Metamorpho: The Element Man #1

Recap
Rex Mason was once an adventurer-for-hire but after an encounter with a mysterious artefact called the Staff of Ra, he became Metamorpho: a hero able to turn his body into any element on the periodic table. Alas, his human form seems lost to him forever. His transformation was partially the fault supervillain/industrialist Simon Stagg, who tried to kill Rex after learning he was in love with Stagg's daughter, Sapphire. Despite his changed appearance, Sapphire continues to love Metamorpho, who now works as Stagg's chief security officer. Metamorpho's newest adventure begins here!
Review
Picking up the first issue of Metamorpho: The Element Man, you’d be forgiven for believing that you had, in fact, found a mint condition issue from the original 1965 run misshelved with the new releases. Its title page uncannily replicates those of the original series, character cameos and ample narration framing a sneak-peek of the action to come. However, the story inside is entirely new.
Metamorpho #1 (written by Al Ewing, drawn by Steve Lieber, colored by Lee Loughridge, and lettered by Ferran Delgado) sees its titular hero face off against a faceless assassin called Mister 3, the Triple-State Man. Originally created as a parody of wacky Silver Age sci-fi heroes, Metamorpho has the power to turn his body into any element. Mister 3, newly created for the 2024 series, has the similar-but-distinct ability to change his body between three states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). While the issue’s introductory heist sequence bears a strong resemblance to another of Ewing’s first issues, Loki: Agent of Asgard #1, Metamorpho quickly comes into its own.
The comic’s biggest strength is its unabashed weirdness. As with his work on Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, which included such scenes as a cat projectile vomiting blood all over Jimmy, Lieber leans into the humor rather than the horror of moments like Metamorpho melting into a pile of sentient sludge. On the whole, Lieber’s cartooning is elegantly simplified but simultaneously expressive and energetic. Lee Loughridge colors Lieber’s bold black inks with a juicy palette that embraces the hot pink and orange of Metamorpho himself and amplifies the ‘60s feel. Ewing’s writing also feels gleefully archaic: his narration is strongly stylized rather than naturalistic and thought bubbles, which have gone out of fashion in recent years, reign supreme. 2025 may be just around the corner, but in the world of Metamorpho: the Element Man, an entertaining person is still “a gas” and everything is groovy. And while Metamorpho playfully embraces anachronism, abundant exposition keeps it accessible. The comic is quite text-heavy, but Delgado’s tightly-packed lettering and Lieber’s minimalistic style offer plenty of breathing room. In art, there exists an eternal pressure to create something new when it seems everything has been done before. Metamorpho’s creators take a different approach, reminding us of what’s already been done before doing it very well in their own voices.
Final Thoughts
Metamorpho: The Element Man #1 is gloriously, gorgeously weird. While a new year is just around the corner, its creators show us there is still plenty of fun to be found in the past.
Metamorpho: The Element Man #1: Feelin’ Groovy
- Writing - 8.5/108.5/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 7.5/107.5/10