and wizard in the DC Comics universe, and a member of the Justice Society of America. ... Felix Faust is a fictional sorcerer and supervillain who appears in stories published by DC Comics. ... Neron is also an alternative name of the Roman Emperor Nero. ...

At the end of Week 52 it is revealed that Dibny's magical, wish-granting gun (a souvenir from "The Anselmo Case", a reference to The Life Story of the Flash) worked and that Ralph and Sue are now reunited as ghosts, investigating a school where a paranormal phenomenon has just occurred.

Powers and abilities

• The Elongated Man gets his abilities from a combination of drinking a soda named Gingold that contains the extract of a (fictional) fruit called gingo and his natural latent metahuman physiology. The extract interacts with a latent gene that Ralph has, thus activating his super powers. It was revealed in Invasion #3 that it was a metagene reaction to the Gingold elixir that had always provided him with his stretching powers, meaning that he is, in fact, a metahuman and that an ordinary human would not develop such powers through ingesting the extract. Also, most people are extremely allergic to highly concentrated Gingold. The only other hero in the DCU who uses Gingold is Stretch, a member of Hero Hotline who has been using the compound since the 1940s. Due to prolonged Gingold abuse Stretch had problems maintaining human form. Pre-Crisis storylines had Jimmy Olsen taking a similar gingo extract, becoming Elastic Lad, and being an Honorary Legion of Superheroes member. Also, The Question's faceless mask utilizes Gingold, although there is no stretching involved.
• As his name suggests, the Elongated Man can stretch his limbs and body to super-human lengths and sizes. These stretching powers grant the Elongated Man heightened agility enabling him flexibility and coordination that is beyond the natural limits of the human body. He can contort his body into various positions and sizes impossible for ordinary humans, such as being entirely flat so that he can slip under a door, or using his fingers to pick conventional locks. He can also use it for disguise by changing the shape of his face, although this is painful and difficult for him. Ralph's physiology has greater physical limitations than Plastic Man; there is a limit to how far he can stretch his finite bodily mass.
• The Elongated Man's powers also greatly augments his durability. He is largely able to withstand corrosives, punctures and concussions without sustaining injury. It has been demonstrated that he is resistant to high velocities that would kill an ordinary person and that he is also more resistant to blasts from energy weapons that would kill ordinary humans. His physiology is more like that of an ordinary human than Plastic Man and as a result he does not share Plastic Man's nigh invulnerability.
• In addition to his stretching abilities, Elongated Man is professionally trained as a detective and is highly skilled in deductive reasoning. Often considered one of the most brilliant detectives in the DC Universe (on par with Batman only differing in the actual course of their logic), his name is also a play on The Thin Man detective serial. He is a talented amateur chemist as well.
• After his sacrifice, he and Sue are ghosts, with all the powers that a ghost possesses such as flight/levitation, intangibility, invisibility and maybe others.
• Ralph Dibny is a native English speaker, but can also speak French. He can understand Interlac well enough to translate.

This is a list of fictional performance enhancers, serums, trigger chemicals, booster drugs, and mutagenic foods in the various comic book universes, that were used to give a specific hero or villain their powers. ... Hero Hotline is a fictional DC Comics corporate superteam introduced in Hero Hotline #1 1989. ... The Question is an American comic book superhero. ... Plastic Man (Patrick Eel OBrian) is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a DC Comics fictional superhero who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. ... Interlac font table In Comic publications by DC Comics the fictional language INTERLAC is the supposed designated communication language of the 30th century United Planets. ...

Other versions

• Elongated Man has appeared in the Justice League Unlimited spin-off comic book.

Other media

The Elongated Man, as depicted in Justice League Unlimited
This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It will be deleted after Friday, 3 August 2007.

The Elongated Man appears in several episodes of the Justice League Unlimited animated series, voiced by Jeremy Piven. This is the first television series in which he has made an appearance. Although he appears in numerous episodes as a background character, Elongated Man has only three speaking roles. Elongated Man was never called by the name but called Ralph. Screen Capture Still from the Justice League Unlimited Television series. ... Screen Capture Still from the Justice League Unlimited Television series. ... Justice League Unlimited (or JLU) is the name of an American animated television series that was produced by and aired on Cartoon Network. ... Justice League Unlimited (or JLU) is the name of an American animated television series that was produced by and aired on Cartoon Network. ... This article contains a trivia section. ...

• In "The Greatest Story Never Told", he and Booster Gold complain about being put on crowd control during a massive battle with Mordru. Although the episode follows Booster's efforts to stop a black hole from destroying the city, Elongated Man is called to the front lines and defeats Mordru, albeit offscreen.

• In his second voiced appearance, ("The Ties That Bind") the Elongated Man and The Flash express concern about the fact that some other members of the League don't show them enough respect. The Flash goes on to save the day while the Elongated Man sits the mission out.

• His last vocal appearance, ("Clash") his powers are stolen by The Parasite, who uses them to nearly defeat Metamorpho and Batman before the timely intervention of Captain Marvel.

Booster Gold is a fictional character, a superhero in publications from DC Comics. ... // Character Biography Mordru (also known as Mordru the Merciless) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe whose main foes are the Legion of Super-Heroes in the future world of the 30th and 31st centuries and the Justice Society of America and the Lord of Order... Simulated view of a black hole in front of the Milky Way. ... Wally West is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Comics Universe, the first Kid Flash and the third Flash. ... The Parasite is a fictional character and supervillain who appears in Superman stories published by DC Comics. ... Metamorpho (Rex Mason) is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. ... Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a DC Comics fictional superhero who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. ... For other uses, see Captain Marvel. ...

Elseworlds

In Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, Dibny is mentioned as a man in a bar who was reminiscing about the Silver Age and when he heard mention of Batman, his face sagged and his jaw dropped to the floor. In the sequel Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again Dibny is seen hawking a "male enhancement" drink "Gingold" in a TV infomercial. He is then recruited to aid Batman in his attack against the American government (taken over by Lex Luthor). Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his film noir-style comic book stories. ... The Dark Knight Returns (commonly abbreviated to DKR) is a superhero comic book story published by DC Comics between 1985 and 1986, starring Batman and was written and drawn by Frank Miller. ... The Dark Knight Strikes Again is a Batman graphic novel by Frank Miller. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Lex Luthor is a fictional DC Comics supervillain. ...

Also in Kingdom Come Ralph is all stretched out and cannot control his stretching. A DC Comics Elseworld story written by Mark Waid and painted by Alex Ross, Kingdom Come is a limited series depicting a world after Superman. ...

External links

• Index to Ralph's Earth-1 solo adventures
• Site devoted to Elongated Man
• Ralph Dibny's diary that is on the Internet
• Elongated Man's secret origin on dccomics.com