#3645: Ka-Zar & Zabu

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

KA-ZAR & ZABU

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“In a lost world full of prehistoric dinosaurs, Ka-Zar performs heroics as Lord of the Jungle alongside the sabretooth Zabu”

The Ka-Zar most people think of (or at least the Ka-Zar people who think about Ka-Zar think about, I guess) is actually Marvel’s second character to use the title.  To be fair, the first one predate’s Marvel even being “Marvel” and was such a thinly veiled Tarzan knock-off that even Stan Lee admitted he’d never read any of the Golden Age Ka-Zar’s appearances prior to introducing the second one during the Silver Age.  Introduced by Lee and Kirby in X-Men #10, the Kevin Plunder Ka-Zar also brought with him a rather enduring piece of X-Men lore: the Savage Land!  Because who doesn’t love a good “why are there dinosaurs here?” story?  Ka-Zar the first has had *no* action figures, while Ka-Zar the second has had two of them, and now has a third.  And every time, he brings along his best pal Zabu!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ka-Zar is figure 3 in the Zabu Series of Marvel Legends, while Zabu is, unsurprisingly, the Build-A-Figure.  The assortment is a Fan Channel exclusive, which is becoming fairly common with Build-A-Figure sets these days.

When it comes to Ka-Zar designs, there are a few different variations, but generally they all land on the same basic idea: blonde guy in a loincloth.  This one sticks with the oft-seen “and also boots” variation, which is acceptable, and notably different from his two prior figure releases.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  His sculpt makes its start as the Vulcan base body, which is an okay start, apart from the slightly odd glove lines at the forearms.  He’s got a new head, upper torso, loincloth, and boots courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding (who, fun fact, also sculpted the prior Legends Ka-Zar).  The new pieces are all pretty solid.  The hair restricts the neck movement at bit, but other than that, I Iike them.  They capture a sort of Frazetta-esque vibe, which feels appropriate for the pulp-y origins of Ka-Zar, even if it’s not the pulp-y origins that belong to *this* Ka-Zar.  Kazar’s color work is pretty simple.  Lot of molded flesh tone, as expected.  There’s a bit more to the clothed parts of him, plus the usual face printing, which always does nice work for the sculpt.  He’s also got a bit of accenting on the hair, which keeps those particular sculpted details from getting lost.  Ka-Zar is packed with three sets of hands (in fists, gripping, and open gesture), a spear, and a knife (which can be stowed in his belt), as well as front right leg to….

Zabu!  Everybody’s gotta have a Zabu.  Well, Ka-Zar’s gotta have a Zabu.  I mean, I guess.  Does he really *have* Zabu, though?  Or are they just buddies?  Is one of them a mentor to the other?  It’s confusing.  You know, technically, Zabu has a near-human intelligence from when he was exposed to radioactive mists, and Ka-Zar, at least in earlier appearances, of a sub-average-human intelligence, so maybe they’re on a closer level than we realize.  Zabu has accompanied Ka-Zar to every figure release, but he tends to be somewhat hampered.  His first figure was really just a glorified, and the second was a re-deco of a Sigma 6 mold.  This one takes advantage of the Build-A-Figure budget to give him an all-new mold. It’s a solid one, which gets his general sizing and his look down. I mean, he’s a sabretooth, so it’s not like it’s an exceedingly unique look, I suppose, but it does it well. There’s some decent texture work for the fur, and they’ve managed to work it the articulation in such a way as to not totally break up the flow of the sculpt. Paint on this guy is minimal, which isn’t really a shock. What’s there certainly works, but I wouldn’t have minded maybe a little bit more accenting on the fur. That said, I know it’s tricky to get such things consistent across multiple BAF pieces, so maybe it’s best this way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ka-Zar and Zabu’s original figures are on the list of Toy Biz figures I’ve never owned. My dad has a set, which I suppose was good enough for me. The last Legends set was an SDCC exclusive, so that one was out too. I was…non-plussed about having to buy the whole wave to get Zabu this time, but I also didn’t really want *just* Ka-Zar.  So, I bit the bullet and bought the whole set just to build the Zabu, and then off-loaded the other figures I didn’t want.  It was actually less difficult than I thought it would be.  They’re a fun pair.  Some day I’ll get that Toy Biz set, and that’ll probably be my default set for the characters, but these two are certainly very nice.

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.

#3644: Evil Bizzaro

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

EVIL BIZZARO

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

While Kenner’s tie-in line for Batman: The Animated Series was far from lacking in made up variants of its main character, it still did an okay job of filling in the villains and supporting cast. For Superman: The Animated Series, things were a touch less balanced, especially notable given how much harder it was to make variants of Superman. The third assortment of the line was *just* Superman variants, which led to it being skipped at mass retail. Kenner tried to course correct for the next set, which had a whole three non-Superman figures. It wound up being too little too late for mass retail, but the set got a second life through Diamond, which, amongst other things, made sure we didn’t miss out on Bizarro!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bizarro, or “Evil Bizzaro” as he was called on the packaging, was part of Series 4 of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series line, which was released domestically through comic shops via Diamond Distributors. He was also re-released under Hasbro alongside Supergirl and Metallo from the same series as part of the “Super Heroes vs Super Villains” boxed set. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. His sculpt was totally unique to this figure, and honestly one of this particular line’s best. Kenner struggled with keeping these figures on-model to the show, especially when it came to proportions, but Bizarro is actually a pretty good match to his animation model. Even the rather notable pre-posing isn’t a terrible departure from Bizarro’s usual poor posture in the show. Bizarro’s color scheme here isn’t bad. The purple’s a little closer to lavender than it really should be, and his belt is green for some unknown reason, but generally the look is good. Bizarro is packed with a wheel and a gear, molded in grey for this one, which is the single release, or in block for the boxed set version. The figure has a wheel in his back, which, when turned, spins his arms in opposite directions, allowing him to swing his accessories back and forth.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I owned one figure from Series 4, and it wasn’t this guy. My first Bizarro was actually one of the Mattel ones, though I always wanted one of these. I got my shot at him a little bit back, when a bag of DC animated figures got traded into All Time, and Max and I split the contents. He’s one of the best this line had to offer, so I’m glad I finally got one.

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 #35: The End

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

THE END

MUTANT X #32 (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!

It’s almost over, guys!  I’m officially at the Mutant X finish line!  Yes, this week, things get pretty cataclysmic and pretty hectic in the mad dash to wrap everything up in “The End!”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #32 is cover dated June 2001, and officially brings to a close the Mutant X title, just under 3 years from its start.  The issue is credited to Howard Mackie, Ron Lim, Andrew Pepoy, Chris Eliopolous, Gina Going, Michael Golden, Lysa Hawkins, and Joe Quesada.

Magneto cradles a dying Polaris outside the castle, following the attacks of Dracula and the Beyonder.  The battle has ended, but it has left most of the heroes, including all of the other X-Men, dead.  As Beyonder demands Alex Summers, a distraught and vengeful Magneto is collected by Doctor Strange, who offers Magneto a chance to help stop the Beyonder.  Inside the castle, Scotty has succeeded in waking up Havok, who saved the remnants of the Six from Dracula.  Bloodstorm reveals to Havok that Strange has told them that Havok is the key to defeating the Beyonder.  Strange, however, informs Havok that he is actually the key to the Nexus of all realities, and he is the one thing the Beyonder wants.  Havok wants to join the other heroes in fighting the Beyonder back, recounting his brother Scott’s encounters with the Beyonder in 616, but Strange shows Havok that all of the heroes have fallen.  As Strange takes the few remaining heroes to a safer location, Dracula awakens once more in the castle, sensing an opportunity.  He offers to help the Beyonder locate Alex and the others, at a price.  Strange teleports the heroes to Antartica.  Magneto reveals he has built a “Citadel of Seclusion” at this location, having been greatly strengthened by the proximity to the pole.  Inside the Citadel, Havok argues with Magneto, wanting to take action against the Beyonder.  Strange reveals that the being they’re facing isn’t actually the Beyonder, but some other entity using the Beyonder’s form.  Victor Von Doom leads one last stand against the thing masquerading as the Beyonder, while Strange calls in reinforcements in the form of Reed Richards, Xavier, Baron Mordo, and the Fallen.  Mordo reveals that when the Nexus was “destroyed” in the first annual, it was actually moved into Havok’s body.  Richards, Xavier, and the Fallen aid in preparing Havok and Scotty to do battle with “her,” revealing the Beyonder to actually be the Goblin Entity, having merged with the Beyonder’s corpse following its defeat by Havok and Scotty previously.  Dracula and “Beyonder” arrive at the Citadel, and Havok and the Entity do battle. Dracula lurks in the Citadel, killing Reed, but is finally killed by Bloodstorm.  Havok is nearly overwhelmed by the Entity, but is able to separate it from Madelyn.  Havok absorbs the Entity into the Nexus, and sends Madelyn back to the others.  Havok finds himself once more floating in a black void, but now instead of only remember dying, he also remembers living.

The annual crammed a lot of plot into its pages, and it didn’t do a spectacular job of it at that.  This issue also has a lot to do in the grand scheme, but ultimately less moving pieces than the prior issue.  We get some actual clearing up of exactly what happened to the bulk of last issue’s heroes, which at least makes things a little less confusing.  I suppose it’s also nice that they managed to bring all of the original Six members back for the finale, even if most of them aren’t left with much to do.  Bloodstorm again gets the biggest focus of the non-mains, with her moment to kill Dracula and a few other scattered lines of dialogue.  Brute is unfortunately out of commission the whole time, and Ice-Man’s in a lot of panels but doesn’t utter a single word for the entire issue.  The Fallen gets perhaps the silliest turn of all, re-appearing as part of Strange’s crack team to take down the Entity, uttering no lines, and not contributing anything at all to the actual story in the slightest.  You gotta admire their full three-year commitment to having Warren never actually do anything.  The twist with Beyonder being possessed by the Goblin Entity’s not a bad one, and it wraps things up with a neat bow, but it does feel awful rushed, to the point that the resolution of the actual Mutant X universe’s characters is literally 3 panels at the bottom of the second to last page.  We don’t even really see how everyone else reacts to Madelyn’s sudden return.  For his part, Havok will be floating in limbo until he gets brought back into the mainstream universe by Chuck Austen, and…well, that’s it’s whole own thing that I ain’t touchin’.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After the last few issues, I knew this one would be rushed, and I prepared myself for that.  It helped, though not immensely, I suppose.  Like, it’s not a great issue, and it’s a lot more of a “we just stopped telling the story” sort of ending than a true wrap-up.  There’s a degree of closure, but only in the loosest of terms.  I can’t say I loved it.

I knew only scattered elements of the end of this book going into this read-through.  Honestly, I was shocked by how quickly we shifted from still building up the world to “hey this is it, it’s the end.”  You can clearly see the shift when they found out the book was ending.  The end result is a lot of loose ends that don’t ever fully resolve.  Wolverine and Jean both rather abruptly disappear, with little explanation.  Gambit gets an explanation, but it’s not one that offers any more closure.  Cap and Elektra both at least get actual resolution, but it’s also hollow to say the least.  And that’s not getting into story elements that just get plain dropped.  What the heck happened with Cerebro and his “bad” side?  In general, the book wound up as a real mixed bag.  Year one is very punchy, which makes sense, given they originally intended to only do a 12-issue run.  After that, there’s some promising ideas as the book tries to keep building out, but it ultimately never truly finds the footing it’s looking for.  I think year three might have really gotten them back on track, had it not been cut short. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.  Having read it all the way through, it’s an entertaining experiment, and I certainly don’t regret the time I put into it in the slightest.  It may be imperfect, but you can’t say they didn’t try to do something unique.  And with that, the Mutant X re-read is finished.  That was pretty crazy, huh?

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.

#3643: Captain America – Age of Ultron

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — AGE OF ULTRON

MOVIE MASTERPIECE SERIES (HOT TOYS)

I said I might break the hiatus for the odd review, didn’t I? Well, I’m cashing in. Why? America, that’s why. Okay, specifically Captain America. It is his birthday after all. Also America’s too, but can America do this all day? Depends on how you define “this” I guess. Well, Captain America is a better fit for review here on the site than just America, so I’m going for him. I’ve reviewed a lot of Hot Toys Caps here, but I’ve got one more, so guess what we’re doing today! …did you guess “reviewing a Hot Toys Captain America?” Because I tried to really set the bar low on that one. There’s a picture of him at the top and everything. Well, whether you guessed it or not, that’s what we’re doing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Avengers: Age of Ultron Captain America is part of Hot Toys’ Movie Masterpiece Series. He’s figure MMS 281 and he was released in the midst of all of the other AoU figures. While Hot Toys usually has quite a wait on tie-in figure releases, the AoU figures had a surprisingly quick turnaround, with Cap himself hitting before the end of the summer in 2015, just a few months after the movie’s release. He’s based on Cap’s team-oriented suit from the movie, and stands about 12 1/4 inches tall with over 30 points of articulation.

After the Winter Soldier release skipped it, this Cap goes back to the first Avengers set-up of including two head sculpts. The first is masked, and uses the same sculpt as the STRIKE suit figure. I was surprised to find it didn’t get the extra joint at the base of the head, just the bottom of the neck. It’s a little more restrictive in posing, but it does look a little cleaner. The likeness is solid. Not quite as good as the Endgame figure, but a step up from the prior two film’s figures. The unmasked head is a reuse of the one from the Winter Soldier Civilian Steve, and would be kept in circulation for Civil War, before being replaced after the solicitation stage of the Endgame figure. It’s a solid sculpt, with an even stronger likeness than the masked head, so I can get why it got so much mileage. The paint work on both heads is up to HT’s typical high standards, but it’s worth noting that the unmasked head has its pupils offset, so he’s looking to the side. It’s an interesting change-up.

Cap’s outfit uses a similar set-up to the Endgame figure, with the underlying suit being made up of a shirt and pants. They’re fairly decently tailored, though some of the stitch work is a little bulky. In contrast to the belt line on the Endgame figure sitting too low, this one actually sits a little too high, which makes the whole torso seem a little small. There’s a cloth harness with metal fixtures, as well as a mixed media belt, and plastic sculpted boots, which use the two part set up for better movement.  The structure of the boots on this figure is a little awkward, I feel, and they sit a little strange in more basic poses, making his ankles look disproportionately large.  That said, the general assembly of the outfit is a decent match for his uniform from the movie, and there were no major inaccuracies or areas of concern that I saw.

The underlying base body is a smaller one than some of the other Caps have used, which is a little surprising.  It makes him seem a little scrawny, and gives the head the slightest bit of a bobble-head vibe.  It’s far from *awful*, but it’s not quite right either.  Articulation is notably restricted here as well, with the legs getting okay movement, but the arms, especially the shoulders, getting a rather tiny range.  They can move out to the sides okay, but forward and back isn’t really happening.

Cap is of course packed with the two previously mentioned heads, but in addition to those, he also gets:

  • 8 hands
  • Shield
  • Empty helmet
  • Display stand

It’s a lighter load for a Hot Toys release, honestly, but I guess the two heads balance things out a bit.  The hands have pairs of fists, tight grip, and loose grip, as well as a wide gesture right and a shield holding left.  They’re tricky to swap, which is always the case for Cap, but I didn’t have any issues with breakage.  The shield is metal this time around, and there are magnets to allow attachment to the forearms and tight gripping hands for holding, or the back of the harness for storage.  The magnetic feature ties it more directly to the movie, of course, but is also just a much easier way of attaching it than we’ve seen on other HT Caps.  The empty helmet looks to be the same piece as the Endgame one; it’s the same helmet on the main head, just with no Steve head in it.  The display stand is yet another different shape, this time a kind of a trapezoid thing, which matched the other AoU figure stands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By Age of Ultron, I was totally off the Hot Toys train and moved onto other things.  I didn’t imagine going back to the Caps at the time, especially after skipping the Winter Soldier figures.  It coming out so quickly after solicitation, and then also jumping so high in price for a while certainly didn’t help.  Honestly, after going back, I wasn’t even sure this was one I’d get to, since he’s not drastically different from the Endgame costume.  I know, I wasn’t particularly convinced by that last sentence either.  When the huge 1/6 collection was filtering into All Time some months back, I kept thinking “there’s not really going to be anything else I need”….and then there kept being one or two more things I needed.  This was nearer the end, and when he first came in, he was missing his stand and alternate head, so I played the waiting game until the end of the collection.  But, sure enough, the extra parts were there, and therefore he was mine.  Ah, who am I kidding?  I would have bought him even if he were incomplete.  He’s decent, though compared to more recent ones, he’s not quite as technically impressive.  That doesn’t make him any less valuable a piece of my Cap collection, though, so I appreciate him all the same.

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 #34: The Key

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

THE KEY

MUTANT X ANNUAL 2001 (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, the end draws nearer, as the Beyonder arrives for the penultimate chapter for the Mutant X universe, in “The Key!”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

The 2001 Annual of Mutant X was “cover dated” May of 2001.  It was words by Howard Mackie, pencils by James Fry, Inks by Andrew Pepoy, colors by Gina Going, and letters by Lysa Hawkins, with a cover by Tom Raney.

At the Earth’s core, Beyonder drains the remaining life force from Captain America’s corpse.  As the planet above begins to be torn apart by the forces from Cap and Havok’s battle last issue, the Beyonder sees the planet as ripe for destruction.  Beyonder uses the life force from Cap’s body to fill himself in on what has been going on during his slumber (and also to recap readers on what’s happened in the book up to this point).  He determines that he needs Havok’s power to accomplish his vague goals, whatever they may be.  Meanwhile, the X-Men make their way back from the shattered moon, protected by Magneto’s magnetic shielding.  As Beyonder returns to the surface, he waxes about this universe’s version of the Secret Wars, while searching for Havok to act as his key.  He uses his power to calm the Earth’s destruction, before wondering what makes Havok so special to wield the power he does.  At that moment, Havok is being drained by Dracula (as you do), but the Six have intervened.  Before a battle can really break out, all parties are struck down by some sort of psychic attack.  Beyonder continues to explore the world, now heralded as a savior.  He is decried as a false god by a deranged and disheveled Donald Blake, who is turned on by the crowd.  Blake is saved by the timely arrival of Spider-Man, who is quickly joined by Daredevil and the Lethal Legion.  Beyonder makes quick work of the Legion, leaving only Spider-Man.  Back at the castle, the Six awaken and get Havok to the medi-lab, while wondering what happened to Dracula, who watches from afar.  Dracula realizes that Havok is the key to…whatever it is the Beyonder wants and decides that he also wants…whatever that is.  The X-Men return to Earth, arriving at the castle, and they and The Six are joined by Doctor Strange, who tells them all that the Beyonder mustn’t get to Alex.  The Beyonder is faced down by an army of heroes, all of whom he quickly wipes out.  Havok continues to drift through the void, while Scotty attempts to contact him.  While Scotty works, the combined forces of the Six and the X-Men try to hold off Dracula, resulting in most of the X-Men’s deaths.  Gambit takes one of the ships and flees, leaving the others to fend for themselves, while Ororo and Elektra do their best to protect Alex and Scotty.  Ororo is unable to face down Dracula directly, leaving Elektra to kill herself with a grenade in an attempt to take out Dracula.  It doesn’t work, but just as Dracula is about to drain Scotty, Alex wakes up and blasts the Count, who tells them all it’s only just begun.  The Beyonder stands victorious from all his battles, ready to make his way to Havok.

Hooo boy is there a lot going on in this one, especially because they decided that two issues before this whole thing wraps was a good time for some world building.  As the Beyonder awakens, we’re treated to a splash page showing us many of the denizens of the Mutant X ‘verse, featuring the returning faces of Man-Spider, Doom, Dr. Strange, and Namor, plus also tweaked versions of the Lizard, Absorbing Man, Wonder Man, and Titania.  We also get the Lethal Legion, which has its own host of tweaked characters,.  I do love the Daredevil that’s a clever combination of Marvel’s DD with the old golden age hero’s design, and I want to know more about the character that I can only refer to as “Werewolf by Moon Knight.”  I won’t know more, of course, because the whole Legion’s wiped out two pages later.  They do better, I suppose, than the army of heroes that faces down Beyonder later in the issue, who don’t even make it to the end of their own splash page.  None of these characters get any actual name dropping, mind you, and that’s not even touching on the returning characters, such as the Defenders from the first annual, who make the final stand against the Beyonder in this issue.  There’s so much going on, that it’s honestly a bit easy to get lost.  Most of the X-Men seem to be dead by the end of the issue.  Elektra’s definitely dead too.  And…maybe Jean?  It’s very unclear.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I came out of the last issue hoping for maybe a little clarity about what was happening.  This issue goes full speed the opposite direction, throwing just about every character we’ve seen prior into the mix, plus *all* of the new ones, which is, like, nifty from a fan service aspect, but also *incredibly* confusing.  I felt like Dracula was too much last issue, and I feel like Dracula is more too much this issue.  We didn’t need two world-ending threats for the team to face, and having them both makes it all extra janky.  But, we’re in the final stretch now, so all we can do is land this thing, right?  Right.

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.

Mutant X Re-Read #33: You Say You Want a Resolution?

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

YOU SAY YOU WANT A RESOLUTION?

MUTANT X #31 (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, we find out just what the heck is going on with Captain America…and also, maybe conflict what we previously *thought* was going on with Captain America in “You Say You Want a Resolution?”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #31 is dated May of 2001, and has story and art by Howard Mackie, Ron Lim, and Andrew Pepoy, colors by Gina Going, letters by Chris Eliopoulos, and a cover by Michael Golden.

Deep within Earth’s core, the Beyonder sleeps. Meanwhile, at the Canadian border (perfectly normal segue), Havok, Logan, and Jean face down the Canadian government’s forces. Logan and the Professor argue, but a previously catatonic Captain America begins to stir with anger, spouting jingoistic words, calling the army enemies of the state. He begins to hulk out, as the Professor recognizes him as the only successful US super-soldier, a man whose latent mutant powers caused disaster. Cap, who has seemingly snapped, finds his way into the Professor’s mind, as the others are unable to do anything but watch. After vaporizing the Professor, Cap’s powers continue to grow, and he wipes out the army of Canadian super soldiers. This begins to awaken the Beyonder. Havok, Logan, and Jean retreat, but Havok is unwilling to leave the Six and the Avengers behind. Cap continues to spiral, facing down and killing Iron Giant Man. Havok returns and distracts Cap long enough for the other Avengers to rally, but Cap vaporizes them in an instant. Havok orders the rest of the Six to leave, and faces down Cap by himself. The collision of their respective energies creates a cataclysmic event. Seeing the moon start to crumble, and worrying about Scotty, Havok is forced to hit Cap with a killing blow. The energies discharged are enough to finally awaken the Beyonder, who pulls Cap’s remains into the Earth to study them. The Six return to their castle to discover Dracula!

Last issue was the one where we knew the book’s cancellation was eminent, and this one is the one where you can truly feel just how quickly that cancellation hit. The Logan sub-plot is very quickly pushed to the side in an effort to give any sort of closure to Captain America’s very slowly built up arc. The end result is that he’s kind of an overly patriotic Hulk, I guess? It sort of comes out of nowhere, and we’re left with little time to observe much characterization. The rest of the Six are reduced to set pieces, with Blood Storm getting two lines of dialogue, and no one else speaking. Havok gets more, of course, but everyone’s reactions to what Cap’s situation are effectively non-existent. And then he’s just gone. That’s it. Smash cut to the castle, where Dracula has shown up, in order to not drop a plot line that was just shown off three issues prior. It’s forced, but I’m sure there’s more of that to come.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I know only of the end of Mutant X in passing, so I know the general idea of where things are going, but nothing beyond that. I wasn’t prepared for this one. I liked last issues’s Cap-centric nature. This one? I don’t know. I feel like not a lot happens, but also too much happens. After more than a year of waiting to find out what Cap’s deal was, he just…is done. Also, the team is really let down by this story. And, of all the plots not to drop, Dracula? Really? Well, we’ll see where it all goes.

Also, of special note for this issue, there’s an ad for the PX-exclusive Mutant X figures that Toy Biz released, which I didn’t realize hit so late in the run. There’s a real comedy to not only the fact that only four members of the Six being released, but also the fact that two of four they did were characters who haven’t been part of the team for 20 issues by this point. For added fun-ness, 23 years later, we’re getting another Mutant X figure, as Hasbro just announced they’re doing a Legends Bloodstorm later this year!

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.

Summer Hiatus

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General

(Not So) Fun FiQ Fact #0122:  Ethan’s claim of being “vomit free since 2013” has been rendered null and void.

Hi guys!  I apologize for the break in reviews last week.  I got hit by a rather nasty stomach bug, and it took the rest of the week for me to bounce back.  During all of that, I had a little bit of time to reflect on the site, and I realized I’ve been running a little more ragged than usual, both here on the site and in regards to my real life responsibilities.  So, I’m gonna take a three-week summer hiatus, just to recharge and get things a little bit straightened up behind the scenes.  I’m not completely putting the site on hold, though!  I’ll be continuing my weekly look at Mutant X, and I reserve the right to run the occasional one-off review as I see fit.  Beyond that, I’ll see you guys when I return on July 15th!

#3642: Wolfsbane

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

WOLFSBANE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0121: This figure is the first time that Hasbro has released a Wolfsbane figure that actually has her name on the package.

Growing up, my absolute favorite episode of X-Men: The Animated Series was “Cold Comfort.”  It’s got a good script, some of the show’s best animation, and a fun delve into the history of the team.  Largely, it’s X-Factor’s presence at the end of the episode that really sells me on it, though.  Okay, largely it’s Havok’s presence at the end that sells me on it.  But, with Havok, there was a whole team, and I’ve grown somewhat attached to that specific team since.  We’ve been slowly piecing together the whole line-up of that team since 2018, and there’s been just one missing member, who I’m finally getting the chance to look at today.  Let’s take a look at Wolfsbane.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolfsbane is figure 2 in the Zabu Series of Marvel Legends, which is a Fan Channel and Amazon exclusive assortment.  It’s a real grab-bag assortment of characters, with Wolfsbane being the only explicitly X-Men-themed character in the set (though Ka-Zar and Zabu are somewhat X-related as well).  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Wolfsbane is sporting an all-new sculpt, which I’ll admit is a little surprising.  Only a little, since I certainly expected a lot of new pieces, but the total lack of anything shared certainly caught me off guard.  I’d thought we might at least see some Tigra parts mixed in there.  Whatever the case, it’s a good one.  There’s a lot of really solid texture work, and it contrasts quite nicely with the clean lines of her uniform.  The head resembles the art of Todd Nauck, to my eyes, which is fair, since it’s his work that’s on the box as well.  The color work is cleanly handled, with the best of the paint being on the uniform.  The fur largely relies on molded coloring, which looses a little of the detailing.  They do go for a touch of accenting, but it’s not a *ton* and it winds up sticking out a bit.  Wolfsbane is packed with two sets of hands (fists and clawed), as well as the body to the Zabu Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, I kept forgetting that we still needed Wolfsbane.  It’s not that I didn’t want her, but, well, I had the four I really wanted, so I sort of checked out a bit.  But, with her announcement, I remembered, and here I am, completing the team.  She’s kind of a quiet send-off to the team.  She’s fairly well put together, and a solid figure start to finish.  I can’t say she thrills me, but I can’t say she’s bad either.

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.

#3641: Superman – Man of Steel

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

SUPERMAN — MAN OF STEEL

ONE:12 COLLECTIVE (MEZCO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0120:  Justice League Unlimited‘s adaptation of “For The Man Who Has Everything” is a rare instance of Alan more actually liking an adaptation of his work, even allowing his name to be credited in the episode.

In a world where I’ve got plenty of options for solid 6-inch figures of Marvel characters, it’s still a little baffling at times how hard it is to find similar quality DC figures in the same scale.  It’s largely locked in on the higher price-point stuff, and even then, you’re dealing with very specific looks.  I love Superman, but I’ve struggled to find a solid Superman figure, honestly at any scale.  I keep trying them out, and I keep being kind of let down.  But…I’m trying again.  With Mezco, even.  It’s an odd day for me, I won’t lie.  Let’s see where it goes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman – Man of Steel is part of Mezco’s One:12 Collective line, offered as a one-off steel-boxed release last year.  He’s their second classic comics Superman.  The first one was more general purpose, while also being adapted to Mezco’s in-house style (more in line with earlier One:12 offerigns), but this one is a little more specifically based on Superman circa John Byrne’s Man of Steel reboot of the character.  It’s not an exact match, though, for reasons I’ll touch on further down.  The figure stands just under 6 1/2 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

Mezco figures tend to get more than one head, and that’s maintained here…and then sort of shifted into overdrive, because the figure gets not one, not two, but seven different heads.  It’s…it’s a lot of heads.  Possibly too many heads.  I mean, I don’t want to seem ungrateful for the options, but, like, wow.  All of them are pretty clearly inspired by Byrne’s version of Clark.  I may have my issues with what Byrne did for the character from a story standpoint, but there’s no denying that his illustrations of Clark are always solid, and a pretty definitive take.  Of course, Byrne’s style is one the more cartoony side, whereas Mezco’s aiming for something more real-world.  The translation works okay…for some of the heads.  In particular, the friendliest of the heads really works, and feels like a proper Superman through and through.  The angrier heads aren’t bad either, albeit sort of out of character.  It’s the in-between ones that I feel just slightly miss the mark, making him look downright crazed; there’s some real uncanny valley stuff going on there.  But, of course, there’s so many heads that even if a bunch of them are iffy, there’s still plenty to work with.

Superman’s base body is a slightly bulked up one, but with slightly more balanced proportions than, say, the earlier Captain Americas.  It still looks a little squat from certain angles, but it’s generally a solid match for Clark’s usual build.  The outfit makes use of a jumpsuit with an attached cape, red briefs, a sculpted belt, and sculpted two-piece boots.  The coloring on the suit is really nice, and I dig the exact shades they’ve gone for.  His chest emblem is one notable deviation from the “Man of Steel” set-up, being a basic classic Superman logo, rather than Byrne’s larger version.  He’s got a matching one in all yellow on the back of the cape, which, it’s worth noting, gets wires for posing.  I’m glad they moved away from the weird armature pieces for the capes.

In addition to all seven heads, Superman still gets a huge selection of extras, including five pairs of hands (fists, gripping, flat, and two different styles of open gesture), two different styles of heat vision attachments, a Starro spore, the Black Mercy, three bullet ricochets (which attach to the torso via magnets), a container of all the different colors of Kryptonite, two punching effects, a Phantom Zone projector, and a display stand.  Despite the “Man of Steel” influences of design, a lot of the accessories included are notable Pre-Crisis elements, which makes for an interesting mix.  It’s a lot of cool stuff, though.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

In my search for a solid Superman in this scale, I’ve largely overlooked Mezco, because I’d kind of moved away from them.  When this one was shown off, I was intrigued, but not enough to jump on it right away.  Then All Time got three of them traded in over a three month span, and I took that as something of a sign.  The middle one was loose, so I got to actually mess with him in hand, and I honestly just couldn’t say no at that point.  He’s got some minor things off, and the sheer number of heads is downright silly, but I generally really, really like this guy, and I’m glad I decided to snag one.

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.

#3640: Ultra Magnus

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

ULTRA MAGNUS

TRANSFORMERS REACTION FIGURES (SUPER 7)

Fun FiQ Fact #0119: This figure is one of my daughter Aubrey’s favorite toys.

And here’s the requisite Part 2 to the review I ran last Friday.  Did anyone see that coming?  I mean, I did, but I literally make the schedule, so, you know, drastically less impressive for me to guess what it’s gonna be.  Like I said last week, there’s two characters I need to see in any given Transformers line to get me on-board: Soundwave and Ultra Magnus.  I looked at the ReAction Soundwave last week, so let’s follow that bad boy up with a…good boy?  No, that doesn’t sound right…  Well, the point is that I’m following it up with my favorite Autobot, Ultra Magnus!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Magnus is part of the sixth series of Transformers ReAction Figures from Super 7, released in 2023.  The figure is about 4 inches tall and has 7 whole points of articulation.  That’s right, he gets extra movement!  Check out those moving shoulder rockets!  Oh yeah!  All the standard ReAction figures are the same basic size, so Magnus and Soundwave are more or less the same height, which isn’t really accurate to the source, I guess, but it fits the style more or less.  I talked about the general stylistic choices of the line in my Soundwave review last week.  It’s still…odd, but it’s kind of a done deal this far into things.  It’s an explicitly animation-based Ultra Magnus, which, honestly, we don’t see all that often.  Sure, we get pretty close ones, but there’s frequently some sort of compromise, which this figure doesn’t require.  Well, you know, apart from the pretty major “doesn’t transform” compromise that he gets.  It’s a fun sculpt overall, though.  My only really dig at it is that he’s somehow even more pigeon-toed than Soundwave was, which is once again pretty goofy.  Magnus is completely painted, rather than using any molded colors.  It’s pretty good base work, though I did find it was a bit sensitive to chipping.  Also, rather than proper red, white, and blue, as Magnus is classically shown, he’s got an off-white/light grey for all of his lighter sections, which is a slightly different look.  Though, again, that’s the sort of thing that dials into the style Super 7’s aiming for with these figures, so it makes a degree of sense.  Magnus is packed with his usual blaster rifle, painted up in that light grey color.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

It’s this guy’s fault I have the Soundwave from last week at all.  I’d passed on that one a good many times because there was no Magnus.  Then this guy got shown off, and I had to care about the line.  I actually missed out on the earliest portion of his run, but, on a chance, I swung past the toy aisle at Target a couple of months ago, and there was a whole peg of this guy.  He was…well, he was more than I wanted to pay, but for a Magnus, it was worth it.  Like Soundwave, he’s a fun little novelty figure, and I do enjoy that.