Doomsday Clock is a 12-issue sequel to the Watchmen published in 2017-2019. I personally haven't read this story, but I'm certain that I eventually will. Without knowing much about the plot at all, just a glance at the covers lets you know that this story crosses into the main DC Universe - Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor, and Joker are on full display. But despite that crossover intrigue, I found the new characters of Mime and Marionette to be the most appealing draw. Mime (Marcos Maez) and Marionette (Erika Manson) are a criminal husband and wife team. Thematic to their names, Mime seems to be able to conjure invisible weapons, and Marionette wields wire. They remind me of comic versions of Bonnie and Clyde or Mickey and Mallory Knox. When I first saw these action figures, they didn't really appeal to me. I thought they looked a little stiff and awkward. But, typical of me, three years later I became obsessed with getting her. Better late than never. Let's check out Marionette below!
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Paul Harding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Harding. Show all posts
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
DC Essentials - CATWOMAN!
I'm really getting pumped for an exciting NY Toy Fair later this month. With McFarlane Toys and SpinMaster running full speed with the DC licenses, Hasbro Teasing G.I.Joe 6", and (historically) smaller companies like PhatMojo and Jazwares hitting their stride, it's likely going to be an eventful show. But my secret wish is for DC Collectibles to reveal more Essentials figures. There was a wave announced this past Summer (right before SDCC) that included Poison Ivy. I was bummed when an actual figure was never shown. And at NYCC they only showed a variant wave and some zombified figures. DC Collectibles and the former DC Direct has a history of ending lines too soon and I really hope we aren't seeing the signs of this happening again. The DC Essentials line has been amazing and honestly shows more potential that any other DC line I can think of. But if this Knightfall Catwoman happens to be the last original female character in the line, at least it's ending on a high note. Let's check out Selina below!
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Batman vs TMNT - BATGIRL!
Who would have expected that (1) there would be an animated Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, that (2) the movie would inspire a collector-grade toyline, and (3) that Batgirl would be included in the lineup?? I feel like this Batgirl figure has a very unlikely existence, but I'm so glad the stars aligned because she is such a great addition to my collection. A lot of recent animated DC movies have had styles that were a bit too cartoony, but this one leans a lot more toward comic styling. Plus the majority of Batgirl's Burnside comics were drawn in a more animated style, so this figure ends up being a surprisingly versatile design. (PS, she's voiced by Rachel Bloom). I haven't seen the movie, but I see from screengrabs and imdb that Poison Ivy and Harley also have roles. I know it's impossible, but I would love to see them in this style as well, especially Ivy as she suffers from way too many cancelled or lackluster figures. Maybe GameStop and DC Collectibles will surprise us. Let's check out Batgirl below!
Saturday, March 2, 2019
DC Essentials - HARLEY QUINN!
I'm really excited for this new DC Essentials line from DC Collectibles. There have been a lot of all-encompassing toy lines developed for DC properties over the years. DC Universe Classics and the more recent (but short-lived) DC Icons line come to mind as two stand-outs. But even after only seeing one female figure from this new DC Essentials line, I already love the body structure so much more than the previous attempts. I had gotten so used to those gangly arms and gaudy joints that I was blindly accepting them instead of demanding something better. So seeing this strong, well-proportioned buck is a breath of fresh air. I'm already excited for the Batgirl, Cheetah, and Supergirl figures coming out this year, and I'm eagerly anticipating future characters like Poison Ivy and Catwoman (They seem to only be A-List heroes and villains for now). I think the quality, price point, character selection, and character design is all finally in balance and I hope this line will have years of momentum. Let's check out Harley below!
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Amanda Conner - HOLIDAY HARLEY QUINN!
Merry Christmas in July! When I was in college 17 years ago (God that makes me feel old), I was taking some extra Summer classes and signed up for a day trip to the beach one July day. None of my friends could join so I went alone on the bus. I promptly fell asleep on the beach (as I'm prone to do) and was awakened hours later by a raucous scene. Parked ten feet in front of me on the sand was a pickup truck full of lifeguards in red swimsuits, sunglasses, with Santa hats and beards. They all had brass instruments and were trumpeting Christmas carols. Then another scantily-clad Santa approached and gave me a candy cane. They soon went on their way and I was left bewildered on a mostly empty beach thinking I had hallucinated. It wasn't until later that evening back on campus when I heard about this crazy thing called Christmas in July. It was quite a dramatic way to learn of the holiday. I was planning on holding off on this Harley post until December, but luckily I remembered good ol' July 25th!
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Amanda Conner - SUPERHERO HARLEY QUINN!
Harley Quinn has had a lot of costume designs in recent years. Video games were the biggest catalyst for the changes and most of them seemed like awkward misinterpretations of the character rather than a true evolution. The Roller Girl revamp of 2014 was the first time a Harley redesign felt right for me. It wasn't too long before the movie version became canon and now she seems to alter her looks quite often (and I'm mostly okay with it). Squeezed into those early post-rollergirl changes was this Superhero costume which she donned in order to team up with a brainwashed Power Girl, convincing PG that she was her trusty sidekick to enjoy all the perks of superheroics. It was a fun storyline that eventually spun off into its own title Harley Quinn and Power Girl (which only lasted for six issues, but was great). This figure is one of those gems I never expected to see but makes a really quirky addition to an already insanely-quirky Harley collection. She's my favorite of this series. Let's check out Superhero Harley below!
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Amanda Conner - HARLEY QUINN!
Amanda Conner is the first female comic artist I ever became a big fan of. Her work on Terra and Power Girl back in 2009 was fresh, quirky and fun and I was obsessed over it. She seems to mostly do covers now (which are amazing) but I really miss her sequential art. Since then I've become a fan of many other female artists like Chynna Clugston, Beck Cloonan, Sara Pichelli, and Fiona Staples. Unlike female characters, I'm not drawn to these artists *because* they are female, but once I am aware of their gender, a certain sensibility (especially when it comes to realistic body representation) becomes apparent. This Amanda Conner designed classic Harley Quinn is very interesting. As far as I know, she only drew classic Harley a couple times (The Our Worlds At War special (2001) and a DC Direct mini-bust design (2011)). Then she launched the character in her new Roller Girl direction by 2014. It all makes me wish Harley would adopt her classic look again for a storyline. Drawn by Amanda of course.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
DC Bombshells - HARLEY QUINN!
I'm really surprised at how much I like this DC Bombshells Harley Quinn figure. For some reason the statues and comic covers didn't appeal to me at all and I honestly thought I would be begrudgingly buying this figure out of a need for bat-family completion. But in actuality I think she's fantastic. There are often aeronautical themes in pin-up girl design, but I suddenly find it interesting that it kind of crosses lines now with the more modern trends of steampunk. The Bombshells brand has also included Harley in a retro nurse outfit, so I will be curious to see if there will be a second Harley figure down the line. There have been six upcoming figures announced so far (Mera, Hawkgirl, Supergirl, Katana, Batgirl, and Bumblebee) and since they seem to come out in batches of four, it's a fair assumption that there are at least two more on the horizon. I'm guessing it will be Black Canary and Zatanna, but you never know. Let's check out the DC Bombshells Harley Quinn action figure below!
Monday, March 20, 2017
DC Bombshells - BATWOMAN!
When the DC Bombshells designs first started showing up four years ago, I thought they were really fun, but I honestly wasn't head-over-heels for them. Then a year into the comic variants, I saw the Batwoman #32 cover and kind of fell in love. I didn't necesarily love the art itself or the layout of the cover, but the concept of Batwoman as a baseball-playing bat-woman was pretty genius. Then for a second I got offended about a sapphic softball stereotype, but then I thought about how much I love A League of Their Own and my two Starting Lineup Cooperstown Collection female figures, and I gave her a pass. She is easily my second favorite of this figure series so far (Poison Ivy being by surprise top choice). The sculpts by Paul Harding in this series are fantastic. He has come a long way since those 3.75" Injustice figures. I can't wait to see what figures he does next. I have a hunch he did the upcoming Icons Balent Catwoman which looks stunning. We'll see I guess. Let's check out Batwoman!
Friday, March 17, 2017
DC Bombshells - POISON IVY!
Pin-Up girls have always been a struggle for me. I love the hair, I love the fashion, and I love the overall aesthetic. But I can't escape the reality that this style was born in an era of subservience and exploitation for women. Luckily the modern trend of pinup fashion has reclaimed the look in the name of feminism. What was once idealized imagery for male titillation is now embraced as a symbol of strong, assertive, and creative women. I think one of the coolest pop-culture ripple effects of this trend has been the DC Bombshells series designed by Ant Lucia. In 2013, DC Collectibles released the first retro pinup-styled Bombshells statues. So far there have been 19 original statues (excluding the various repaints), plus at least 4 more on the horizon. Then in Summer of 2014, DC Comics held their first Bombshells variant cover theme, which they repeated the following Summer before creating an entire Bombshells comic series. I count roughly 65 Bombshells issues between the variant covers and the series.
Saturday, December 3, 2016
DC Collectibles Icons - BATGIRL OF BURNSIDE!
I wasn't sure if I would like the DC Collectibles Icons series when they were first announced back in 2015. I was very worn out on the DC Universe Classics style from Mattel and this new line was touted as a continuation of that scale. It didn't help that the first two female offerings were only so-so. The Harley Quinn is a very nice figure, but the face is more sinister than I like for my Harleys and the Atomica figure was gorgeous, but not a character I obsess over. This Batgirl is the first time I'm realizing the potential of this series. The Burnside Batgirl redesign is right up there with Spider-Gwen as one of the coolest superhero costumes of the past few years. It embodies all of the classic elements that you expect, but makes it very functional and utilitarian (like the Darwyn Cooke Catwoman design). I know there is an upcoming Mattel version of this same figure which will offer some competition, but for the next few months at least, this Icons Batgirl is the ultimate Babs action figure. Let's check her out below!
Thursday, June 16, 2016
DC Comics Icons - HARLEY QUINN!
Sometimes I forget how much Harley Quinn has evolved from her first appearances. When she first made the leap into the "real" comics world (ie, not BTAS spin-offs) I was just not a fan. She was kind of dark and grim, and I thought her humor was more sadistic as opposed to her quirky irreverence we all love today. Her first big non-animated story arc was 1999's No Man's Land, which is the basis for this specific Harley figure. It wasn't until December of 2000 that the first Harley Quinn solo series started. I feel like that series is where we started to see the the modern Harley start to evolve, but this figure is the precursor to all that. The Icons series is meant to be an unofficial continuation of Mattel's DC Universe Classics. They are a smaller scale than previous DC Collectibles figures and have a completely different body style. The really are like really high quality cousin of DCUC and it makes me super excited for the Burnside Batgirl in November. Let's check out No Man's Land Harley below!
Friday, November 8, 2013
Injustice 3.75" CATWOMAN!
This is a weird one for me. I love Catwoman. She's one of my all-time favorite characters - not my absolute #1 favorite, but she's easily the most heavily merchandised of my top 10. Because of her popularity, she gets tossed around a lot by designers trying to tweak her look for one reason or another. In my experience, Video Games and live-action films tend to be the biggest blunderers in this "revamp" arena. This design for Catwoman is definitely not appealing to me. The funny thing is that I can't exactly pinpoint why. She has all kinds of features that I like individually; the classic purple color, the utilitarian strappy outfit, the cat-eared cowl - but for some reason this combination is just off for me. I'm curious to hear other opinions in the comments below. You know, maybe if the eyes were covered with goggles it would change the figure completely for me. Might be worth a custom (or at least a photoshop). Let's check out our favorite purple feline below!
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Injustice 3.75" HARLEY QUINN!
Sorry for the delay in posting. I had a dramatic few days last week where my central air unit was pouring water all over my floors, followed by a wonderful 8-day vacation (despite worrying about leaking water the whole time), but when I was 5 minutes from home Friday morning (with plans to blog all day), my car got hit by a distracted driver. No one was hurt, but it was a total pain and it sucked up more time than you can imagine. Anyway, when I finally logged on, I was utterly distracted by all the SDCC news and have been pretty much unproductive for the last 36 hours. Anyway, enough of my woes, let's hear about this kinky little Harley figure. I'm really on the fence about this costume design. I'm missing her classic look more and more, but on the other hand I much prefer this look over the sexy nurse getup. These video game designs (and their surprising popularity) is making me a little weary. I think they look way too busy and distracting. Plus every female apparently has to look like a dominatrix who has been rolling in the mud. That said, it's interesting to have a variation like this in my Harley collection. Let's check her out!
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