KARNAK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Through mental discipline, the Inhuman known as Karnak has mastered the ability to perceive the flaws and weak points in any person or object.”

Remember back in 2017, when Marvel was desperately trying to make The Inhumans a thing?  And remember when it really didn’t work out, and they gave up and just waited to get the X-Men back so they could use mutants again and not push the Inhumans anymore, so they dropped all their merch like a sack of wet potatoes?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.  No, wait, they probably don’t.  They’re a snack company, and probably not super into The Inhumans.  Well, enough time has passed that I guess it’s safe to do something more with The Inhumans.  Let’s bring that Legends line-up on up to a whopping three, with Karnak!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Karnak is figure 5 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the second of the four comics figures in the line-up, and the next step down in the relevance of the comic figures to the overall theme.  I mean, the Inhumans were a Kree experiment, and so is Carol Danvers, so I guess that’s something.  As noted above, Karnak is our third Inhuman in Legends format, following Black Bolt, Black Bolt, Black Bolt, and Medusa.  There’s been a lot of Black Bolts.  Oh, sorry: Blackagar Boltagons.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Karnak is using the Pizza Spidey body as his starting point.  It’s not a terrible fit, given Karnak’s usual skinnier build, but it’s still got the visible pins on the elbows and knees, and its generally a little outdated, especially with the AF Spidey in use now.  In particular, the butterfly shoulders really seem to be wearing out on this mold, so I worry about long-term longevity.  Karnak gets a new head, forearm guards, and belt/loincloth.  The new pieces are actually quite nice; the head’s got the proper weird shaping for the character, and the face makes for a good likeness of a more evergreen take on Karnak.  The guards sit well on the arms, and help to break up the base body a bit.  The belt piece is a bit too free floating for me, but otherwise looks alright.  The color work on Karnak is largely handled via molded colors, which keeps it pretty clean.  There’s still some paint to make things work; some of the edges are a little fuzzy, but overall things look quite nice.  Karnak is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, the other in flat poses, as well as the right arm of Totally Awesome Hulk.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Getting one cohesive set of Inhumans is apparently an impossible feat.  Across four different styles, we’ve had four differently incomplete takes on the team.  Legends has been at the lowest set up until now, but I guess it’s turned itself around by virtue of at least matching up to Marvel Universe, so now there’s only three differently incomplete teams across four styles.  Progress!  Karnak, like Marvel Boy from last week, is a pretty by the numbers figure, really only hampered by the odd choice to put him on such an old body.  Still, he could be worse.  He could be a lot worse.  Now, can we please get the rest of the team before the line ends?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.