Jack Kirby

 Jack Kirby

NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I never thought this would happen...A JACK KIRBY ACTION FIGURE!

I promised myself I wouldn't harp on the "legacy" of Stan Lee on this one...but it's beyond time "The King of Comics" got the treatment he deserves.  One action figure is a step in the right direction.  It's not much, but its something.

Shameful that it wasn't Marvel or DC that gave us this shot.  Many thanks to NECA on being completionists with their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic line.  And sending that "thanks" back in time to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman for giving props to one of their idols.

The figure is going to look most at home with the Turtles.  All those harsh lines and bright colors and all.  He looks like he jumped straight from the pages of the Donatello one-shot.  If you don't get the homage, a common "man" action figure may not be all that appealing.  He did come with a little Black Horde imp figure to help push the sale to these folks.

For those that do get the homage that is "Kirby", you should be over the moon.  He scales well enough with "other" figure lines.  So if you want to recreate the scene from the books where the Fantastic Four meet "God", all systems go!  

Maybe there's hope a digital Jack Kirby might show up in the new FF movie?  It would be nice, but it not like Disney gives that much credit to Ub Iwerks, so...

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/jack-kirbys-son-neal-kirby-responds-to-stan-lee-disney-documentary/

"My father retired from comic books in the early 1980s and of course, passed away in 1994. Lee had over 35 years of uncontested publicity, much naturally, with the backing and blessing of Marvel as he boosted the Marvel brand as a side effect of boosting himself. The decades of Lee's self-promotion culminated with his cameo appearances in over 35 Marvel films starting with "X-Men" in 2000, thus cementing his status as the creator of all things Marvel to an otherwise unknowing movie audience of millions, unfamiliar with the true history of Marvel comics. My father's first screen credit didn't appear until the closing crawl at the end of the film adaptation of Iron Man in 2008, after Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Larry Lieber. The battle for creator's rights has been around since the first inscribed Babylonian tablet. It's way past time to at least get this one chapter of literary/art history right. 'Nuff said."

The Fantastic Four Returns

More Fantastic Four

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

Modern costumes...meh.  However, not as bad as sans-external-undies Superman and Batman, and they come with new headsculpts and accessories!  

Oh, and weird, cleated feet so the villains won't know whether Johnny is going to "flame on" or Pele kick them in the head.  It's great to have a standard Johnny head that ports to the Torch body.  Also great to have a Johnny that can ride in the Fantasticar without burning up the seats.

The bearded look suits Mr. Fantastic.  And I'm sure the creepy, elongated fingers suit Sue...eww.  Kind of an odd choice for powers demonstration, but at least it's new and different.

Speaking of Sue, she's rockin' a new windswept hairstyle.  She also includes an inviso-shield power accessory. 

Thing has the classic brow we all wish had been on the Walgreen's release.  It can be exchanged, but Hasbro decided to paint the oranges different.  Wah-wah!  Guess we'll have to wait for the inevitable third release in the full leotard to be able to mix and match to perfection?  I won't mind if they throw in the scarred look and helmeted head!

The big draw in getting me to rebuy the Fantastic Four was for the baddies and part-time member:  Dr. Doom, Super Skrull, and She-Hulk.

Another one I didn't get to...the Savage Gray Hulk is worth it for that new mug!

She-Hulk is an all-new female sculpt and it is fantastic.  I like that this is a modern take, giving her the best of both worlds in hulking out both green and gray.  The paint is just superb, and that may be some of the best sculpted tattered clothing ever.  We're still waiting for the perfect classic She-Hulk, but this one is a beyond great placeholder.  It is strange, though, that they didn't save this one for a Hulk or Avengers wave and instead put her in the Fantastic Four duds.





























Like the new She-Hulk, this Dr. Doom knocks all previous Marvel Legends figures off the shelf.  He's perfect.  Just check out the sculpted chain mail in the joints!  Plus, you get a classic, Jack Kirby-looking head as a bonus!

The unmasked head from the Walgreen's exclusive Infamous Iron Man fits this new body just right.  I only wish they had included a scarred up head with a removed mask.  Sorry to Hasbro's previous Doom (who was great, save for lack of paint apps)...your head was needed for the cause!  This took some dremeling of course, but nothing a novice customizer couldn't handle.

Never got around to reviewing this one...multiples make excellent Doombots!

While the "Hyperion" body buck is tired, it suits Super Skrull okay.  He's got powered up and regular interchangeable arms and two head options.  You can always use the extra as another Skrull grunt or superhero impostor.  He's much cleaner looking than the Toy Biz version, but nothing to go out of your way for if you already have the predecessor.   And even if you do, can one have too many Skrulls in the army?





























While it may be easy to pass on the modern costumes, the other three are "can't miss."  Buy the full wave to get Super Skrull, and be happy to be getting Fantastic Four at all!  Here's to more waves down the road before the Marvel Cinematic Universe botches the deal...I need a new Annihilus figure!  And where are the classic Doombots?

Previous reviews:
The Fantastic Four, Galactus, and Fantasticar
The Thing and Silver Surfer

The Thing and Silver Surfer

Thing and Silver Surfer

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

Walgreens Exclusives

Walgreens dropped back-to-back Fantastic Four exclusives on us in a matter of weeks...and they're both heavy hitters!  While I have older Toy Biz versions of both that I was completely happy with, these are pretty much perfection and must-haves while we wait for the Fox/Disney merger to decide what happens with the future of these characters.  I can see future movie versions, but I wouldn't wait to snap up any great comic accurates.  

The Surfer comes with a couple extra set of hands, some energy effects (Hasbro really likes reusing the same three standards), and his surf board.  The board has one foot peg for his back foot, which it good enough for posing but nowhere near as fun/toyetic as the magnetic board that came with the Toy Biz version.  Everything else is great, though.  His silver paint job really pops and you can get him in a lot of great poses with the butterfly shoulder joints.

Putting the Thing out in toy form has proved quite divisive in some action figure forums:  "too tall, too wide, the shorts are wrong, his rocks aren't plate-like, he should never have teeth," and the opposite.  Blah blah blah.  Different artist have drawn him different ways, so you're never going to make everyone happy.  I was happy with the Ultimate Thing (even though I don't like the Ultimate comics) from Toy Biz's FF sub-line about 12 years back, but this new one from Hasbro has dethroned him and taken his rightful seat in the Fantasticar.  He's a happy medium with all those complaints above:  big, but not too big; wide, but not too wide; a head with teeth, and one without.  He's also got a set of open hands and a set of closed fists.  He's pretty posable for a big lug, and the detailing and paint in the rocks looks so so so so damn good!  What's not to love about this version of everyone's favorite ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing?!

Sweet Aunt Petunia...even his butt is appropriately rocky!

 Walgreens has assembled the greatest rendition of the Fantastic Four so far.  You should still be able to find Sue, Johnny, and Reed on shelves right now as Thing and Surfer trickle in.  I wonder what's next...could the greatest villain in Marvel Comics be waiting in the wings for his time to strike?

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

 

Like the X-Men, Hasbro has lifted the shameful embargo on another non-Marvel Cinematic Universe family:  The Fantastic Four!  Although the catch is that they are Walgreen's exclusives.  That's not a terrible thing, as I have had no trouble with their exclusive figures thus far.  The downside is that you have to wait so long, quarterly or longer, between figures. 

 

Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, was the first figure.  Man, Hasbro has really come a long way with the female body sculpt!  Sue looks great from head to toe. She's got a nice "phasing" effect with one of her arms to show off her invisible powers.  This is decent, but you'll have to use your imagination to go full-on invisible or wait for a fully translucent figure.  It would have been nice if they had included some sort of force shield or other effect like Toy Biz did with the Jessica Alba figures way back when.  Jessica Alba...ha...talk about phasing out.

Lack of demonstrative power aside, the Invisible Woman does come with a big accessory: H.E.R.B.I.E. (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics).  Herb was a cute robot designed for the 1978 cartoon when they couldn't use the Human Torch for some reason.  He made his comic universe debut shortly after.  Stupid, yes...but he's got the mark of Jack Kirby about him, so he's cool in my book.  He's got a ball-jointed head for articulation and a clear flight stand.

 

Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, made his Walgreen's debut months later.  He's in full "flame-on" mode, which is a challenge to bring variety to a potentially one-color figure.  I feel that Hasbro did okay.  I like that you can still see some of his uniform, like the belt and symbol, and they varied some translucent plastic effects here and there.  He's got some sculpted on flames on the hands, boots, and head and comes with removable shoulder flames, like Iceman did with his ice effect.  He also comes with some hand flame effects that are similar to what was used with Sunfire.

Dr. Reed Richards, the leader of the Four known as Mr. Fantastic, had to have been one of my most wanted Hasbro re-dos.  And they did not disappoint.  He's got a set of "stretchy" bendable arms to demonstrate his powers. He's thin, reusing the "pizza" Spider-Man body with new feet and hands.  And the head, of course...not a bad take on the smartest man in the Marvel Universe.  I only wish they could have included a pipe accessory.  Ah, I'll settle for the Ultimate Nullifier!  This tiny accessory is supposed to be one of the most devastating weapons in all the universe, able to eliminate any target the wielder has in mind and instilling fear into the mightiest of beings like the world-devouring Galactus.

 

 

Even though there is a new Thing figure coming down the line, it's gonna be hard to top this Toy Biz version in my line-up.  The same goes for Hasbro's Dr. Doom from some time back.  I feel that I have my ideal fantastic family here.  So, load up in the Fantasticar and let's get into some Kirby-esque, cosmic adventure that is sorely lacking in the MCU!  Sorry, Guardians of the Galaxy...you were just a placeholder.