Rita may be higher than she thinks. Higher up, I mean. Maybe.

If you've enjoyed our Doom Patrol nonsense with Elasti-Girl, don't forget today's the day to get your own figure from MattyCollector.com! (And not, ahem, eBay...) Ants not included, but the boxed version comes with a mini Elasti-Girl figure!

There's also Poison Ivy, and I would not be surprised if she went quickly; and the New 52 Superman, Batman, Red Robin and Superboy-Prime figures as well. Good luck!

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Build a working, non-working Bat-Signal!

Since we've been running a bit toy-heavy this week anyway, we'll wrap up with a quick glance at the Movie Masters Bat-Signal! Which isn't actually done yet. I picked up "GCPD Blake" the other day for a mere $8.99; which almost makes me want to find another one and swap the head with one of the spares I have floating around, and expand the force a bit. Not a bad figure, could use a gun or a more gun-ready hand.

I have yet to see a R'as Al Ghul/Liam Neeson figure yet, so my Bat-Signal lacks innards. It doesn't light up yet, but the lighting and the lens make it look on. Weird. The background piece today is from the Young Justice Speedy Red Arrow set, and may actually be the reason that figure was purchased.

That's it for this week, so have a good weekend!


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80-Page Thursday: Master of Kung Fu: Bleeding Black!

From 1990, Master of Kung Fu: Bleeding Black, written by Doug Moench, art by David and Dan Day. The wraparound cover didn't wow me, but "80 All New Pages of Martial Arts Mayhem!" isn't a bad deal for $2.95. (Or the buck or so I paid at comicon!)

This was continued from, and possibly intended for, Shang-Chi's serial in Marvel Comics Presents. The story here is broken down into eight-page chapters, just like MCP's format; it could have run for five months there, twice a month. In the concluding chapter in MCP, Shang's spy girlfriend Leiko lost a hand, and Shang himself was poisoned and would die within a year. (Except Marvel Comics Presents #8 was from December 1988, and this issue was published February 1990...)

Shang's friends (and former spies) "Black Jack" Tarr and Clive Reston had been trying to follow a lead to Fu Manchu Shang's father's immortality serum. (Marvel lost or gave up the rights to him, so Shang's dad is no longer referred to by name!) The lead is murdered by Zaran, but Shang-Chi gets back in the game, even if he's not sure his heart is in it: he doesn't seem to be at his best, but can't tell if it's the poison, or if he's giving up.

Zaran is working for Shadow-Hand, who at first glance I thought was going to be a comrade of Razorfist: both his hands are missing as well, replaced by a ball-and-chain, morning-star arrangement. (The balls are spiky sometimes, smooth other times; either a mistake in the art or Shadow-Hand had them swapped out.) SH has stolen the reliquary-map to Fu Manchu Shang's father's last hideout; but doesn't seem particularly interested in the immortality serum, if he even knows about it: he wants to take over the organization and the Si-Fan warriors. Then, profit?

While I haven't read a ton of Master of Kung-Fu, Shang-Chi always seems remarkably passive for a lead character: on the way to the hideout, Shang admits to Leiko he doesn't see the difference if he dies today or 80 years from now. Still, Leiko's love does seem to keep him going. There's kung-fu, there's betrayal, there's a genetically-created Yeti; all-in-all not too bad. I do have to wonder how well this one sold, though; I had never seen a copy before.
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"The Overdramatic Dead."

Much as I enjoy AMC's the Walking Dead, sometimes...well, probably no more than a lot of other shows, honestly: if characters did things in a methodical, thoughtful manner; rather than running off half-cocked, getting worked up and emotional, or just outright being stupid; there'd be a lot less problems. Actually, yeah, that probably is the case for 95% of anything.

But I probably over-think the Walking Dead anyway, since currently I'm hung up on the idea that the zombies or walkers or whatever probably shouldn't be much of a threat at this point, since they probably should be dried-up husks. Or should freeze solid. Or rot. Unless there's some in-story explanation we're not privy to, like radiation, or some freaky T-virus thing like Resident Evil keeping the zombies their best.

I'm looking forward to the premiere on Sunday, although I had thought there would be more horror movies on cable by now for Halloween. (And it's super-weird to see a "Treehouse of Horror" before Halloween...)





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Still not scanning Cobalt Blue, but oh well.

Well, yesterday's "Strange Adventures" post was supposed to be today, but I lucked out and found a book I was thinking of after last week's Impulse post: Speed Force #1, "Burning Secrets" Written by Mark Waid, pencils by Jim Aparo, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz.

The lead story is Wally narrating a flashback to his Kid Flash days, as he and Barry are having a hard time with the previously unseen Cobalt Blue. Armed with a mysterious flaming sword, Blue is somehow stealing their speed; worse, he knows who they are and their origin. As Blue monologues, Barry makes an educated guess: Blue's sword/flame can't steal their power, unless they use it. At which point, Blue fills a spare Flash costume with the flame, which chases the heroes around Central City.

As their speed is drained, Barry seems to realize something: he touches Wally, and they both regain control. Cobalt Blue is (seemingly) consumed by his own flame, and everything seems fine...except Barry is a bit freaked out. Barry never really knew what the Speed Force was (since it was a later addition to the Flash mythos, discovered by Wally) but realized there might be more to their speed than "electrified chemicals." He wonders if they're even human, and Wally, well:

Wally has no doubt in his mind.

Pretty solid, even though I'll call it a cheat for the new villain to know the hero's secret identity as a quick way to establish the villain's bad-assedness. OK, not even close to a word there, but you know what I mean. Hush and Conduit knew the hero's ID too, and look how great they turned out.


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"Back to work, Rita."

In conclusion, Elasti-Girl? A lot of fun. I had initially considered only photographing her out-of-frame, like the panel with the Chief; but I liked her look too much for that. We saw my cobbled-together Chief a while back too (a DC Direct Starman head on a X-Men Movie Professor X, held together with putty) but I consider my Doom Patrol complete...unless DCUC came strong with a Ambush Bug/Bumblebee pack. I didn't think Elasti-Girl would happen, so who could say?


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Y'know, that first panel would look great as a Lichtenstein.

If Lichtenstein wasn't a thieving bastard, of course. But it would look nice on the wall: from 1999, Strange Adventures #1, with "The Kapas" by Brian Bolland, "Immune" by Robert Rodi and Frank Quitely, and the above from "Riddle of the Random Realities!" by Dave Gibbons.

This is another of those posts that serve as a reminder: I still need issues #3-4 of this one. #2 was pretty good as well, though. Still, I tend to doubt Vertigo is ever going to get a good anthology book going again like this or Weird Western Tales or Gangland. Crap, now I'm wondering if I had all of those, either.


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"Doom Reunion."

Elasti-Girl is available from MattyCollector.com October 15. So how did I get one? Well, since she was an oversized figure and I knew she was going to be a little more expensive, I sold some stuff on eBay. Then, I found several loose Elasti-Girls, as it were; and while watching Monday Night Football a couple of weeks back--it wasn't the Dallas game or the Seattle one; and man, that Dallas shellacking hurt--I saw one for $16.99 plus $13.99 postage. I had fully intended to hold out until the Matty sale, but what if they sold out? I'm not a subscriber, so, a bird in the hand, then. Some may still be available, with or without free postage, so shop around.

I actually had a nightmare before she showed up: I dreamed she arrived with a paint job that looked like it was still melting, and was cobbled together from other Collect-and-Connect parts. Like a Darkseid chest. Scary! But, as you can see, Rita arrived safe-and-sound and looked just fine. No sticky joints, or obvious paint errors. The only downside, is she didn't come with the pack-in mini Elasti-Girl figure; but I planned on displaying the big one.

(And in the most recent Doom Patrol series, Rita Farr changed from Elasti-Girl to Elasti-Woman, and also either lost the ability or desire to shrink. Issue #13 is a great recap of Rita's history, return from death, and why Mento sucks; but I've been wondering how many Elasti-Girl figures will be sold versus issues of Doom Patrol.)

An odd note about Elasti-Girl and her Doom Patrol teammates Robotman and Negative Man: all three share fairly limited neck articulation. I think Negative Man and Robotman both have simple swivels, so they have a bit of trouble gawking up at her! Elasti-Girl has short hair (lots of female figures with longer hair have problems here) and can look down pretty well, but not up as well. Of course, she may be the tallest of the DCUC Collect-and-Connect figures, so she may not need to look up at anything.

Elasti-Girl is actually the fourth figure this year I've bought from eBay and direct from China. (First Timber Wolf, then red Azrael-Batman, then a certain not-widely available yet blue figure I don't want to discuss yet...) It's a good way to get some figures I might not normally be able to, but I have to wonder if these loose figures are "factory-seconds," or worse, stolen from the factory. Mattel's MattyCollector site was designed to sell figures directly to customers, bypassing the middlemen of toy stores; have I taken things a step further and bypassed Mattel? I don't know. Probably not, since again, my Elasti-Girl was rock-solid.

We'll look at her again tomorrow, with another Doom Patrol strip!
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"Doom Nadir."

When we started "Doom Idol" back in March 2011, I really didn't think we would ever get an Elasti-Woman figure. Or, even if she did make it to production, I figured I would somehow get shafted out of getting her. Maybe she would be a "Collect-and-Connect," and I wouldn't be able to justify buying all the pieces. Or maybe one or more of the parts would be too rare, as happened with Giganta.

But tomorrow...well, we'll see then. In the meantime, check out previous episodes of "Doom Idol."

"More Doom Idol."

"Son of Doom Idol."

"My Greatest Disappointment."

"Still More Doom Idol."

"Even Still More Doom Idol."

"A Little More Doom Idol."

"Doom Idol may be Doom Factor by the time we finish this."

"Doom Secret."

"Doom Lantern."

"Grift Patrol. Or DoomC.A.T.s."

"DoomPatrolsday."

"Dove Patrol."

"Doom Oversight."

Sadly, I didn't do as many episodes as I wanted to--I still have one for a certain Justice Society member written, but I never saw her figure in stores. I still might, if I ever get her; but tomorrow: the conclusion of "Doom Idol," a look at a figure coming real soon, and an ethics discussion! Really!



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"The Owl and the Gold," coming never from DC.

It's kind of fun to write Booster Gold, since he could be pretending to be a lout to divert suspicion from his actual time-travelling competency; or he could actually be a bit thick. He's a little cruder than usual today, but maybe Nite Owl reminds him of happier times: the title refers to "The Blue and the Gold," a long-teased DC miniseries starring Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, that never materialized, at least in that form. (Some of it might have been reworked into "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League," maybe? I'm not sure.)

This is the DC Direct Booster, from the 52 series; and I used him since the DCUC one would've been a bit short maybe. Maybe, since I saw the DCD one and didn't bother to try the DCUC...The Watchmen figures are from the movie. I bought several on the cheap, but may have had to cough up slightly more for the modern Nite Owl. (Well, with postage, I paid about what the retail price had been locally.)

I actually had something else planned for today, but a recent arrival has moved up my timetable...he said, cryptically.

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80-Page Thursdays: Dark Horse Presents #5!

There's a variant cover for this issue, but you want the Eric Powell one for Dark Horse Presents #5, featuring stories and art from Powell, Howard Chaykin, Carla Speed McNeil, Neal Adams, and more. Lot of writer/artists this issue, yeah.

Powell begins with "Isolation." When scientists discover earth will no longer be able to support human life in 400 years, a newly-created sentient robot is sent on a hundred-and-fifty year space voyage to see if planet "Doppleganger" could be colonized. As the doors close on his ship, the robot muses no one ever asked him if he wanted to go...The cover really gives you the general idea of this one, and it reminds me of old 2000 AD/"Future Shock" stories: in comics, if your space mission is going to take longer than a century, generally it is not going to end well.

The chapters of "Finder," "Skeleton Key," "Resident Alien," "Criminal Macabre," and "Marked Men" are all rock-solid. In fact, I liked this chapter of "Marked Men" more than the conclusion, which I can't remember if we've gotten to here yet. So, I liked six features out of ten this issue, which is more than good for an anthology book. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I'm pretty sure I paid, at most, $1.99 for this issue; but still, recommended.

New homemade strip tomorrow!
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The Legion's pretty clean-cut, so anything you're thinking is probably dirty and wrong...

Got the DC Direct Saturn Girl off eBay for under four bucks--with power flight ring, stand, flight belt, and postage! She may be a little dated, but she was made that way: the DCD Legion of Super-Heroes figures were all done in a more retro-style. (Starman and Mon-El, of course, weren't from the same series.)

Along with Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl was one of the founding Legionnaires; a telepathic teenage girl on a team full of teenage boys. She predated Jean Grey by years, but I'm pretty sure neither of them heard anything with their powers that they wanted to...


Although the Legion had a pretty good girl/guy ratio--Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl were among the first to join the founders--Saturn Girl is the only female Legionnaire DC Direct made. Unless you count Supergirl, I suppose, and I'm not sure a lot of Legion fans do...In fact, Saturn Girl was the only girl in the Mattel Legion set, too. (I don't recall how many Legionnaires were made in the Justice League Unlimited line, though: I know there was a Saturn Girl there as well, though.)

I'm always surprised DC Direct and Mattel haven't made a Dawnstar figure, really. The tooling for the wings has to be lying around somewhere...

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"Let's Be There!" would be a lot of fun to yell...

This issue was part of "Chain Lightning," a six-issue story in Flash, but only kinda-sorta. From 1999, Impulse #46, "When Barry Met Bart" Written by William Messner-Loebs, pencils by Craig Rousseau, inks by Barbara Kaalberg.

With the Flash and his allies facing the menace of Cobalt Blue (and you would be completely within your rights to say "Who?") Max Mercury gives Bart "Impulse" Allen a reading assignment: the biography of his grandfather, Barry Allen; written by his grandmother Iris. Unfortunately, Bart greets this with the same enthusiasm he'd have for any homework; and instead spends the issue daydreaming about having Barry as his mentor instead of Max.

This being Bart, he does imagine Barry as a much less strict taskmaster than Max; as well as Bart being a tactical genius all of a sudden, in fights with Flash's Rogues Gallery. At the end of his daydream, Bart saves his grandpa from getting sucked into the Speed Force and defeats Reverse Flash. Although he probably never finished reading the book, Bart remembers Max saying reading it would be like meeting Barry for real, and Bart admits this time, Max was right.

A fun little issue, that probably doesn't have a heck of a lot to do with "Chain Lightning," but that's OK.

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Hack your own brain!

Today's post serves as a double reminder: I still need to find a copy of Livewires #2; and Adam Warren's Livewires was really, really good. The scans today are from #5, "Gonna Get My Brute Force On" Story and layouts by Warren, pencils by Rick Mays and Warren, inks by Jason Martin and Norm Rapmund.

The Livewire team is a rather charming and personable bunch, for a bunch of "semi-autonomous, artificially intelligent, limited-nanofunction, humanform mecha constructs." As one points out in the first issue, "'Robot' is my team's 'R-word,' if y'follow me." They're a rogue top-secret project, who's prime directive is to destroy other top-secret projects. Hopefully before said projects go all crazy-rampagey, although it doesn't always work that way.

The implication is that the "quasi-governmental" and corporate powers that would invest in such projects, are probably the last people that should have their hands on them; and a lot of them are just too dangerous to mess with either way. The series is surprisingly firmly set in the Marvel Universe, too; so some of the robotic projects involved use tech from the original Human Torch, the Sentinels, A.I.M., and a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. ones that will be familiar but are used in a completely unique way.

Livewires ends on a bit of a down note, made even worse since I think they have a cameo in Iron Man: Hypervelocity--also by Adam Warren, and also well worth reading--but haven't been seen much since. A shame, but maybe someone will give them another shot sometime.





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