#3319: Man-Thing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

MAN-THING

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0098: In the mid ’70s, Marvel published extra-long issues of some of their books under the “Giant-Size” banner. Through this venture, there are not one, not two, but four issues of Giant-Size Man-Thing.

For the most part, I tend to map out my schedule of reviews at least a few weeks in advance, but I didn’t actually pick the subject of today’s review until just yesterday afternoon. It was definitely more down to the wire than I like to go. But, here we are, with a Man-Thing. So, you know, umm, there’s that? Look, let’s just call him Ted, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Man-Thing is the Build-A-Figure for the self-titled series of Marvel Legends from 2017. The set was the first Marvel Knights-themed series, meant to loosely tie-in with the release of the Netflix Defenders show, and giving us a handful of show-based figures mixed with some comics-based ones. Ted here was purely comics based at the time, but he’s made the jump to live action since, with a look that honestly isn’t that far removed from this one.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  The sculpt for this figure is a totally unique one.  I’ve long felt that the Toy Biz Legends Man-Thing was one of their best offerings, so this one had a very serious bar to clear.  It takes a decidedly different approach, going for a larger, more bulked up version of the character.  He’s also a little more balanced out and less piece-meal looking than the Toy Biz version.  That said, it’s still a very detailed, very rich sculpt, and certainly ranks as one of Hasbro’s best.  The color work does a fair bit to assist the sculpt, as he gets quite a bit of accent work, far beyond what we tend to see from Hasbro.  There’s a darker wash on most of the body, plus some lighter detailing on a few spots as well.  It all works quite nicely, and it’s one of the few times that a Hasbro paint scheme honestly rivals the original Toy Biz version.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

The Toy Biz Man-Thing remains one of my favorites from that line, so when this got shown off, I wasn’t 100% sure I needed one.  But, I did give it an honest try at finishing it, before giving up when the assortment proved rather difficult to get my hands on.  After five years, I got down to needing two parts, and then wound up just getting a complete one when it was traded into All Time last year.  Sort of takes the fun out of it, right?  Okay, not really.  This one is cool.  He’s different from the Toy Biz one, but in a way that makes them both equally cool.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

Mutant X Re-Read #28: Long Day’s Journey Through the Night

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE NIGHT!

MUTANT X #26 (MARVEL COMICS)

“In another place–in another life–Alex Summers led a team of mutants in a battle against oppression. His methods were extreme, his tactics questionable, but–in his soul–he knew that he was fighting for the greater good.

Now that soul has been transferred to another world, and Summers, also known as Havok, has found himself living a lie, allied with a team of mutants who are sinister, parallel versions of his friends and family. It is to this dark, new place that Havok has come, where he stands as a man alone… a mutant alone. Alex Summers is Mutant X.

Fear him. Fear for him.”

25 years ago, Marvel Comics launched Mutant X, a Havok led X-spinoff. I recently came into a complete run of the series, and so now I’m going to re-read the series once a week, and you guys get to come along for the ride!

This week, it’s another Bloodstorm episode.  Bear with me as I look into “Long Day’s Journey Through the Night!”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #26 is cover dated December of 2000.  It has story and art by Howard Mackie, Ron Lim, and Sandu Florea, with colors by Gina Going, and letters by Chris Eliopas.  Once again, the cover is by Michel Golden, though I don’t think this one has quite the same dynamic flair as the last one.

Bloodstorm is on a warpath, tearing through patrons at a bar called “The Bucket of Blood.”  She’s looking for someone, but her rampage is interrupted by the arrival of Gambit.  Gambit reveals that Ororo has been doing this routine for some time, and he wants to know why.  After a scuffle between the two, Ororo fills Remy in.  Earlier at the Castle of the Six, the team was contacted by Henry Gyrich regarding an emergency at the Vault.  He reveals a box was removed from the Vault by unknown intruders, and requests that the team retrieve it.  While Havok balks at the idea, Bloodstorm volunteers.  Back in the present, the Marauders (Cannonball, Husk, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, and Jubilee), move the box through the sewers.  A booby trap is triggered when Cannonball attempts to open the box, causing a fight between the team members.  While they’re distracted, something unseen grabs the box, and the group chases after it.  Storm and Gambit track the box to the sewers, and Storm enters alone.  The Marauders are fighting shadows around the box, and Storm jumps in, almost turning them into meals in the process.  Gambit intervenes and the Marauders escape.  Gambit causes an explosion that sends the box further into the sewers, and Bloodstorm reveals what the box contained: Dracula.  The pair are surrounded by hooded figures looking for Gambit, and elsewhere Dracula awakens.

This issue represents a hard break from previous build-up, and, like most Bloodstorm-centric stories, picks up in the middle, with vague indication at first as to when exactly in the timeline it’s supposed to be happening.  I honestly thought it might be a whole flashback story at first, until the actual flashback occurred.  The Six getting relegated to just the flashback (in stark contrast to the cover depicting Havok in the sewers with the other two) feels like a bit of a waste of the characters.  The Marauders are an interesting idea, though, and I’m curious to see if they get expanded upon at all as the story progresses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I know absolutely nothing about this particular storyline, so I didn’t even know it was coming.  I continue to not be much of a Bloodstorm fan, but as the letters column in the back likes to remind me, I’m the odd man out on that point.  People just really wanted more of her, I guess.  Well, maybe this story will turn me around?  We’ll see.  On the plus side, we did get another Bullpen Bits in this issue, and that’s always fun!

I snagged this whole run from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.

#3318: Silverbolt

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SILVERBOLT

TRANSFORMERS LEGACY: UNITED (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0097: Eagles and wolves are both apex predators, though their completely differing tactics of hunting prey and different places in their respective food chains mean they have little, if any, interaction.  Unless, of course, they make up the two halves of a Fuzor.

It was difficult for me to truly avoid Beast Wars as a kid, what with it being a toy-driven show in the ’90s that aired during the Fox Kids block.  That said, it’s never been a *major* focus for me.  I remember watching it a little, but I only had two toys from it, and only really ever latched onto one character.  Of course, that character is Silverbolt, and he’s one of the best Transformers just in general, so, you know, big win there.  Since Hasbro went back to the Beast Wars well for Kingdom, I’ve been patiently waiting for my Silverbolt update, and boy did it take a while, but, hey, here it is.  Oh yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Beast Wars Universe Silverbolt is part of the second Voyager Class assortment of Transformers Legacy: United, the banner that goes along with the third year of the Legacy branding.  He shipped alongside Cybertron Universe Starscream, and he was the heavier packed of the two.  In his robot mode, Silverbolt stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 24 workable points of articulation.  His articulation is an improvement on his vintage counterpart, of course, and it’s especially notable that his wings actually sit flat to his back, rather than just jutting straight out the back like the old one.  The new sculpt aims for improved accuracy to his animation model, and it does a pretty good job at that.  The details are a lot sharper, and the proportions are far less blocky than the original.  His color scheme is nicely handled, with a lot of molded silver, of course, but there’s plenty of painted elements as well.  Unlike the original figure, all the proper details get their painted work, and the application is all nice and clean.  Silverbolt is packed with his “feather swords”, which he can either hold, or clip onto his wings, replicating the show set-up.  They just clip on this time around rather than being spring-loaded this time around.

Silverbolt’s alt-mode is, as is tradition, a merging of a wolf and an eagle.  It’s a distinctive mode, to be sure, and this figure does a good job of capturing it.  The transformation scheme is actually pretty intuitive, and the end result holds together nicely.  His hind legs sit a little bit further back than I’d like, but beyond that, it’s pretty solid.  He’s also generally more posable in this form than the original, and even gets a posable jaw.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I sure do love me some Silverbolt, and I really wanted this figure.  I was quite excited to see him shown off, and the end result is very, very fun.  I have some minor quibbles, I suppose, but it’s all very small and ultimately rather meaningless.  It’s certainly not enough to detract from how super excited I am to have an update on the character.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3317: Xenk

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

XENK

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: GOLDEN ARCHIVE (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0096: Today’s figure has been on my pending review list for almost an entire year.

I’m a relatively new convert to the whole D&D thing, having only gotten into in late 2018…which is I guess a few years now, isn’t it?  Look, time’s been a cacophony since 2020.  Anyway, the point is that my very first D&D character was a guy called Maxwell Hold, the self-dubbed “Paladin of the People.”  I grew to have quite an attachment to that character, and the Paladin class in general, so I’ve also got an attachment to portrayals of paladins in other media.  So, it’s no surprise that my favorite part of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was Regé-Jean Page’s Paladin Xenk.  Though only part of the main party for one “session” of the movie’s story, he was a ton of fun.  And he also got a figure, which I of course bought.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Xenk was released in the third assortment of Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons: Golden Archive line, which served as their central tie-in to the movie last year.  Xenk was released alongside Doric and a re-pack of Edgin, in a set that was, effectively, a Hasbro Pulse exclusive, since the line was sadly dropped by most retailers after the first round.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The figure is, honestly, a little smaller than I was expecting.  Golden Archive seems to be more like Black Series for scaling, if not maybe a touch smaller.  Like, it’s not awful, but it does hinder cross compatibility a bit.  The articulation scheme is an interesting mix of different styles.  I found it particularly prone to sticking joints, but they did at least all free up on my copy.  I was surprised by the lack of any rocker-style motion on the ankles, as that’s become a fairly standard joint for the scale.  It makes posing him quite limited, and is not helped by the hips being further restricted by the “skirt.”  Xenk’s sculpt is a totally unique one.  It’s decent enough.  The head’s got a solid likeness of Page.  The body, especially the armored parts, are a bit on the soft side in terms of detailing.  That said, the proportions are decent, and the layout of the parts of the outfit works pretty well too.  The color work on this figure is a little more basic than I’d expected.  There’s a lot more chunks of unpainted plastic than I’d expected.  He also seems a little brighter in color than he seemed in the movie, but that may just be a selective lighting thing.  The work on the face is at least pretty impressive, down to the little mark on his forehead.  Xenk’s only accessory was his sword.  It’s very light for what the figure cost.  At least throw in his dagger from the movie, maybe?  Or some extra hands?  Something?  Not helping matters is that my figure’s sword broke about 10 seconds after I removed it from the package.  Not a lot of fun there.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

The D&D movie hit theatres at a bad time for me to make it out to a theatre, so I waited until streaming for it.  Which, of course, lined up perfectly with this figure’s release, so I ordered him shortly after finishing the movie.  I was thrilled to get him, and then I opened him…and the sword broke…and I lost momentum.  I’ve been repairing the sword for the better part of a year, trying for a fix that would stick.  I finally got it to a good enough spot to at least get the photos, and here we are.  The core figure isn’t bad.  He’s not thrilling, but he does what he needs to.  Were it not for the broken sword, I think I’d have liked him a lot more.  Still, he’s at least cool on the shelf, and he’s a fun paladin figure.

#3316: Cyclops

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CYCLOPS — SPACE RIDERS

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0095: While Cyclops’s only space suited appearance in X-Men: The Animated Series kept his usual headgear from the show under his helmet, his fully cowled look showed up under his space suit in the “Pryde of the X-Men” pilot.

Hey, you know those X-Men Space figures I was talking about last week? Those are pretty fun. Wanna read about them some more? Well, I sure hope so. And, hey, this time it’s a Cyclops. Can never get enough of the Cyclopes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is the third piece of the “Space Riders” assortment of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, released as a deluxe item in 1997.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Like the rest of this line-up, Cyclops’s sculpt was an all-new one, based on a wholly original design for the character.  Cyclops’s design is definitely drawing a fair bit of its visual elements from the Jim Lee design, which makes a fair bit of sense.  One of the neat things about this particular release, however, was the presence of his cowled look, which hadn’t been featured in the main X-Men line since the first series*.  It’s fun to see how far the line’s sculpting had progressed since those early figures.  There’s definitely a lot of stylization to this one, and I’m not *entirely* sure how I feel about the weird sneering expression.  The body sculpt is a bit stiff, which was common with these figures.  The armored elements definitely feel a little bit tacked on and random, especially on the arms.  I’m not sure that suits a character like Cyclops, but it does at least feel pretty consistent with this era of X-Men designs.  The proportions are also a little bit wacky, with that left hand in particular being…just odd.  I don’t know.  It’s, like, too large, and also something seems off about his fingers.  The color work on this guy is pretty by the numbers.  It’s a lot of blue and yellow, and, honestly, what more could you ask of a Cyclops.  The paint’s not nearly as sloppy on this figure as it was on Wolverine, which is certainly a plus.  It’s still a little bit sloppy, of course, but nothing beyond the usual expected level for this era of Toy Biz.  Cyclops is packed with his face mask, his big inter-locking space sled, and some disc projectiles (missing from my copy).  I don’t like this mask quite as much as the Wolverine one; the visor bit is cool enough, but the shaping just seems a little off, and I don’t much care for the extra hose leading to his hand.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Cyclops was the only one of these I had as a kid.  And I didn’t even have the space sled bit!  Really, I had looked at him a bunch of times and came very close to buying him (largely for that cool cowled head), but he was gone from retail by the time I’d truly made up my mind.  So, I wound up getting a loose one, at a toy show, I believe.  Or maybe it was a Comic Con?  I don’t know.  I remember fishing him out of a big cardboard box.  I was pretty excited at the time, but I did regret missing out on his extra gear.  Thankfully, I found a full set, and he came with it, so that was pretty fun.

*Though the look would have shown up again on a more proper ’70s/’80s Cyclops figure had the second round of Missile Flyers not been cancelled.

#3315: R2-D2 (Artoo-Deetoo)

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

R2-D2 (ARTOO-DEETOO)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0094: This review was supposed to run back in January, but I misplaced the figure before getting photos, and only just unearthed him last week.

I have a soft spot for robots, but for reasons that don’t really line up internally, I have a hard time getting excited about R2-D2 figures. I don’t know why. Other droids I can get excited about, even other Astromechs. Hand me an R5 and I’m thrilled. But R2? Not the same. Maybe he’s just too central a character, kind of like my thing with Duke and Optimus? It’s not that I dislike the character, nor that I don’t *want* to own him in figure form. So, I do buy him…I’m just less enthusiastic about it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R2-D2 (Artoo-Deetoo) was initially released as part of the third series of the Return of the Jedi Retro Carded Black Series figures.  He was then subsequently re-released, now bearing branding from The Mandalorian, in the last standard Black Series assortment of last year, alongside Hera, Huyang, Marrok, and Pre Vizsla.  It’s worth noting that the figure reviewed here is the standard assortment version, but the two releases appear to be identical.  The figure is a little under 4 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  One of the more notable issues with the last astromech mold is how small it was; Lucasfilm has gone back and forth on their standards for R2’s scaling, and when the original Black Series release hit, they were opting for smaller than he actually was on screen.  The standards have changed again since, but there was already a mold, and Hasbro stuck with it for as long as they could.  This new one, however, aims for more proper scaling, adding about 3/4 of an inch, and generally scaling him up to match.  The sculpt is, at least outwardly, very similar to the previous one, just bigger.  The general articulation scheme is similar as well, with basic swivels at the shoulders and ankles, and hinged doors on the sides.  He also has opening flaps on his front, and now has a swivel at the top of the third leg.  Additionally, the way the third leg works has been re-worked, so it’s no longer connected to the head spinning.  The head now can spin 360 degrees unimpeded by the mechanism, and the leg doesn’t require the head to spin to lower it.  While it’s less gimmicky and odd, it’s also a lot harder to get the third leg out once it’s been retracted, so it’s a 50/50 on which approach is better.  The head now gets is own extending feature, based on unused concept work for The Phantom Menace.  It’s goofy, and certainly not essential, but it’s also a fun little extra.  R2’s paint work is decent enough.  It’s all pretty cleanly handled, and again pretty much matches what was done on the original.  It’s all pretty clean and sharp, and it looks appropriately the part.  R2 is packed with four different arm attachments, plus his periscope and radar attachments for the head.  He lacks the thrusters and the lightsaber (especially notable since his first release was on the RotJ card) of the first one, but there’s at least some nice options here.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I struggled getting enthused for the first R2 from the line.  The second I did better with, since the Dagobah look is a little more exciting.  This one’s effectively the original but bigger, so I wasn’t even sure I was going to buy him at all.  But, I was getting the rest of the set, and he did look pretty solid in person, so I broke.  And then, you know, I lost him.  As you do.  But I found him, so it’s alright.  He’s not bad.  The scaling is better, and some of the features a better refined.  He’s also notably sturdier, which I do like.  So, he’s fun.  But he’s R2, so I’m back to struggling to get excited.  Maybe I should have gotten the updated R5 instead?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3314: Giant-Man & Wasp

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

HANK PYM — GIANT-MAN & JANET VAN DYNE — WASP

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0093: Hank Pym was not originally intended to be a super hero, and was simply the star of a story of a man who shrank to the size of an ant, before being retooled into a superhero in subsequent appearances.

When the Giant-Man HasLab was in swing, the lack of a matching Wasp in the current line was brought up a few times, and Hasbro eventually showed off a Wasp prototype, noting that she’d be released in some fashion later this year. Well, here we are, apparently, with not just Wasp, but also a conspicuously not so giant Giant-Man. Let’s jump right in, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Giant-Man and Wasp are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack. They were shown off in April, with the intent for them to go up for preorder the following day. Then it turned out that pre-order was actually just actively in-stock, at least for some batch of them. The pack is a continuation of the Beyond Earth’s Mightiest anniversary celebration from last year, and is also intended to loosely tie-in with the Giant-Man HasLab shipping some time in the fall.

HANK PYM — GIANT-MAN

Hey, it’s Regular-Sized-Man! It’s not as much of a novelty now to get a standard-sized Hank in his Giant-Man costume, since we’ve had a few, but it was a big deal a while ago, when it never happened. Of course, this is the first time his original Giant-Man costume has gotten the treatment, so it’s still a little bit special. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation. He’s using the updated ANAD 2099 body with the pinless arm and leg construction, which all makes sense. Hank isn’t super bulky or super skinny, so this threads that needle. He gets a new head and belt. The head is decent. Obviously, the HasLab will be more detailed, given the scaling, but this one looks okay, and fits with the depictions of Hank we’ve gotten more recently. The belt is basic, but it works. His paint work is okay for the most part,m. There’s a spot of black on the upper torso that shouldn’t be there, but it’s otherwise pretty clean. I’m not a huge fan of the painted red on the tops of the boots, but it’s either that or painting the whole shin blue, which seems impractical. Hank is packed with an unmasked head (reused from the West Coast Avengers pack), a soft goods lab coat, four hands (a gripping/fist combo and an open gesture pair), two beakers/flasks, and a miniature Quinjet.

JANET VAN DYNE — WASP

The real star here is Wasp, who isn’t a stranger to Legends, but isn’t as frequent with *good* ones. Also, this particular look, which is her original one, has only been offered as little mini figures previously, and never as a full-scale figure of her own. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 34 points of articulation, plus a moving head-set piece.  Wasp re-uses the pinless double jointed arms and legs from Shriek, since they’re pretty basic.  The head, torso, skirt, and forearms are new, and they’re quite nicely handled.  I was especially impressed with the head sculpt, which manages to translate her pointy-headgear without it looking too silly, and I really like the moving head-set piece.  She’s re-using the wings from the prior comic Wasps, which are decent enough, so there’s no reason to change them at this point.  Wasp’s color work is a lot cleaner than Hank’s, which I certainly like to see.  Since the sculpt is a more complex assembly, there’s a lot more molded coloring in place, which makes it generally a much sharper looking piece.  Wasp is packed with two sets of hands (open and fists), a tablet (re-used from AIM Supreme), and an alternate head without the cowl.  It’s a little lighter than Hank, but she’s also got a lot more new parts than he did, so it makes sense.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I, of course, backed the HasLab Giant-Man during his campaign window, so I’m in the group of people patiently awaiting his arrival.  I was definitely looking for a good Wasp, so this one was very high on my list.  I kind of thought we might see a standard sized Hank alongside her, and I’m honestly all about it.  I wasn’t expecting to get them quite so quickly, but Max hooked me up with a set on the earlier side, and, well, here we are.  Hank’s fine.  Nothing special, but nifty enough.  Jan is very nice, and she’s gonna be my default version of the character going forward.  And now I finally have the whole Avengers #4 line-up in one cohesive style!

Mutant X Re-Read #27: Thresholds

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

THRESHOLDS

MUTANT X #25 (MARVEL COMICS)

“In another place–in another life–Alex Summers led a team of mutants in a battle against oppression. His methods were extreme, his tactics questionable, but–in his soul–he knew that he was fighting for the greater good.

Now that soul has been transferred to another world, and Summers, also known as Havok, has found himself living a lie, allied with a team of mutants who are sinister, parallel versions of his friends and family. It is to this dark, new place that Havok has come, where he stands as a man alone… a mutant alone. Alex Summers is Mutant X.

Fear him. Fear for him.”

25 years ago, Marvel Comics launched Mutant X, a Havok led X-spinoff. I recently came into a complete run of the series, and so now I’m going to re-read the series once a week, and you guys get to come along for the ride!

This week, Hank McCoy experiences his own “Flowers for Algernon” as he attempts to fix all that he can with his restored intellect in “Thresholds”!

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #25 is a double-sized issue cover dated November of 2000.  Its story is by Howard Mackie, with art by Tom Lyle, colors by Gina Going, and letters by David Sharp.  It’s also got a cover by Michael Golden, which may well be my favorite cover in the series, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Hank McCoy narrates through entries in his journal.  It is his birthday.  He recounts how his mind was returned to its former state by a psychic blast from Charles Xavier, and how he has been monitoring his brain activity since.  This monitoring has lead him to the devastating discovery that he is once more losing his mind.  With no knowledge of how much time he has left, Hank gathers everyone together, hoping to make good on all of the promises he’s made since last issue, the biggest being his promise to send Havok home.  The team aids Hank is exploring a portal that goes through the Negative Zone, with Alex and Hank going into the breach together.  When Hank is almost pulled through the portal, Havok decides they’re all tired and tells everyone to take some time to themselves.  Hank hangs back to continue his work, with the others try to find themselves without the team.  Iceman, Cap, Gambit, and Bloodstorm all encounter each other at a nearby bar, having nowhere else to go.  Hank continues his experiments, looking for a solution to each team member’s own struggles.  Alex meets a young woman, Andrea, and her nephew, Shane, in the park and reminisces about his home universe, remembering his struggles to fit in.  When Shane is put in danger, Alex steps in to save him, reminding him of his place in this new reality.  The team returns to the castle, solidified in their beliefs that this is where they all belong, and Hank re-opens the portal to send Alex home.  When something else comes through the portal and begins attacking, Alex decides to stay and fend the creature off, saving his new friends.  Hank reveals that he is becoming the Brute again, but he has also found a way to cure Ice-Man’s permanent ice-state.  He performs his experiment before collapsing, reverting once more to the Brute.  Days later, Hank is completely back to the Brute, with no memory of regaining his intellect.  His journal once more takes the narration, but it is now much simpler, identifying Ice-Man as his “bestus frend.”

It’s interesting to see such a milestone issue take such a hard focus on Hank, but I can’t say I minded it much.  His narration and his struggles with knowing his end was near add some solid pathos to his story, and I very much appreciated that his returned intellect didn’t immediately make him into a villain.  In fact, it amplifies his selfless traits, as he prioritizes helping his friends over keeping his own mind.  In the end, he’s happy, and it’s nice to see that.  In fact, though bittersweet, this is probably one of the most satisfying ends to an issue the series has given.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I owned this issue growing up, and I *vividly* remember its cover.  As I said above, it’s one of my favorites.  I recalled absolutely nothing about the contents of this issue prior to the re-read, though, and I think that’s largely because the cover had very little to do with the actual story within.  But, I love the cover, and I enjoyed the story, even if they maybe don’t go together all that well.  And, from here on out, I’m in uncharted territory, at least for first hand knowledge of the story.  Let’s see where it goes.

I snagged this whole run from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.

#3313: Cyclops

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CYCLOPS

MARVEL COMICS (SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES)

Fun FiQ Fact #0092: The plural of Cyclops is “Cyclopes”

Did you guys hear there’s, like, an X-Men-related thing going on today?  Nothing crazy.  Just the season finale for X-Men ’97 is all.  I’m just a tad bit excited about that.  And, when I’m excited about X-Men stuff, I tend to default to reviewing Cyclops figures.  I kicked off my ‘97 hype with a ’90s-style Cyclops, so I might as well close it out with another one.  Of course, the first one was on one end of the price-spectrum, while this one’s over on the other.  This one’s all fancy, you guys!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops was released by Sideshow as part of their Marvel Comics line in the spring of 2021.  There were three versions available: a Jim Lee-inspired look with both standard and Sideshow-exclusive editions, and an Astonishing version.  This one is the Sideshow-exclusive release, and I’ll note the difference there when I get to the accessories section.  The figure stands a little over 12 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

Since Cyclops is from later in Sideshow’s 1/6 run, he’s a bit of a step up in quality from the other offerings I’ve looked at here.  This is very evident in the figure’s head sculpt, which is quite a thoroughly detailed piece of work.  He takes the comic stylings for the character and makes them look more like a real live person, which, well, if I’m honest, seems to involve making him look quite a bit like James Marsden.  I mean, I can’t really say I’m complaining about that, since it’s not like Marsden looks *unlike* the character, and he’s certainly got that nostalgia kick on his side.  It’s also not like it’s 100% meant to be him, so there’s still a little more comic Cyclops peaking through.  If I have one complaint, it’s that the “ears” of the visor wind up sitting just a touch too close to the head for my liking, making it easy for them to get lost with the visor fully in place.  I was quite impressed by the paint quality on this figure, especially the way the hair detailing works out.

Cyclops is built on a rather standardized body, which works okay.  However, one of the things I’ve never been super keen about with most of Sideshow’s offerings is how the bodies scale relative to the heads; the figures always look just a touch too scrawny to my eye.  Cyclops sort of experiences this, and it’s especially notable with it being the Jim Lee look and all.  With some decent posing, especially making sure his shoulders are up, he looks alright, though.  Topping off the body, Cyclops gets a heavily Jim Lee-inspired outfit, which features a cloth bodysuit and trunks, as well as sculpted elements for his belt/harness, leg straps, and boots.   The bodysuit gets a little more piping than the original design, and the boots and gloves get extra work as well, but it all reads as the classic design.  And, he even keeps the shorts, unlike the Mezco update of this look.

Cyclops’ standard release includes seven hands (pairs of fists, pointing, and gesture, as well as a thumbs up left hand), a removable bomber-style jacket, a standard visor, a blasting visor, and a display stand.  The exclusive adds a third visor into the mix, this time with a smoking effect to one side.  It’s very easy to break.  I should know, I got mine broken.  The hands give the figure some nice variety, though I was surprised not to get a two-fingered point for visor use.  Of course, the figure can’t quite get his hand up to his temple anyway, so it wouldn’t get much use.  The bomber jacket is by far my favorite piece, since it’s such a key piece of this look, and it also helps to mask the scrawniness of the base body.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This figure came from All Time’s epic collection that’s been being processed for a couple of months now.  In fact, it was the only of the things I’ve gotten that I explicitly knew in advance would be part of the collection.  It took a little bit to unearth him, though.  I remember this figure being released, but I was in a different place in my life and concerned with other, more important things.  But, with a second chance, and at an exclusive version at that, I didn’t want to miss out again.  It helps that he’s so very impressive in person.  He’s not perfect, but he’s very fun, and a nifty update to a classic design.  And now I’ve got a Cyclops for my 1/6 shelves.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3312: Green Lantern – The Silver Age

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GREEN LANTERN — THE SILVER AGE

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

Fun FiQ Fact #0091: Hal Jordan’s original appearance was patterned on actor Paul Newman.  Does that mean that Hal should have his own line of salad dressings?

What?  DC Multiverse?  Haven’t I kicked the McFarlane habit?  Well, as it turns out, no.  I keep trying.  I keep getting very close, but then there just keeps being *one* more figure that pulls me right back in.  In this case, I’m falling back into my earlier love of Green Lantern, especially when there’s even a semi-decent figure on hand.  In particular, I’ve got quite a love for a good, solid classic Hal Jordan.  McFarlane’s done two Hal Jordans, neither of which are *terrible*, but it mostly got by on “McFarlane” standards, and neither of which were classic versions.  So, how about a third?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern — The Silver Age is part of the “Digital” assortment of DC Multiverse, which also sports a classic Aquaman and a less classic Batman.  The figures are all officially under the “DC Direct” banner, but they’re effectively indistinguishable from the ones without the banner, so…there it is, I guess?  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  For the most part, GL is re-using the standard male build base body introduced in the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold set.  It’s a solid super hero body, with reasonable proportions, a not atrocious articulation scheme, and minimal detailing to throw off a clean look.  He’s still got the ridge at the top of his boots, but it at least flows with his costume design, and it’s a far cry from the excessive extra detailing that prior GLs have gotten on their suits.  He gets a new head, which is…I don’t know how to say this: it’s really good.  Like, just genuinely a really strong sculpt.  No “for a McFarlane figure” caveat or anything.  It aims to be a Silver Age Hal Jordon, and that’s where it lands, pretty cleanly.  His hair’s got that right flippy quality, the expression has that right level of cockiness, and the mask is crisp and sharp in its detailing.  He’s got a new right hand sculpt as well, which is in a fist and sporting his ring, you know, as it should be.  GL’s paint work is minimal, but what’s there is pretty sharply handled.  I also feel that the shade of green is a more appropriately Green Lantern-y shade, though that’s most certainly a personal thing.  GL is packed with three different left hands (in fist, flat, and gripping), as well as the power battery and two hand effects pieces from Parallax (why he’s got an effect for his left hand is beyond me, but I won’t complain about getting something extra), and a display stand with “McFarlane Toys Digital” on it.  He’s also got a collector’s card and a card with the information for whatever digital totally-not-an-NFT-with-a-different-name thing McFarlane packed with all three of these figures.  I have no idea what the thing is, because I’ve got no interest in downloading the app or setting up an account.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

One of my favorite Hal Jordan figures growing up was the DC Direct Silver Age Hal.  He’s older now, but I still really like him, and I hold pretty much every other Hal up to that figure.  McFarlane has done a few Hals, and they’ve all been fine but not quite right.  This one?  He’s like an update to that DCD figure I loved so much.  He’s that, but with more modern toy making sensibilities.  I can’t believe I like a McFarlane figure this much, but I really, really do.  Shout out to Max for helping me out with snagging this one, by the way!