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Plastic Man
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Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 (August 1941).
One of Quality Comics' signature characters during the Golden Age of Comic Books, Plastic Man can stretch his body into any imaginable form. His adventures were known for their quirky, offbeat structure and surreal slapstick humor.
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Encyclopedia
Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 (August 1941).
One of Quality Comics' signature characters during the Golden Age of Comic Books, Plastic Man can stretch his body into any imaginable form. His adventures were known for their quirky, offbeat structure and surreal slapstick humor. When Quality Comics was shut down in 1956, DC Comics acquired many of its characters, integrating Plastic Man into the mainstream DC universe. The character has starred in several short-lived DC series, as well as a Saturday morning cartoon series in the early 1980s, and Batman the Brave and the Bold.
Although the character's revival has never been a commercial hit, Plastic Man has been a favorite character of many modern comic book creators, including writer Grant Morrison, who included him in his 1990s revival of the Justice League; Art Spiegelman, who profiled Cole for The New Yorker magazine; painter Alex Ross, who has frequently included him in covers and stories depicting the Justice League; and Frank Miller, who included him in the Justice League in the comics All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder and Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
Fictional character biography
Pre-Crisis
Plastic Man was a crook named Patrick "Eel" O'Brian. Orphaned at age 10 and forced to live on the streets, he fell into a life of crime. As an adult, he became part of a burglary ring, specializing as a safecracker. During a late-night heist at the Crawford Chemical Works, he and his three fellow gang members were surprised by a night watchman (In Season One, Episode 2 of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Plastic Man tells the story with Batman as the watchman). During the gang's escape, Eel was shot in the shoulder and doused with a large drum of unidentified acid. He escaped to the street only to discover that his gang had driven off without him.
Fleeing on foot and suffering increasing disorientation from the gunshot wound and the exposure to the acid, Eel eventually passed out on the foothills of a mountain near the city. He awoke to find himself in a bed in a mountain retreat, being tended to by a monk who had discovered him unconscious that morning. This monk, sensing a capacity for great good in O'Brian, turned away police officers who had trailed Eel to the monastery. This act of faith and kindness combined with the realization that his gang had left him to be captured without a moment's hesitation fanned Eel's longstanding dissatisfaction with his criminal life and his desire to reform.
During his short convalescence at the monastery, he discovered that the acid had entered his bloodstream and caused a radical physical change. His body now had all of the properties of rubber, allowing him to stretch, bounce, and mold himself into any shape. He immediately determined to use his new abilities on the side of law and order, donning a red, black and yellow (later red and yellow) rubber costume and capturing criminals as Plastic Man. He concealed his true identity with a pair of white goggles and by re-molding his face. As O'Brian, he maintained his career and connections with the underworld as a means of gathering information on criminal activity.
Plastic Man soon acquired comedic sidekick Woozy Winks, who was originally magically enchanted so that nature itself would protect him from harm. That eventually was forgotten and Woozy became simply a dumb but loyal friend of Plastic Man.
In his original Golden Age/Quality Comics incarnation, Plastic Man eventually became a member of the city police force and then the FBI. By the time he became a federal officer, he had nearly completely abandoned his Eel O'Brian identity.
The star of the Silver Age run of Plastic Man was the son of the original, who as a toddler had accidentally drunk a souvenir bottle of the same acid that had given Eel O'Brian his powers. Other Silver and Bronze-age versions appear to carry the same identity and origin as the Golden Age original. The silver-age Plastic Man who took up the mantle from his father was later identified as residing on Earth-Twelve. A subsequent version appearing with Batman in Brave and the Bold and Justice League of America was identified as residing on Earth-One. Afterwards, the original Quality Comics version was specified as being a member of the All-Star Squadron and Freedom Fighters, originally of Earth-Two and later moving to Earth-X. This version died during an extended period of World War II while on the latter world.
One Year Later and Countdown
In the "One Year Later" DC Comics crossover storyline that followed the "Infinite Crisis" crossover, a young man with similar appearance and powers as Plastic Man appears briefly in the superteam series Teen Titans Vol. 3, #34. The character wears a white costume with red goggles, similar to that of Offspring, Plastic Man's son in the earlier DC miniseries The Kingdom. While the Teen Titans story itself does not identify the character, page two of a published script purporting to be writer Geoff Johns' specifies it is "Plastic Mans son, Offspring". Plastic Man's son is also shown in costume, and identified as Offspring, in 52 Week 35 when he is injured while rescuing a number of the depowered Everyman heroes.
In Countdown To Mystery #1, Plastic Man is seduced by Eclipso, being made to believe he is a joke among his fellow heroes, and the only way for him to get some respect is through Eclipso. He is later freed of this corruption by Bruce Gordon. Plastic Man makes his next appearance within the pages of Green Arrow/Black Canary #8, having been freed from a stasis tube by Green Arrow. His DNA is taken by Sivana and used to augment an amnesiac Connor Hawke, in a bid to turn the young hero into a brainwashed slave with a strong healing factor.
Powers and abilities
Malleable Physiology: Plastic Man's powers are derived from an accident in which his body was bathed in an unknown industrial chemical mixture that also entered into his bloodstream through a gunshot wound. This caused a body-wide mutagenic process that transformed his physiology. Eel exists in a fluid state, neither entirely liquid or solid. Plastic Man has complete control over his entire molecular structure.
- Shapeshifting, Malleability, Plasticity, Elongation: He can contort his body into various positions and sizes impossible for ordinary humans, such as being entirely flat so that he can slip under a door or using his fingers to pick conventional locks. He can also use it for disguise by changing the shape of his face and body. He can stretch his limbs and body to superhuman lengths and sizes. These stretching powers grant Plastic Man heightened agility enabling him flexibility and coordination that is extraordinarily beyond the natural limits of the human body. In addition, he can alter his bodily mass and physical constitution at will, there is virtually no limit to the sizes and shapes he can contort himself into. He can open holes through his body (becoming a true toroid or a net, for example) and can even turn into simple machines with real, moving parts (such as a cart with wheels that turn independently of the rest of his body). There is no known limit to how far he can stretch his body. He can shrink himself down to a few inches tall (posed as one of Batman's utility belt pockets) or become a titan. However, he can generally not change into colors aside from pink, red, black, white and yellow, the colors of his uniform and skin, unlike his son, who can easily change color as well as shape.
- Invulnerability: Plastic Man's powers extraordinarily augment his durability. He is able to withstand corrosives, punctures and concussions without sustaining any injury (although he can be momentarily stunned). He is resistant to high velocity impacts that would kill an ordinary person, resistant to blasts from energy weapons, and is completely bullet proof. His bodily mass can be dispersed, but for all intents and purposes it is invulnerable.
- Regeneration: He is able to regenerate and/or assimilate lost or damaged tissue at a rate far faster than the human norm, though not instantaneous.
- Telepathic Immunity: He is immune to the effects of telepathic power (mostly immune to mind control. In the past, he has been observed having been vulnerable to mind scans and mind wipes. Also he is able to use J'onn's telepathic link when he was with the JLA.)
- Immortality: Plastic Man does not appear to age; if he does, it is at a rate far slower than that of normal human beings. In the aftermath of the JLA story Arc "Obsidian Age", Plastic Man was discovered to have survived for 3000 years as little more than crumbs on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. He is now over 3000 years old and is still active as a superhero.
- Ultrasonic Detection: His body will start to "ripple" when an ultrasonic frequency is triggered.
- Skilled Thief: Plastic Man was once a very talented professional thief. Although no longer a criminal, he has insight into their mindset, enabling him to be an effective sleuth. He is also a lateral thinker and much smarter than he lets on.
Weaknesses
- Extreme Temperatures: His semi-liquid form remains stable at relatively high and low temperatures...provided that the temperature change is gradual. A sudden change, induces a complete change of phase, creating a truly solid or truly liquid form. Plastic Man was incapacitated in the JLA story arc, "Tower of Babel", when mercenaries froze and shattered his body. Once thawed and reassembled, he was physically unharmed (though emotionally traumatized). In the JLA story arc "Divided We Fall", Plastic Man is shown to have some weakness to extreme heat (intense heat vision attack from a martian) and was temporarily melted.
- Chemicals: In some versions, Plastic Man is vulnerable to certain chemicals, such as acetone which melts and destabilises his putty-like form, although he will eventually regenerate when the chemicals are gone.
Alternate versions
In Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (20012002), Frank Miller's miniseries now set on DC's new Earth-31, Plastic Man was betrayed and locked in Arkham Asylum for years with his body forced into a perpetual egg-like shape (referencing a container of Silly Putty) by a pressurizing machine. The imprisonment and confinement drove him insane, and upon his release he lashed out at those around him. He fights Elongated Man, having the upper hand until Batman brings Plastic Man to his senses with a punch to the face. Batman declares that Plastic Man is the single most powerful superhero presumably even more so than Superman and Captain Marvel, who also appear in the book. Carrie Kelly (as Catgirl) describes him as being: "Immeasurably powerful. Absolutely nuts." In this continuity, he appears with silver hair and the occasional wrinkle.
In the Tangent Comics imprint, set on the alternate-universe Earth-9, Plastic Man is a member of the Secret Six. He is scientist Gunther Ganz, whose consciousness has been transferred to a "living polymer".
A pre-Plastic Man Eel O'Brian appears in Batman Adventures #6 and 8 as a member of a crime gang led by the Black Mask. He is also a source of information for Matches Malone.
In the DC Comics / Marvel Comics intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers, Plastic Man is a member of the JLA and teams with Martian Manhunter in the Marvel locale of Wakanda, where the two encounter the Marvel characters the Wasp and the Black Panther. Plastic Man is replaced by DC Comics' Elongated Man after the merging of worlds.
In other Media
- Plastic Man made a cameo appearance in the episode "Professor Goodfellows G.E.EC." of the first season of the Super Friends cartoon.
- Plastic Man starred in the spin-off series The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show voiced by Michael Bell. He was given a bumbling Hawaiian sidekick named Hula-Hula and a blonde-bombshell girlfriend called Penny - whom he later married. Later, the cast was joined by their son, Baby Plas.
- Plastic Man was briefly mentioned as a member of the Justice League by Green Lantern to Booster Gold and Elongated Man in the episode "The Greatest Story Never Told" of the Justice League Unlimited animated series, but did not appear on the show.
- Tom Kenny reprised his role as Plastic Man on the series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In the episode, it is revealed that, in the continuity of the series, O'Brian was once a member of Kite Man's gang until Batman busted their heist of a chemical plant. During an attempted escape, O'Brian falls into a vat of chemicals and becomes Plastic Man. He testifies against Kite Man in court. Batman, feeling responsible for O'Brian's accident, assures the parole board he will personally oversee Plastic Man's rehabilitation. By the present time of the episode, Plastic Man is aiding Batman, but shows an inability to step away from his criminal tendencies, such as attempting to take stolen money and valuables for himself. It isn't until he sees how much he owes to Batman that he makes an effort to push past his former lifestyle and be a true hero and although seeming to succeed, only gives up money he stole to help Batman.
He reappears in the teaser of Journey to the Center of the Bat! with Elongated Man to stop Babyface. The two tend to argue on who is a better partner to Batman, but the Caped Crusader prefers to go solo when it comes to them.
Plastic Man has an Injustice Syndicate counterpart (an evil version from an alternate dimension). The original appears in the season finale, hunting Batman.
Film
Magazines
The April 19, 1999, issue of The New Yorker features Plastic Man on the cover gawking at a Picasso painting. This issue ran a biography of Jack Cole by Art Spiegelman, which two years later would comprise much of the text in his and Chip Kidd's book Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to their Limits.
Action figures
There have been several versions of Plastic Man immortalized in plastic. In 1980 he was made into a stretch figure for the Mego Corporation Elastic Superheroes line (which is highly sought after by collectors and extremely rare). He was a part of Kenner's Super Powers action figure line in 1986. In 1998, Plastic Man was included in Hasbro's line based on the JLA comic book. When DC Comics started its own toy company, DC Direct, in 1999, Plastic Man was one of its first action figures made. A second figure, this time an interpretation of the character based on the art of Alex Ross, was released by DC Direct in May 2006.
Gaming
Plastic Man is featured in Wizkids' Heroclix tabletop miniatures game, in his traditional red and yellow costume, in addition to having a regular Rookie/Experienced/Veteran figure in the inaugural DC Hypertime set. In 2003 a convention-exclusive figure was produced which featured the same powers and abilities but with a figure of Plastic Man as a mailbox (actually the mailbox 3-D object token repainted with his costume). Another version of Plastic Man, in the form of a hang glider was released in 2007.
Video games
- In the video game Justice League Heroes, while fighting through the Watchtower, a voice comes over the intercom saying there is a message from Plastic Man. His message (interpreted by the computer) is that he has forgotten his keys.
Jack Cole reprints
DC Comics unless otherwise noted.
"The Origin of Plastic Man" a.k.a. "Eeyow! It's Plastic Man!" Police Comics #1 (August 1941)
- Comix: A History of Comic Books in America (Bonanza Books, 1971)
"The Granite Lady" Police Comics #51, February 1946
- DC Special #15 (December 1971)
"The Origin of Plastic Man" a.k.a. "Eeyow! It's Plastic Man!" Police Comics #1 (August 1941)
"The Man Who Can't Be Harmed" Police Comics #13 (November 1942)
"Plastic Man Products" Plastic Man #17 (May 1949)
"The Private Detecitve" (Starring Woozy Winks) Plastic Man #26 (November 1950)
"The Magic Cup" Plastic Man #25 (September 1950)
- Batman #238 (January 1972)
- Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #149-150 (May-June 1972)
- Plastic Man #1-2 (Dynapubs, B&W reprints of golden age comics in the Flashback series, 1974 & 1976)
- A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics (Smithsonian Institution / Harry N. Abrams, 1981)
"The Origin of Plastic Man" a.k.a. "Eeyow! It's Plastic Man!" Police Comics #1 (August 1941)
"The Man Who Can't Be Harmed" Police Comics #13 (November 1942) which has the First appearance of sidekick Woozy Winks
- Plastic Man 80-Page Giant #1 DC (January 2004)
- Plastic Man Archives
Volume 1, ISBN 1-56389-468-8 Police Comics #1-20
Volume 2, ISBN 1-56389-621-4 Police Comics #21-30 and Plastic Man #1
Volume 3, ISBN 1-56389-847-0 Police Comics #31-39 and Plastic Man #2
Volume 4, ISBN 1-56389-835-7 Police Comics #40-49 and Plastic Man #3
Volume 5, ISBN 1-56389-986-8 Police Comics #50-58 and Plastic Man #4
Volume 6, ISBN 1-4012-0154-7 Police Comics #59-65 and Plastic Man #5-6
Volume 7, ISBN 1-4012-0410-4 Police Comics #66-71 and Plastic Man #7-8
Volume 8, ISBN 1-4012-0777-4 Police Comics #72-77 and Plastic Man #9-10
External links
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