Number 2351: Plastic Man’s Gay Nineties Nightmare

Any comic book fan who loved Plastic Man would have been ecstatic to pay 10¢ for Plastic Man #2, issued in 1944. All new stories and great artwork from Jack Cole. Yow! The thought of confronting it for the first time makes old Pappy go all mushy with delight.

It was not published by Quality Comics, which published Plastic Man in Police Comics as a company called “Comic Magazines” with offices on Lexington Ave. in New York City. Instead it was published by “Vital Publications, Inc., New York, a division of Wm C Popper and Co., ‘Book publishers since 1893.’” The reason for Quality Comics jobbing it out to another publisher was undoubtedly the paper rationing during World War II. During the war a publisher would be smart to pay a sub-contractor to have a book printed with their paper ration, rather than having to cut back on a couple of issues of regular monthly or bi-monthly periodicals to have the printing done.

In my not-so-humble opinion, this issue of Plastic Man is one of the best comics published during that time. “The Gay Nineties Nightmare” is the lead story, and got the cover, also.

Posted in: Pappy Comics