Editing Plastic Man (section)

==Fictional character biography==
===Original version by Jack Cole===
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. During the gang's escape, Eel was shot in the shoulder and doused with a large drum of unidentified chemical liquid. 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 chemical, 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 officer]]s 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 chemical 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.<ref name=Benton/>

Plastic Man soon acquired comic-relief [[sidekick]] [[Woozy Winks]], who was originally enchanted so that nature itself would protect him from harm. This power was eventually removed from the character and Woozy became simply a bumbling yet loyal friend to 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.

===Phil Foglio version===
After the 1985 ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', a 1988–1989 four-issue ''Plastic Man'' miniseries by [[Phil Foglio]] introduced a new version of Plastic Man: Eel O'Brian, abandoned by his criminal gang after being shot and exposed to the unidentified chemical, wandered the streets as his new powers developed, frightening others and bringing the police and National Guard down on him as a dangerous monster. Eel was at first oblivious to the changes to his body, but after realizing that he was the monster at large, he used his new abilities to escape his pursuers. Eel soon became so despondent over his new condition that he attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge.

Fortunately, he was interrupted by Woozy Winks, a former mental patient who was kicked out of an institution due to lack of funding (or as Woozy put it, "something called [[Reaganomics]]"), who desired nothing more than to return to the warm safety of a straitjacket and padded room. Eel and Woozy decided to work together and capitalize on Eel's new powers to make their fortunes (Eel wanting to get rich quick, Woozy just wanting his "old room" back), but could not decide whether there was more money in crime or crime-fighting, and resorted to flipping a coin to choose serving the law (though Woozy had his doubts early on). Eel ended up with the name 'Plastic Man' after a reporter misinterpreted his first choice of 'Elastic Man'. Eel and Woozy set up a detective agency in New York City and go on to have various misadventures together.

===JLA===
Plastic Man was made a prominent member of the [[Justice League]] during Grant Morrison's run on the title. The story arc "Rock of Ages" shows [[Batman]] recruiting Eel to infiltrate [[Lex Luthor]]'s [[Injustice League]] in the guise of the [[Joker (character)|Joker]], which he does successfully. He notably engages in combat with the goddess [[Circe (character)|Circe]], proving immune to her ability to turn humans into animals. He is later made a full-time member of the League and aids the League in several battles, including against [[Prometheus (DC Comics)|Prometheus]], Julian September, [[General Wade Eiling]], an upgraded version of [[Amazo]], a [[White Martian]] who assumes the identity of Bruce Wayne, and [[Queen Bee (comics)|Queen Bee]]. During this period he becomes close friends with fellow new members [[Steel (John Henry Irons)|Steel]] (due to the fact that they are both "lateral thinkers") and [[Zauriel]] (Plastic Man later implies in the ''JLA: Heaven's Ladder'' graphic novel that his Catholic upbringing is a factor behind this, and Zauriel's existence is a testament to his faith). After the extended League dissolves at the end of the "World War{{nbsp}}III" arc, he is the only member other than the 'Big Seven' heroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern) to retain full-time membership in the JLA.

Plastic Man has also been instrumental in defeating several foes by himself, such as a [[Last Laugh (comics)|Jokerized]] version of [[Doctor Polaris]] and the 'Burning Martian' persona of [[Martian Manhunter|J'onn J'onzz]] (Martian Manhunter). He has played substantial roles in nearly every major team-up and crossover featuring the League of this era: with the [[Teen Titans|Titans]] ('''The Technis Imperative'''), [[Young Justice]] ('''World Without Grownups'''), the [[Justice Society of America]] ('''Virtue and Vice''', where he is one of the heroes to be possessed by one of the Seven Deadly Sins), the [[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]] (the ''[[JLA/Avengers]]'' crossover) and even the [[Looney Tunes]] (in the humorous ''[[Superman & Bugs Bunny]]'' miniseries). In the "[[JLA: Tower of Babel]]" arc, Plastic Man is frozen and shattered into pieces by [[Ra's al Ghul]]'s League of Assassins, as part of an attack against the Justice League. (He Joins the Avengers for a short time) Though he is put together again, this experience traumatizes him severely and when it is discovered that the assassins were following methods devised by Batman, Eel joins [[Wonder Woman]] and [[Aquaman]] in voting Batman out of the League. The heroes reconcile in following issues.

The fact that Plastic Man was initially in the superhero business for the money has had an effect on his character development, notably in the storyline "Divided We Fall" by [[Mark Waid]] where he, along with other Justice League members, was separated into two people, his normal "civilian" identity and his superhero persona, by the manipulative wish-granting [[Cathexis (comics)|Id]]. While Plastic Man devolved from a person with a sense of humor into a constantly wisecracking and almost ineffectual idiot, the now "normal" Eel O'Brian struggled with the criminal tendencies he had suppressed as he had become comfortable with his role as a superhero and wondered if he had actually changed for the better at all or this was just part of the super-hero "act". Ultimately, Eel was the driving force behind the other transformed Leaguers banding together to re-join with their superheroic selves, noting that Bruce Wayne in particular was approaching a mental breakdown as he struggled with his rage over his parents' murder – having lacked the ability to do anything about it, as Batman was the identity that had 'inherited' his skills. Eel demonstrates this to the other divided Leaguers by savagely beating Bruce Wayne with a gun in the guise of a mugger to prove Wayne's ineffectiveness, and demonstrate the degree of psychological damage he has suffered due to the split.<ref>''JLA'' #53</ref> Later, Batman comments that it was a wise move "under the circumstances".<ref>''JLA'' #54</ref> Later, Plastic Man approaches Batman for help when he learns that Eel's estranged ten-year-old son Luke has fallen in with a gang of criminals, and has inherited his father's shape-shifting abilities, possibly to an even greater degree than Plastic Man's own. Plastic Man admits to Batman that he doesn't know if he ran away from being a father because he was enjoying his new life as a hero, or because he was afraid of becoming a parent for his son. Batman later intimidates Luke into returning home, and informs Plastic Man that he is disappointed in his cowardice, imagining that Eel would have shown Luke fatherly love; in reality, Plastic Man chose only to hide in Batman's utility belt during the whole encounter with Luke.<ref>''JLA'' #65</ref>

During the story arc "The Obsidian Age", Plastic Man and the other main members of the JLA were transported through time thousands of years earlier to the beginning days of Atlantis. During a battle with the antagonists, Plastic Man was frozen and then shattered into pieces. Having no way to locate all the pieces, much less fix him, with the technology of the day, the JLA returned to their own time. There they were eventually successful in finding all the pieces and restoring Plastic Man. Plastic Man had been conscious the entire time but unable to move, which had a profoundly negative effect on his mind. He admitted he had lost his nerve and quit the JLA, hoping to live a regular life. This return to normalcy was made easier after a new encounter with his now-teenage son, which made Eel feel that the boy needed a father and a normal life. Eventually, Batman convinced Plastic Man to return to his life as a super hero again when they needed his shape-shifting skills and immunity to telepathy to defeat the Martian Manhunter, who had regressed to a racial memory of the long-forgotten 'Burning Martians' after overcoming his weakness to fire. After a few more cases, Plastic Man is present at the memorial service held after this incarnation of the Justice League officially disbands during the ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' storyline.

===52, One Year Later, Countdown and Blackest Night===
In the 2006 "[[One Year Later]]" DC Comics [[fictional crossover|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 written by R.J. Carter. The character wears a white costume with red goggles, similar to that of [[Offspring (character)|Offspring]], Plastic Man's son in the earlier 1999 DC [[miniseries]] ''[[The Kingdom (comic)|The Kingdom]]'' by Mark Waid. While the Teen Titans story itself does not identify the character, page two of a published script supposedly by writer [[Geoff Johns]]' specifies it is "Plastic Man's son, Offspring".<ref>[http://www.comicbloc.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=353&Itemid=57 The Comic Bloc: "You Waited, Now See... ''Teen Titans'' #34"], posted June 15, 2006 by anonymous "magicspoon"</ref> Plastic Man's son is also shown in costume, and identified as Offspring, in the 2006 weekly series ''[[52 (comics)|52]]'' in Week 35 (written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, [[Greg Rucka]] and Mark Waid) when he is injured while rescuing a number of the depowered Everyman heroes. Eventually, Plastic Man and Offspring come together as father and son and briefly even had an idyllic family set up until Plastic Man was convinced that he could not deny his destiny as a super hero.

In ''Countdown to Mystery'' #1 (2007) written by Lilah Sturges, 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 and Black Canary|Green Arrow/Black Canary]]'' #8 by [[Judd Winick]], 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.

Plastic Man appeared for a brief period in the 2009 ''Justice League of America'' vol. 2 series written by [[Len Wein]]. After joining up with the team following the events of ''[[Final Crisis]]'', Plastic Man has his effectiveness questioned by his teammate [[Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)|Dr. Light]], which starts a fight between the two, which [[Vixen (comics)|Vixen]] breaks up.<ref>''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #35 (July 2009). DC Comics.</ref> Vixen reassigns Plastic Man to team up with Dr. Light to stop the [[Royal Flush Gang]] robbery. Though they experience some control issues between them, the Royal Flush Gang is defeated and Plastic Man and Dr. Light finally stop arguing.<ref>''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #37 (September 2009). DC Comics.</ref>

During a massive battle at the [[Justice League Satellite]] in ''[[Justice League: Cry for Justice]]'', [[Prometheus (DC Comics)|Prometheus]] injected Plastic Man with a chemical that badly damaged his plastic body. The chemicals caused Eel to suffer from a condition where it took great concentration to keep himself in his usual, semi-solid state and caused him pain when he even thought about changing shape, thus leaving him in an infirm state.<ref>''Justice League: Cry for Justice'' #6 (January 2010). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #38 (October 2009). DC Comics.</ref>

In the ''[[Blackest Night]]'' crossover, while still suffering from his deteriorating state, Plastic Man had his heart torn out by the [[Black Lantern Corps|Black Lantern]], [[Vibe (comics)|Vibe]], seemingly killing him.<ref>''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #39 (November 2009). DC Comics.</ref> However, due to his power of near-invulnerability, he was able to survive such an attack, albeit badly wounded.<ref>''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #40 (December 2009). DC Comics.</ref> Vixen states that Plastic Man was being taken care of at [[STAR Labs]], and that he would be unable to return to the League.<ref>''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #41 (January 2010). DC Comics.</ref>

Plastic Man later appeared in ''[[Justice League: Generation Lost]]'', helping a large coalition of heroes on an unsuccessful mission to trace [[Maxwell Lord]]. He had been seemingly cured of his condition, and was shown retaining his normal shape without issue or pain.<ref>''Justice League: Generation Lost'' #1. DC Comics.</ref>

Later, he aids the JLA on their mission into Hell, where he helps Batman defeat [[Geryon]]. The League learns [[Blaze and Satanus|Satanus]]' plans to use [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s mask to become powerful. Plastic Man grabs the mask, which possesses him. The Leagues combines forces to remove the mask, which is incinerated, seemingly killing Plastic Man. It is later revealed that [[Zauriel]] transported him into another dimension before helping the League escape Hell.<ref>''Justice League of America 80-Page Giant 2011''. DC Comics.</ref>

===The New 52===
In September 2011, [[The New 52]] rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Plastic Man is considered as one of the candidates for the [[United Nations]]-sponsored [[Justice League International]]. He is denied a spot on the team for being too unpredictable.<ref>''Justice League International'' (Vol. 3) #1 (November 2011). DC Comics.</ref> This cameo appearance was later [[retcon]]ned by "Eel" O'Brian's proper New 52 introduction in ''Justice League'' (Vol. 2) #25 (February 2014).

===DC Rebirth===
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "[[DC Rebirth]]" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "[[The New 52]]". In ''Dark Days: The Forge'', Batman unveils a containment unit to [[Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)|Mister Terrific]] in The Lunar Batcave bearing the Plastic Man logo and suggests it is time to release him.<ref>''Dark Days: The Forge'' #1 (June 2017). DC Comics.</ref>

In ''[[The Terrifics]]'' series, Plastic Man joins the eponymous group, consisting of himself, [[Metamorpho]], and [[Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)|Mister Terrific]], in traveling the Dark Multiverse after being sucked into [[Simon Stagg]]'s portal. They also encounter [[Phantom Girl#The New Age of Heroes|Linnya Wazzo]], an alien who had been trapped in the Dark Multiverse since she was young.<ref>''The Terrifics'' #1. DC Comics.</ref><ref>''The Terrifics'' #2. DC Comics.</ref><ref>''The Terrifics'' #3. DC Comics.</ref><ref>''The Terrifics'' #10. DC Comics.</ref><ref>''The Terrifics'' #11. DC Comics.</ref><ref>''The Terrifics'' #12.</ref> After the Terrifics defeat the Terribles, Plastic Man's son Luke, Element Dog, and Miss Terrific join the roster.<ref>''The Terrifics'' #14. DC Comics.</ref>

Obscura later recruits Plastic Man to investigate a multi-dimensional conspiracy led by the Cabal.<ref>''Plastic Man'' Vol. 5 #1–6. DC Comics.</ref>