Plastic Man was a war-time superhero who joined the Freedom Fighters.
History
In 1941 on Earth-Two, petty crook "Eel" O'Brian was shot during a botched robbery attempt and his wound contaminated by unknown chemicals which altered his body chemistry, giving him the ability to change shape. Nursed back to health by an order of monks, and now truly repentant, O'Brian embarked on a new career as the crime busting Plastic Man, soon joining the FBI and later becoming their official liaison with the newly formed All-Star Squadron. In late 1942 however, Plas migrated to Earth-X along with numerous other heroes who became collectively known as the Freedom Fighters, and due to the divergence in history on that world (where the Nazis were not defeated for several decades) eventually died in action there.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Unique Physiology
- Elasticity
- Superhuman Durability: His body can repel bullets,[1] but he needs be aware of the attack to absorb the impact.[2][3]
- Metamorphosis [4]
- Elasticity
Notes
- Plastic Man was created by Jack Cole, first appearing in Police Comics #1. However, the Earth-Two version of Plastic Man first appeared in Justice League of America #107 by Len Wein and Dick Dillin.
- This version of Plastic Man, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
- In 1956, DC Comics obtained the rights to the Quality Comics characters, and re-introduced them 17 years later as the Freedom Fighters in Justice League of America #107 (October 1973).
- The Freedom Fighters were relocated to a parallel world, one called "Earth-X", where Nazi Germany had won World War II. The team was featured in its own series for 15 issues (1976–1978), in which it temporarily left Earth-X for "Earth-One" (where most DC titles are set).
- In 1981, some Quality Characters became recurring guest-stars of All-Star Squadron, a superhero-team title set on "Earth-Two", the locale for DC's WWII-era superheroes, and at a time prior to when the Freedom Fighters were supposed to have left for Earth-X. They later appeared with the rest of DC's superheroes in Crisis on Infinite Earths, a story that was intended to eliminate the confusing histories that DC had attached to its characters by retroactively merging the various parallel worlds into one. The Freedom Fighters became a mere splinter group of the All-Star Squadron.
- According to Roy Thomas:[5] "The Rod Reilly introduced in ALL-STAR SQUADRON is, of course, not the one from Earth-X who appeared in FREEDOM FIGHTERS, nor is our Plastic Man the same as any other who has appeared in comics since his original title folded in the mid-50's. In our view, all 1940's DC and Quality Comics Group stories occurred on Earth-Two, even though some of these events were duplicated on Earth-One."
Related
- Appearances of Eel O'Brian (Earth-Two)
- Images featuring Eel O'Brian (Earth-Two)
- Quotations by or about Eel O'Brian (Earth-Two)
- Character Gallery: Eel O'Brian (Earth-Two)
Footnotes
  This character is or was a member of the All-Star Squadron in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "All-Star Squadron members" category. |
 This character is or was a member of the Freedom Fighters, a team of American super-heroes who fight threats to the nation and its ideals under the leadership of Uncle Sam. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Freedom Fighters members" category. |