Patrick O’Brian is a petty criminal willing to take almost any job alongside his best friend, Woozy Winks. While working as an enforcer for a small gang, Patrick is kidnapped and exposed to mysterious chemicals that melt his body, leaving him presumed dead.
Found by FBI agent Nancy Morgan, Patrick awakens with immense shapeshifting powers. Brought before FBI Chief Branner, Patrick learns the gang who betrayed him is part of a vast criminal network kidnapping and mutating people for unknown purposes. He is offered a clean slate in exchange for helping bring them down.
Patrick, now calling himself Plastic Man, alongside Woozy and Nancy, investigate similar past incidents like his own, battling a series of bizarre mutated villains while he struggles to leave his criminal past behind and prove he can change.
Their investigation finally leads them to Gotham City, where Plastic Man teams up with the no-nonsense Batman to stop the true mastermind, Professor Radium, a scientist who mutated others in a desperate attempt to create someone who could cure his own radioactive condition. After a chaotic final battle, Plastic Man defeats the villain, earns a place as an FBI ally, and begins a new life.
