Editing Plastic Man (section)

===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.