Heroclix Black Lantern Aquaman

Long time F.O.A.M.er Rick Duncan sent in these pics of the Heroclix Black Lantern Aquaman figure, so you can relive the flesh-chomping goodness of Blackest Night!

AquaStorm Heroclix

For those of you who listen to The Fire and Water Podcast (or, more specifically, our side project, Who's Who: The Definitive Podcast of the DC Universe) you know that my co-host The Irredeemable Shag and I tend to rag on the villain known as The Composite Superman. Something about the concept and look of the character struck as ridiculous, and we made him our duly designated punching bag, show after show, especially after the show's vocal fanbase started to defend him.

Well, F.O.A.M.er Gene Hendricks took it one step further, making this pair of custom Heroclix figures: a half Aquaman/half Firestorm being known as...Aquastorm!

At first, I really wondered if this was a real character in the Heroclix universe (what were the odds?!?), but Gene assured this is his own insane creation. Not only was it extremely generous of him to send us these, but the craftsmanship is also quite good: I mean, to my eyes, this looks no more silly than the Composite Superman! Though I don't know how Aquaman keeps his hair from catching fire. Thanks Gene!


For Further Reading: For more fan appreciation of The Composite Superman (no, really), head on over to my Hey Kids, Comics! blog where F.O.A.M.er Dan Hunter has an essay called "The Composite Superman and Me."

Heroclix Aquaman

Several F.O.A.M.ers sent me news of this new Heroclix figure...Aquaman!

If you click the graphic, you can see the details of the figure and what its play traits are (I may be mis-using that phrase, I don't know anything about the HeroClix figures other than they're really cool to look at!). Click here to see HeroClix's own write-up of the figure, which comes out in September!

DC Heroclix Checklist

Courtesy F.O.A.M.er Rick Duncan comes this poster checklist for the 2011 line of DC Heroclix figures (click to embiggen)...which, thankfully, includes Aquaman!

This wave is clearly centered around Superman (which leaves me confused as to why characters like The Queen of Fables, Swamp Thing, and Element Woman are included), so I guess that's why we don't have some of the bigger stars of the DCU represented, not to mention Mera.

If you're an Aquaman merch completist, prepare for a night job, because with the Sea King being such a big part of the New 52, there's going to be a lot of new stuff like this to buy!

Thanks Rick!


Speaking of Heroclix, the Emperor Aquaman Heroclix figure came out on Wednesday, 9/28, making it an even bigger day for Aqua-Fans who are also gamers! F.O.A.M.er Daniel Hemmann sent some pics:

Thanks Daniel!

Heroclix - DC 75

Amid this big, colorful group of Heroclix figures are new editions/variants of Aquaman, Mera, and Ocean Master (way in back, second photo)!

These are part of a new Heroclix assortment called DC 75th Anniversary, where Aquaman and Mera have different playable abilities--at least, that's according to our newest F.O.A.M. member, Khari Sampson, who runs a Heroclix blog (click here to read an all-Aquaman article that Khari wrote).

Not too long ago, neither Ocean Master or Mera had any action figures between them, and now they're all over the place. Its a good--if expensive--time to be an Aquaman fan!

Thanks Khari, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Heroclix Brightest Day Collection

F.O.A.M.er Carlos Mucha (soon followed by a bunch of others) sent me links to this poster for the upcoming Brightest Day line of Heroclix figures, including a new Aquaman!

Here's a close up of Arthur in all his Heroclix glory:

...very nice. I love the tentacle base, a great touch. Can't wait to get my hands on this!

Black Hand Heroclix Figure - 2010

F.O.A.M. member Daniel Hemmann (who signs his emails with "Proud F.O.A.M. member since 2009") is an expert on all things Heroclix, having sent me pics of other Aquaman-related items for the game.

A few days ago, he sent me this pic of the new Black Hand Heroclix figure, which features just a teeny tiny bit o' Aquaman in it--that's his green, flounced glove poking up from the ground, alongside what looks like Mirror Master and...?

Given the size of the Heroclix figures, think how small that Aquaman glove piece is--it might be the single smallest piece of Aquaman merchandise in existence, at least until DC starts releasing their Showcase editions as microscopic slides.

Very cool, thanks Daniel!

Heroclix Aqua-Collection

This mini-Aquaman Shrine, consisting of the various AquaFamily members in Heroclix form belongs to our newest F.O.A.M. member, Leo Cherry, who is also a regular commenter on the Shrine's Facebook page.

Leo is still missing the one Heroclix figure of Aquaman with Starro attached; if any of you AquaFans has an extra out there let me know and maybe we can hook Leo up. Then he can take a new picture and send the Shrine that one!

Thanks Leo, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Custom Heroclix Aqualad Figure

This spiffy custom-made Aqualad (and Beast Boy!) Heroclix figure was made and sent to me by our newest member of F.O.A.M., simply known as "Buck."

Here's what Buck told me about it's creation: "The custom started off as Brainiac 5 who had a monkey on his shoulder. I'm a big fan of Changeling/Beast Boy and thought it would be fun to turn the monkey into Changeling. Aqualad has always been a favorite of mine, so I decided to pair the two Titans up. The problem, which I hadn't figured out when I gave Chuck [F.O.A.M.er D.C. Dill] the figure, was that Brainiac 5 was flying. Aqualad looked odd taking off into the air.

Later, I figured out how to fix this problem and made a second figure. I used the ice base from an Iceman heroclix to make it look like Aqualad was coming out of the water instead of flying."

Very cool, the addition of Beast Boy is utterly charming. Nice job Buck, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Mera Red Lantern Heroclix Figure - 2010

Here's our first glimpse of the new Mera Red Lantern Heroclix figure, part of the Blackest Night Starter Game which hits stores on May 12.

So, if you ever wanted a figure of Mera vomiting up Strawberry Jell-O, this is your baby!

Thanks to F.O.A.M.ers Glenn Walker and Daniel Hemmann for the tip!

Despero Heroclix Figure - 2009

This super cool Heroclix figure of longtime JLA villain Despero was sent to me by our newest F.O.A.M. member, Daniel Hemmann.

As you can see, this old school Despero, not the more "extreme" scary monster version that showed up in the 80s. Whoever got the idea to do the sculpt of him based on the cover to Justice League of America #1, where he played The Flash in a game of intergalactic chess using the other JLAers as the pieces, deserves a raise--its a goofily brilliant idea.

You can see the orange and yellow blob that represents Aquaman. Sure, its lacking in detail, but think of how tiny those little parts are! Despero himself is only about two inches tall.

Thanks Daniel, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Dolphin Pog - 2008

This is a Dolphin Pog.

I tried really, really hard to come up with anything else to say about this, but I failed. Please forgive me.








Moments Later Update: I was going to subtitle this post "Brevity Is The Soul Of Wit", because I thought it was funny that it was short. Usually, of course, I can on and on about even the tiniest piece of Aquaman minutiae.

But as soon as I posted this, it didn't seem as funny to me as when I first wrote it, so to fill out the post a bit here are two gorgeous pieces of art featuring DC's underwater lady of mystery--first, her Showcase cover by Jay Scott Pike, and then her Who's Who entry by the late great Dave Stevens:

...whoever at DC had the idea to hire Stevens to draw this, I hope they got a free lunch out of it, or one of those "Grape Job!" stickers at the very least.

Mera Pog - 2008

"Remember Mera? Well she's back. In Pog form."--Milhouse Van Houten

Who knew they still/started again making Pogs? I certainly didn't, until All Things Fun staffer and F.O.A.M.er John McLaren handed this to me when I came in the store one day.

He has yet to come across an Aquaman or Aqualad Pog, which seems odd to me. But like I say, never look a gift Pog in the mouth!

Actually, I posted this mostly because I just like saying/typing/reading the phrase "Mera Pog." It could only get better if there was maybe a Kilowog Pog, or maybe a Magog Pog...or best of all, Walt Kelly's POGo.

Ok, I'll stop.

Yesterday we had Aqualad, today Mera. Tomorrow, the Sea King himself returns...sort of.
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Shameless Plug Department: It's a big day over at my JLA Satellite blog. Today we feature the first ever JLA Satellite Interview, with the legendary Steve Englehart!


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Shameless Plug Department II: And don't forget, 5pm/8pm tonight I'll be the guest on Javier Hernandez's online radio show Planet Comic Book Radio!

Tempest Heroclix Figure - 2008

It's an all-Garth, all-Heroclix weekend!

Given to me by a source I can only refer to as "Curveball", this figure of Aqualad in his current, adult role as Tempest is bigger and meaner looking, like Garth himself.

It's also a bit pointy, so please be careful handling it when you take it out of the bag.

Aqualad Heroclix Figure - 2008

Bursting from the world of Heroclix, it's the King of the Seven Seas' teenaged sidekick, Aqualad!

Given to me by a source I can only refer to as "Deep Throat", this is an extremely well done figure--I like Garth's big head o' teenage hair, making the rest of him look proportionately smaller and younger. And the water effect is nice, too.

My source tells me the Aqualad figure comes with a lot of cool powers within the Heroclix game, and I take them at their word, since I still have no idea how the hell you play it.

Aquaman Starro Heroclix Figure - 2007

I love this Heroclix figure--Aquaman's pose is perfect, the build is perfect, and the coloring is spot-on(it's surprising how inconsistently Aquaman's orange shirt color is applied across all his various action figure incarnations).

Of course, I would love it if Heroclix could issue an alternate version, minus the starfish, but what the hey. Having a bunch of Starro-infected JLAers sounds like a fun basis for a game.

It is worth mentioning that Starro has taken on the entire JLA several times, yet Aquaman defeated him all by himself in Adventure Comics #451.

*A-hem*
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For tomorrow's Comic Friday: Aquaman becomes the star of Adventure Comics!

King Shark Heroclix - 2007

Since Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis has wrapped up and we've been talking about it almost every day since, I figured why not go through the rest of the SOA material I've got; it might be all we ever get!

This is the King Shark Heroclix figure, and like I've said before about any human/shark hybrid, this very concept scares me to death. A shark is frightening enough, but one that could then chase you up on land is too terrifying for me to contemplate(even though he is ostensibly a "good guy", I still don't think I'd slather myself with A-1 sauce anywhere near him, just in case).

King Shark's best moment had to be in SOA #53, where he actually attempts to bite Black Manta's head off. See? Terrifying!

Sword of Atlantis Heroclix - 2007

My good pal Ed at All Things Fun is always on the lookout for cool Aquaman stuff for me, and when I came in a few days ago he handed me this brand-new Heroclix figure of the new Aquaman, which is way cool. The amount of detail and modeling they can get on these tiny, tiny little figurines is amazing.

I've said it before--since I'm not a gamer I would never know this stuff is out if not for the gang at All Things Fun. Thanks Ed!

(Black) Manta Week, Part 5: Heroclix - 2006

Not being a gamer of any sort, I never have any clue when there's an Aquaman-related piece of gaming merchandise. Luckily, my good pals over at All Things Fun keep their eyes out for me, and snag any Aqua-item that crosses their path.

So a few months ago as I came in to pick up my comics, Ed of ATF handed me this little beauty, free of charge! I was thrilled with their attention not to mention their generosity.

It is a neat figure--the proportions are cool, and I like the pose. I picture him standing on cliff underwater somewhere, waiting to get the drop on Aquaman...
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Bonus:Sketch by Doug Slack from 6/13/07:

I'd be remiss in my round-up of All Things Manta if I didn't include this sketch(or a portion of, at least) done for me by my pal Doug Slack of Aquaman, since Doug threw in Manta as well!

Manta looks so cool here, all hunched over, ready to strike!

Heroclix Figurine - 2006

Keeping with a theme from yesterday, this is another Aquaman piece given to me by the fine folks at All Things Fun, and another piece from a game I don't understand.

The original Heroclix gamepiece was Aquaman in his BLL look; luckily the Heroclix people decided to then produce a real Aquaman. Looks nice!