Plastic Man 80-Page Giant #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of January, 2004.
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
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Presenting 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 "Presenting 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 "The Hand Behind!"
This story is reprinted from Plastic Man #3.
Appearing in "The Hand Behind!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Smelly Pitts
- Petunia
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Wizard of Light!"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #160.
While visiting his cousin, Robby Reed sees a dam break. The escaping water threatens a small farming community so Robby uses his H-Dial to become Giantboy. Giantboy quickly builds a rock wall to stop the oncoming water and save the farmers. Giantboy's attention is then attracted by an explosion from a nearby lab. Giantboy rescues a scientist trapped inside but he falls victim to poison gas. He stumbles into the river where onlookers believe he dies. However, Robby has enough life remaining to use the H-Dial and become his teenage self, who is unharmed by the poison.
The next day at the fair, Robby becomes King Kandy in order to stop the theft of a pearl necklace by a crook calling himself the Wizard of Light. Though the crook gets away, Robby sees him again later. This time Robby is transformed into Plastic Man. As Plas, Robby pursues the Wizard and deduces the crook's identity as Dr. Drago, the scientist he rescued earlier as Giantboy, since Drago was totally unharmed by the gas that overwhelmed the powerful Giantboy, and must've immunized himself beforehand. Robby apprehends Drago, then returns to his cousin's house.
Appearing in "The Wizard of Light!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Ned (Single appearance)
- Suzy Shoemaker (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Wizard of Light (First appearance)
- Cullen, Wizard of Light's henchman (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- "Gramps" Reed
- Miss Millie
Locations:
- Littleville
- Valley City
Items:
- H-Dial
- King Kandy's Licorice Lariat
- King Kandy's Lollipop Bomb
- Anti-Gravity Light Gun
Synopsis for "The Dirty Devices of Dr. Dome!"
This story is reprinted from Plastic Man (Volume 2) #1.
Dr. Dome employs Professor X to cause havoc around the city from his new devices, as other parties race to take down Plastic Man themselves.
Appearing in "The Dirty Devices of Dr. Dome!"
Featured Characters:
- Plastic Man (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Gordon K. Trueblood
- Micheline DeLute III
- Moms
- Fawnish the Butler
- Captain McSniffe
- Officer Gosling
Antagonists:
- Dr. Dome
- Lynx
- Professor X
Other Characters:
- Mr. Morbid (Mentioned only)
- Kid Catastrophe (Mentioned only)
- Baron Blood (Mentioned only)
- Lady Death (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Furs, Fins & Feathers Pet Shop
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Hamsters of Doom!"
This story is reprinted from Plastic Man (Volume 2) #11.
Plastic Man and Woozy Winks find themselves in the midst of a bank robbery carried out by a group of hypnotized prominent citizens. One bites the hero, giving them the chance to flee to a hovering invisible dome which disappears only with the perpetrators. When Plastic Man is called back to headquarters to report, he forces Woozy to stay behind, because he tripped them up and let the perpetrators get away. However a little girl named Prissy says she knows where to find Professor Von Holocaust, one of the disappeared men who might be involved.
While waiting to see the chief, Plastic Man notices the same blank expression on the chief's secretary as the thieves. The cocky Agent Foyle leaves the chief's office, promising to crack the case before Plastic Man. Afterward the chief shows him one of the missing people who's been found, and had his brainpower reduced to that of a hamster. While interrupting another heist, Plastic Man's able to catch up to the thieves when they grab onto the invisible dome to disappear, and ends up with them inside a giant hamster cage. He slips through the bars and goes to investigate the occupants of the gothic manor nearby.
The little girl brings Woozy to her dollhouse, where Professor Von Holocaust is indeed residing, now in the body of a hamster! In the mansion, Plastic Man finds Agent Foyle running on a giant hamster wheel and a cage full of hamsters with the brains of the other missing people. They blame a mad scientist named Dr. Forklift for their condition. Plastic Man soon finds the criminal, who blasts him with a ray that makes his body go limp. To Plastic Man's exasperation, Forklift launches into a drawn-out origin story of how he used to run a circus with train hamsters, until one fateful day when one of them knocked over a light that caused an explosion engulfing him, a stack of scientific papers and a nearby forklift, fusing them into one bizarre being.
Having learned where Forklift's lair is from Von Holocaust, Woozy tries to get inside by climbing through the skylight. He trips and falls, but in the process manages to set the ray to reverse and blast Plastic Man back to normal just before he's about to be transferred into a hamster himself. The mad genius unleashes his minions, but Prissy releases the hamsters with their brains who start biting their human bodies on the ankles. Dr. Forklift tries to get to his ray rifle and render Plastic Man helpless again, not realizing the hero was anticipating that and morphed himself into a copy of the weapon, catching Dr. Forklift by surprise. The villain's captured and all of his victims returned to normal...except Agent Foyle, who Plastic Man deliberately forgot.
Appearing in "The Hamsters of Doom!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- National Bureau of Investigation (First appearance)
- Agent Gully Foyle (First appearance)
- Chief Branner (First appearance)
- Sundae Supplement (Chief Branner's secretary) (First appearance)
- Woozy Winks (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Doctor Forklift (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Edwin Maxwell, millionaire playboy (Single appearance)
- Frank Lloyd Van Skeet, architect (Single appearance)
- Neal Dennis, science fiction author (Single appearance)
- Prissy Chichester (Single appearance)
- Professor Von Holocaust, nuclear physicist (Single appearance)
- Rip Gouge, actor (Single appearance)
Notes
- "The Origin Of Plastic Man!" was originally printed in Police Comics #1.
- "The Man Who Can't Be Harmed!" was originally printed in Police Comics #13.
- "The Hand Behind!" was originally printed in Plastic Man #3.
- "The Wizard Of Light!" was originally printed in House of Mystery #160.
- "The Dirty Devices Of Dr. Dome!" was originally printed in Plastic Man (Volume 2) #1.
- "The Hamsters of Doom!" was originally printed in Plastic Man (Volume 2) #11.