Happy Birthday: Ralph Dibny
Born in Waymore, Nebraska, Randolph William “Ralph” Dibny grew up admiring escape artists and contortionists. He desperately wished he could emulate their agility and flexibility.
When he learned that many of his idols favored a soda called Gingold, which contained the juice of the rare Gingold fruit, Ralph’s natural skill at deduction kicked in. He taught himself chemistry and developed a concentrated Gingo fruit extract which, when he drank it, transformed him, giving his entire body super-elasticity.
Delighted with his new prowess, Ralph moved to Central City, donned a colorful costume, and became the superhero Elongated Man. He joined the Justice League of America a short time later. R
alph later revealed his true identity and married his sweetheart Sue Dearbon. They lived happily for many years, and though Ralph’s powers were never a match for the more powerful heroes, his cheerful demeanor and his sharp mind—he is usually considered the finest superhero detective after Batman—made him a respected, admired, and loved member of the superhero community.
Sadly, Sue was brutally murdered by a deranged friend, and her death and later events drove Ralph mad. He recovered, however, and sacrificed his own life to trap the villain Felix Faust and the demon Neron, who had tried to trick him into surrendering his soul. Happily, Ralph and Sue are now reunited, and have a new existence as ghost detectives.
Because of the Nick and Nora banter (of course, his name is a tip of the hat to The Thin Man series movies) od the Dibnys, I always identified with Ralph and Sue to a degree in reference to my marriage (with the important codicils in that my wife is not a millionaire, and I am neither ductile nor a detective). So I took Sue's death a little more personally when I read Identity Crisis. I can't say it was done badly, and I liked Ralph's story in 52, but that doesn't mean I didn't wish they were okay. I'm glad to see them back in Batman and the Outsiders. I realized that Ralph had gotten guidance from Rama Kushna, the goddess who gave Boston (Deadman) Brand his powers, which makes their new abilities somewhat logical, narratively speaking.This interview snippet of the Dibnys from the 52 website always gets me a little choked up.