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View Full Version : Identity Crisis series 2 action figures - What are your thoughts?


Jor-El
07-19-2005, 09:11 AM
Comic Book Resources (http://www.comicbookresources.com/) (after some website problems the past day or two) has posted the DC Comics October solicitations (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=5616), complete with DC Direct offerings. I thought that DC Direct offerings are usually a happy time. Alas, when I saw what DC Direct had offered me, I wished for the end of the DC Direct line.

Behold, the Identity Crisis series 2 figures. (Click on images for larger pictures.)

http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/small/ID-CRISIS_batman.jpg (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview.php?image=solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/big/ID-CRISIS_batman.jpg) http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/small/ID-CRISIS_elastic.jpg (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview.php?image=solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/big/ID-CRISIS_elastic.jpg) http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/small/ID-CRISIS_flash.jpg (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview.php?image=solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/big/ID-CRISIS_flash.jpg) http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/small/ID-CRISIS_canary.jpg (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview.php?image=solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/big/ID-CRISIS_canary.jpg) http://images.comicbookresources.com/solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/small/ID-CRISIS_boomerang.jpg (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview.php?image=solicits/dc102005/dcdirect/big/ID-CRISIS_boomerang.jpg)

Batman: He just looks ugly. Period.

Elongated Man: Last week, I bought Elongated Man from DC Direct's earlier (and excellent) JLA line. Ralph came with a removable neck and was depicted in the red costume. It was truly a great figure and may very well be one of my very favorites next to the Silver Age Hal Jordan figure, the First Appearance Captain Marvel figure, and the Hawkman & Hawkgirl deluxe set. So why, DC Direct, create another Elongated Man in the same costume when you could have remarketed the previous (far superior) model? Why waste the figure when there are so many of Michael Turner's abominable designs for you to pimp?

Flash: One of these days, everyone is going to come to their senses and realize that Michael Turner is not a talented artist and is certainly not talented enough to have an action figure line based on his work. The Flash is just not that muscular. None of the Flashes were that muscular.

Black Canary: Assuming anyone didn't get enough of unrealistic and sexist female proportions in previous Michael Turner art, here it is in figure form. As a longtime Dinah fan, I have always hated her new look (go back to the blue and black costume, with legs, I say!) and this Michael Turner figure makes it all the more despisable.

Captain Boomerang: Captain Boomerang? He appears for, what, a total of five books and he has an action figure? Meanwhile, we still don't have a dozen other far more deserving Flash rogues, including (but not limited to) Reverse Flash, Weather Wizard, or Trickster. What the hell where you going for with this one, DCD?
Clayface
07-19-2005, 09:16 AM
Wow. Those are...pretty bad. What is up with that Batman figure? Maybe it's just the lighting and angle, but his face and head just look wrong. And why does Flash look like Conan O'Brien?
Eddie G.
07-19-2005, 09:40 AM
With the exception of Capt. Boomerang (I guess), the figures not only look ugly but feel disconnected from Identity Crisis. I know that the line isn't based on Rags Morales' art and Turner's crap, but the Flash and Elongated figures just don't reflect how the character's were presented in the book. Flash doesn't have that sad childlike disillusionment that he had throughout IC, of course I doubt you could translate that into Turner's designs... but still...

Elongated Man is just stupid when associated with IC where he was obviously MIDDLE AGED.

Batman is by far the worst, which is odd because I actually kind of liked Turner's Batman on the IC covers. This Batman really looks nothing like what was on the cover. Ugh... such a bad line.
Supremus
07-19-2005, 09:54 AM
Rubbish figures based on a rubbish storyline. Seems about right. Batman looks more like he is based on Kelly Jones' designs than those of the supremely talented and wonderful artist, Michael Turner. :)
Jor-El
07-19-2005, 10:00 AM
I don't know if it's extreme coincidence, but it really does feel like you are following me thread to thread to oppose anything I say about various comic book creators or storylines. Do you just not like me or do you really like artists like Michael Turner and Jim Lee who can only draw one male and one woman and put different costumes and hairstyles on them?

But yes, that Batman does look a little like the Kelley Jones version.
Singularity
07-19-2005, 10:34 AM
The Black Canary figure in particular offends my sense of vision. Did nobody at DC Direct take the time to say "Gee, that face looks like the offspring of the Wicked Witch of the West and an orc"?
Supremus
07-19-2005, 11:07 AM
I don't know if it's extreme coincidence, but it really does feel like you are following me thread to thread to oppose anything I say about various comic book creators or storylines. Do you just not like me or do you really like artists like Michael Turner and Jim Lee who can only draw one male and one woman and put different costumes and hairstyles on them?Heh, don't be so sensitive. Just because I don't agree with a few things you said doesn't mean I don't like you or that I'm cyber-stalking you. Don't worry, I'm not going to boil your bunny :)

As for Lee and Turner, I really like Turner. I didn't particularly like Lee until Hush, but haven't been too keen on his subsequent stuff, and the "he can only draw one male and one female" argument applies to 90% of the mainstream comic artists.

I was actually hoping this line would have been more Turner based, but with the possible exception of Flash, it's pretty difficult to pin down what or who it's really based on. I wonder if at least some of these were old sculpts meant for something else?
Jack Frenzy
07-19-2005, 11:18 AM
What? No Jean Loring with flamethrower fashion accessory?:)
Eddie G.
07-19-2005, 12:01 PM
"he can only draw one male and one female" argument applies to 90% of the mainstream comic artists. I'll tell you who it doesn't apply to... RAGS MORALES!

Seriously, no, Turner isn't the most horrid artist out there and neither is Jim Lee. Turner does tend to lack variety in his characters and his proportions are iffy. Basically I think sometimes he's okay/tolerable and sometimes he's just horrid. His Flash is a good example of the horrid.
Darknight
07-19-2005, 02:23 PM
I really liked the look of the first wave of these, but this wave is pretty bad. How many Flash and Batman figures can we buy anyway? The first wave has some good figures that look good, but this is just not that good. Seems like several of the DC Direct waves recently are only good with every other wave.
Jor-El
07-19-2005, 02:27 PM
The first wave was equally horrible. That Green Arrow figure is overly-muscular and looks like he's wearing a skirt. The Dr. Light figure looks moronic and the Hawkman figure is inferior to either the original DCD Hawkman or the First Appearance Hawkman.

DCD already has so many of these characters produced and they'd be much better off repackaging them and shipping them out with "Identity Crisis" labels.
Planeteer
08-13-2005, 06:16 PM
I just can't believe they're making children's toys out of a story where Sue Dibny got raped and murdered and the JLA all lied about it. :mad:
Jor-El
08-13-2005, 06:42 PM
1.) These aren't children's toys. They're marketed towards the more serious collector. You don't see DC Direct figures in Toys R Us.
2.) Children do not have to know about the story to enjoy playing with figures. By your logic, I can't believe they make children's toys from Batman, a boy whose parents were murdered in front of his very eyes, and who fights murderous psychotic villains. If you give me the email address of your PayPal account, I will transfer you some money for a much needed clue.
HelloKittyKat
08-13-2005, 06:53 PM
Those figures look horrible. Michael Turner's art doesn't translate well into three dimensions.
Planeteer
08-14-2005, 02:04 AM
1.) These aren't children's toys. They're marketed towards the more serious collector. You don't see DC Direct figures in Toys R Us.

Oh, OK.


2.) Children do not have to know about the story to enjoy playing with figures. By your logic, I can't believe they make children's toys from Batman, a boy whose parents were murdered in front of his very eyes, and who fights murderous psychotic villains. If you give me the email address of your PayPal account, I will transfer you some money for a much needed clue.

Now you're just being nasty. :shrug:
Blue Priestess
08-14-2005, 09:28 AM
Those figures look horrible. Michael Turner's art doesn't translate well into three dimensions.
Personally, I'm among those who think it doesn't translate well from the pencil to the page, but that's me.

I'm with the consensus - these look horrible and seem unnecessary. The only one that even faintly tempts me is Boomerang, and even he's off design. Maybe he'd fit better in a Howard Porter-derived Flash's Rogues line, but like others said, he was more of a detour in the overall IC plot.


I just can't believe they're making children's toys out of a story where Sue Dibny got raped and murdered and the JLA all lied about it. :mad:
Um, like everyone else said, these aren't aimed at kids; they're aimed at the adult collectors who read the story. You either ask the guys at your local comic shop to order one for you or you order one online at a comic distribution website. Out of curiosity, did you read it at all, or is your denouncement derived solely from fan commentary online? Because most of the people who are sooooo horribly offended by it didn't even read it in my experience.