Offspring (character)

Comics character

Offspring

Cover to Offspring #1 (February 1999).
Art by Frank Quitely.

Publication information
Publisher| DC Comics
First appearance| The Kingdom: Offspring #1 (1999)
As Luke O'Brian:
JLA #65 (June 2002)
Created by| Mark Waid
Frank Quitely
In-story information
Alter ego| Luke Ernie "Loogie" McDunnagh O'Brian
Species| Metahuman
Team affiliations| Teen Titans
Abilities|

* Elasticity
* Color alteration
* Shapeshifting
* Telepathic resistance

Offspring (Luke Ernie "Loogie" McDunnagh O'Brian) is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is the son of Plastic Man, but did not inherit his powers of elasticity, instead gaining them from a watered down version of the acid that granted the original Plastic Man his powers.

Prior to his debut, the animated series The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show featured a character called Baby Plas.

## Character biography

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### Kingdom Come

[edit]

Offspring's first appearance was in a one-shot issue of the same name, a spin-off of the miniseries The Kingdom. His outfit was a predominantly white all-in-one, with black areas laid out in a similar hexagon/pentagon design to a classic 32-panel soccer ball; his hair also had a hexagonal edge to its cut.[1]

Offspring later appeared in the final issue of The Kingdom miniseries, teamed with Kid Flash, Nightstar, and Ibn al Xu'ffasch to attempt to save the timestream from Gog. In this version he is named Ernie O'Brian. He is treated as a joke professionally and personally by his friends, family, and even foes. However he learns to accept his place on the team as the funny member. His relationship with his father is close and happy; his girlfriend, Micheline, is unhappy with the lack of respect his goofy behavior is causing.[2]

### Mainstream continuity

[edit]

Although Offspring did not exist in the then-current DC continuity, it was revealed in the pages of JLA that Plastic Man has a son named Luke "Loogie" McDunnagh – his illegitimate child by "Angel" McDunnagh – who has powers greater than his own, with the ability to easily change his color and mass as well as his shape. He initially appeared when Plastic Man asked Batman for his help in scaring the kid straight after he fell in with a gang, Plastic Man admitting in the process that he ran away from Luke's mother after getting over the irony of a rubber man accidentally getting someone pregnant because he was afraid of turning out like his own father. Although Batman subsequently intimidated Luke into leaving the gang and going back to his mother, he noted during a conversation with Plastic Man that he was disappointed in the other man because he had always thought that he would be the best father of the League as he believed Plastic Man would show his children that he loved them rather than just telling them, and advised him to consider getting back in touch with his son later.[3]

After the Obsidian Age storyline saw Plastic Man spend three thousand years scattered across the ocean floor as crumbs until the League of the present were able to reconstitute him, he took time off to be with Luke, even mentally programming himself to forget his heroic identity and powers, but Luke and Batman convinced him to go back to action when Martian Manhunter regressed to a 'Burning Martian' identity, as Plastic Man was the only person capable of opposing him due to his immunity to psychic abilities.

Offspring appears briefly serving as a member of the Titans during the one year jump. The character wears a white costume with red goggles, similar to The Kingdom's Offspring. In Teen Titans #34, it is revealed that he is indeed Plastic Man's son, Luke.[4]

In 52 Week 35, Offspring appears, recovering from overstretching after saving twenty members of Lex Luthor's "Everyman Project" hero groups. Lex had deactivated their powers, causing dozens to fall from the sky. In Week 40, he assists Steel in launching an attack on LexCorp when Natasha is captured by Luthor. He is later involved with the storyline of World War III. Offspring tries to defeat the insane Black Adam by grasping his brain from the inside; this plan fails. He is able to recover fast, later joking with his father about the lack of humor of his superpowered foe.

Offspring is later one of teen heroes captured and brainwashed into fighting at the Dark Side Club. After being rescued by Miss Martian and Ravager, Offspring is offered a spot on the Teen Titans line-up by Wonder Girl. Like most of the other survivors, he declines.[5] During Superboy-Prime's attack on Titans Tower, Offspring appears as one of the former Titans who arrives to help fight him off.[6]

In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". In the pages of the Terrifics, Lee is reintroduced with roughly the same powers and personality, living with his birth mother Angel. He is reluctant and angry at his father for not meeting him for years (as Plastic Man was trapped in his egg form), but relents after the two play a game of basketball and he is given a ride in the Batmobile. He then joins the Terrifics, wearing the costume and codename of Offspring.[7]

## Powers and abilities

[edit]

Offspring has powers similar to Plastic Man, but they are not the same. When Luke was little, he drank a non-identical version of the acid that gave his father elastic properties, thus giving him abilities even greater than Plastic Man.[1][3]

## Other versions

[edit]

* An alternate universe variant of Eel O'Brian, Jr. from Earth-12 appears in Plastic Man (1966). This version was born to Plastic Man and an unnamed woman. Initially lacking powers, he later drank the same acid that gave his father his powers.[8] As an adult, he would go on to become the new Plastic Man, become romantically involved with Micheline "Mike" DeLute III,[9] and join forces with the Inferior Five.[10]
* An alternate universe variant of Offspring appears in Kingdom Come.

## In other media

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### Television

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* A predated version of Offspring named Baby Plas appears in the second season of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, voiced by Clare Peck. This version was born with the same powers as his father and is cared for by Plastic Man's sidekick Hula-Hula.
* Baby Plas makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Long Arm of the Law!". This version is the son of Plastic Man and his wife Ramona, cared for by Plastic Man's best friend Woozy Winks, and inherited his father's stretching powers like Baby Plas.

### Miscellaneous

[edit]

Luke McDunnagh appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us. This version is the estranged son of Plastic Man, whose superheroics leave him absent for most of Luke's life, and is a member of a terrorist group working against Superman's Regime. After being captured and incarcerated in an underwater, maximum security prison, Luke and the other prisoners are freed by Plastic Man.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b The Kingdom: Offspring one-shot (February 1999)
2. ^ Cronin, Brian. "A Year of Cool Comics - Day 182". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010.
3. ^ a b JLA #65 (June 2002)
4. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #34 (May 2006)
5. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #69 (May 2009)
6. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #99 (October 2011)
7. ^ The Terrifics #11-15 (March - June 2019)
8. ^ Plastic Man profile
9. ^ Micheline "Mike" DeLute III profile
10. ^ Plastic Man index

* v
* t
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Plastic Man

* Jack Cole

Supporting characters|

* All-Star Squadron
* Batman
* Freedom Fighters
* Justice League
* Martian Manhunter
* Offspring
* Robby Reed
* Woozy Winks

Enemies|

* Amazo
* Doctor Psycho
* Dollmaker
* League of Assassins
* Per Degaton
* Prankster
* Queen Bee

Publications|

* Police Comics

In other media|

* Batman: The Brave and the Bold
* DC Nation Shorts ("Plastic Man" segment")
* The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

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