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Evil Inc After Dark #74, Page 1

🕑 Added 2024-10-11 20:00:08 +0000 UTC

Comments

Brad Guigar

That's a question I had to answer for myself as I decided how to handle Elastic Man's identity (see my response to Drawingbored). So, when I started reading about it, the answer I got was that someone who calls themselves a man can still be non-binary. Gender is personal and doesn’t always fit neatly into categories. Some people might feel connected to being a man in certain ways—like socially or culturally—but still feel that "non-binary" better describes their overall experience of gender. It’s really about what makes for the best story, and I felt this was the most genuine way to take Elastic Man's character.

Brad Guigar

When I wrote this page last year (https://www.patreon.com/posts/evil-inc-week-of-81844055), Elastic Man offered to assume one of several identities to help Mr. Invincible talk through his problem. Some were men, and others were women. In the end, Elastic Man says that he's all of those identities (and more). That's when I started really thinking about Elastic Man as non-binary. (And, to be fair, it was in the back of my mind even before that.) I decided it would be fun to write him with they/them pronouns as a reflection of that.

Caleb Davis

I'm not particularly opposed to they/them pronouns, and it would even make a lot of sense for shapeshifting characters, but previously Elastic MAN (previously known as as Elasti-LAD) was always shown to be using he/him pronouns. And given that his name actually declares a clearly defined gender, instead of being something neutral like Power Plastic, it just feels a bit odd. I had to reread it twice before I realized what the intent was in the text; it felt more like a typo than a character identity.