Number 1268: Plastic Man and the rubber expander

In 1956 I bought Plastic Man #64 off the comic book spinner in a  local drugstore. It was the first time I'd seen the character or read superhero stories that looked like they belonged in Mad comic books. I didn't realize at the time that it would be the last issue of Plastic Man, not to mention it was all reprints (it hardly matters if you haven't seen the stories before).

The story I'm showing today was the lead in that last issue, with the title “The Expander Device” lettered into the splash panel. My post today is from Plastic Man #24 (1950), the story's first of three appearances (the other issue it was reprinted in was #44.) Plastic Man is one of my first true loves from Golden Age comics.  In my early years as a collector I bought, traded and stole borrowed what I could.