Plastic Man

Plastic Man is a superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole and debuting in Police Comics #1 (August 1941), Plastic Man would be one of the earliest superheroes to incorporate humor into mainstream action storytelling. After the character was acquired by DC Comics, he would go on to join the Justice League and interact with various DC superheroes. Originally a crook named Patrick "Eel" O'Brian, he would gain his powers from a heist gone wrong. A night watchman discovered him and three other gang members during a heist at Crawford Chemical Works. As the gang's escape, Eel was shot in the shoulder and doused with a chemical liquid from a large drum. He fled to the street, only to discover that his gang had fled without him. Eel eventually passed out on the foothills of a mountain near the city. He was discovered by a monk who turned away police officers who were searching for him, seeing Eel's capacity to do good. The monk's act of kindness made Eel decide to reform. Discovering that the chemicals had turned his body into a rubber-like state, allowing him to stretch, bounce and mold himself into any shape, Eel decides to use his new-found powers to do good. As Plastic Man, he captures criminals while dressed in a red, black, and yellow (later red and yellow) rubber costume. He disguised himself by wearing white goggles and re-molding his face. As O'Brian, he kept his job and contacts in the underworld in order to gather information on criminal activity. He would also acquire a sidekick in Woozy Winks, a bumbling comic-relief character.