ROBIN — JASON TODD

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Jason Todd was the second Robin and easily the most troubled. Angry and with a desperate need to prove himself, Jason’s impulsive behavior led to his death at the hands of The Joker.”

Hey, we’re back in the Super Powers realm again!  Back when I reviewed the original Kenner Robin, I discussed how, even though it was clearly Dick Grayson Robin, Dick had actually given up the mantle in the comics, with Jason Todd having stepped in as Dick’s successor the very year the figure was released.  Despite all that, Jason didn’t get a figure in the vintage line, nor was he slated to in the abandoned series.  In fact, Jason’s never even gotten a proper figure from his time as Robin.  McFarlane to the rescue, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin – Jason Todd is part of Series 10 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation.  He’s the third Robin in this continuation, the other two having been Tim Drake variants.  He’s also part of the generally new character heavy Series 10, which is generally pretty cool.  The figure stands 4 1/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His mold is largely new; he’s re-using the torso from Tim Drake, but is otherwise new.  The new mold is clearly patterned on the vintage Robin, but with a few minor tweaks, just to keep things a little more diverse.  He’s got a unique head, and it’s honestly a rather nice piece.  It gives Jason his proper spit curls, as well as a generally more sullen expression than the other two.  Honestly, I think it’s the best of the three Robin heads.  He’s got a cloth cape, which is notably longer than Dick’s; generally, that was the case in the comics, though it was rarely as pronounced as seen here.  Still, I don’t mind the larger separation in sizes, since it further differentiates a bit more.  Jason’s color work is generally decent.  He’s a little shifted from the vintage colors, but not especially so, and it fits in well with the rest of the line.  It’s very clean in its application at the very least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With the addition of Nightwing early in the McFarlane line, I sort of informally considered just repurposing the vintage Robin as Jason, but there’s enough differences there that it doesn’t quite work.  So, the announcement of a proper Jason was pretty cool.  I gotta say, it’s not a drastically different figure, but it’s a good one, and dare I say a better figure than the vintage Robin?  Blasphemy? Perhaps, but that’s the vibe I’m hitting.