Plastic Man: The Complete Series – DVD Review

Plastic

It’s aluminum! It’s cardboard! No, it’s Plastic Man! Yes, Plastic Man. The world’s most versatile and shapeshiftingest superhero is finally here on DVD. Along with love interest Penny and accident-prone sidekick Hula Hula, Plastic Man and the gang go up against some of the most ruthless and villainous baddies in the history of superhero kind! Will Plastic Man make the world safe for all?

From DC Comics, this comedy-adventure series aired right after Superfriends but had a tongue-in-cheek attitude about it. It’s a satire on the superhero genre with Plastic Man at the center of this zany world of bad guys who are as dangerous as the villains on Disney’s Darkwing Duck.

So what does Plastic Man do? Well, he can change into any shape or object, he stretch himself out, flatten himself, and squeeze into the smallest spaces. He reminded me of a campy Mr. Fantastic from The Fantastic Four, if he had a hot blonde girlfriend and a klutzy Hawaiian shirt wearing sidekick alongside him.

The one thing I was surprised about was the lack of a “laugh-track,” which would have fit in perfectly with this series. Since it is from Hanna-Barbera, has the same animation style as Scooby-Doo, and a similar sense of humor, I was expecting a studio audience to laugh a few times.

For those relieved that this element doesn’t exist, you’ll have to add your own laughter as you watch Plastic Man and company battle the evil geniuses Half-Ape, The Clam, and Disco Mummy, among others!

This DVD collection contains all 35 episodes of the series on four DVDs, and includes two cool special features. They are:

PLAS-tastic: A Brief History of Plastic Man (on DVD #1)

Where did he come from? How did he evolve as a character? What was the genesis of the TV series? And what other Plastic Man-related stuff has come and gone through the ages? Find out here!

Puddle Trouble: Unaired Pilot (on DVD #2)

This update of the series has the look of Johnny Bravo and is pretty funny. It’s too bad it never became a series.

For a healthy dose of campy animated fun, check out Plastic Man! He can spring! He can stretch! He can even dance! And he looks quite dashing in that red unitard!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.