| Plastique | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Plastique as depicted inSuicide Squad vol. 3 #7 (May 2008). Art by Javier Piña. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982) |
| Created by | Gerry Conway (writer) Pat Broderick (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Bette Sans Souci |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | Suicide Squad Justice League Extreme Justice |
| Partnerships | Captain Atom Electrocutioner |
| Abilities | Can project explosive force from her body |
Plastique (Bette Sans Souci) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. She is an enemy ofFirestorm and both an enemy and love interest ofCaptain Atom.
Plastique first appeared inThe Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982) and was created byGerry Conway andPat Broderick.[1]
Plastique is introduced as a terrorist attempting to coerce the separation ofQuebec from the rest ofCanada. She subsequently makes several appearances during Gerry Conway's tenure as writer of that series.[2] Plastique also appears inCaptain Atom as an adversary, later love interest, of the titular hero.
In her first appearance, Plastique attempts to bomb the New York News Express using a set of bombs attached to her costume. However,Firestorm disarms her by vaporizing her clothing, leaving her naked and humiliated in public while Firestorm takes the bombs to explode in a safer area.[3][2] Later, via genetic engineering, she gains the power to project explosive force outward from her body.
Her last major public operation as a terrorist is depicted in her firstCaptain Atom appearance, wherein she attempts to destroy theCanadian Parliament Building inOttawa and theStatue of Liberty inNew York City, as well as assassinate thePresident of the United States and theCanadian Prime Minister. Her plans were thwarted, and Plastique is captured by Captain Atom.
Plastique joins theSuicide Squad for the duration of a single mission. She attempted to betray the team during a field operation inQurac, but her betrayal has been anticipated by the group. Plastique is caught by fellow operativeNemesis and subsequently brainwashed to suppress all memories of her membership in the Squad.[4] Her followers eventually abandon her after becoming disillusioned with the use of force and violence to advance their shared cause, after which Plastique becomes a mercenary. Eventually she reformed, subsequently earning a pardon from the U.S. government and marrying Captain Atom.[5] The two later separate, with Plastique returning to the Suicide Squad.[6]
InThe New 52 continuity reboot, Plastique appears as a member of theSecret Society of Super Villains.[7] She later infiltratesA.R.G.U.S. to plant a bomb onDoctor Light's body.[8]
InForever Evil, the Crime Syndicate sends Plastique,Black Bison,Hyena,Multiplex, andTyphoon to attack a hospital to finishGorilla Grodd's work inCentral City.[9]
Originally Plastique wore a costume covered with plastic explosives, which she could trigger and detonate manually.[2] She has since gained the ability to project explosive force at will by touching an object with her fingertips.
An possible future variant of Plastique appears inThe New 52: Futures End. This version is a thief and mercenary from the year 2020.[10]
Plastique makes a non-speaking cameo appearance inInjustice.[11]
The character of Plastique has been portrayed in diverse ways in its various appearances: considered "a classic DC villainess" by Tierney Bricker,[18] "she has flirted with good on occasion".[19][20][21] Reviewers Scott Von Doviak, Brianna Reeves and Felix Böhme found Plastique’s appearance inThe Flash TV series interesting and nuanced, both in comparison to other representations of the character as well as other comic antagonists: she is shown as a victim, but still as a dangerous and uncontrolled force, making how to deal with her a moral conundrum for the team of the titular hero.[22][23][24]
Reviewer Rachel Paige commented on the impact of Plastique's changing backstory: she found the idea from the comics, that the character got her supernatural explosive abilities by "some handy genetic engineering" terrifying, but getting her powers from theS.T.A.R. Labs explosion like the Flash from the TV series only mildly so.[21]
Brent Frankenhoff included Plastique in his list ofComics' Sexiest Bad Girls due to the accentuated depiction of her body,[25] while the character was still portrayed with a sense of shame when unclad in public.[2]
