Unsung Superheroes: Metamorpho

 

Unsung Superheroes title card

Okay! Time to shine a light on another one of the lesser-knowns of DC Comics! Been looking forward to this one. This is both one of my favorites and one of the characters we saw in 2025's Superman movie.

But first, let's set the stage for the era. It's 1965. DC had found success with its science-forward approach. But a new competitor, Marvel Comics, had appeared with a different approach that emphasized character drama and flawed, tragic heroes with feet of clay. So, what happens when both approaches meet head-on?

You get a character like Metamorpho, The Element Man!

Metamorpho

He wasn't the first of this new breed of hero at DC. He was preceded by the Metal Men in 1962 and the Doom Patrol in 1963 (more on them at another time). He was the first solo hero in that mold, though.

Created by writer Bob Haney and artist Ramona Fradon, Metamorpho started life as devil-may-care, handsome soldier of fortune Rex Mason. Mason works for corrupt millionaire tycoon and scientist Simon Stagg. Stagg also happens to be the father of Rex's lady love Sapphire Stagg. One day, Simon Stagg sends Rex on a mission he doesn't intend for him to return from. Along with Stagg's manservant Java, Rex is sent to the Lost Pyramid of Ahk-Ton in Egypt to retrieve the mysterious Orb of Ra. While on the mission, two things of consequence happen. One, Java attacks Rex and leaves him for dead. The other is that after he recovers from Java's attack he stumbles on a mysetrious glowing meteorite. Faced with a seeming death from the radioactive meteorite, he swallows a pill Stagg gave him to use whenever he might face death and promptly passes out. Something happens when Rex is exposed to both the chemicals in the pill and is exposed to the radiation from the meteorite. When Rex Mason awakens, he's been changed to something else. No longer quite human and with a startling new appearance, Rex Mason has become an Element Man. He is now a creature made up of pure versions all the different elements in the human body. He is able to transmute his body into any form of those elements, whether it be solid, liquid or gas. He can be as ephemeral as flourine gas, as strong as cobalt or even as reactive as sodium!  A walking, talking chemistry set able to transform into different mixtures and compounds of those various elements. Shaken by his transformation, Mason turns once again to Simon Stagg in hopes he can return him to normal (though, he does kind of thrteaten to tear down Stagg's mansion if he doesn't). But Stagg has his own plans for Rex Mason and also holds the Orb of Ra. Made from the same meteorite that transformed Rex Mason, the Orb of Ra is the only thing that can weaken an Element Man. Encouraged by Sapphire Stagg to use his powers for good until a cure can be found, the superhero career of Metamorpho begins.

For a catchier, more simplified account of the origin, you could also just listen to this song from Tifton Records' 1966 Songs and Stories About the Justice League of America:

Condensing it down to one paragraph doesn't quite gather all the nuance. For the time and the publisher it was coming from, it really was something new. And the characters and relationships were more complex than you'd see in a 1966 issue of Superman and Batman. So, let's do a rundown of the cast.

Rex Mason/Metamorpho- Rex Mason is our hero, but he's far from perfect. He's good enough to know not to give Simon Stagg all the discoveries and artifacts he's sent to find because he knows Stagg is power-hungry. However, Rex is also kind of arrogant, and looks down on “freaks” (like Java). It's only after he's transformed that Rex is humbled. But even then, he becomes depressed and fixated on getting back what he lost, even to the point of relying on Simon Stagg who he knew was untrustworthy.

Sapphire Stagg- One of the most surprising things about Sapphire Stagg is that unlike a lot of the more delicate and easily scared female love interests in 1960s comic books, Saphire accepts the transformed Rex almost right away. She faints upon seeing him at first, largely because she had a feeling that something would go wrong on the expedition and now was seeing it made manifest, but recovers quickly. She's even the one who pushes him toward using his abilities to be a hero. Sapphire's flaws though, lie in how sheltered and naive she is. She loves Rex, but she's also devoted to her father who she just can't see as the villain he is.

Simon Stagg- Simon Stagg is probably one of the first supervillains to not only function as a recurring supporting cast member but also to hide behind a legitimate facade (about 20 years before the Superman comics did the same thing with Lex Luthor). Unlike a lot of villains from that era of superhero comics, Stagg isn't bent on destroying the superhero, but controlling him. Which means he always has to keep Metamorpho close by, constantly dangling the promise of a cure in front of him and with the Orb of Ra nearby just in case Metamorpho should turn on him. He's not just controlling of Rex either. One of the reasons he ordered Java to abandon Rex in Egypt is because he didn't want him to marry Sapphire.

Java- Java is Simon Stagg's manservant. He's also a caveman that was resurrected in the modern day and given greater intelligence by Simon Stagg (yes, really. We're dealing with 1960s comics here, remember?). Java is romantically fixated on Sapphire Stagg, convinced that if he were only handsome like Rex Mason, she would surely fall for him (something we know is definitely not true, because she accepted Rex even after he was changed). Java spends much of his time vacilating between begging Simon Stagg to somehow make him handsome, feeling sorry for himself, and plotting some way to kill Metamorpho so he can have Sapphire all to himself. Java is cunning but not really smart. Java may be a bit of a blunt object, but not someone Metamorpho should be complacent around.

Metemorpho debuted in Brave and the Bold #57 and then he got his own series series, aptly titled Metamorpho, which lasted 17 issues. Not a super long run, but respectable considering how few new features even made it to series. He was considered for an animated TV show shortly after his debut (he lost out when CBS got the rights to do a Batman cartoon). And in the comics, he gained the questionable honor of being the first superhero offered membership in the Justice League of America to turn it down (Justice League of America #42, story entitled “Metamorpho Says No!”).

An issue from Metamorpho's original series.

In the early days of Metamorpho's appearances, the more tragic nature of the character was often countered by how tongue-in-cheek many of the stories are. The solo series was marked by a good-natured lampooning of pulp fiction tropes. For instance, despite supposdly having a legitimate reputation, Simon Stagg rather openly lives like a James Bond villain. His underlings, aside from Java, dress all in black with executioner hoods. His facilities are littered with strange technology. He even has a pet jaguar named Sheba. Metamorpho's villains also lean towards parody. They include characters with names like Achille Le Heele and Cha Cha Chavez.

As is often the case in corporate superhero comics, even after his series was canceled, Metamorpho still stuck around.

He'd reappear in series of back-up stories in Action Comics and World's Finest Comics, and then in the third issue of 1^st Issue Special. In the early '80s, Batman forms a team called the Outsiders, which he forms to intervene in things the Justice League can't because of their high status. Metamorpho becomes a founding member of the team. Later, after the dissolution of the Outsiders, an amnesiac Metamorpho (it's a long story), joins Justice League Europe, the European branch of the Justice League International. 

Metamorpho in Justice League Europe

It's while with this team that Rex reunites with Sapphire and finds out that he has a son named Joey Mason. Joey, it turns out has powers of his own and can transmute matter by touching it.

Baby Joey Mason

For the record, the above picture is what Joey looked like in the comics. The Superman movie made him look like Grogu but with smaller ears (I guess because they thought it would be merchandisable).

Later on, Metamorpho seems to join a new version of the Outsiders headed up by Nightwing (the original Robin, all grown up). But it turns out to be some kind of intelligent off-shoot of Metamorpho named Shift. Kind of a chemical clone. And then years later he would join a team called the Terrifics (a pastiche of Marvel's Fantastic Four) alongside Mr. Terrific, Plastic Man and Phantom Girl.

The Terrifics, including Metamorpho.

So, Metamorpho stuck around and he's become a good supporting cast player. He may not have been able to leg it out as a leading man, but he's become a fairly reliable member of the c-list.

There's just one problem with his tenure in the DC Universe.

He can't seem to stop dying.

It's become something of a crutch for DC writers that because of how powerful Metamorpho is, that they can kill him off to show how dangerous things are and then just bring him back later. He died at the end of the original Outsiders run and then came back. He died at the end of the Justice League International and came back. I believe he was dead at the beginning of Nightwing's Outsiders, which is why Shift could take his place. It's something that I wish DC would stop doing.

Anyway, now thanks to James Gunn and Warner Bros., the world has seen Metamorpho in live action (he's already appeared in a whole bunch of cartoons). 

Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho in Superman (2025)

He also got a new series around the same time written by Al Ewing and Steve Lieber. It lasted all of six issues and, to no one's surprise, Metamorpho seemed to die at the end. I don't think DC even showed how he came back this time, because now he's appearing in Justice League Unlimited.

A issue from Metamorpho's latest series.

He is one of my favorite lesser lights of the DC Universe. He has been ever since I read his original run of comics and was exposed to Metamorpho's unique combination of pathos and parody. I hope I might have at least clued you folks into why.

Television Oddities: Fluppy Dogs

 

Television Oddities title card

The year 1985 was an important year for Disney Television. Disney, as a company, had been struggling for a few years after the death of Walt Disney with the idea of what direction to go. However, in 1984, Disney came under new management with the recruiting of Michael Eisner and Frank Wells as CEO and COO respectively. Eisner, who prided himself on being a creative CEO, was intent on Disney creating new characters and properties. Also, as someone who had once had high-ranking positions at major television networks, he knew there was potential in television.. So, he set about launching Disney Television Animation.

Now, this may not seem so crazy right now, but you have to understand that Disney just didn't do TV animation. A lot of the major studios from the Golden Age of theatrical animation didn't. It was generally understood that they couldn't match the quality of their theatrical output on a TV budget, so they didn't really bother. But in 1985, Disney launched two television cartoons: The Wuzzles, about an island of composite animals (Butterbear, Bumblelion, etc), and Adventures of the Gummi Bears, a fantasy adventure very loosely inspired by a candy that Eisner's children became enamored with at camp. And from those two shows came all the television cartoons Disney has made since, including Duck Tales, Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, Gargoyles, Kim Possible, Phineas and Ferb, The Owl House and numerous others.

But not every show made it to series.

In 1986, ABC aired a Disney pilot for a show titled Fluppy Dogs. Fluppy Dogs, like many children's cartoons in the1980s, was meant to tie in to a line of merchandise including books and toys. For the record, here's a commercial for some of the toys:

Typical soft stuffed toy line aimed at young girls, right?

Disney decided to get a bit creative with it.

Fluppy Dogs TV title

The special opens with the main Fluppies of the series, Stanley, Tippi, Ozzie, Bink and Dink, traversing a dangerous mountain range in inclement weather. They eventually get to a cliff when one of the Fluppies pulls out a small, glowing crystal which they use to open a door in midair that leads them to another world, which they hope is their homeworld.

So, apparently, Fluppy Dogs can traverse the multiverse.  Also, points to anyone who thinks the travel method reminds them way too much of Kingdom Hearts.

They get chased through this new jungle world by a dinosaur-like creature until they find another door which leads them to our world. Well . . . a human world (it's still animated so it's hard to call it OUR world). The Fluppies end up causing a bit of trouble in a supermarket and escaping into the streets only to get caught by dog catchers. But not before getting the attention of the villain of the piece: J.J. Wagstaff, millionaire and rare animal collector. You see, Wagstaff knew about Fluppies already, having read about them in some old book. Now he was intent on adding one to his collection.

In the meantime, the Fluppies are in the pound with few means of escape. So, Stanley manages to get himself adopted by a woman who is there looking for a pet for her son Jamie. Jamie's less than enthused with his new pet, having expected a bigger dog. However, Jamie takes Stanley for a walk and after a brief escape attempt, saves Jamie from danger on a construction site. This reveals Stanley's extraordinary nature and after a brief explanation, the Fluppies now have their first ally on Earth.

The Fluppies and Jamie.

Jamie tries his best to help but his resources are limited. He manages to scraoe together all the money he has and manages to buy another Fluppy, Tippi, from the pound. Though, upon seeing this, his mom says “absolutely not” and makes him give Tippi to their teenage neighbor Claire.

Things go a little better that night when Jamie and Stanley are sleeping and Jamie starts scratching Stanley's head in his sleep. This causes the bed to start flying.

Yeah, it seems that Fluppies are just straight-up magic in some worlds. The flying bed scene is a really fun scene, but it also feels a lot like Disney animation was riffing on the flying bicycle scene from 1982's E.T.

Anyway, they fly to Claire's house to pick up Tippi (who is less than enthused with life at Claire's, since she seems to use Tippi as a sort of “dress-up doll”), and inadvertently reveal the truth to Claire (enter ally #2). They then go to the pound to stage a jailbreak, narrowly avoiding Wagstaff who had them open the pound so he could get the remaining Fluppies.

Tippi and Claire.

A good chunk of the rest of the special is the Fluppies finding more otherdimensional doors and opening them only to find that not only are they not the way home, but there's something on the other side that will cause trouble if it gets out. They open one door only for a huge flood of water to come through. They open another and a creature that Claire names a “Falumpus” comes through. In the meantime, Jamie is trying to help but the more he's involved the more trouble he gets in with his mom.

Wagstaff makes one more attempt at capturing the Fluppies, managing to actually nab Ozzie. Trying to keep Jamie out of it for once, Stanley and Tippi seek help from Claire who drives them to Wagstaff's mansion in her car. Jamie, though, sees them depart and he, Bink and Dink pursue by riding the Falumpus (which was still in Jamie's basement).

Things go south as Wagstaff and his butler Hamish manage to catch Stanley and Tippi and threatens to call the police on Jamie and Claire for breaking into his home. As a last ditch effort, Jamie and Claire “say goodbye” to the Fluppies by scratching their heads. This manages to release enough magic to rip the top floor of Wagstaff's mansion off and send it flying to the library where the actual portal to the Fluppies' homeworld is. The Fluppies open the door and go through, and Wagstaff and Hamish pursue only to get stuck on the other side (note: without his money and status and on a world where the animals he's trying to collect are the dominant species, Wagstaff will likely be at a disadvantage). This leaves Jamie and Claire alone on their own side of the door.

Months pass, the seasons change. Jamie and Claire are now good friends after their adventure. But they still miss their Fluppy friends. Then one winter day, Stanley and the other Fluppies appear saying that they miss Jamie and Claire too. It turns out that they found a way to stabilize the door between Earth and their world. As they open the door, hundreds of Fluppies stream through eager to have their own adventure on Earth.

So . . . how do you get from floppy dog plushies to canine interdimensional adventurers?

The Fluppies in their toy form.

Well, it's not unusual for animation studios to take a toy concept, even a seemingly gentle one aimed at young girls, and pump in some adventure and higher stakes.  I mean, even the Care Bears had villains like Dr. Coldheart and Noheart.

But it really seems more like an example of what Disney was doing and what headspace they were in regarding TV animation at the time. Turning a simple concept into a high adventure with appeal for both gender demographics. Heck, with Gummi Bears they took the name of a candy and some how turned that into a medeival fantasy adventure. And apparently they didn't stray too far from the initial concept. Certain details seem to have stayed. Like designating the Fluppies by their qualities. According to Wikipedia, the initial lineup of characters in the children's book were Fanci Flup, Cuddle Flup, Brave Flup, Cool Flup, Shy Flup and Silly Flup. The characters from the special are listed as Stanley the Loyal Fluppy, Tippi the Loving Fluppy, Ozzie the Cool Fluppy, Bink the Shy Fluppy and Dink the Playful Fluppy.

Anyway, the special aired on ABC on Thanksgiving, November 27, 1986. It got the lowest rating of any of ABC's TV movies during that week and of course did not go to series.

Should it have?

Well, despite the novel “cutesy animals travelling the multiverse” angle, I doubt it was any great loss to children's television as a whole. But it does show an interesting time in Disney television animation when none of it was really a sure thing yet and proves to be an interesting television oddity because of it.