Eel O'Brian, abandoned by his criminal gang after being shot and exposed to the acid, 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 oblivous to the changes to his body, but after realizing that he was the monster everyone was going on about, he used his new abilities to escape his pursuers, but 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 couldn't 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, ending up with the name "Plastic Man" after a reporter misinterpreted his first choice, "Elastic Man", and Woozy set up a detective agency in New York City and had various misadventures.
The alteration that Plas was initially in the superhero business for the money has had an effect on his character development post-Crisis, notably in a JLA storyline by Mark Waid where he, along with other Justice League members, was separated into two people, his normal "civilian" identity and his superhero persona. 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 or if it had all been 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.
Last edited by Smurph on Jun 15th, 2008 at 01:22 AM
Note: Elements of this story have been retconned, but the gist is the same.
The biggest change is that he resolved to do hero work for cash, not out of the good of his soul (until he really started in the prime of his career with the JLA, I assume)
Talks casually about how some Flashes gave him a "molecular rubdown" to turn him from stone to molten lava, and about how he had molecular control in that form.
Recovers pretty quickly from being hit with a gas attack (though, as Plastic Man's physiology is made of the same time of cell repeated and he lacks organs or inner functions, how this affected him is unclear)
Alien entities still haven't fully identified Plastic Man's physiology by the time it took them to identify the cellular makeup and power source of the entire JLA.
Ice forms around Diana so cold that it transcends absolute zero. Plastic Man goes so thin that he can slip between her skin and the ice, and then press outwards as the league applies force on the outside, to break her out... pretty impressive, IMO.
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Jun 15th, 2008 01:16 AM
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