While the Justice League may be composed of Earth's most capable and dedicated heroes, even they sometimes need to avoid taking things too seriously. That's part of the reason Plastic Man, aka Patrick "Eel" O'Brian, is so beloved by fans, as the golden-hearted former crook cracks wise and adopts laughable forms to keep heroes like Batman and Superman from becoming too absorbed by the darkness of the threats they face. Unfortunately, DC's recent vampire apocalypse takes no prisoners, and a truly horrifying new comic cover turns Plastic Man into the ultimate undead predator.
DC vs. Vampires takes place in a world where, having become the new Vampire King, Nightwing leads a brutal takeover of Earth, slaughtering or turning the Justice League's best and brightest before blotting out the sun to ensure undead dominance. Few heroes are left, and many of the publisher's greatest powerhouses - including Wonder Woman, Shazam, Superman, and Green Lantern - are now undead predators.
Now, Steve Beach's horrifying variant cover for DC vs. Vampires #11 (shared by League of Comic Geeks) shows Plastic Man also fallen to the undead infection. Eel is truly horrifying as a vampire, as his total control of his body allows him to form multiple mouths, fingers, and hands in a mess of needle-sharp teeth and vicious claws. Able to disguise himself as practically anything and manifest biting mouths all over his body, Plastic Man is the ultimate vampire, and actually has a history as one of the undead.
DCeased: Dead Planet turned Plastic Man into an outrageously powerful zombie, attacking as a series of jutting spikes emerging from a gigantic mouth. Similarly, The Terrifics saw Plastic Man face off against a vampiric version of himself from another reality. However, even these depictions pale in comparison to the slithering horror of Beach's art, as a character known primarily for his fun-loving attitude and deep-seated desire for redemption gives himself over entirely to a predatory new existence.
Plastic Man has been through many horrors as a member of the Justice League, including a mind-bending 3000-year period where his body was scattered across the world, keeping him alive but unable to reform. But Patrick "Eel" O'Brian would likely choose any of those horrors over becoming the monster depicted in this cover art, especially since he's effectively become the perfect predator to cut down other heroes and ensure Nightwing's terrifying plans come to fruition. In ways both good and bad, Plastic Man has been regarded as the Justice League's resident joke, but this all-time most disturbing cover shows that as a vampire, he's anything but.
Source: League of Comic Geeks