| Character Name: | Plastique |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Debut: | The Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982) |
| Creators: | Gerry Conway (writer) Pat Broderick (artist) |
| Alter Ego: | Bette Sans Souci |
| Species: | Metahuman |
| Alliances: | Suicide Squad Justice League Extreme Justice |
| Partners: | Captain Atom Electrocutioner |
| Powers: | Can project explosive force from her body |
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 first appeared in The Fury of Firestorm #7 (December 1982) and was created by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick.[1]
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.
See main article: Firestorm (character). In her first appearance, Plastique attempts to bomb the New York Herald-Express before Firestorm defeats her. 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.
See main article: 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]
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]
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]
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.
Plastique makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Injustice.
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]