Plastic Man originally started as a Quality Comics character in 1941 before the elastic-powered hero moved to DC when its prior publisher sunk. As the story goes, Patrick “Eel” O’Brian was part of a gang until he is left for dead by them during a heist-gone-wrong, which left him soaked in an unknown chemical liquid. This results in him gaining the power of elasticity (like Fantastic Four’s Mr. Fantastic or The Incredibles’ Elastigirl), along with regeneration, invulnerability and slow aging. O’Brian becomes a police officer in between his superhero antics.
