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Plastique (Bette Sans Souci) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is an enemy of Firestorm and both an enemy and love interest of Captain Atom.
| Plastique | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Plastique as depicted in Suicide 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 |
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Plastique first appeared in The Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982) and was created by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick.[1]
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Plastique was introduced in The Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982), as a terrorist attempting to coerce the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada. She subsequently makes several appearances during Conway's tenure as writer of that series.[2] Plastique also appears in Captain Atom as an adversary, later love interest, of the titular hero.
Firestorm
In her first appearance, Plastique attempts to bomb the New York Herald-Express before Firestorm defeats her.[2] Later, via genetic engineering, she gains the ability to project explosive force outward from her body.
Her last major public operation as a terrorist is depicted in her first Captain Atom appearance, wherein she attempts to destroy the Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa and the Statue of Liberty in New York City, as well as assassinate the President of the United States and the Canadian Prime Minister. Her plans were thwarted, and Plastique herself is captured by Captain Atom.
Suicide Squad
She became a member of the Suicide Squad for the duration of a single mission. She attempts to betray the team during their second field operation in Qurac (under the command of Amanda Waller), but she is stopped by Nemesis and subsequently brainwashed to suppress all memories of her membership in the Squad.
Plastique later reforms, becomes a mercenary, and marries Captain Atom.[3] However, she later separates from him and returns to the Suicide Squad.[4]
The New 52
In The New 52 continuity reboot, Plastique appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains.[5] She later infiltrates A.R.G.U.S. to plant a bomb on Doctor Light's body.[6]
In Forever Evil, the Crime Syndicate sends Plastique, Black Bison, Hyena, Multiplex, and Typhoon to attack a hospital to finish Gorilla Grodd's work in Central City.[7]
Futures End
In the Futures End storyline, Plastique is working as a thief and mercenary in the year 2020.[8] She crosses paths with Batman (Terry McGinnis), who has traveled back in time to stop a robot apocalypse. Caught in his time wake is a cybernetically converted Plastique. After killing the cyborg, McGinnis is forced to bring her body with him so the future technology will not fall into anyone's hands. Plastique finds the body, causing her to freak out, fight alongside the heroes, and becomes romantically involved with McGinnis.[9]
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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.
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Television
- Plastique appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Task Force X", voiced by Juliet Landau.[10][11][12] This version is an explosives and demolition expert.
- Plastique appears in Smallville, portrayed by Jessica Parker Kennedy.[12][13] This version is a metahuman and member of the Suicide Squad who was previously kidnapped and held prisoner by LuthorCorp as a child.[14]
- Bette Sans Souci appears in The Flash episode "Plastique", portrayed by Kelly Frye.[15] This version is an EOD specialist for the U.S. Army who gained her abilities after being exposed to dark matter from the explosion of S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator and fused with bomb shrapnel embedded in her body. While on the run from General Wade Eiling, who intends to weaponize her, Souci encounters the Flash and his allies, who create special gloves to negate her abilities. Subsequently, she is killed while secretly attempting to kill Eiling.
- Plastique appears in the Harley Quinn episode "Harlivy", voiced by Kari Wahlgren. This version is a minor member of the Suicide Squad. After being kidnapped by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Amanda Waller calls in Plastique to successfully buy her time to escape. Ivy then restrains Plastique, who commits suicide via one of her explosives.
Film
Plastique makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Injustice.[10]
Video games
- Plastique appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[16]
- Plastique appears as a playable DLC character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
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The character of Plastique has been portrayed in diverse ways in its various appearances: considered "a classic DC villainess" by Tierney Bricker,[17] "she has flirted with good on occasion".[18][19][20] Reviewers Scott Von Doviak, Brianna Reeves and Felix Böhme found Plastique’s appearance in The 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.[21][22][23]
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 the S.T.A.R. Labs explosion like the Flash from the TV series only mildly so.[20]
Brent Frankenhoff included Plastique in his list of Comics' Sexiest Bad Girls due to the accentuated depiction of her body,[24] while the character was still portrayed with a sense of shame when unclad in public.[2]
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