DC Action League Series 5

I have decided that I will start blogging about things I pick up. I usually pick up comics, toys, and sometimes games. Here is my first blog about the world of Flashpoint according to DC Action League! Flashpoint was an alternate reality of DC where Aquaman and Wonder Woman were treated as royalty, Superman was locked away by the government, Batman was Thomas Wayne, and Cyborg was America's greatest protector.

 First up is Emperor Aquaman vs. Wonder Woman.

These two figures are fun together because they are the two warring factions of Flashpoint. The only downside to the Aquamanfigure is that the box art shows the scar on his face while the figure is missing said scar. Aquaman comes with a base because the figure can't stand on his own and offers 4 points of articulation in the neck, arms, and waist while Wonder Woman only offers 3 points with no waist articulation. Both of these figures of weapons and the only one that is removeable is Aquaman's.  My Wonder Woman seem to have trouble standing on her own but both fun additions. Hopefully down the line if they ever decide to make a Shining Knight they can reuse Wondy's arm for Ystin's sword. They aren't going for accuracy so this would be fine for a smaller character.

Flash vs. Citizen Cold

The Flash is in a similar pose to Aquaman with his running pose that also requires a stand. This translucent figure reminds me of a gummy bear. Everything on him is translucent except for his face and his flash symbol to show that its just his suit. Citizen Cold looks pretty much the same as if he was Captain Cold. The only thing that might be different is the gun is the same color scheme and design of the Flashpoint series. Captain/Citizen Cold is one of my favorite characters so I'll really enjoy this figure. Both of these figures have the standard 4 points of articulation. Cold has to stand at his default position because he topples over any other way. 

Project: Superman vs. Batman

Superman has an odd pose to him and it makes him very hard to stand. This Superman hasn't seen the sun because he is a government project to be studied for his unique biology. He isn't the muscle bound Superman that we all know and love. He is also sporting his project clothes with the logo of S1. Batman is in a kicking pose that requires the stand. I can imagine that most of these figures are just repaints of other figures but it works for this small of a toy line. The only downside to this Batman is that he doesn't have the red eyes on his cowl.  Like the other characters they both sport the 4 points of articulation.

  After opening these figures I wish that most of them came with a stand to balance most of them out.  The ones that that came with it are fine but I would have liked stands for Superman and Wonder Woman. Cold can stand on his own as long as its in his natural position.  If you aren't a fan of the Flashpoint comic I wouldn't recommend these alternate figures to you. I like these figures because they can become desk or office material with a fun little twist. These almost remind me toys you'd get in cereal boxes or those gashapon machines in Japan. Hopefully I can get the last two pack of this set consisting of Cyborg and Element Woman.

 

10 Favorite Single Issue Marvel Comics

Over the past few days I've been discussing my favorite comic story lines. My friend Joe decided it would be fun to see what everyone's favorite individual issues were. I've spent about 4 hours going through all of my Marvel comic boxes to find some of my favorite issues. In no particular order here are my ten. My list contains a lot of X-Men stuff because I didn't really read a lot of other books until a few years later.

1. Amazing Spider-Man #415

This issue always stuck with me because Sentinels are going after anyone with a super power and its gunning for Peter Parker and Ben Reilly. Ben Reilly is trying to take down a Sentinel and it takes the entire book for him to finally beat it. He ends up throwing a manhole cover at the Sentinel's face and then rips its head in half. The X-Men usually take on these foes so seeing Spider-Man take on a villain not intended for him was fun. When he finally takes down one he quips that he has about a million more to go. After looking through this book I realized that I thought other things happened in this book. My memory isn't as good as it used to be.

#2 Astonishing X-Men #5

The X-Men had gone to find a mutant cure that was concocted by Dr. Kavita Rao, who developed the cure with the alien Ord. Beast wants to use the cure after his secondary mutation turns him into the more catlike Beast. This issue was awesome because it had the return of Colossus. He sacrificed himself years before to cure the Legacy Virus. I loved when Kitty turns a corner and her jaw drops at the site of Colossus! She is running from the bad guys and she phases and just stops and Colossus beats the dudes chasing Kitty. She is just standing there and can't believe what happened.

3. Daredevil #32

This series was awesome because it was written like it should have been a T.V. show. This issue didn't have any fighting in it at all. It had a three F.B.I. agents discussing the seized items from The Kingpin aka Wilson Fisk. One of Wilson's men confessed to an F.B.I. agent that Matt Murdock was Daredevil and The Kingpin knew about it for years but didn't tell anyone else. The agents all discuss that this information must not leave the room. The final page has Foggy going to purchase a newspaper and one claims that Matt Murdock is Daredevil! This changed the landscape for Daredevil for the next few years because everyone was gunning for the blind lawyer who was outed as Daredevil.

4. Iron Man #30

Tony Stark's armor becomes sentient and wants to replace Tony because he is flawed. It takes him to a remote island and plans on killing Tony. The machine is about to kill him when he is summoned by an Avengers call and he leaves. Tony manages to use some training Captain America taught him and survive to make some weapons to try to fight his armor. Iron Man is about to kill Tony when a sudden heart attack overcomes Tony. He pleads for the robot to just kill him and be done with it. The robot instead pulls out its own chest and lodges it into Tony giving him life. This was awesome because Tony Stark was vulnerable and about to die when his own creation decided to give his creator life.

5. New Avengers #31

This issue was awesome because this is the first time you find out a Skrull is among the heroes of the Marvel Universe. I remember thinking if Elektra is a skrull who else is going to turn up being one? It isn't until the last few pages when you find out but it changed the Marvel Universe. I couldn't wait til Secret Invasion but that wasn't as amazing as I thought it could have been.

6. Uncanny X-Men #128

I remember going into the comic shop and always wondered what the hell is going on. The city is collapsing on the X-Men?!?! When I finally purchased this I was surprised Colossus ends up killing Proteus because there is no way to stop him. His weakness is metal and of course the X-Men have a guy who can turn into metal. Besides the obvious weakness it was crazy seeing Proteus just do whatever he wanted to with his crazy warping powers.

7. Uncanny X-Men #141

I remember seeing this on the comic wall and thinking it was in continuity. I hadn't read comics long to know that there was alternate dimensions and alternate futures. I remember seeing this and thinking that most of these characters were killed because I didn't really pay attention to a lot of the characters yet. Of course I this is the story that everyone loves but I somehow got this in a trade which collects the two issues. I had that in middle school and I thought I was the only one in my area that knew about the coolness of alternate future where the X-Men are almost extinct. This cover just grabs you because of all the names and what happened to them.

8. Uncanny X-Men #322

I had always known that the Juggernaut was this unstoppable force and that he was always one of the toughest guys in the Marvel U. This issue marks the first time I started collecting Uncanny with a pull box. This was the first issue I read and it blew my mind that Juggernaut was afraid of someone who pretty much threw him from Canada to the United States...New Jersey to be exact! I couldn't wait to find out what happened to him but this awesome story called the Age of Apocalypse took over for the next few months. When the regular story returned I was still wondering who the hell was Juggernaut afraid of.

9. X-Men #54

Well it took a full year until I found out who the Juggernaut was afraid of. It was Professor X! I couldn't believe that things stemmed all the way back to Fatal Attractions where Xavier pulled apart Magneto's mind. I began reading X-Men the same time with Uncanny but this X-Men was easier to collect because it came out in the 90's. I quickly got all the other issues so when it tied into Fatal Attractions I had read that and it was cool that they used that as the point of Professor being corrupt.

10. Nova #2

Starring in his own series after Annihilation, Nova comes to Earth to relax and catch up with his parents but gets interrupted by Iron Man. Tony tells him that he needs to register to be a hero or he will be put away. Rich asks Tony why nobody came to help him out in space to fight Annihilus in the awesome Annihilation War.
The next day Nova catches a criminal and then gets crap from the police because he isn't registered. Then the police start blaming him for the Stamford incident because of his affiliations with the New Warriors. The Thunderbolts come busting in to arrest Nova because he doesn't have a registration. This story pretty much reminded me of Rambo. He comes back home and just wants to relax but the police won't let him settle down in their town. Nova only stays home for two issues before he decides that this Civil War is total nonsense. He'd rather be a protector of worlds than be harassed by Iron Man to register to try to make the world a better place.


If I had to replace one of the X-Men I'd replace it with Avengers Finale

The Avengers get together in the aftermath of Disassembled and reminisce about every Avenger team. Knowing that this was it for the classic Avengers team this was a very sad issue. I remember seeing the solicits for the New Avengers and thinking they will never be as great as the old school classic Avengers. I still love the old team because everyone is an Avenger now. I like the new concept of Avengers but the reason they put together the New Avengers is to not get too close to their teammates. That's what usually makes most team books great is the coming together as family.

Well thats all I got and I'm hoping to get my 10 favorite DC list sometime this week.