In other words, welcome, you elastic lummox, to the inner sanctum of the fantabulous Dr. Forklift -- the one and only cyborg-centaur! 
- — Dr. Forklift
Plastic Man (Volume 2) #11 is an issue of the series Plastic Man (Volume 2) with a cover date of March, 1976.
Synopsis for "The Hamsters of Doom"
Plastic Man and Woozy Winks find themselves in the midst of a bank robbery carried out by a group of hypnotized prominent citizens. One bites the hero, giving them the chance to flee to a hovering invisible dome which disappears only with the perpetrators. When Plastic Man is called back to headquarters to report, he forces Woozy to stay behind, because he tripped them up and let the perpetrators get away. However a little girl named Prissy says she knows where to find Professor Von Holocaust, one of the disappeared men who might be involved.
While waiting to see the chief, Plastic Man notices the same blank expression on the chief's secretary as the thieves. The cocky Agent Foyle leaves the chief's office, promising to crack the case before Plastic Man. Afterward the chief shows him one of the missing people who's been found, and had his brainpower reduced to that of a hamster. While interrupting another heist, Plastic Man's able to catch up to the thieves when they grab onto the invisible dome to disappear, and ends up with them inside a giant hamster cage. He slips through the bars and goes to investigate the occupants of the gothic manor nearby.
The little girl brings Woozy to her dollhouse, where Professor Von Holocaust is indeed residing, now in the body of a hamster! In the mansion, Plastic Man finds Agent Foyle running on a giant hamster wheel and a cage full of hamsters with the brains of the other missing people. They blame a mad scientist named Dr. Forklift for their condition. Plastic Man soon finds the criminal, who blasts him with a ray that makes his body go limp. To Plastic Man's exasperation, Forklift launches into a drawn-out origin story of how he used to run a circus with train hamsters, until one fateful day when one of them knocked over a light that caused an explosion engulfing him, a stack of scientific papers and a nearby forklift, fusing them into one bizarre being.
Having learned where Forklift's lair is from Von Holocaust, Woozy tries to get inside by climbing through the skylight. He trips and falls, but in the process manages to set the ray to reverse and blast Plastic Man back to normal just before he's about to be transferred into a hamster himself. The mad genius unleashes his minions, but Prissy releases the hamsters with their brains who start biting their human bodies on the ankles. Dr. Forklift tries to get to his ray rifle and render Plastic Man helpless again, not realizing the hero was anticipating that and morphed himself into a copy of the weapon, catching Dr. Forklift by surprise. The villain's captured and all of his victims returned to normal...except Agent Foyle, who Plastic Man deliberately forgot.
Appearing in "The Hamsters of Doom"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- National Bureau of Investigation (First appearance)
- Agent Gully Foyle (First appearance)
- Chief Branner (First appearance)
- Sundae Supplement (Chief Branner's secretary) (First appearance)
- Woozy Winks (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Doctor Forklift (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Edwin Maxwell, millionaire playboy (Single appearance)
- Frank Lloyd Van Skeet, architect (Single appearance)
- Neal Dennis, science fiction author (Single appearance)
- Prissy Chichester (Single appearance)
- Professor Von Holocaust, nuclear physicist (Single appearance)
- Rip Gouge, actor (Single appearance)
Notes
- This issue is the first of this series published after an 8 year hiatus.
- The previous issues featured the Plastic Man of Earth-Twelve.
- Beginning with this issue, this comic now stars the Earth-One Plastic Man, who made his debut in The Brave and the Bold #76.
Trivia
- The cover of this issue is seen in the opening credits of the 1980s Plastic Man animated cartoon.
- Despite Plastic Man noticing her having the same glazed look in her eyes as Dr. Forklift's victims, Sundae Supplement just looks like that normally.
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
