- "Yoiks! Gadzooks, even."
- – Plastic Man after seeing possessed Barbara. [src]
Patrick O'Brian, better known as Plastic Man is a superhero appearing in Top Cow and DC Comics crossover, JLA/Witchblade.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
A small-time criminal, Patrick "Eel" O'Brian was involved in a heist at the Crawford Chemical Works that went wrong. He was shot by a guard, and exposed to a strange acid. His gang abandoned him, and he wandered the streets while his powers developed, terrifying passers-by, who thought he was some sort of monster. Initially unaware of his predicament, his realization of his situation caused him to become despondent, to the point of attempting suicide.
Before he could jump, he was interrupted by Woozy Winks, a recently-released mental patient. The pair quickly decided to turn Eel's new powers into an opportunity for profit, and at the toss of a coin decided that he should become a superhero.
JLA/Witchblade[]
When Oracle's communication system glitches, Plastic Man informs Batman, that they have lost their dedicated downlink to Oracle's mainframe. Batman is very alarmed, because he designed the systems, and his systems don't glitch. Together with Plastic Man and Huntress, Batman decides to go and check on Barbara. When they show up at Oracle's, and they find her turned into a giant Witchblade spider. The Witchblade is moving from host to host, seeking the most powerful woman in the direct vicinity. They fight the spider, finally defeating Oracle by cutting her off from the internet, which the Witchblade travelled through. The Witchblade then jumps onto the Huntress and possesses her, but before she can anything, Batman knocks her out with a batarang.
Back at the Watchtower, the JLA inspects Huntress, concluding that she has bonded with a fragment from Sara's Witchblade. Once the symbiote spreads to the brain, it searches for any weak point in the personality psycho-matrix it can exploit. Much to everyone's shock, the fragment then joins back with the Witchblade. At the Atlantis library, Aquaman discovers what he was looking for earlier about the Witchblade, and rushes off to tell the League. He reveals that more than ten thousands years ago, there existed a sorceress with a powerful gauntlet just like Sara's. They called it "corruptor, possessor, slayer and seducer."
They're then informed by Wonder Woman that Witchblade disappeared and JLA goes to search for it. Back at the Watchtower, Martian Manhunter continues to monitor Sara's condition as Plastic Man watches other JLA members if they found something. Superman and Steel stops an asteroid that suddenly veered off-course toward Earth. Batman and Huntress visit a museum exhibition of art by inmates of Arkham Asylum, that goes wrong. Aquaman and Green Lantern help a sabotaged nuclear submarine. And Flash investigates bomb threats in 25 cities around the world.
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman gives a speech on women in the 21st century, then is overcome by the Witchblade and declares that women around the world should rise up and throw off the yoke of patriarchal tyranny. She then beats up UN senators who doesn't listen to her. Back at the Watchtower, Sara finally wakes up and is happy to be free of the Witchblade. Plastic Man then informs them about Wonder Woman being possessed by the Witchblade. As much as she like to stay free of the artifact, Sara can't do it at someone's else expense and decides to have a talk with the JLA. Sara concludes that the Wichblade looks for a perfect host - an absolute innocent it can corrupt absolutely. Martian Manhunter having seen into Sara's psyche, adds that she's most worthy of the responsibility for the Witchblade. Then Steel informs everyone, that his sensors have tracked down Wonder Woman.
The JLA confronts Wonder Woman, who easily defeats Superman. The Flash then quickly takes him to project Cadmus were he can be taken care of. The JLA try to restrain Wonder Woman, but she manages to overpower all of them. Then Green Lantern faces her, but is quickly defeated too. Sara arrives, and she commands the Witchblade back to her body. It comes, reluctantly.
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- 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.
- Elasticity/Plasticity: He can stretch his limbs and body to superhuman lengths and sizes. There is no limit to how far he can stretch his body and limbs.
- Size Alteration: He can shrink himself down to a few inches tall (posed as one of Batman's utility belt pockets) or become a titan (the size of skyscrapers).
- Shape-Shifting: 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 purposes by changing the shape of his face, hands, feet and body. In addition, he can alter his bodily mass and physical constitution at will. There is no limit to the sizes and shapes he can contort himself into.
- Superhuman Agility: These stretching powers grant Plastic Man heightened agility enabling him flexibility and coordination that is extraordinarily beyond the natural limits of the human body.
- Superhuman Strength: He can alter his strength by growing or adding more muscle.
- Color Change: The only limitation he has relates to color, which he cannot change without intense concentration. He generally does not use this ability and sticks to his red, yellow and black colored uniform and his body's flesh tone.
- 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, though it does take a long time, its far faster than an ordinary human.
- Telepathic Immunity: As stated by Batman (in JLA #88), "Plastic Man's mind is no longer organic. It's untouchable by telepathy." (Mostly immune to mind control. It's unknown if Batman meant that Plas is immune to just mind control or to telepathy altogether from that point on...considering Plas's history with mind scans, mind wipes, and the use of J'onn's telepathic link.)
- 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.
- Rubber Organs: Plastic Man's organs are rubber as he is; he also shifts them around in his body to prevent harm. He doesn't keep his brain in his head, which has allowed him to survive decapitation.
Abilities[]
- Skilled Thief: Plastic Man was once a very talented professional thief.
- Master Detective: Although no longer a criminal, he has insight into their mindset, enabling him to be an effective sleuth. He is also considered to be a lateral thinker and much smarter than he lets on.
Weaknesses[]
- Vulnerability to Heat: 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. During his battle with both Witchblade possessed Barbara Gordon and Wonder Woman, Plastic Man was easily defeated by their pyrokinesis.
- Vulnerability to Chemical Solvents: Plastic Man loses his integrity when exposed to solvents such as acetone.
Gallery[]
