My excitement for DC Direct’s output to kick off 2010 was tempered just a tad this week with the latest solicitations (Sept. 2009). Not to say that the product is bad, necessarily (I’m actually quite excited that DC Direct is doing a third series of “Women of the DC Universe” mini-busts), but it’s hard to muster up enthusiasm the months where they unveil what amounts to repainted action figures.
Take the Batman: Mad Love Collector Set. Now I don’t doubt for a moment that there’s an audience for this item, but it’s “been there, done that” for me since I got Joker and Harley Quinn the first time around.
It’s mostly the not-lacking-for-colons “JLA Classified: Classic: Series 2:” set of four figures that caught my attention for not all the right reasons. For one thing, the lineup of Aquaman, Superman Blue and Kyle Rayner certainly underscores the fact that DC Direct has confoundedly ignored an incredible opportunity to do a wave or two of Justice League figures based off Grant Morrison’s classic run on JLA. I was almost dumbstruck when I realized that, for all the Aquaman figures produced over the last 10 years, this is only the first time they covered his bearded/hooked design. Though, to be fair, this figure is anything but a simple repaint despite DC Direct using the Ed McGuinness template for the umpteenth time. I have plenty of the EM2-based figures in my own collection, but getting that Aquaman and Superman Blue (of which I have Mattel’s far superior version anyway) for the first time ever from DC Direct based off that distinctive style is sort of a letdown.
Though what’s downright puzzling is the inclusion of Batgirl Cassandra Cain. At what point has she EVER been in a Justice League story, much less illustrated by McGuinness? Why they went with her over — oh, I don’t know — Green Arrow Connor Hawke (still inexplicably untouched by DCD), Aztec, Zauriel, Prometheus or Tomorrow Woman, just for starters, I’ll never know. Going through Morrison & Co.’s seminal Justice League output, I would’ve gone through over a hundred heroes and villains before even considering a Batman character outside Bruce Wayne himself.
What say ye all collectors? Did DC Direct push the right buttons with this lineup (all of this actually dropping in February 2010, not next September), or do retailers have their latest batch or peg-warmers?
June 19th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Actually, they did do a previous bearded/hook Aquaman, but it was only available as part of the JLA giftset which included figures or repaints of figures that were already released.
That Aquaman, however, was great and is probably one of my favorites from DCD.
There’s an image of that set here:
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/images/action-figures/JLA-FigureGiftSet.jpg
June 19th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Holy crap, you are right! I totally forgot about that one! It also explains why it did not come up in a search I did on DCD’s website, because it was “JLA” in name and not “Aquaman.”
That actually brings up something on my mind recently, too, that Changeling/Beast Boy was another character who never got a proper release on his own, instead to this day only being packaged in a box set (and I’m pretty sure the one and only Changeling figure they did was a repaint of Aqualad).
Thanks for posting that, Rajan!
June 19th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Batgirl / Cassandra Cain was a member of Justice League Elite a few years ago.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I can do without the Batgirl, thinking about Superman Blue, Kyle and Authur however are a must have. Kyle looks great. Hope they do some more Ed figures, he drew most of the DC characers during “Our Worlds at War” so they have plenty to work off.
Would love to see Ed versions of Mongul, Darkseid and Grodd.
June 19th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
maybe there are tied into grant morrison multiversity series…didnt he say he wanted an earth to be filled with heroes from the 90s?
June 19th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
The only reason I can think of that they did the Cassandra Cain figure is that she appeared in the first arc of Superman/Batman, drawn by McGuinness…but, personally, I’d much rather have a Steel or Robin figure based on his designs…
June 20th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
They did have a Tomorrow Woman figure from DCD.
see?
Sure, it’s almost a decade old, but still…
June 21st, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Lan, I know they did a Tomorrow Woman figure many moons ago. I bought the thing when it came out. What I was suggesting here was that she was one of many Morrison-era JLA characters who would’ve been way cooler to see in this 4-figure wave over the Batgirl figure they opted for. I never said Tomorrow Woman hadn’t been produced.
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:54 am
I have a hook-hand Aquaman figure, that I believe is from the Total Justice line. It was in my fish tank for a long time.
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