Elongated Man

*Personal Data:*
Click here to view a gallery of Elongated Man graphics.	Real Name:	Ralph Dibny
	Status:	Active
	Versions of the JLA:	The Original JLA, The Justice League of America, Justice League Detroit, Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force
	Known Aliases:
	Nicknames:	"the Stretchable Sleuth"
	Occupation:	Private Investigator
	Other Group Affiliations:	The Justice League
	First Appearance:	Flash (first series) #112 (May 1960)
	Base of Operations:
	Age:	Unknown
	Height:	variable (usually 6' 1")
	Weight:	178 lbs.
	Eyes:	Blue
	Hair:	Red
	Known Relatives:	Susan Dearborn Dibny (wife), James Dearborn (uncle-in-law)
	Known Allies:	The Justice League of America
	Known Enemies:
	Powers and Abilities:	By drinking the extract of the Gingold plant, Ralph Dibny can stretch any part of his body to incredible length. He must drink the extract regularly to maintain his elastic powers. Ralph wears a costume constructed of special stretchable nylon that can adapt and contort along with his body. Ralph is an expert detective with an intuitive intelligence and brilliant deductive skills. When Ralph "smells" a mystery, he has the habit of stretching out his nose and twitching it. Ralph, a jokester at heart, is also a competent hand-to-hand combatant. He is most skilled at combining his combat skills with his elastic powers.

Background:

As a young child, Ralph Dibny was always fascinated with the idea of contortionism, especially after meeting an Indian rubber man at age nine. Ralph's fascination soon turned into obsession, as Ralph traveled the country interviewing various contortionists. Ralph had learned through his travels that each man drank a form of the extract Gingold, most usually through a soft drink. Through further investigation, Dibny found that the main ingredient of Gingold was the juice of the fruit of the Gingo plant found in the jungles of the Yucatan. Traveling to the Yucatan, Ralph isolated the specific unknown chemical from the fruit and drank a large dose of it. Ralph found that it had given him superhuman stretching powers.

Dibny adopted the stage name Elongated Man and used his new found powers for fame and glory. Ralph did not bother to keep his identity a secret; in fact Ralph thrilled on the fame he soon found and became one of the few heroes without a secret identity, which was unusual for the time. Elongated Man became a performer on stage and screen, thrilling his audience with his powers of elasticity.

At this time, the Elongated Man decide to carve out a name for himself as a hero. Using his natural deductive skills, the Elongated Man moved to Central City to solve crimes. In his first outing, Ralph solved the mystery of the stolen vases and beat out Central City's resident hero the Flash for the glory. After that, however, the Flash and Elongated Man teamed up for many an adventure, such as against Master Zero, the villain Captain Boomerang, and aliens in the Yucatan. During this time, at a society dance, Ralph first met young Sue Dearborn. Sue was enamored with Ralph's fame and Ralph loved the idea of dating a socialite. Soon the two began dating regularly.

Ralph eventually married his sweetheart Sue and convinced the Flash to be their best man. The two began to roam the country in search of mysteries, enjoying the sights along the way. During these trips, Ralph aided other heroes, such as the Flash and the Batman, in their cases.

The Elongated Man joined the Justice League of America when he came to their rescue in a battle against the Queen Bee's putty men and T.O. Morrow. Ralph proved himself a steady and worthwhile member of the League, but found he had to stop using his powers for monetary profit, due to the League's by- laws. The Elongated Man was instrumental in many League cases, such as helping Willow defeat the Construct in his first appearance.

About this time, Ralph found out that is was not just drinking the Gingold that gave him his powers. Ralph, along with others affected by Gingold, possessed a unique genetic structure; the Gingold would not affect everyone. However, Jimmy Olsen had the same genetic quirk, and used a similar extract developed by Professor Potter to become the stretchable hero Elastic Lad when the need arose.

Ralph was a mainstay of the Justice League, and even acted solo. Ralph proved to be a good friend of the Flash, aiding Barry Allen after the "death" of his wife Iris. Ralph and Sue's marriage continued to remain strong, and the two lived peacefully in either their home in Denver or aboard the Justice League Satellite.

When Aquaman disbanded the League after the Martian attack on Earth, Ralph was one of the few Leaguers to stay on. Both Ralph and Sue moved into the League's new Bunker in Detroit, and Sue stayed on to help with the cooking and with monitor duty. In fact, it was Sue that saved the day when "Junior" defeated the other Leaguers by calling in the original Justice League of America. Both Ralph and Sue were integral parts of this "new" League, standing by their side during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Elongated man once again proved his worth, facing up against such powerful League villains as the revamped Despero and the Overmaster. Ralph stayed with the League until Martian Manhunter disbanded the original League under the orders of US President Ronald Reagan.

Over the next two years, Ralph popped his head up once in a while, getting his origin retold in Secret Origins #30. Finally, when the Justice League Europe was formed during the Invasion, Elongated Man became a founding member. Starting with Justice League Europe #1, written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, Ralph became a backbone member of the European branch of the Justice League International, lasting from issue #1 in 1987 to its last issue, #68, in 1994.

After thirty-two years of existence, the Elongated Man finally received his own miniseries in 1992, entitled Elongated Man: Europe '92. Starring Ralph and Sue, the miniseries featured the Dibny's tour of Europe, solving crimes along the way and even battling the villain Sonar. The series was written by Gerard Jones and illustrated by Mike Parobeck and Ty Templeton.

Though Ralph has not found a steady home since he left the Justice League in Justice League International #68, he did participate in Zero Hour, the 1994 crossover.

Real Name: Ralph William Dibny
Occupation: Detective / Adventurer
Base of Operations: Mobile
Marital Status: Married
Group Affiliation: JLE - Inactive (Former member)
JLA - Inactive (Reserve/ Former member)
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 178 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Friends, Family & Allies: Sue Dibny (Wife), Power Girl, Flash, Barry Allen, Crimson Fox, Animal Man, Rocket Red

Powers: Ralph has the ability to stretch any and all parts of his body at will. He has a brilliantly deductive mind. His above-average hand-to-hand combat skills become incredible combat capabilities when using his stretching powers.

Ralph Dibny was a wiry kid growing up in small, residential Waymore, Nebraska. Though Ralph loved being the center of attention, the limelight is hard to find in a small town. Even before his awkward teens, he was dressing in loud purple clothes, playing practical jokes, grandstanding, etc...but he couldn't find anything he was good at. Then one day, Ralph's family attended a carnival and Ralph saw the sideshow contortionist and decided that was the life for him. Ralph suspected that Gingold Soda was the reason for the contortionists' flexibility. Reading over the ingredients, he found them to be similar to most other soft drinks...except for the juice of the gingo, a fruit from the Yucatan peninsula. He began processing the fruit juice in his home lab until he'd distilled the essence of the fruit. There weren't any immediate effects, however, his arms stretched one day when he reacted to a falling flowerpot, and from there on he was able to stretch as long as he took repeated doses of gingo elixir. Being a glutton for attention, he began dressing in a purple costume and calling himself the Elongated Man. He traveled to Central City, where he managed to foil a few crimes and met the Barry Allen, the Flash. In New York, Ralph met Sue Dibny and were later on married. They spent much of their first year traveling across America. Ralph was invited to join the JLA … so long as Sue was allowed to join. He was the only married member, and the only one without a permanent residence at that time. .