He’s the Fab Freak of 1000 Changes, and he’s back for his sixtieth anniversary! Your Major Spoilers review of Metamorpho: The Element Man #1 from DC Comics awaits!

METAMORPHO: THE ELEMENT MAN #1

Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Steve Lieber
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Ferran Delgado
Editor: Katie Kubert
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 25, 2024

Previously in Metamorpho: The Element Man: To know him is to love him, that fab freak who can change himself into any element in the human body! He’s the one and only Rex Mason, alias Metamorpho… but can even he win out against Cy.C.L.O.P.S., the hairy eyeball of crime that gazes from the top of the pop charts to the lowest depths of evil and even into the far-off, far-out Ra-Realm?

To find out, the Element Man must survive a hand-picked assassin who can match him change for change!

DATELINE: JUMP CITY!

Simon Stagg, billionaire CEO of Stagg Industries, has relocated his business to the streets of Jump City, where it’s always 1966, thematically speaking. Into this hipster paradise comes the evil Mister 3, who can transform into any of the three states of matter: Solid, Liquid, or Gas! His first attack on Stagg ends with Metamorpho discombobulated, unable to stay in one state, but a little genius on the part of Simon (who is ruthless, but not quite the villain we’ve seen in other recent portrayals) returns him to form. When the news that Mister 3 has the power of the Orb of Ra, the covert agency called S.H.A.D.E. sends their number one agent, the Element Girl, to help. The two metamorphae together and seek out Mister 3 for a rematch, but when the smoke clears, one thing is obvious… Someone wants Metamorpho dead.

EVIL IS AFOOT!

The joy of an Al Ewing script is watching him home in on things that have always been a part of the character but looking at them from a slightly different perspective. In Immortal Hulk, it was the curse of the gamma mutates, while Avengers, Inc. took the twisted “family” at the core of the Avengers in a new direction. Here it’s a return to form for the Fab Freak, taking him back to the swingin’ sixties roots of the Haney/Fradon days, using the Jump City setting of Teen Titans Go! to fine effect. Mister 3 actually feels like a Haney villain from Teen Titans or Dial H For Hero, with Lieber emulating the clean pop art lines of the era (with a little bit of Mike Allred for flavor). It’s a really good looking book, especially when Metamorpho/Rex and Element Girl/Urania go into action. There’s even a little bit of real science to be had here, when our hero remembers that there is a FOURTH state of matter!

BOTTOM LINE: GOTTA LOVE METAMORPHO

In short, Metamorpho: The Element Man #1 is something that hasn’t been a big part of DC’s publishing slate in recent years, providing Silver Age fun with a dramatic core and taking the purple-and-orange hero back to his roots, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. I’m not sure if the sixtieth anniversary of the character is the reason that we’re getting a new Metamorpho ongoing series, but if this team keeps hitting on all cylinders like this, they could easily outlast the 17 issues of Rex’s first series from 1965.

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