Static Shock – 05song

Rubberband Man, an angry young teen with the power to stretch his body into any shape, seeks revenge on the corrupt record producer who cheated him out of profits for a hit song. Static gets involved when the producer has sinister plans of his own to eliminate
Rubberband Man.

Media by Bird Boy
Review by Matt Zimmer

Sketch: Rubberband Man

Voices:
Phil LaMarr as Virgil Hawkins/Static
Jason Marsden as Richie Foley
Kadeem Hardison as Rubberband Man
Kevin Michael Richardson as Robert
Michele Morgan as Sharon
Terence Trent D’Arby as D.J. Rock
Danica McKellar as Frieda
David Fausting as Executive
Maria Canals as Shelly
Chris Clarke as Back-up Singer
 

Rubberband Man makes his debut.

Everyone in Dakota is hyping the newest record from rapper Ice-Pack but not everyone is happy. A Metahuman named Adam Evans with rubbery stretching powers is angry because the song was stolen from him. He chases Ice-Pack all over town to get his revenge. Meanwhile Richie has found a headquarters for Static: The Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude.
Virgil is grumpy about it but realizes that to rent out a headquarters takes money. "Luckily" Robert has pull some strings to get Virgil a job…at Burger Fool.

After an incident at the restaurant Adam accidentally leaves a copy of his music behind. When Virgil listens to it he realizes that the guy who left them was Rubberband Man and that he must have written the music.
Meanwhile Rubberband Man threatens Ice-Pack on a roof and is told that
Ice-Pack has nothing to do with the music and that he should talk to his manager D.J. Rook. Adam leaves Ice-Pack stranded on a steeple and races to Rook’s mansion. After he breaks in Rook promises to make things square with Adam and offers to let him take as much money as he can carry from his vault. When Rubberband Man goes inside however Rook locks him in and tells him the air will run out soon. After rescuing Ice Pack
Static arrives at the mansion and saves Adam’s life, who swears revenge on Rook. Static manages to save Rook and stop Rubberband Man but tells
Rook that all the people whose music he ripped off will be coming out of the woodwork as he and Rubberband Man both go to jail and Virgil is promptly fired for leaving his post.

I love Rubberband Man and he is my favorite character on Static Shock.
He’s also the first Static "Villain" who is sympathetic and you actually root for. It was a no-brainer to bring him back as a hero in the second season. The episode itself was pretty good too. We learned Virgil’s middle name (Albert) and I loved the weak trumpet blare when we first see the gas station. This was the first episode that Static co-creator
Dwayne McDuffie wrote and it shows off his knack for writing stories that are are fast and fun along with a lot of tongue in cheek humor.
Some of the jokes fall flat and the dialogue on this show isn’t that great but it is enjoyable none-the-less.

I wasn’t that impressed with the animation here. I figured with the rubbery style it would be really great in this particular episode. But outside of some creative shapes from Rubberband Man it wasn’t that fluid or memorable. A good debut for Rubberband Man but Static Shock has done much better episodes in the show’s run.

Story: ****
Animation: **1/2
Average: ***1/2