Plastique

Origin

The woman known as Plastique was a member of a band of extremist French Canadian separatists who engaged in terrorist activity against both Canada and the USA. The group believed that US capitalists exploit French Canadian resources.

Creation

Plastique was created by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick. She first appeared in The Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982).

Major Story Arcs

Plastique, wearing a costume covered with bombs, invaded the offices of the New York News Express, the city's fourth largest newspaper. She demanded that unless the News Express agreed by 10pm that night to abandon its paper mills in Quebec, she would kill everyone in the building.

Confronted by Firestorm, Plastique decided to make herself a martyr to her cause, dramatically destroying herself along with anyone else in the building. She activated the bombs in her costume which would explode within seconds. But Firestorm ruined her plans by using his matter rearranging powers to make her clothes disappear, making her a laughing stock. He then scooped up the bombs and flew them outside, where they detonated without harming anyone.

The humiliated Plastique went to prison and Firestorm foiled a plot by her fellow terrorist Le Flambeau to blackmail New York into freeing her. But Plastique's lawyer brought her an experimental serum developed by a man called "The Doctor" for the terrorists' Project Bomb-Burst. She had him inject her with the serum, which gave her the power to project explosive concussive blasts from her fingertips. Plastique used her new powers to break out of prison and she teamed up with the second Killer Frost.

With Killer Frost's aid, Plastique attempted to strike out against both the USA and Canada, which both drew hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls. Plastique told Killer Frost to freeze the falls while she herself destroyed the power plant. However, Firehawk defeated Killer Frost and Firestorm tricked Plastique into knocking herself unconscious from the recoil of one of her own explosions. Plastique would later meet and marry Captain Atom - although that did not last long as she was transferred to the Suicide Squad.

Salvation Run, JLA, and Countdown

She is seen in JLA along with the Suicide Squad gathering up the villains and fighting the JLA.

She also makes a short appearance on Salvation Run and Countdown sending the villains to the prison planet.

Powers and Abilities

Originally, Plastique wore a costume covered with plastic explosives, which she could trigger and detonate at her own accord. Since then she has gained the ability to project explosive concussive blasts at will by touching an object with her fingertips.

Other Media

Justice League Unlimited

In the episode Task Force X, Plastique is an explosives expert. Plastique has advanced knowledge of the intricacies and use of demolition weaponry. She was assigned to Task Force X, with Rick Flag, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Clock King, on a mission to infiltrate the Justice League's Watchtower and steal a magical automaton called the Annihilator. She was caught in an explosion of one of her own devices when Deadshot detonated it from a distance so that rest of the team could escape. She was wounded but still alive when last seen, mainly because Captain Atom attempted to take the brunt of the blast. It is unclear whether she died or survived.

Smallville (TV Series)

Jessica Parker Kennedy appears here as Plastique, in the episode "Plastique", and involves a younger version of the character. Here, Plastique gains her powers during the Kryptonite meteor shower which had occurred in Commencement after which she was taken captive by LuthorCorp and held for three years before escaping. Because of this, she was forced to move from place to place, often encountering LuthorCorp employees seeking to take her captive. She is recruited by Tess Mercer to be a part of the Injustice League. She appeared in the episode "Injustice", where she returns again with Parasite, Livewire, and Neutron, who form a team of meteor freak rogues who search for Doomsday. After she was arrested, Plastique returned as a member of the Suicide Squad in Season 10. Together with Rick Flag, she freed Deadshot from prison.