The DC Direct History of the DCU has officially jumped the shark.

DC’s solicitations for January 2010 hit earlier today, and along with all the comics were the solicits for the next four action figures in DCD’s “History of the DC Universe” line: Silver Age Captain Atom, Silver Age Martian Manhunter, Superman as Nightwing and Kobra.

What’s wrong with these choices? Nothing, unless you want the character in the line based on the book to ACTUALLY APPEAR IN THE BOOK!

Out of the four, only the Silver Age Captain Atom actually appears as advertised in History of the DC Universe. The Martian Manhunter does appear at least four times in the second volume, but as the heavy-browed alien most of us came to love in the 80s incarnations of the JLA and not the bald green guy DC Direct is releasing. Nightwing and Kobra do not appear in either volume at all.

On the other hand, a Kryptonian calling himself Nightwing is appearing in the Superman titles, and Kobra currently has a miniseries co-named for him, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Of course I shouldn’t be surprised. After doing a little checking, I see that neither Ocean Master or the version of Braniac they’re selling as part of the third wave of the line appeared in History of the DC Universe either. And the Martian Manhunter released in the “First Appearances” line isn’t actually the Silver Age J’onn, which would make sense, but the leather fetish costume that J’onn wore most recently before his death.

These aren’t bad figures; they definitely appear to be of the high standards DC Direct usually has. I just think that figures that appear in a line based on a comic book should actually appear in the comic book that the line is based on.

And the inclusion of Nightwing just boggles the mind. Between Crisis on Infinite Earths, History of the DC Universe, Justice League of America, Teen Titans, Brave and the Bold and everything else he’s done, Perez has practically made it his personal mission to draw every character in the DC Universe. So why give us a Superman variant that, from everything I can tell, Perez has NEVER DRAWN.

Therefore, I’m going to list off the figures that DC Direct should put in the History of the DC Universe line. These are figures that are either unlikely to appear in any other lines for one reason or another.

Arion, Sorcerer of Atlantis
The Shining Knight or The Silent Knight
The Black Pirate
Bat Lash, Scalphunter or Cinnamon
Jor-El and Lara-El
Hitler (vol. 1, page 37)
Crimson Avenger
Firebrand, Liberty Belle, Amazing Man or Robotman
Blackhawk
The Newsboy Legion
Deadman
Doom Patrol 2.0 Robotman
Atomic Knight
Amethyst (there may be some rights issues with this one)
Halo or Geo-Force (green and gold uniform)
Gypsy, Steel, Vibe or Zatanna (he did design her 80s look)
Anyone from Infinity Inc, but especially Skyman (yes, Skyman)
The Phantom Stranger
Wonder Woman with battle gear
Jonah Hex (from the 80s sci-fi series)
Blok, Sensor Girl, Wildfire or Polar Boy

That’s nearly 50 characters who either don’t have a figure at all, or only have one or two older ones. Those are just the ones I think would be interesting, and all of them appear in History of the DC Universe more than Nightwing or Kobra.

So what’s the story, DC Direct? You can’t be running out of ideas already. There are some great designs there that have never been represented by DC Direct, but are being passed over for a guy in a black bodysuit.

Sigh. I’m going to lie down now.

And I think it’s a little unfair to say that “I can’t help but find it odd that the company around for over a decade is the one with so much catching up to do.” Which is older, DC Direct or Mattel? DC Direct may have decided to go back to the well too often with doing the same characters over and over again in different styles, but Mattel should have the capital to take more chances than DCD does.

And I think the bottom line is that Mattel should have at least the same amount of presence in stores that the Marvel lines do (that’s Hasbro, right?), but they just don’t.

DC Direct is listed in Previews. I can either add a set to my order, or just wait for it to show up at my LCS and I’m pretty confident that I’m going to get it. In fact, I’ve never not gotten something I pre-ordered.

Mattel on the other hand is a very different story. When I see that they have a new set, I generally go online and order it. In fact, if I want to have ANY chance of actually getting a full set I HAVE to go online and order it. Even then, I have no idea if it will ever actually show up.

Case in point, DC Universe Wave 9. I ordered this online when it was first solicited. The place I ordered from NEVER received their order from Mattel. I found out about it two weeks after it had supposedly gone on sale. I go to twenty or so Target’s, Wal-Marts, etc… and don’t find a single one of the figures. Those stores are still full of back stock of waves 6. Finally I get to a mini-con and manage to buy PART of the wave at scalper prices.

If this was just a problem with one wave, ok, mistakes happen, but things like this happen all the time with Mattel. And don’t even get me started on the Wal-Mart exclusive waves.

By the by, I live in southern California. If I don’t have a chance at finding the figures here, where there are dozens of stores within driving distance to check, what chance does someone in a more rural area have when he only has a single Wal-Mart?

So no. I don’t see Mattel as competition for DC Direct. You can’t compete if you can’t get your product to your customers.

DC Direct may not have many figures that I want, but when they do, I know I can get them.