A project that I can safely say I probably won't get to anytime soon, is getting my pile of Nightcrawler stuff together for photos. I got this little figurine off eBay for $7.16 a couple weeks back; and while there apparently were other characters in this line, I have no idea how these were sold. Tomorrow, this will probably go on my desk at work!
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Playing with the recent DCUC Crime Syndicate five-pack (and making some snarky cracks) made me think how much I'd enjoy a similar Squadron Supreme set. Hyperion, Power Princess, Nightwing, Doctor Spectrum, and the Whizzer would be the obvious choices. Oddly, in continuity, that group was duplicated by the Grandmaster to make the villainous Squadron Sinister; where in reality the evil version appeared first. And they were both analogs of the Justice League, anyway; only Marvel would have the cheek to do it twice...

Unfortunately, the price point and relative obscurity of the Squadron notwithstanding, it would be a tough one to do, because which version should you make? Classic, Sal Buscema style? The maskless versions from Squadron Supreme #1 above? Or, heaven forfend, one of the modernized versions? I didn't read the Howard Chaykin one, but I read the J. Michael Straczynski/Gary Frank Supreme Power.

My main recollection of the latter was that it was less like any other incarnation of the Squadron, and more like "What if the Justice League were (almost) completely unlikable?" Straczynski's Whizzer and Dr. Spectrum seem OK, but Hyperion and Nightwing are more than a little insane; and his version of Power Princess, the Wonder Woman-analog, was straight-up eat-a-baby evil. What that says about anything, I don't know; but I gave it a couple years for some reason.


Scans from "The Utopia Principle" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Bob Hall, inks by John Beatty.

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80-Page Thursdays: Marvel Super-Heroes Spring Special #1!

Errr. I had this one next to my computer, and actually just double-checked to make sure I hadn't already written it up: Marvel Super-Heroes Spring Special #1. Featuring stories from Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, and others; and art from Steve Ditko, Ron Lim, and more. And it's got Moon Knight, Black Panther, Hercules, and more...in inventory stories. I think this incarnation of Marvel Super-Heroes was primarily for burning off unused fill-ins, so even if you get a story with name-brand creators, it was probably early work.

Over at Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep, they recently covered this issue's uncomfortably skeevy Brother Voodoo story, so we won't get back into that one. In the Moon Knight story, Marc follows up on his old supporting cast--good--but also appears in a mall, and fights a low-rent villain called the Raptor--bad. In fact, both the Moon Knight and Black Panther stories feature villains that are defeated by having their batteries taken out.

While the Hercules story does feature his terrible 80's costume, it does contrast his party-going doofus exterior with some of his mythological history and past tragedies. Although, it makes a pretty good argument for Herc having an aversion to archery; which does make me question his close friendship with Hawkeye. Anyway, that one's not a bad fill-in, which is kind of the best you can hope for here.
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"X-Forced."

We might come back to them, but I'm not sure how I feel about the current Uncanny X-Force book. I was lured into trying it since they brought in the Nightcrawler from the Age of Apocalypse--which was previously an alternate timeline, but somehow upgraded to an alternate universe. Anyway, the Nightcrawler from "Over There" (I'm a big Fringe fan.) stays in the 616, because he needs to murder the other immigrants from the AoA, like the Dark Beast and an evil Iceman, I think. So, he's not so much the friendly Kurt we lost for a plot beat in Second Coming; and he as much as tells Kitty that.

Since I came late to the book, I'm also not sure on Deadpool's involvement with the team. Or, if the caption boxes/voices in his head from his regular book follow him over there. I think Wolverine knew Wade wants to do good, and decided to use that...on his murder squad. Near as I can figure, X-Force is a straight-up wetworks team; which Logan runs along with his school. And his time on the Avengers. Actually, I don't really have a problem with Wolverine appearing in every third Marvel comic, even though I'm not a huge fan. It only seems like he's everywhere; the events of three or four comics can often take place in the same week. To be honest, even though he's getting to have it both ways, I do like the idea of Headmaster or Principal or Professor Logan: he's been through some hard times and done some bad things, and he's trying to make things better. Although it does underline my problem with Marvel lately, since Wolverine is somehow less of a dick than most of the Avengers right now.

Ugh. And as usual, the yellow balloons for Deadpool killed me again...
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Remember that time Guy tried to murder Hal?

"Which time," might be a fair question there; but today we're looking at Green Lantern #198, "1" Written by Steve Englehart, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Bruce Patterson. As usual, I was looking for something else, but here we are, and I had this issue in mind a while back anyway.

Set smack-dab in the middle of the original Crisis, this issue also recaps a ton of Green Lantern history, from Sinestro's origin to the anti-matter universe of Qward. The Guardian that gave Guy Gardner his ring (and gave the then-ringless Hal a new one) has gathered an army of criminals to attempt to destroy Qward, by destroying "the white spot" of positive matter in the negative universe. (Or something like that.)

Sinestro gets John to go to Oa, hitching a ride so he can try to destroy the black spot on Oa's moon and cripple the positive universe. He is stopped by the Guardians, but the power battery then speaks through Lantern Tomar-Re to explain if Guy and Hal succeed, they will make the Anti-Monitor even more powerful. Three Guardians are pictured arguing about three different possibilities: let them try to destroy the anti-matter universe, do nothing and accept their fate, or send the Lanterns to stop Guy and Hal. They finally decide to trust their battery and send the Lanterns.


Meanwhile, Guy's army fights their way through the Qwardian Weaponers, and when Hal refuses to kill in battle, Guy sucker-punches (or sucker-beams) him and takes his ring, leaving him to die in space. Hal survives by taking a dead Qwardian's life-support rig. John stops Guy from destroying the spot, or at least stalls him until they realize the Crisis is over.

The cost is pretty high for the Corps, though: among others, Tomar Re and grasshopper Xax die. I keep getting Xax confused with the wasp-like Bzzd. Who is also dead. I maintain, the GLC needs less fragile bug or squirrel Lanterns, and more Cthulhu-style monstrosities.
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(One-twelfth of) a Review: DCUC Timber Wolf!

MattyCollector.com released the Legion of Super-Heroes 12-pack a while back. Twelve figures for $180 isn't bad (plus a Legion flight ring, Proty, and case shaped like the Legion's rocket accident of a headquarters) but I couldn't drop the cash for that.


But, I did get a loose Timber Wolf from eBay...and China. He was a little cheaper than you would expect: discounting postage, the LSH set was $15 a figure (maybe less, if you figure in the extras somehow) and I paid $13. With free postage! Then, the question is, how did he turn out; and did I get one from a broken-up set sold piecemeal; or a figure that...fell off a truck, we'll say? Let's see!

Oddly, although Timber Wolf is my favorite Legionnaire, if you go back through that tag I'm not sure you see him wearing this particular outfit: it's very much his seventies outfit. (On this post on a Legion election, you can see him wearing it!) The logo and brown-black color scheme he would keep for some time, although he'd lose the Wolverine-style hair around the time Keith Giffen came on the book.

T-Wolf is based on the smaller DCUC base body, since the Legionnaires are teenagers. The articulation is pretty good on mine, except for the hips: they seem a little stiff, and I'm not going to push it. Both his fists are closed, which is fine; and the Legion flight ring on his right looks pretty good. His paint is pretty good, with just a few marks on the head, like what looks like a missed touch on the eyebrows. The head sculpt is great, though: he's got just a hint of a grin, like he knows a joke the other Legionnaires wouldn't get.

Even though I think I'm about to get soaked for some cash for an unforeseen expense, I am going to keep a beady eye on getting another loose Legionnaire or two. You might figure some might be more available than others, but it seems a bit of a crapshoot: I've seen more of the oversized Colossal Boy than I have Wildfire. That may well be because Wildfire is cooler, but still.




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I can't decide if beating a snitch is torture or not...

From the recent Secret Avengers #21, "Final Level" Written by Warren Ellis, pencils by Stuart Immonen, inks by Wade Von Grawbadger. Steve Rogers, Captain America, seems to turn over three suspects to Black Widow and Moon Knight for torture. The Widow shoots one with her sting, and MK stabs a guy through the hand before threatening to skin his face; which gets the mole to confess, since she had planned on saving her unknowing friends.

Is this what Ellis thinks of America, or is it a misstep in a pretty good book up to now? (This being his last of a six issue run.) I do think when he's out of his Captain America uniform, Steve has a little more leeway for dirt: he can do things he never would as a symbol. But while I don't think Steve would be in for waterboarding or hooking someone's genitals to a car battery; I know I've seen him at least threaten to get rough before. (In an old Mark Gruenwald issue, Cap tells a terrorist he'll break his wrist, but the terrorist doesn't buy it.) So, I tend to read this as Steve talking tougher than he would actually go through with, or allow to happen.

Beast and War Machine both stay humane here, though: Beast refusing to kill, and War Machine offering aid before opening fire. Even excluding the subtext of torture, this issue isn't the best of Ellis's run, but the single issues will make a good trade.

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