DC Special #15 is an issue of the series DC Special (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1971.
Synopsis for "The Origin of Plastic Man"
This story is reprinted from Police Comics #1.
Eel O'Brian is little more than a small-time thief. Along with his gang of underlings, he breaks into and attempts to rob the Crawford Chemical Works. Police arrive on the scene, but as Eel and the others flee, he is exposed to deadly, toxic acid. He manages to make it outside, but stumbles down unconscious.
When he awakens, Eel finds that his skin is now super-pliant. He can contort his limbs and facial features into any shape he desires. He is inside a small monastery where a kindly monk has chosen to nurse him back to health. The experience has changed more than jut Eel's physiology though. He feels that he has been given a second chance and renounces his former life of crime. Donning a stretchable costume and a pair of goggles, Eel decides to fight crime as the super-hero Plastic Man.
Plastic Man tracks down his old gang and stops them from committing another robbery. He turns them over to the police and returns the stolen loot. The police have no idea that this strange, new hero was once a criminal.
Appearing in "The Origin of Plastic Man"
Featured Characters:
- Plastic Man (First appearance) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Unnamed monk
Locations:
- Mammoth City
- Crawford Chemical Works
- Rest Haven
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Synopsis for "The Man Who Can't Be Harmed"
This story is reprinted from Police Comics #13.
A listless nobody named Woozy Winks rescues a magical wizard while fishing. The wizard is grateful and bestows Woozy with the protection of nature which protects him from any harm. Woozy quickly finds out that he is invulnerable and flips a coin to decide whether he will use his powers for good or bad. Sometime later the police receive a call from sculptor Homer Twitchel who reports that his priceless statues have been stolen. Plastic Man is dispatched to the scene where he immediately starts to look for clues. He follows a trail of clay pieces that have been dropped on the ground and they lead him directly to Woozy. He is about to saw off Twitchel's arm when he is stopped by Plastic Man. Woozy walks away as a hail of stones descends upon the scene leaving Plastic Man ducking for cover. The hero then decides to use his guise as Eel O'Brian to find out more information on Woozy. He convinces Woozy to take him on as a partner in crime but instead of robbing banks, Woozy is only concerned with stealing marble statues which were created by Twitchel. He mentions that they will be paid for the job by an unknown boss but O'Brian is unable to obtain anymore information. Plastic Man decides to secretly follow Woozy as he walks towards the Mire Mansion. Woozy is seen talking to Mire who reveals that he wants as many Twitchel statues destroyed to increase the value of his own personal Twitchel statue collection. At this point Plastic Man reveals himself from his hiding disguise as a chair. Mire quickly dispatches a black panther to go after Plastic Man but he then changes his face to look exactly like Mire. This causes the panther to become confused and the killer cat walks off. Plastic Man quickly subdues Mire but he has a tougher job apprehending Woozy because of his supernatural powers. Plastic Man appeals to Woozy's conscious by asking him what his mother would think about his crimes. Woozy breaks down in tears and decides to voluntarily turn himself in. Before serving his sentence, Woozy insists on helping Plastic Man capture the rampant criminal Eel O'Brian.
Appearing in "The Man Who Can't Be Harmed"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Woozy Winks (First appearance) (Origin)
- Captain Murphy
Antagonists:
- Mister Mire
Other Characters:
- Homer Twitchel
- Zambi ze Soothzayer
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Plastic Man Products"
This story is reprinted from Plastic Man #17.
Plastic man breaks up an attempted mugging but the thug gets away and PM is unable to get a good look at him. He later runs into a shady character named Willie and accuses him of the mugging. Willie professes his innocence and proclaims that he is in the rubber business. The thug wanders into a laboratory where he finds a scientist working on a rubber formula experiment which will produce good cheap grade rubber. Willie decides to subdue the scientist and take the formula for himself. The scientist protests that the formula is incomplete but Willie doesn't care and proceeds to lock up the scientist in a room. The next morning Willie visits and advertiser and blackmails him into helping him promote his business. Over the next few days, advertisements appear all over the city for rubber products such as girdles, suspenders and socks that contain rubber as good as the rubber that composes Plastic man. Customers rush to their local stores to purchase the items excited by the fact that they are being endorsed by Plastic man himself. Plas soon learns of the advertisements and rushes to stop Willie from using his name to promote his products. It isn't long before all the plastic products start to fail and break. Customers are in an uproar and blame Plastic man for lending his name to such a business. In the meantime Plastic man discovers the scientist who was locked in a room by Willie. He gives Plas a formula which causes everyone to become stuck in place and this gives the hero time to explain that Willie intentionally used his name on the products without permission. Willie is then identified by the scientist as the person who assaulted him as he cries at the thought of facing a jury.
Appearing in "Plastic Man Products"
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Synopsis for Woozy Winks: "The Private Detective"
This story is reprinted from Plastic Man #26.
Woozy strikes out on his own as he opens up his own detective agency. In the meantime, a magician hypnotist by the name of The Great Bladdo begins to hypnotize audiences and then robs them. The crime is witnessed by a station manager and he quickly contacts the nearest detective agency which just happens to be Woozy's office. Woozy takes up the case and approaches the pair of crooks responsible for the crime. Bladdo hypnotizes Woozy and instructs him to confess to the robbery. They drop him off at the precinct police station where they assume that Woozy will turn himself in. Bladdo and his henchman wait around the police station to savor the moment but they are shocked to see Woozy coming out with a pair of policeman. Bladdo and his partner are arrested immediately but he is puzzled as to how this happened. It turns out that the police were notified that a detective had been hired but that he was not very bright. When Woozy walked in he had forgotten what to say so he just started telling the police about the two men that brought him to the station. The police were aware that Plastic man had been quoted as saying that Woozy couldn't follow instruction even if he were hypnotized.
Appearing in Woozy Winks: "The Private Detective"
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Synopsis for "The Magic Cup"
This story is reprinted from Plastic Man #25.
Woozy Winks is kicked out of an F.B.I. briefing, and seeks his fortune elsewhere. When he saves an insane man from jumping off of a bridge, "King Oberon" gives Woozy a Magic Cup that grants three wishes.
Woozy wishes that Plastic Man needed him, and Plas grabs him to fill in for the driver of an armored car for a robbery. The crooks don't like Woozy's looks and throw him from a cliff.
Woozy's second wish is that Plastic Man was there to save him; and as he was tailing the crooks as a balloon, Woozy is saved. Plastic Man laughs at the ridiculousness of believing in wishes, and Woozy pawns the magic cup for fifty cents.
Woozy's final wish is to get some credit from Plastic Man, and a radio report identifies Woozy as the apprehender of the crooks.
Appearing in "The Magic Cup"
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Beetle Browan
- Twitchy Wilson
Other Characters:
- King Oberon
- Stonehead Insane Asylum Orderlies
- Uncle Ben
Locations:
- Mammoth City
- Dearmont Chemical Factory
- F.B.I. Office
- Lonely Highway Cliffs
- Uncle Ben's Pawnshop
Items:
- Helium "Compound"
- Magic Cup
- The Payroll
Vehicles:
- Krinks Armored Car