Elongated Man
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
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The Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is an off-and-on member of the Justice League, as well many of its spin-offs. His first appearance was The Flash (Vol. 2) #112 (May 12, 1960).
As his name suggests, the Elongated Man can stretch his limbs and body to super-human lengths and sizes. The Elongated Man got his abilities from drinking the extract of a (fictional) fruit called "gingold".
According to his origin, as a teenager, Ralph adored contortionists, or people who displayed feats of agility and suppleness. He learned that many of these body-benders drank gingold juice. Ralph set to work learning chemistry and developed a super-concentrated extract of the stuff, which gave him his stretching powers.
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 -- a downright anomaly in comic books.
In Identity Crisis #1, published in June 2004, tragedy struck these beloved, if second-tier, characters when Sue was murdered in the Dibny 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 "Formerly Known as the Justice League" and its follow-up, "I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League" from JLA Classified. In the latter series, there is a running joke about the possibility of Sue's pregnancy that seems somewhat morbid after Identity Crisis.
The Elongated Man is also said to be one of the DC Universe's premier detectives, second only to Batman.
The character has appeared in a few episodes of Justice League Unlimited. This is the first television series in which he has made any appearance.
