HAL JORDAN, GUY GARDNER, JOHN STEWART, SINESTRO, & TOMAR RE
DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)
Last week, I did my first dive back in to DC Universe Classics since early last year, because that’s the space I’m deciding to occupy right about now. I kicked things off by looking at the very first Green Lantern from the line, so I guess I’ll keep that particular theme running. Green Lantern was at something of a high point for the property while DCUC was running, with the main comic being consistently at the top of DC’s list, plus multiple events building out of it, and, of course, the movie on the horizon. In 201, there was quite a bit of lead-up to the film tie-ins, which included not just a whole GL-sub-line, but also a fair bit in the main line as well, such as today’s big ol’ boxed set!
THE FIGURES THEMSELVES
Officially titled “Green Lantern’s Light,” this 5-pack was a Walmart-exclusive DC Universe Classics offering, which hit retail in 2010. It was the second of three such 5-packs offered up by Walmart during the line’s run. In contrast to the prior year’s set, all of the figures included here were unique in someway, and would remain so going forward (though that doesn’t mean the set didn’t have a lot of re-hash). In addition to the five figures, the set also included 5 power batteries, this time in a more sensible color than the first release.
HAL JORDAN
“
While training in a flight simulator, test pilot Hal Jordan was suddenly transported to the crash site of an alien spacecraft. The injured pilot passed on to Jordan his green ring and uniform. The ring allowed him to make real anything that he could imagine, from flying unaided through space to lifting mountains. With it, Jordan, chosen by the ring itself because of his fearlessness, must fight evil as a member of the Green Lantern Corps.”
After kicking off the GL-theme in 2007 and getting a two-pack release in 2008, there were notably no Hal Jordans to be had in 2009. It’s okay, because 2010 made up for it by putting out three of them. Like his standard Series 3 release, this one stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation. He’s the same exact mold as that one, which was pretty much expected. It’s a solid starting point, since it’s a pretty nice sculpt in the first place. In order to mark a little more change, this guy was specifically based on Hal’s post-Crisis appearances, when they gave him the graying temples to signify his status as one of the last hold-outs from the Silver Age. It actually works pretty well, and differentiates the figure more than you might think. In addition to the hair change, this Hal gets the same iridescent green for the uniform as the rest of the set, which works a touch better than the flat green used previously. I also find the paint to be generally cleaner and sharper than on the earlier figure.
GUY GARDNER
“When Abin Sur crash-landed on Earth, his power ring detected two equally suitable replacements: Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner. Jordan got the ring because he was closer to the crash. Later, Guy received a second chance to join the Green Lantern Corps, but he often clashed with Jordan. Still, the Guardians sensed great potential in him. After proving himself, Guy Gardner was promoted to ‘honor lantern,’ one of the highest ranks in the Corps.”
Hey look, it’s Nathan Fillion! That’s a joke I could have done above, as well, I suppose. It’s funny that he’s played two different Earth Lanterns, though. With Man of Tomorrow hitting this year, Guy is set to get some focus, which is good for him, I suppose. Personally, I never resonated much with guy, and he was always my least favorite Earth Lantern (at least until Baz showed up, but there’s a lot of layers to that one). I’ve grown to appreciate him more in recent years, though. Guy represented he heaviest allotment of new tooling in this set, given his more unique design. He got a new head, forearms, and lower legs, as well as a new overlay piece for his vest. Generally, it’s an okay set-up. Certainly different. The head’s notably very cartoonish, and I was never a huge fan of that. He’s seems especially out of place with the other Lanterns, even just in this set. Something just a little more refined might have worked a bit better. The rest of the new parts work out alright, though, and I do like the vest piece. The paint is also a little bit sloppier on this one, especially on his vest. The white detailing seems to have given them difficulty in particular.
JOHN STEWART
“When Green Lantern Hal Jordan was incapacitated en route to a JLA adventure, Hal’s power ring selected John Stewart to be Hal’s ‘alternate’ peacekeeper of Space Sector 2814. Honest and utterly without fear, John was eventually awarded his own power ring and full-time status as a Green Lantern in his own right. He continues battling evil as a Green Lantern, his dedication earning him full membership in the JLA.”
John Stewart had been added to DCUC the previous year, with a pretty fantastic figure at that. This one takes that one and sort of tweaks it and it sort of works but it sort of doesn’t. Since he’s re-using parts from the last John, that places him on a different base body than the other four figures in this set. He’s still got the same basic articulation set-up, and he’s only fractionally taller, but the upper torso in particular is a bit more bulky. In general, the initial John sculpt is a very good one, on par with the initial Hal Jordan. The issue it runs into here is that it’s clearly a modern John Stewart…and his costume isn’t. The paint attempts to place him in one of his earlier suits, earlier in the Mosaic run…more or less. It’s a bit of an amalgam of sorts. It’s not a bad one, mind you, but the hair on the sculpt doesn’t really match, nor do the raised edges on what were originally wrist bands on the first figure, now supposedly gloves. Overall, it’s not terrible, but he’s certainly off. The application of the paint is at the very least pretty clean; not quite as sharp as Hal, but a little better than Guy.
SINESTRO
“Sinestro was chosen to patrol space sector 1417 as its Green Lantern, but instead he ruled Korugar with an emerald fist. While he trained fledgling GL Hal Jordan, the Korugarians freed themselves and exposed Sinestro’s abuse of power. The Guardians of the Universe stripped Sinestro of his mantle and power ring, subsequently banishing him to the anti-matter universe of Qward.”
Ooooooooh, every party has a pooper, that’s why we invited Thaal! In short, this figure is not good and by far the worst in the set. In long? Well, the original Series 3 Sinestro wound up too short during production. Something about his skinny stature just got sort of lost, and they made him just a little guy. People weren’t thrilled. This one, which was originally shown on a skinnier body, overcorrects the problem by moving Sinestro over to the medium base body, which is just too big for him. He’s still using the original head, though, which was sized for a much smaller body, and therefore looks way too small. And to top it all off, he doesn’t get his mask, which is somewhat understandable, but also still rather annoying. I just don’t care for this one.
TOMAR RE
“An ordinary scientist from an obscure planet named Xudar, Tomar-Re never dreamed he would be chosen to serve in the Green Lantern Corps, much less that his name would one day stand for courage and integrity, assigned to protect Space Sector 2813, Tomar-Re distinguished himself so thoroughly in the line of duty that the Guardians of the Universe promoted him to their elite honor guard.”
Ha-ha! I’ve already reviewed this one, way back in #0422! All by his lonesome. Really, I’m just putting him here from the turnarounds, since I wasn’t doing those yet in 2014. Also, to reassert that even with the other four around, this one’s still my favorite, so there.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
I never saw this set at retail. Not a huge shock, since I wasn’t doing much hunting, and I almost never went to Walmart at the time. I recall being sort of “meh” on most of the set, so I ultimately settled for Tomar on his own, because he was the main one I wanted anyway. But, the other four landed in front of me just before the end of last year, and I felt compelled to finish the set. I’m glad I did. Sure, Sinestro sucks, but I knew that up front. Guy and John aren’t perfect, but they’re both still decent. I really do like this version of Hal, though. In general, I think it’s a set that’s better as a whole than as individual figures.
Guy Gardner was released in Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation line, alongside the previously reviewed Booster Gold, Black Manta, Metamorpho, and Fleischer Superman, as well as a Dark Knight Returns Batman I didn’t get…yet. He was the fourth Green Lantern to join the line, after John, Hal, and Kilowog. I guess fifth if you count Sinestro. The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation. Guy’s sculpt appears to be totally unique. In terms of build and posture, it’s definitely patterned on the vintage Hal (and his subsequent update in the McFarlane line), which is far from a bad thing, as that’s always been my favorite of the Kenner Super Powers sculpts. His head sports his signature Moe Howard cut, and is notably not shared with the later movie style figure. He’s got a more prominent jaw on this one, and a slightly rowdier expression. The body gets all of the appropriate costume elements that Guy’s supposed to have, all sculpted right on him. It’s really a strong set-up, and everything is very sharp and feels really solid; not as tacked together as some of the earlier figures from the line. His paint work is decent enough. His green matches all the later GLs, leaving poor John out in the cold. I do think it really works well, though, and his general set-up is very clean and hits all the appropriate notes for the character. Guy is packed with nothing. Not even his power battery. I feel like they could have just re-used Hal’s here, but at the same time, I kind of respect the move to go for all the new sculpting, so it’s a trade-off I’m willing to accept.
The Figure In Question 