My understanding is that McFarlane Toys is going to lose their license to produce DC Comics action figures later this year. Whether it's severe restrictions on which characters they can produce in these final month, or the company losing its mind, their final year selections are deep cuts. There can perhaps be no greater evidence for this than their being multiple Manhunter from Mars-related offerings. Actually, the Ryan Kendall figure is the greatest indication, since he starred in the only
Black Condor title ever produced 34 years ago that was cancelled after only one year despite being drawn by Rags Morales. This material has never been collected, he was killed off two decades ago, and there is no appreciable fan base for what looks like a dollar store knock-off of the Total Justice Hawkman. So of course I'll pick one up if I find a substantially better deal than the $26.99 initial asking price.
But again, what piques my interest and prompted this post was the J'Onn J'Onzz connection, which begins with the new Martian Manhunter DC Comics Page Punchers. I have to confess that I've rarely been wowed by the sculpts on the McFarlane DC figures (obviously excluding
Ambush Bug & Cheeks the Toy Wonder.) Aside from using a similar lime green shade as on my beloved Super Powers figure, the only reason I'd buy this Manhunter is the novelty of the smaller format. Well, that and the cloth cape with folded-down collar. I also found it odd that rather than reprint a solo comic for the Alien Atlas, it was a Dan Jurgens Justice League with the crazy convoluted origin of Bloodwynd. Well, about that...
McFarlane will produce the greatest mass market
Bloodwynd action figure ever, mostly because it's the only one ever, setting aside some nice custom jobs that I've seen over the years. It's designated as a "Red Platinum Edition," which is code for "overpriced GameStop exclusive" at $34.99 (the Manhunter is a still bogus $27.99, btw.) Sh'yeah, right. I will inevitably own this toy, probably when m'boy Fixit snags it for a fiver from one of his many thrift scene connections in a year or so. Besides essentially possessing J'Onn's body for a time (maybe-- it's a very confused story,) Bloodwynd also served in the same short-lived League iteration as Black Condor.
The connections don't stop there, either. The Martian Marvel beat up
Captain Marvel in an iconic JLI bout (adore the cape, not digging the spikey hair.)
Aztek was a JLA teammate (why did they sculpt his helmet like a Dragon Fruit?) The DC Direct
Eclipso was maybe that line's best sculpt, and the Sleuth from Outer Space was prominently cover-featured in the final issues of his solo series, with this McFarlane pass being the closest anyone has come to his look from that period (though this is more JSA/Robinson JLofA.)
Bronze Tiger dated Gypsy and trained her in the martial arts. Say, why hasn't anyone ever done a Martian Arts pun? I'm a big Ben Turner fan, but this New 52 design barely registers as the same character, plus I understand that he was a were-tiger? Jeez, the New 52 was dumb as a bag of hammers.
Miss Martian is the most obvious Manhunter Family brand extention, if not necessarily the most accurate. She was created for Teen Titans, best known from the Young Justice cartoon, and fell off after barely brushing against J'Onn J'Onzz in books like
Brightest Day. This is another $34.99 job, so unless I opt to buy the other two Page Punchers, I don't see this one coming home. She's had a few figures now, and I haven't bought any yet. Honestly, my female alien telepath of choice from this lot would be
Saturn Girl, which also has a funky sculpt, but I have a great affection for the post-Zero Hour "Archie" Legion and no Imra Ardeen representation to date. I also have to say, as much as I hate those awful "drawn" statues with the fake comic book linework on them, but I flipped for the
Gangbuster. I couldn't care less about the character, but this was a perfect example of how to employ that technique.
