DC Finest: Plastic Man: The Origin of Plastic Man #[nn]

Eel O'Brian’s life takes a wild turn when a vat of acid spills on him during a getaway, transforming him into a stretchable, shape-shifting force. Now with powers he never asked for, he must decide whether to keep running from the law—or use his new abilities to turn the tables on his old criminal crew.

When Captain Murphey demands Plastic Man solve at least one case a month or lose his badge, Plas takes on a bizarre new gig: shutting down a criminal operation run by a gangster known only as Baldy Bushwack, who’s using modified pinball machines to run a high-stakes racket. With his usual mix of elasticity and wit, Plas dives into the neon-lit underworld of underground games, where every flipper could be a trap.

In "Crime School for Delinquent Girls," Madam Brawn leads her gang of young female offenders in a bid to seize control of Windy City’s protection racket. When Eel O'Brian infiltrates the operation, Plastic Man finds himself tangled in a web of chaos—only to ultimately spare Brawn, who swears she’ll have her revenge.

In "Case of the Disembodied Hands," a man haunted by a curse from an Indian prince finds his own hands betraying him—stealing without his will. When he can no longer bear the torment, he cuts them off, only to face a new kind of horror. Plastic Man steps in to help, but the solution may be more complex than simply setting the hands free.

In "The United Crooks of America," Eel makes a bold move to join the notorious gang by pulling off a high-stakes fur heist—only to face skepticism from a wary member who recalls that every other associate of the late O'Brien ended up behind bars. The story unfolds with sharp tension as Eel’s past and motives are quietly scrutinized in a world where loyalty is as malleable as the crooks themselves.

In "Satan's Son Sells Out to the Japs!", Hairy Arms—once a loyal enforcer for the Axis—finds his authority crumbling when his own gang turns against him, seeking help from the one man who’s always one step ahead: Eel O'Brian. With a ransom note demanding $50,000 at Wildwood Cemetery and a boy in danger, Plastic Man teams up with Officer Plotz to unravel a web of betrayal and robot-fueled sabotage. The real threat may not be the enemy at the gates—but the one who’s already inside.

In "The Brain of Cyrus Smythe," a centuries-old villain’s consciousness survives in a jar of chemicals, only to be transplanted into a modern soldier’s body—where he begins a new life, unaware of his past. When his existence collides with the unpredictable hero Plastic Man, the consequences are as unpredictable as they are inevitable.

In "The Sinister Swami," the enigmatic mystic known as The Swami takes up a bounty on Plastic Man’s life, drawn by the promise of reward—only to find his own powers strangely diminished by the very existence of the stretchable hero. As he confronts the chaos of his own abilities, he begins to question whether his strength was ever truly his own.

In "Presenting the Man Who Can't Be Harmed," Jo finds himself transformed after saving Zambi the Soothsayer, gaining invulnerability and immunity to pain. With a coin toss guiding his fate, he embraces a life of crime—only to be pulled back by Plastic Man, leading to an unlikely partnership where Jo’s unbreakable nature becomes both a gift and a test.

In "The Weather Weapon," Jo faces off against Boreas, the tempestuous north wind, unleashed through a machine wielded by Don Snitzel and his Fifth Columnist allies. With the storm’s fury at their command, they aim to bend the weather to their will—only to find their plans stymied by Woozy, whose unshakable resilience and knack for turning every blow back on its source make him an unpredictable force of nature.

In "The Revenge of Chief Great Warrior," Plas and Woozy infiltrate the Blackfoot Indian reservation to quell an uprising led by a mysterious chief whose power allows him to project his image through mirrors and other reflective surfaces. With their usual mix of wit and wobbly heroics, the duo must navigate a conflict rooted in ancient magic and modern tensions—before the chief’s haunting presence becomes impossible to ignore.

In "The Drafting of Plastic Man," Jo finds himself caught between duty and freedom when President Roosevelt personally calls to requisition his talents for the FBI, pulling him from his role as a home-front asset under Captain Murphey. With his elasticity now a tool for national security, Jo must navigate a new kind of mission—one that tests his loyalty and the limits of his ever-shifting form.

In "The Forest of Fear," Plastic Man’s first mission as a G-Man leads him into the eerie woods surrounding the Hadley Lumber Company, where workers are vanishing and a boneyard of twisted, living trees guards a secret. With his wits and stretchy body tested by a mad scientist’s twisted experiments—where animals and plants have been fused into deadly, sentient flora—Plas must navigate a forest that fights back. When the flames close in, he makes a bold choice that could change everything.

In "Woozy Winks Detective Agency," a stuttering, self-aware comic writer named Cole finds himself pulled into a surreal dream sequence where Plastic Man and the legendary detective Woozy Winks team up to stop the twin crooks Abba and Dabba. As Cole sketches the villains for a wanted poster, the line between creator and story blurs—until an unseen publisher finally pulls him back from the chaos.

In "The Eyes Have It!", Plastic Man confronts a chilling case where a mute boy named Bright Eyes holds the key to his father’s crimes—though not with words, but with eyes that seem to bend reality. When Chief Branner blocks Plastic Man from helping the boy, the hero must find a way to reach him before the Sphinx’s deadly influence claims another victim.

In "The Rare Edition Murders," Plastic Man unravels a deadly mystery tied to a legendary book, confronting Number Seven—a scarred WW1 veteran armed with a gun that fires liquid fire. As the hunt for the rare edition turns deadly, Plastic Man must stretch his limits to stop a killer driven by secrets buried in the past.

In "Body, Mind and Soul," Chief Branner confronts Plastic Man—revealing he’s actually the fugitive Eddie O’Brian—only to offer him a chance to redeem himself. Tasked with capturing three distinct criminals—one defined by strength, one by intellect, and one by something far more primal, a werewolf—O’Brian must prove his worth not just as a hero, but as a man willing to face his past.

In "The Lava Man," Fargo Freddie’s ill-fated plunge into a volcano leads to an unexpected encounter with a 500-year-old man who teaches him to become living lava. Now wielding molten power, Freddie escapes Plastic Man’s grasp—only to face a fiery downfall when his body cools and hardens.