Tag Archives: DC

#3966: Red Tornado

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

RED TORNADO

JLA (HASBRO)

“Although the robotic being known as the Red Tornado was originally created by the Justice League of America’s foe T.O. Morrow, his heroism has never been questioned. Red Tornado’s capable of generating and maintaining winds of tornado velocity – and even greater.”

For as much a presence as it had on my formative years of toy collection, I haven’t talked a ton about Hasbro’s JLA line here on the site.  Launched at the end of the ’90s, the line served as a continuation to Kenner’s earlier Total Justice line, with a focus on filling out the roster, in most cases with as few new parts as possible.  It had a few boxed sets, and four assortment run of single-carded figures, and did its job of filling out the roster for sure.  The aim of the line was for modern takes on the team, but a few classic characters found their way, albeit often with a modern flair, like today’s offering, Red Tornado!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Red Tornado was released in Series 4 of Hasbro’s JLA line, which wound up being the last assortment.  Diamond did boxed sets that repacked the “new” figures from each assortment with a couple of exclusive figures, but they dropped off by this line-up, so everyone just got a single release.  Tornado was seen here in his then current look, which had returned him to a more robotic design, like his original look.  It was notably the look he was sporting in Young Justice at the time, and given the three leads from that book had been added in the prior assortment, it made a lot of sense.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As I noted in the intro, this line tried to work in as much re-use as possible, and Tornado was pretty high on that list.  He re-used the arms from Superman, along with the re-tooled torso that removed all the costume specific details, and also had the legs from the Blue Beetle figure.  The combination means he’s not *super* pre-posed, but he does wind up with one leg just sort of jutting to the side, which is a touch silly looking.  He did get a new head and cape, though, and both of those were solid pieces.  The cape has a decent hang, and I like the sculpted piping on the edges.  The head’s a nice recreation of his “modern” faceplate design, and though it’s a bit tiny, it sits well on the body.  His paint’s very simple.  The bulk of the coloring is molded, and I do quite like the slightly metallic red of the body.  Most of the paint is just the yellow elements, which are generally pretty clean, though the head arrow has a bit of wear on mine.  Red Tornado included a “JLA” display stand in yellow of all colors, for some reason.  It does at least keep him standing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was quite excited for the assortment this guy was from, because it had some decent deep cut characters you couldn’t get elsewhere at the time.  Tornado was found on a trip to Toys R Us with my dad, during some downtime at his job for “Take Your Kid To Work Day.”  I got this guy and the X-Men Movie Storm and Sabretooth.  I’ve always really liked this figure, and by extension I have a real soft spot for this design for Tornado.  The figure’s not terribly impressive technically, I suppose, but he’s a nice, rather clean take on the character.

#3962: Superman – Hush Version

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

SUPERMAN — HUSH VERSION

MAFEX (MEDICOM)

My last MAFEX review kept running with my general investment in the DC theme, but broke from the otherwise Batman: Hush-ness of the reviews up to that point, instead jumping over to the Superman side of things.  Today, I present what I can best describe as a happy medium, because it’s a Superman, but he’s from “Hush!’  Ha-hahh!  Bet you didn’t see that coming!  Because, you know, I’m the only one who knows what I buy and when I’m gonna review it, but that’s not really the point here.  What *is* the point, is that I’ve got another Superman figure to review, and I’m gonna go ahead and do that now.  Let’s jump in!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is figure 117 in Medicom’s MAFEX line, where he was the second figure under the “Hush” banner.  The figure stands just over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 43 points of articulation.  While Superboy was rather up-scaled compared to the others in the line, this Superman feels maybe a touch on the small side.  Not terribly so, but just a little.  He keeps the same general articulation scheme as the other MAFEX figures I’ve looked at, which is to say it’s a generally nice range of motion and movement is pretty smooth.  Since this is explicitly a “Hush” figure, this Superman is based on Jim Lee’s illustrations of the character seen in the book.  It’s hardly a bad thing, since Lee’s take on Superman is a pretty solid “classic” Superman, who is generally pretty multi-purpose.  There is sort of a humor to the only two standard costume Superman figures in the MAFEX line both being in Batman-themed packaging, but such is Superman’s lot in life…at least a few years ago.  The sculpt does a respectable job of capturing Lee’s art, and specifically his take on Clark.  The standard head is a nice, generic calm head, but he’s also got an angrier head, meant to emulate Clark while under Ivy’s control.  Like Huntress, he’s got a cloth cape, which has a wire running through it for posing options. Superman’s color work is fine.  The paint work is clean, and all, but he’s also, like, really washed out.  I guess it’s not inaccurate to the look and palette of “Hush,” but on its own it does feel a little bit desaturated, slightly hindering his generic Superman-ness.  Superman is packed with the two heads previously mentioned, as well as five pairs of hands (in two styles of fists, flat, relaxed, and open gesture), neck and arm attachments for Ivy’s possession of him, and a flight display stand.  He also included an alternate hand for the first Batman, which had the Kryptonite ring on it, which I don’t have with my figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t really up on MAFEX when this guy hit, so, despite the original DC Direct line’s Superman being one of my favorite figures from their line for the story, I didn’t get him when he was first released.  As they got further into the line, I kept regretting that more and more, but I also kept missing every re-release, because they kept selling out so very quickly.  I was sort of hoping we might get a more standard Superman from the Return line, but that’s not yet happened.  So, after getting Superboy as a gift over the summer, I finally decided to bite the bullet and just pay what I felt was a fair price on a used version of this guy.  He’s very cool, and I certainly get why he’s so in demand, because he’s just a good basic Superman.  That said, I’d still be game for Jurgens Superman with a slightly more classic color scheme, because I’m a sucker for such things.

#3958: Superman – Golden

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

SUPERMAN — GOLDEN

DC HEROES UNITE (SPIN MASTER)

It’s been *over a year* since I last looked at anything from Spin Master’s DC line, despite them still very much holding the license (at least until the end of the year when Mattel takes over as master license holder again), because, like, I had some stuff going on or whatever?  Honestly, as nifty as the figures are, they’re really little more than that, and I’m personally not really their target audience, so I can’t really fault them for not catering to me.  I do still like messing with a nifty figure every now and then, though, so today I’m looking at a Superman that I’ve been putting off reviewing for far too long.  Here he is.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman was released in the third assortment of Spin Master’s DC Heroes Unite line.  He was one of the “super rare” figures, and initially hit at the end of 2020, but started showing up in greater numbers when Spin Master put out additional runs of the figures in ’21 and ’22.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, he’s the same as the line’s first take on the basic Superman mold.  Technically, that means he, like the other releases, is based on Supes’s second Rebirth costume, but in the case of this release, unless you’re looking *really* close at his belt, it’s a bit harder to tell.  Generally speaking, it’s still a decent sculpt.  A bit bulky and rudimentary, but genuinely a nice offering for the style.  Like the standard, he’s got a cloth cape, which is still really cheap, but it’s not awful.  The change-up to this figure, much like was done with Batman and Wonder Woman before him, is that Clark’s all gold.  In his case, that’s actually a bit more cannon than the other two, since it means he can stand-in for his appearance in the future world of DC One Million, which is extra fun. Largely, the color’s just molded plastic, but he does get a little bit of paint for his logo on his chest.  Superman gets the same blast effect, torso armor, and Kryptonite pieces packed with the other two versions, but they, like the figure, are all gold.  In the case of the Kryptonite, that means we get Gold Kryptonite, meaning you can permanently remove his powers…if you’re feeling especially evil or whatever.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Wonder Woman from this set/style pretty quickly, and had help getting a Batman after the fact, but I really wanted a Superman to finish out the trinity.  I completely missed the first run, but during the re-runs, probably in ’22 I think, I lucked into one, who I bought, and then….kind of forgot about?  He’s been unopened since I got him, and I kept meaning to open him and review him, but I kept forgetting.  Not this time!  He’s not really anything new, but I do like him in all his goofy not-new-ness.

#3954: Superman – Zero Hour

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SUPERMAN — ZERO HOUR

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

In the ‘50s, DC rebooted its super hero line, starting with the introduction of the second Flash, Barry Allen.  In the ‘60s, they brought back the original Flash, Jay Garrick, establishing the existence of a Multiverse. Through the ‘60s and ‘70s, that Multiverse grew, and in the ‘80s, DC decided it had grown too much, and consolidated everything down to one single universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths.  For all of their plans to simplify, Crisis brought with it all manner of complications and odd loose ends. In the ‘90s, DC made one of a number of attempts at rectifying those issues with Zero Hour, another crossover to end all crossovers.  DC’s two top heroes, Superman and Batman, were both rather fresh off of some upsets to their status quos.  Superman had died and returned, with the major lasting remnant at that point being his ‘90s-tastic mullet.  It’s a great way of getting an extra variant out of the Man of Steel, and that’s the case today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman — Zero Hour is part of the latest round of “Page Punchers” from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line (officially under the DC Direct banner).  He’s paired off with a Crisis Joker, and he’s the standard release, with Zero Hour’s secondary antagonist Extant as the unadvertised Red Platinum chase.  This is the second time we’ve gotten mullet Superman, following up on the Collector’s Edition one that got stupid expensive a while back.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  As has become the formula for most Supermen from McFarlane in the last year, this figure is built on the Earth-2 Superman base body.  It’s by far the best take McFarlane’s had, and it’s a good, solid classic Superman body, so I can’t really fault it’s continued use.  He gets a new head sculpt, sporting that oh-so-important mullet.  It’s a strong sculpt, feeling consistently the same guy as the Silver Age Superman, but looks a bit older and more defined.  The hair’s got a good, dynamic flow to it.  Something with less of a dynamic flow, however, is the figure’s cape.  It’s a cloth one, like the others on this body, but for whatever reason, they’ve omitted the wire in the lining this one, meaning it just sort of hangs their flat.  It’s especially odd because the stitch on the cape clearly is designed with a wire in mind; it’s just not there.  The cape also sits back too far at the shoulders, which is especially notable given how his cape was usually pretty flared at the shoulders during this era.  His color work is a bit darker than the Silver Age version, which is accurate to the comics from the time, and looks pretty good and unique from the others.  Superman is packed with two pairs of hands, one in fists, the other in open gesture, and basic display stand, a collector card, and a copy of Zero Hour #4, which is, oddly, the first issue of the crossover.  It’s really prone to damage, because the paper’s really thin, but it’s an entertaining enough read.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I came into collecting in the ‘90s, my first Superman line was Man of Steel, so the mullet is kind of etched into my brain as a signature look for the character.  I missed the last mullet Superman at retail, and the only time I saw him he was crazy expensive.  Since I’m just sort of keeping up with the new Supermen as they hit now, I was on board for this guy when he was shown off.  He sold out super quick, but GameStop came through for me again.  I don’t love the cape, but otherwise, he’s a fun little variant on a tried and true formula for a Superman figure.

#3950: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

SUPER FRIENDS (McFARLANE TOYS)

While the main offerings from McFarlane’s DC line are all in the 7-inch range, the Batman: Classic TV Series line notably broke from the pack in its decision to go with 6-inch, thereby allowing it to *sort of* serve as a continuation of Mattel’s run with the line.  They had a good, solid run with the line, but there’s only so many characters to do, even calling in the continuation comics.  So, to keep the style running, McFarlane moved into another notable feature in the mainstream TV coverage of the DC Universe, Super Friends.  It’s a solid way to get a bunch of heavy hitters in one cohesive style, so I guess that’s not so bad.  Today, I’m taking a look at the line’s take on the Man of Steel, Superman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman was released in Series 2 of McFarlane’s Super Friends line.  Thus far, they’ve stuck to a two heroes paired off with two matching villains, so Superman is paired off with his counterpart Lex Luthor, which is pretty sensible.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  In addition to sharing a scale, the Super Friends and Batman: Classic TV Series lines also share a number of parts.  Superman, unsurprisingly, has some parts in common with his Classic TV Series release.  With its sculpted wrinkles in the suit and generally more realistic build, it’s a bit of a departure in style, from the show.  It’s especially notable with Supes, who ends up looking a touch skinny.  That said, it fits with what they’re trying to do with the line, so I get it.  It’s definitely not a badly sculpted set-up, though the articulation’s a little awkward at times.  There are a number of new parts, though, most notably the head.  It’s not a pitch perfect match for Toth’s take on Supes, but it gets the idea across, and is certainly closer to the animated Superman depiction than the Classic TV figure was to George Reeves.  I feel like, if nothing else, the expression feels very much in character with the show version of Superman.  Like the Classic TV figures, the cape on this guy is cloth; it’s kind of flat and looks a bit odd at the collar, but it’s also the same general set-up used in the Batman line, so it’s not like it’s any sort of crazy upset.    Superman’s color work is decently handled.  It matches okay with the show scheme, and while the insignia didn’t always have the extra line around the edge, but it’s a more unique look, so I appreciate the choice.  Superman is packed with a JLA communicator and the Kryptonite ball-and-chain from the Challenge of the Super Friends episode “Monolith of Evil.”  I especially dig the ball-and-chain, because it’s such a nice signature scene from the show.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This whole line kind of snuck in without a ton of fanfare.  I wanted the GL from Series 1, but he sold out really quickly, and I haven’t gone to the trouble of finding one, so I wasn’t really sure I’d be jumping in any further.  But, I was in NYC a little over a month ago, and found myself with time to kill while Rachel and her siblings were in a show, so I spent a chunk of it wandering through Midtown Comics.  I felt obliged to buy something, and they had this guy, and he just sort of spoke to me.  He’s got his quirks, but he’s fun.

#3946: Nightwing – Teen Titans

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

NIGHTWING — TEEN TITANS

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

“A youthful version of the Justice League, the Teen Titans featured Robin as leader from the outset. In the 1980s, when the title was relaunched with new characters, Robin grew more independent than ever, living in Titan’s Tower and later changing his codename to Nightwing.”

Remember the last time I reviewed a McFarlane Nightwing here on the site and I discussed George Lucas’s “It’s like poetry; it rhymes” quote?  Well, I feel like it might be appropriate again.  One of my earliest 7-inch McFarlane DC reviews was his first take on Nightwing.  As we wind down on his offerings (….maybe?  Apparently he’s still got some version of the license going into ’26?  It’s all gotten very confusing), I’m looking at another Nightwing, who, much like the Super Powers version before him, is based on the character’s disco-inspired original costume design.  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing — Teen Titans is part of the fifth “Digital” assortment of DC Multiverse, meaning he’s pretty much just a standard figure, but there’s also an extra card that literally no one will ever make any use of.  He’s officially under the “DC Direct” banner, alongside wave-mates Batman and Monarch.  He’s the eighth version of Nightwing under the Multiverse line.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Nightwing is built on the Beetle/Booster body, which has been a favorite starting points for mid-sized characters.  Nightwing himself has used it once before, for his ‘90s costume.  This time around, it actually gets a few adjustments to make it more accurate.  He adds the collar to the torso, as well as finally re-tooling the shins so as to redo the boot-tops, so that he’s not yet another figure saddled with the weird boot tops.  Instead, he’s got the proper, slightly more unique design for this costume.  He’s also got a brand new head sculpt, clearly patterned on Perez’s illustrations of the character in the early years.  It’s a very nice sculpt, with a lot of really sharp and clean work, and, above all, it’s a happy Nightwing, which I always appreciate seeing, especially in this costume.  It’s certainly the nicest of the Nightwing head sculpts we’ve gotten from McFarlane.  The paint work is generally okay, though it does wind up with some slight oddities.  The mask gets a pattern suggesting shading, which I don’t mind, as it’s effective and doesn’t look weird.  That said, it’s the only instance of painted shading on the figure, which is strange.  The rest of the work is more basic stuff.  Application’s clean and sharp, so that’s good.  The only off spot is the shoulders, which are already kind of off due to the way the assembly works, but then also miss the lighter blue on the top section.  You can kind of hide it with posing around the shoulder “cups”, but it’s odd when you can see it.  Nightwing is packed with a batarang, a display stand, a collector’s card, and the card with the info for the “digital” collectible.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t certain I was going to get this one when it was announced.  It seems kind of strange, I suppose, but the Super Powers version was announced around the same time, and I already have the DC Direct one and….yeah, none of it was very solid reasoning, honestly, so when I saw this one in person, I folded pretty quickly.  I’m glad I did, because, apart from some slight oddities to do with the paint, he’s a really nice figure, and definitely McFarlane’s best take on Nightwing, which is actually a pretty noteworthy statement, given how many Nightwing figures he did.

#3942: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Okay, what did I say in last week’s  intro?  Hang on….checking…ah, right, Arkham games were a big splash for DC in the ‘10s.  Very good.  Solid intro. Right, so we’re doing a bit more with that this week.  No need to get too far outside your comfort zones, though, because I’m sticking with Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, as seen in 2015’s Arkham Knight.  Because that’s just how I roll.  Let’s check out Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released as part of the second series of DC Collectibles’ Batman: Arkham Knight tie-in line.  He was figure 05, making him numerically the first figure in the series.  While there were a number of different options for Nightwing’s City look in figure form, this was his only figure from Knight.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  By the time of this line’s release, DCC hadn’t gotten a bit more invested in trying out improved articulation schemes.  They were still using a lot more fragile plastic than they should have been, so he’s a bit tricky to pose without worry of breakage, but generally the design and implementation of the joints gives him a decent range.  This is honestly one of the better posing Arkham figures I’ve handled from the DCD/DCC run, so that’s actually quite nice.  Nightwing had an all-new sculpt, based on his updated game design.  City added a tactical flair to the comics designs, but Knight heavily re-worked everyone into far more teched-out and armored appearances.  Nightwing follows suit, and ends up with something that quite a departure from how he tends to look in the comics. The armor seems like it would bee pretty restricting to an acrobat, but I don’t hate the overall silhouette of the suit.  I’m not *crazy* about the mask, which goes from his usual domino-style piece to a whole cowl-style thing that connects to his suit.  Ultimately, though it did sort of grow on me.  I still don’t like it, but I can stand it.  The sculpt does a generally good job of capturing the model in plastic form.  The suit is very sharply defined, and the face feels a little less weird than the last one (though he still feels a little bit “dead”).  His paint work is generally not bad.  The colors match the game assets (still not crazy about how dark the blues are, but whatever), and none of the suit’s smaller details are missed.  My figure has a weird spot of pink on the hair, and I don’t know how well the attempt at stubble on his face works out.  Otherwise, though, he’s fine.  Nightwing is packed with his batons in both extended and collapsed form.  They’re a bit tricky to get into his hands, and it’s a shame there’s no storage for them on this release, but at least they’re present.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t play any of the Arkham games, but I did pretty closely follow a lot of goings on with Knight when it was released.  I was less than enthused with Nightwing’s design at the time, so I didn’t jump on the figure.  A decade removed, I’ve softened on it a bit.  I had the chance to get this one at the same time as the City version at the beginning of the year, and opted to snag him.  While I still have some issues with how the design works relative to the character it’s meant for, I do have to admit that this makes for a cool figure, and it’s definitely a superior offering to the City release.  I actually had a lot of fun messing with this guy.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3938: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY (DC COLLECTIBLES)

The Arkham line of games made quite a splash for DC in the ‘10s, which was good, because they found themselves struggling with most of their other media endeavors.  The first game was relatively focused on Batman and his rogues housed at the asylum, and the tie-in figures were likewise more focused.  The sequel expanded things out to a wider Gotham City, allowing for a wider swathe of the Bat-family, and a much larger line in general.  Two of the three Robins were present in City, with Dick Grayson occupying his “Nightwing” role in some of the game’s DLC.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released in Series 4 of the DC Collectibles Batman: Arkham City line.  This was the standard release, and he also figured into a multi-pack, which saw him get a slightly different deco.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  DC Direct/Collectibles was still not really up to par on articulation at this point, but I suppose they were trying.  There are elements here that work (mainly the arms) and elements that really don’t (the neck is especially pointless), which feels very true of their general approach to a lot of things.  His sculpt was all-new to this release.  He’s based on the character’s primary design in game, which is essentially Jim Lee’s “Hush” design filtered through the game universe’s “tactical” aesthetic.  It’s an okay look, and I think one that stays a bit truer to the spirit of Nightwing than some of the other characters’ designs did.  The suit in particular feels like it’s got a good flow to it.  I’ve never been *crazy* about the hair, but I think that’s partly linked to how the model has to work within gameplay, so I can’t be too down on it.  The sculpt captures it all pretty well, following closely with the game models, and also putting a lot of really nice work into the figure’s texturing and suit layout.  Paint work is decent as well.  This is the main color scheme, so it’s a little on the darker side (I personally prefer a brighter blue for Nightwing’s logo), but it does what it’s supposed to, the application is all clean, and all of the elements are properly painted.  There’s a little bit of slop around his hairline, but it’s generally minor.  Nightwing is packed with his two batons, which can either be held or stored on his back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never played the Arkham games myself (though I did watch my brother play through City and Knight), but I’ve jumped in on the figures every now and again.  I’m always down for a Nightwing figure, and I’ve been sort of loosely looking for his figures from the game for a while.  Nearer the beginning of the year, I got the chance to help process an entire run of the Arkham figures, which also gave me the opportunity to snag this guy for myself.  I can’t say he’s a great figure or anything, but he’s certainly nifty, and I do like a nifty Nightwing figure.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3931: Cyborg

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

CYBORG

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Though Vic Stone’s body was destroyed in an accident, science gave him a new one, which he’s used as a both a Teen Titan and a member of the Justice League.”

Kenner’s Super Powers line had a three year run in the ‘80s, during which time they released 33 standard release figures, and 1 mail-away.  By far the rarest of the figures are those that come from the final assortment of the line, with the grail of the original collection being the first figure of the then family recently created Cyborg.  McFarlane’s revival of Kenner’s line clocked 64 new single release figures, and an additional 8 figures offered through multi-packs and the like.  And wrapping up (at least as far as we know) the McFarlane run, much like the original Kenner one, is Cyborg!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyborg is the final figure in Series 11 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, a “Gold Label” release that was exclusive to McFarlane’s online store.  Of the four figures offered, he’s the only one that’s a direct recreation of a vintage release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s definitely on the larger side, which in some ways makes you wonder if this was an earlier sculpt that was shelved for a while.  That said, given Cyborg’s robotic nature and the usual depictions of his scale, it’s not really out of place for him to be this size.  This release notably gives Cyborg the standard assortment of articulation, which means he gets the knee joints that his vintage counterpart lacked.  Yay for knees!  Cyborg’s sculpt is a unique one.  Clearly, it’s meant to be patterned on the vintage version, in terms of styling and in pose, but it’s not a direct copy.  It’s generally good.  The technical details on the cybernetic parts are very clean and crisp, and follow his look from the style guide well.  I’m not sure about the head; the human half seems a little bit soft in its detailing.  It’s far from the worst thing, and at least he doesn’t have the “McFarlane face” that the earlier figures did, so I can’t complain too much.  Cyborg’s color work marks the largest departure from his original, a figure defined by it’s super cool chrome finish via vac-metalizing.  This one doesn’t do that, instead just using a flat silver molded plastic.  It’s not a shock, since none of the the figures in the McFarlane line have done the chrome.  It’s a bummer that they didn’t at least go for painted silver, but ultimately, it’s not awful, and looks better than I expected.  Cyborg is without any accessories, meaning he’s also lacking the original’s swappable hand attachments, which is a real bummer, but again not a shock.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I started collecting the vintage Kenner line, I knew Cyborg would be the Everest of that particular collection.  As I get nearer and nearer to the finish line, that’s only become amplified.  So, there’s just sort of this empty spot on my shelf, where a Cyborg might *eventually* go.  If I *HAD* one….  I’ve long hoped for some sort of Super Powers continuation that might include a Cyborg so that I could at least put *something* in that spot.  For most of McFarlane’s run, I wasn’t really sure I’d be getting it, but I was happy to be wrong.  Like the other three, I jumped on the order for this right away.  He’s not perfect, and I’m kind of kicking myself for not snagging a second set so that I could chrome one of the Cyborgs, but he’s a decent stand-in for the real thing, at least from a far, and I didn’t have to break the bank to get him.

And that is, near as we can tell, a wrap on the McFarlane Super Powers.  It’s been an interesting ride, if nothing else.  At the start of this line, I despised its very existence, feeling like it was a poor formed product that would just serve to ultimately rob me of the product I’d actually wanted for so many years.  But then, slowly, after a difficult path, the line morphed into essentially exactly what I’d wanted.  Sure, more than half the line was repaints and rehashes of stuff that we already had.  I do also find it darkly humorous that the one major complaint I have about the original run, which is that in a set of 34 figures, Wonder Woman was the only female character, is made even more prominent by McFarlane’s run, where in an additional 72 figures, we got….four more Wonder Women.  I’ve got a whole list of figures I wish we’d seen before the end.  But, at the end of the day, I personally got 35 new figures for my Super Powers collection, and I do honestly love them all.

#3927: Animal Man

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

ANIMAL MAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Able to connect with The Red, the morphogenic field that connects all animal life, Buddy Baker juggles his duties as a husband and father, and the superhero who can mimic the abilities of any animal, Animal Man!”

Much like Hank Pym’s introduction in 1962’s “Man in the Anthill,” a sci-fi story that proved successful enough for its lead character to return later that same year, now as the costumed hero Ant-Man, Buddy Baker’s first turn in Strange Adventures’ “I Was the Man with Animal Powers,” a sci-fi story where a man is encounters an alien spacecraft, giving him his titular abilities, was followed up with Buddy’s return ten issues later as a costumed hero, first “A-Man”, later Animal Man.  Though he remained obscure for most of his original run, post-Crisis, the character was given his own title under the helm of Grant Morrison, who re-vamped him to fit better into the post-Crisis world, expanding on his life outside of being a super hero, playing up the aspects of his role as a family man, as well as his crusades for animal rights.  The series also had a substantial metatextual element, as it examined directly the changes being made to the character’s backstory, as well as the toll that “shock” storytelling elements were having on him, culminating in a direct confrontation between Buddy and “The Writer,” who was directly modeled on Morrison.  Morrison’s run ended with Buddy’s life being restored to a more status quo place, allowing him to be better worked into the main DCU, but the influence of the run has still informed a lot of the character’s later appearances, and also serves as a nice little focus for an otherwise still somewhat obscure character.  His presence as a fan-favorite has made him fortunate enough to get several figures over the years, the latest as part of McFarlane’s Super Powers revival.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Animal Man is part of what is, near as anyone can tell, the final assortment of McFarlane’s Super Powers.  He and the other three figures are all exclusive Gold Label releases, available only through McFarlane’s online store.  Buddy’s an interesting choice for the line-up; he existed when the vintage line was in swing, of course, but wouldn’t be revived truly until 1988.  He’s also always remained somewhat on the fringe, and none of the characters he tends to be paired off with were part of either version of the line.  But, at the same time, Kenner was prone to throwing in the occasional odd-ball, so who can say for sure.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  For whatever reason, Buddy is back on one of the older base bodies, specifically the one used for John Stewart, so he’s bulkier and a little larger than the others in the assortment, and not quite the right scale.  Honestly, I’d have expected him to just be another use of the Flash-style body, but perhaps they felt that was getting over played?  The GL sculpt is too bulky, and sort of puffy, and not one of my favorites, but…I don’t hate it here?  Maybe I’m getting nostalgic as we get closer to the end.  It does still feel a touch too large for Buddy, and I get a chuckle out of the fact that he’s still got the ring on his right hand.  But, the new head sculpt is quite nice, and, goofy though it may be, the cloth jacket piece is pretty fun.  Animal Man’s color work is pretty solid.  I love the crisp work on the “A”, as well as the full detailing under the jacket, if you’re more interested in a classic Buddy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always dug Animal Man, as sort of a quirky side character.  That said, it was far too long before I actually sat down and read the Morrison run (I picked up the trades from Cosmic Comix, rather appropriately I suppose, shortly after Jess died, and read through them during a period of having far too much time on my hands), and when I did, it elevated Buddy from a character I already very thoroughly enjoyed to a character that is genuinely one of my favorites.  While I can think of lots of other characters I might have liked to see crop up in this final line-up, I am nevertheless very happy to see Buddy join the line, and I like how the final figure turned out.