Plastique

PLASTIQUE

Real Name: Bette Sans Souci

Class: Altered human

Occupation: Terrorist

Group Affiliation: formerly Suicide Squad, Bomb Squad

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Quebec, Canada

First Appearance: Fury of Firestorm #7 (December, 1982)

Powers:Originally Plastique wore a costume covered with plastic explosives, which she could trigger and detonate manually. She later abandoned the suit after gaining the power to project explosive force at will by touching an object with her fingertips.

History: (Fury of Firestorm #7-Plastique was a member of a band of extremist French Canadian separatists who engaged in terrorist against both Canada and the U.S. They believed that U.S. capitalists were exploiting French Canadian resources. Her first known mission was to coerce the New York News Express into abandoning its paper mills in Quebec. When confronted by Firestorm, she decided to become a martyr and set off the explosives in her costume. Firestorm made short work of Plastique and sent her to prison.

Firestorm later foiled a plot by her fellow terrorist Le Flambeau to blackmail New York City into freeing her. But Plastique’s lawyer brought her an experimental serum developed by a man known only as “The Doctor” for the terrorists’ Project Bomb-Blast. She gained volatile powers and escaped from prison, later joining up with Killer Frost II. They attempted to blow up the Niagara Falls power plant, but were thwarted by Firestorm and Firehawk.

(Suicide Squad I #1, 2) - Plastique was recruited by the Suicide Squad; in exchange for participating in a pre-emptive attack on Quarac’s super-powered terrorists the Jihad her sentence would be commuted. Once the Squad broke into Jihad hq Plastique betrayed the Squad at the first opportunity, offering her services to the Jihad’s security advisor Mushtaq. She never guessed that Mushtaq was actually Squad member Nemesis, who had earlier infiltrated the Jihad. He knocked her out and turned her over to the Squad for punishment.

(Suicide Squad I #3) - Plastique was returned to Belle Reve prison, where Amanda Waller had Dr. Moon brainwash her so that she would forget anything she knew about the Suicide Squad.

(Justice League of America II #1 (fb, BTS)) - Plastique and Electrocutioner teamed up, and named themselves the Bomb Squad, feeling that the name would lent them credibility as a threat.

(Justice League of America II #2-4) - The Bomb Squad were hired for a hit on Senator Godfrey, and to get past the senator's power scanners they needed to temporarily lose their powers. They went to see Parasite, who provided just such a service for the supervillain community. Parasite shanghaied them to work for Solomon Grundy, who attached Starros to their neck, mind controlling them. Grundy was assembling a new Amazo android to serve as his new immortal body, and needed the Bomb Squad gather components for him. They stole the Tantu Totem from Vixen, and returned to Grundy. Professor Ivo transplanted the Totem into Red Tornado's stolen body when Black Canary, Arsenal and Green Lantern, who were tracking Red Tornado, attacked the villains. Ivo unleashed a number of other Tornado androids on them while the Bomb Squad brought Red Tornado's body to a sublevel of Ivo's hq so he could complete the armor. The entire Justice League assembled to battle the villains, and removed the Starros from the Bomb Squad. The League defeated Grundy and Ivo.

Comments: Created by Garry Conway and Pat Broderick.

Plastique received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #18.

Plastique had a cameo in Justice League of America II #5.