Jon Hancock
Apr 26, 2004, 08:28 pm
<img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/headshots/dc/elongatedman.jpg" align=left alt="Elongated Man">Real Name: Randolph 'Ralph' William Dibny
Former Aliases: The Moulder, The Stretchable Sleuth
First Appearance: Flash (1st series) #112
Known Relatives: Sue Dearbon Dibny (wife, deceased), Ken Dibny (brother), Jake Dibny (uncle), Jim Dearbon (uncle-in-law)
Group Affiliation: formerly Justice League of America I, Justice League of America II, Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, Doom Patrol V, Superbuddies.
Known Allies: Maxwell Lord, Firehawk, Hamilton Drake, formerly Starman VII, Starman I, Flash II, Duke Donald
Major Enemies: Sonar, Copperhead, Warp, Eurocrime, Dr Light III
Height: 6'1 (varies)
Weight: 178lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Growing up in Waynesmore, Nebraska, Ralph Dibny always craved attention. Desperate for people to notice him, Ralph would perform stunts and jokes. However, he was always overshadowed by his brother's achievements. Ralph thought he could step out of his brother's shadow by entering the world of showbiz. Unfortunately he couldn't dance, sing, act or tell jokes. His only major talent was being skinny and Ralph realised that he could turn that into a career. Ralph always loved attending the carnivals and sideshows around America and remembered the Indian Rubber Men. Ralph trained for years to become as agile as the contortionists he idolised but never managed it. Not giving up Ralph continued to question the carnival performers wherever he went, asking for their trade secret. They insisted there wasn't one but Ralph's naturally inquisitive mind realised that all of the artists drank the soft drink Gingold which was made from the juice of the Gingo fruit, native to the Yucatan. Distilling the fruit into its purest extract, Ralph drank the concoction but there appeared to be no effect. Later though, when Ralph least expected it, his body began to stretch out of shape.
Fashioning an elastic costume for himself and a mask too, Ralph became the Elongated Man and headed to Central City to find his niche in super-heroing. Initially, Central City's resident hero, the Flash, thought Ralph was a villain responsible for a series of odd crimes, but the two shortly solved the caper and became lifelong friends. Ralph chose to move to Manhattan, to continue his crime fighting alone. Whilst there he carried out his first publicity stunt, crashing the debutante ball of the young, rich, beautiful Sue Dearbon whilst looking for jewel thieves. Sue quickly became intrigued by Ralph and the two wed, despite being an odd couple. Ralph also decided to abandon his secret identity, craving fame instead. Ralph started to introduce himself as Ralph Dibny, The World-Famous Elongated Man, a habit he keeps to this day.
Ralph and Sue both loved adventure and for the best part of a decade, the couple travelled around the world on a non-stop honeymoon. Wherever the couple stopped, Ralph would discover a mystery or crime that required his unquestionable detective skills to be used. Ralph continued to hone his skills, capturing normal criminals as well as super villains such as Captain Boomerang, Master Zero, the Intangibles and even a villain called the Moulder, which was actually himself during a bout of amnesia.
After assisting the Justice League several times, including helping to find the time lost team, the Seven Soldiers of Victory, Ralph was invited to join the League full time. He accepted only once he had made enough money from his public appearances to live comfortably with Sue. On his first official mission, Ralph helped to rescue the entire team from the clutches of the Queen Bee. Ralph continued his JLA membership when the team relocated to Detroit. He and Sue settled down in the bunker there and Ralph became one of the more seasoned members of the team, given the fact that the majority of the team were rookies. When this team disbanded, Ralph continued his globetrotting with Sue in search of adventure. Ralph soon began to miss the companionship and added fame that came with his League membership and so when Maxwell Lord approached him to be a part of his European branch of the Justice League International, Ralph leapt at the chance. Moving to Paris with Sue, Ralph became a stalwart of the team, spending time with the Flash again, whilst Sue served the team by being on permanent monitor duty. Ralph also served on the Justice League Task Force, a team whose membership was in constant rotation.
When Sonar threatened the peace in Europe it fell to Ralph and Sue alone to combat the threat and the dup managed to defeat Copperhead, Warp and Eurocrime as well as Sonar. Getting the buzz for solo adventuring again, Ralph and Sue left the League and started travelling around the world once more in search of mystery and adventure. During this time Duke Donald, a ghost that haunted the JLE's castle in London, accompanied the couple on their adventures, inhabiting a suit of armour. Ralph did return to help the League against threats such as Parallax and the Overmaster but did not accept permanent membership. After the JLI disbanded, Batman and Superman formed a new JLA. Ralph was on Batman's shortlist for the team but his spot was offered to Plastic Man whose powers are more versatile.
Later on Ralph relocated to Opal City where he and Sue helped Starman, Ted Knight and the Shade against a villain called Culp whose menacing hordes were invading Opal City. Whilst this adventure was happening Ralph met up with his childhood idol, the famous 19th century detective Hamilton Drew. The long-lived detective spoke to Ralph about how he appreciated Ralph's detective career and how it carried on his memory. Ralph has continued to live in Opal City but has fought alongside other heroes including Batman and Superman and also briefly joining the second incarnation of Thayer Jost's Doom Patrol. Ralph was recently approached by Maxwell Lord to join his new street level team of super heroes called the Superbuddies. Desperate to join, Ralph brought Sue along (who acted as the team's secretary) and was promptly captured by the owner of the villain's casino, Roulette. The team eventually escaped to face the wrath of Manga Kahn and following his 'defeat' their current status is unknown.
Whilst adventuring and joking are Ralph's main passions, his true love is his wife. Ralph and Sue's relationship has blossomed from being relatively unserious to a deep and lasting love that has seen Sue follow Ralph into two different teams, despite her having no powers or combat skills of her own. Sue also humours Ralph's affliction for mystery by organising one for him each birthday as his main present.
Ralph has the power to stretch his body to around a mile in length. This power stems from the effect that the Gingo fruit extract has when it reacts with Ralph's meta gene. Ralph can also make himself paper-thin or stretch individual facial features such a periscope eyes and alter his facial appearance (though this causes him pain.) Ralph can also condense his body into a small space such as the inside of a violin. While elongated, Ralph's body stamina increases making him more durable to concussive attacks and stronger due to the persistence of his limbs. Ralph can deflect sound waves by shaping his body appropriately. He can also maintain his balance regardless of how stretched he becomes. Ralph's other distinguishing power is that whenever a mystery or dilemma appears, his nose starts to stretch slightly and twitch. Ralph is also one of the world's foremost detectives and possesses a sharp, analytical mind as well as being capable at hand to hand combat though he employs a very unorthodox style. He is vulnerable to extreme cold, which renders him brittle. Ralph must also drink the Gingo fruit extract every few days to retain his powers. The former head of the Justice League Task Force, Hannibal Martin, made the extract into a pill for him, which he still uses.
APPEARANCES:
Action Comics #443, 480-483, 675
Adventures of Superman #442, 463, 489, 614, 616
Adventures of Superman Annual #4
Animal Man #16
Armageddon 2001 #2
Batman #177
Batman and the Outsiders #1
Batman Family #20
Batman: Gotham Knights #41
Bloodbath #1-2
Blue Devil #4-5
Brave and the Bold #177
Captain Atom #30, 34, 38
Challengers of the Unknown (1st series) #87
Crisis on Infinite Earths #5, 9-12
DC Comics Presents #21, 58, 93
Detective Comics #327-354, 356-383, 426, 430, 436, 444, 449, 453, 456-457, 462, 465-466, 468, 488, 500, 557, 572
Doom Patrol (3rd series) #4-6
Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2
Elongated Man: Europe '92 #1-4
Flash (1st series) #112, 115, 119, 124, 130, 134, 138, 206, 208, 210, 212, 221, 252-253, 277, 296, 349
Flash (2nd series) #29, 209, 214
Flash Spectacular
Formerly Known As The Justice League #1-6
Green Arrow (3rd series) #16
Green Lantern (3rd series) #25, 81
Guy Gardner: Warrior #39
Infinity, Inc. #19
Invasion! #3
JLA #27, 38-40
JLA: Incarnations #4-6
JLA/Titans #2-3
Justice League America #32, 54-60, 70, 89, 92, 96
Justice League of America #51, 100-102, 105-114, 116-121, 127-129, 131-134, 139, 142-143, 150-152, 155-157, 159-168, 170, 174, 179, 181-182, 186-191, 194-195, 197-200, 202-206, 209-212, 218-221, 223, 226-230, 233-239, 241-250, 252-258
Justice League of America Annual #1-3
Justice League Europe #1-10, 13-21, 25-50
Justice League Europe Annual #1-3
Justice League International (1st series) #24
Justice League International (2nd series) #51, 53-57, 65-68
Justice League International Annual (1st series) #3
Justice League International annual (2nd series) #4
Justice League Quarterly #3-9, 13
Justice League Spectacular #1
Justice League Task Force #1, 10-16, 30
Legends #1-2
Phantom Zone #2, 4
Power of the Atom #5
Red Tornado #3
Secret Origins (2nd series) #30
Secret Society of Super-Villains #5
Shadow War of Hawkman #3-4
Starman (2nd series) #56, 61-63, 65, 67, 70-73, 75, 80
Superman (2nd series) #65-66, 76, 142
Superman: The Man of Steel #10, 20
Superman Family #171, 211
Supergirl (2nd series) #20
Swamp Thing (2nd series) #46
Teen Titans (2nd series) #18
War of the Gods #1
Wonder Woman (1st series) #215, 219-220, 222, 247, 291, 300, 308-309
World's Finest Comics #300, 302
Zero Hour: Crisis In Time #3
Former Aliases: The Moulder, The Stretchable Sleuth
First Appearance: Flash (1st series) #112
Known Relatives: Sue Dearbon Dibny (wife, deceased), Ken Dibny (brother), Jake Dibny (uncle), Jim Dearbon (uncle-in-law)
Group Affiliation: formerly Justice League of America I, Justice League of America II, Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, Doom Patrol V, Superbuddies.
Known Allies: Maxwell Lord, Firehawk, Hamilton Drake, formerly Starman VII, Starman I, Flash II, Duke Donald
Major Enemies: Sonar, Copperhead, Warp, Eurocrime, Dr Light III
Height: 6'1 (varies)
Weight: 178lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Growing up in Waynesmore, Nebraska, Ralph Dibny always craved attention. Desperate for people to notice him, Ralph would perform stunts and jokes. However, he was always overshadowed by his brother's achievements. Ralph thought he could step out of his brother's shadow by entering the world of showbiz. Unfortunately he couldn't dance, sing, act or tell jokes. His only major talent was being skinny and Ralph realised that he could turn that into a career. Ralph always loved attending the carnivals and sideshows around America and remembered the Indian Rubber Men. Ralph trained for years to become as agile as the contortionists he idolised but never managed it. Not giving up Ralph continued to question the carnival performers wherever he went, asking for their trade secret. They insisted there wasn't one but Ralph's naturally inquisitive mind realised that all of the artists drank the soft drink Gingold which was made from the juice of the Gingo fruit, native to the Yucatan. Distilling the fruit into its purest extract, Ralph drank the concoction but there appeared to be no effect. Later though, when Ralph least expected it, his body began to stretch out of shape.
Fashioning an elastic costume for himself and a mask too, Ralph became the Elongated Man and headed to Central City to find his niche in super-heroing. Initially, Central City's resident hero, the Flash, thought Ralph was a villain responsible for a series of odd crimes, but the two shortly solved the caper and became lifelong friends. Ralph chose to move to Manhattan, to continue his crime fighting alone. Whilst there he carried out his first publicity stunt, crashing the debutante ball of the young, rich, beautiful Sue Dearbon whilst looking for jewel thieves. Sue quickly became intrigued by Ralph and the two wed, despite being an odd couple. Ralph also decided to abandon his secret identity, craving fame instead. Ralph started to introduce himself as Ralph Dibny, The World-Famous Elongated Man, a habit he keeps to this day.
Ralph and Sue both loved adventure and for the best part of a decade, the couple travelled around the world on a non-stop honeymoon. Wherever the couple stopped, Ralph would discover a mystery or crime that required his unquestionable detective skills to be used. Ralph continued to hone his skills, capturing normal criminals as well as super villains such as Captain Boomerang, Master Zero, the Intangibles and even a villain called the Moulder, which was actually himself during a bout of amnesia.
After assisting the Justice League several times, including helping to find the time lost team, the Seven Soldiers of Victory, Ralph was invited to join the League full time. He accepted only once he had made enough money from his public appearances to live comfortably with Sue. On his first official mission, Ralph helped to rescue the entire team from the clutches of the Queen Bee. Ralph continued his JLA membership when the team relocated to Detroit. He and Sue settled down in the bunker there and Ralph became one of the more seasoned members of the team, given the fact that the majority of the team were rookies. When this team disbanded, Ralph continued his globetrotting with Sue in search of adventure. Ralph soon began to miss the companionship and added fame that came with his League membership and so when Maxwell Lord approached him to be a part of his European branch of the Justice League International, Ralph leapt at the chance. Moving to Paris with Sue, Ralph became a stalwart of the team, spending time with the Flash again, whilst Sue served the team by being on permanent monitor duty. Ralph also served on the Justice League Task Force, a team whose membership was in constant rotation.
When Sonar threatened the peace in Europe it fell to Ralph and Sue alone to combat the threat and the dup managed to defeat Copperhead, Warp and Eurocrime as well as Sonar. Getting the buzz for solo adventuring again, Ralph and Sue left the League and started travelling around the world once more in search of mystery and adventure. During this time Duke Donald, a ghost that haunted the JLE's castle in London, accompanied the couple on their adventures, inhabiting a suit of armour. Ralph did return to help the League against threats such as Parallax and the Overmaster but did not accept permanent membership. After the JLI disbanded, Batman and Superman formed a new JLA. Ralph was on Batman's shortlist for the team but his spot was offered to Plastic Man whose powers are more versatile.
Later on Ralph relocated to Opal City where he and Sue helped Starman, Ted Knight and the Shade against a villain called Culp whose menacing hordes were invading Opal City. Whilst this adventure was happening Ralph met up with his childhood idol, the famous 19th century detective Hamilton Drew. The long-lived detective spoke to Ralph about how he appreciated Ralph's detective career and how it carried on his memory. Ralph has continued to live in Opal City but has fought alongside other heroes including Batman and Superman and also briefly joining the second incarnation of Thayer Jost's Doom Patrol. Ralph was recently approached by Maxwell Lord to join his new street level team of super heroes called the Superbuddies. Desperate to join, Ralph brought Sue along (who acted as the team's secretary) and was promptly captured by the owner of the villain's casino, Roulette. The team eventually escaped to face the wrath of Manga Kahn and following his 'defeat' their current status is unknown.
Whilst adventuring and joking are Ralph's main passions, his true love is his wife. Ralph and Sue's relationship has blossomed from being relatively unserious to a deep and lasting love that has seen Sue follow Ralph into two different teams, despite her having no powers or combat skills of her own. Sue also humours Ralph's affliction for mystery by organising one for him each birthday as his main present.
Ralph has the power to stretch his body to around a mile in length. This power stems from the effect that the Gingo fruit extract has when it reacts with Ralph's meta gene. Ralph can also make himself paper-thin or stretch individual facial features such a periscope eyes and alter his facial appearance (though this causes him pain.) Ralph can also condense his body into a small space such as the inside of a violin. While elongated, Ralph's body stamina increases making him more durable to concussive attacks and stronger due to the persistence of his limbs. Ralph can deflect sound waves by shaping his body appropriately. He can also maintain his balance regardless of how stretched he becomes. Ralph's other distinguishing power is that whenever a mystery or dilemma appears, his nose starts to stretch slightly and twitch. Ralph is also one of the world's foremost detectives and possesses a sharp, analytical mind as well as being capable at hand to hand combat though he employs a very unorthodox style. He is vulnerable to extreme cold, which renders him brittle. Ralph must also drink the Gingo fruit extract every few days to retain his powers. The former head of the Justice League Task Force, Hannibal Martin, made the extract into a pill for him, which he still uses.
APPEARANCES:
Action Comics #443, 480-483, 675
Adventures of Superman #442, 463, 489, 614, 616
Adventures of Superman Annual #4
Animal Man #16
Armageddon 2001 #2
Batman #177
Batman and the Outsiders #1
Batman Family #20
Batman: Gotham Knights #41
Bloodbath #1-2
Blue Devil #4-5
Brave and the Bold #177
Captain Atom #30, 34, 38
Challengers of the Unknown (1st series) #87
Crisis on Infinite Earths #5, 9-12
DC Comics Presents #21, 58, 93
Detective Comics #327-354, 356-383, 426, 430, 436, 444, 449, 453, 456-457, 462, 465-466, 468, 488, 500, 557, 572
Doom Patrol (3rd series) #4-6
Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2
Elongated Man: Europe '92 #1-4
Flash (1st series) #112, 115, 119, 124, 130, 134, 138, 206, 208, 210, 212, 221, 252-253, 277, 296, 349
Flash (2nd series) #29, 209, 214
Flash Spectacular
Formerly Known As The Justice League #1-6
Green Arrow (3rd series) #16
Green Lantern (3rd series) #25, 81
Guy Gardner: Warrior #39
Infinity, Inc. #19
Invasion! #3
JLA #27, 38-40
JLA: Incarnations #4-6
JLA/Titans #2-3
Justice League America #32, 54-60, 70, 89, 92, 96
Justice League of America #51, 100-102, 105-114, 116-121, 127-129, 131-134, 139, 142-143, 150-152, 155-157, 159-168, 170, 174, 179, 181-182, 186-191, 194-195, 197-200, 202-206, 209-212, 218-221, 223, 226-230, 233-239, 241-250, 252-258
Justice League of America Annual #1-3
Justice League Europe #1-10, 13-21, 25-50
Justice League Europe Annual #1-3
Justice League International (1st series) #24
Justice League International (2nd series) #51, 53-57, 65-68
Justice League International Annual (1st series) #3
Justice League International annual (2nd series) #4
Justice League Quarterly #3-9, 13
Justice League Spectacular #1
Justice League Task Force #1, 10-16, 30
Legends #1-2
Phantom Zone #2, 4
Power of the Atom #5
Red Tornado #3
Secret Origins (2nd series) #30
Secret Society of Super-Villains #5
Shadow War of Hawkman #3-4
Starman (2nd series) #56, 61-63, 65, 67, 70-73, 75, 80
Superman (2nd series) #65-66, 76, 142
Superman: The Man of Steel #10, 20
Superman Family #171, 211
Supergirl (2nd series) #20
Swamp Thing (2nd series) #46
Teen Titans (2nd series) #18
War of the Gods #1
Wonder Woman (1st series) #215, 219-220, 222, 247, 291, 300, 308-309
World's Finest Comics #300, 302
Zero Hour: Crisis In Time #3