A to Z Challenge: Zod

General Zod was a villain in Superman comics since 1961, but he wasn't really well-known until he appeared as the main villain of Superman II.  The character was so popular, especially with his "Kneel before Zod!" catchphrase that he continued reappearing in the comics as well as various TV shows.  Later he was played by Michael Shannon in the Man of Steel movie.  There was probably a figure made from that movie--I'm pretty sure I saw one on clearance at my local Walmart but didn't get it--but later on McFarlane came out with a more recent comics accurate version from Rebirth comics:

While Michael Shannon's Zod returns in the Flash movie, they aren't making a figure of him.  A real Superman II version would be neat but there are probably likeness rights issues and whatever.  If you want to learn more, read the Wikipedia page.

That's my A to Z Challenge on DC Comics action figures.  Since I don't collect any other action figures numerous enough for an A to Z Challenge, I have a different topic for 2024.  I've already written the entries and this time they shouldn't need a lot of updating.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it. lol

I've written a fun little event for the "Reflections" thing next week.  It's a 3-day event, so brace yourselves for that.  It starts May 3, continues May 5, and finishes May 8th.

A to Z Challenge: Young Heroes

While they did the Batman and Superman characters from Future State a couple years ago, they didn't do maybe the most popular character to spin out of that:  Yara Flor, who became Wonder Woman but is also called Wonder Girl so I guess they don't confuse her with Diana, who is still around as well.  Maybe they'll get around to it, but for now they haven't.

So unless I can think of something or they make something else before this posts, I decided to use this for some of the young heroes who I didn't have posts for already.  

I got half the Shazam movie family (Freddie, Mary, and Pedro) from Five Below stores.  

Billy Batson I got from Amazon Vine:

Darla and Eugene I couldn't find so I had to get them from Amazon, though they weren't that expensive at the time.

Each one comes with a little rubber bad guy too.  I could have got the Billy Batson DC Multiverse Mattel one from Vine but I already had the movie one that seemed mostly the same, just a little smaller and maybe a little less poseable.  Close enough!  I do also have a talking 12-inch Shazam from Vine and a 12-inch Dr. Sivana for him to fight.

McFarlane has made a new Billy Batson Shazam for the movie but I don't think they made the others.  For shame!

I also have Spoiler, aka Stephanie Brown, who I think was Robin and Batgirl at some point.  I got her on clearance from Amazon.

I also got The Ray who is...I don't really know.  He's periodically been in comics and maybe even had his own title for a few months.  It's the kind of thing where I think, You made this guy but not Guy Gardner, Zatanna, Mr. Terrific, Plastic Man, Hawkgirl or other characters who have been around a lot longer?  But anyway, there he is:

I think I got him (and maybe Spoiler) for the Luthor armor pieces but also they were cheap.  Those are (at this point) all the random young heroes I have.  

Here's another one I don't have, Duke Thomas as "The Signal."  I don't know what exactly his deal was but I guess they had enough Robins already.

McFarlane also made this Static Shock, though I'm not sure why they chose the short-lived New 52 version instead of more recent or classic versions:

I don't think they've made a Harper Row, aka "Bluebird" (ugh) or Cassandra Cain, aka Orphan (also the late 90s/early 2000s Batgirl) who are also young Bat-allies.  Or the Wonder Twins or Lobo's daughter Crush or some other ones who have been in the comics the last decade or so.

They might make a Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle before the movie comes out later this year but I haven't seen it.

I'm still pissed they haven't officially made a line of Young Justice figures.  What's up with that?  I get the live action shows there might be rights issues with the actors, but that's an animated show, so what's the hold up?  Come on, Todd, make me a fucking Miss Martian, Connor, and Tigress already!

A to Z Challenge: Task Force X

 I'm not sure there's a real X for DC Comics heroes.  With Marvel you always have X-Men and stuff.  The closest I could think of is that the Suicide Squad is called Task Force X.

I already did Harley Quinn, Katana, and whoever, but there were some more figures I got for the first crappy Suicide Squad movie.  My favorite was El Diablo, who I always thought had the most fleshed-out backstory of anyone in the stupid movie besides Harley Quinn and Joker:

There was also Deadshot, the Will Smith version:

Rick Flag:

And Captain Boomerang:

Sadly I don't think they made Slipknot, the guy who could climb anything.  I didn't get Jared Leto's Joker so I don't think I ever got all the pieces to make the Killer Croc guy.

McFarlane made a bunch of figures for the second Suicide Squad movie:

There's also a mega-sized King Shark:

Mattel did a King Shark from the Flash TV show but that was a build-a-figure so you'd have to get 6 figures or buy it off eBay.

They didn't do a Ratcatcher II figure, which is weird given how important she was to the movie.  Maybe they couldn't get the likeness rights or whatever.  If you get all the Crime Syndicate figures from Target you can make Starro the Conqueror too.

I don't think they've made an Amanda Waller figure, which is too bad.  They should do a Build-A-Figure of the comic book version who is supposed to be a huge fat black woman nicknamed "the Wall."  Maybe that would be insensitive for these days.

A to Z Challenge: Wonder Woman

 After Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman has been DC's third big hero, the first major female superhero.  Naturally there have been a lot of figures of her over the years.

The first one I got was a New 52 one in a two-pack with Katana as I mentioned previously.  She is kind of buff with the New 52's silver accessories instead of gold and bluish hair and came with a short sword:

I got pretty much all the DC Multiverse ones from the 2017 movie because they were at Five Below stores.  I think I got mine mostly in Brighton and Saginaw.  There was the Wonder Woman with an overcoat:

The regular Diana one:

Her mother Hippolyta:

And I even got this other Amazon Menalippe that along with Steve Trevor let me complete the Ares Build-A-Figure:

Then later I got a Rebirh version only because it was part of the Lex Luthor Superman armor series.  This one is more like the movie one without the star-spangled shorts:

But my favorite is the Lynda Carter version I got from Amazon for pretty cheap.  It comes with the stand and lasso and a cape.  Other than the wonky arm joints it's pretty awesome:

Wonder Woman!

They made a bunch of McFarlane figures from WW84 like this one:

The weird Todd McFarlane original you can still get pretty cheap; a few weeks ago it was only like $11 on Walmart's site:

There are some other ones too:

I don't think there are quite as many variants of Wonder Woman as Superman or especially Batman.  Here are a couple of other ones:

The first one is an older Mattel one from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Strikes Again, where Wonder Woman has a daughter with Superman, which set up the lame third entry in the series.  Then there's the one from "Endless Winter," a completely forgettable (and forgotten) limited series that for some reason McFarlane made a whole line of figures for.  Because it's cold, she's wearing a lot more clothes.  And lastly we have one from Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which kinda spoiled her appearance in the movie for those who hadn't watched it--which is most everyone.

There are also a variety of figures from various cartoons (except I don't think they made a Superfriends one) and the Superhero Girls line.  From Amazon Vine I got the potbelly pig Wonder Woman has in the Superpets movie.  I haven't seen the movie so I don't know what its name is.

Sometimes in the comics (and in the Wonder Woman TV show) she'll have a sidekick called Wonder Girl.  Mattel made a figure of the blonde one; I don't know what exactly her name was.  The other one is Donna Troy, who I think was the first one but was also part of the Teen Titans at times.  That figure is an upcoming McFarlane one from the Titans comics.  

I wish McFarlane would make the latest Wonder Girl, Yara Flor, who first appeared in the Future State comics as the future Wonder Woman (though Diana is still alive, just doing other stuff like running Paradise Island or whatever) and was so popular that they kept the character around.  That would have solved my upcoming issue with the Y entry.

Great Hera that's plenty of stuff for today.

A to Z Challenge: Vixen

 Vixen has been around a little while in comics and such.  She appeared on Arrow after an animated show on CW's website or CW Seed or whatever.

I bought the Mattel Rebirth version mostly because it has the Build-a-Figure of Lex Luthor in Superman armor's chest.  But it's also a neat figure.  The translucent eagle thing makes me think of the old Silverhawks TV show.

In the comics and stuff she can summon a lot of other animals but with a toy they obviously weren't going to do all that.

A to Z Challenge: Ultraman & the Crime Syndicate

 When I wrote my A to Z Reflections entry last year, I originally remarked I wished they'd make an Ultraman figure so I'd have a U for this.  Guess what?  McFarlane made an Ultraman figure:

Like how Flashpoint Batman is an alternate universe Batman, Ultraman is an alternate universe Superman.  He's from Earth-3, the mirror universe where all the heroes we're familiar with are bad guys.  Ultraman is the head of the Criminal Syndicate, which is the opposite of the Justice League.

Unlike Superman, he basically takes over the planet.  And he's powered by Kryptonite and hates sunlight.  Or maybe not.  It probably depends on the writers, though I know that's been true in the past.

They also made Superwoman, who's like the evil Wonder Woman of that universe:

Her head seems too small for her body, but maybe that's just me.

And there's Owlman, who's like an evil Batman though he looks more like Nite Owl II from Watchmen.

The last one they made is Power Ring, the evil Green Lantern who I guess is based on the John Stewart one.

Maybe someday they will make Johnny Quick (Flash) or not.  These were all exclusive to Target, so if you can't find them there, good luck getting them for a decent price anywhere else.

A to Z Challenge: Trevor, Steve, Thomas Wayne, Two-Face, Talon, and Titans

When I was coming up with my list, it seemed like T would be pretty easy.  I mean, it's a common letter, right?  One of the top 5 Wheel of Fortune letters.  But weirdly there's not a lot for T for DC figures.  They haven't really made much for Mr. Terrific or any of the other Terrifics.  Or even Red Tornado.  Unless you want to use "The" not much came up.

When I was spitballing Ts in my collection, I realized I had Trevor, Steve from Wonder Woman.  He's a pretty good representation of Chris Pine in the movie.  Mostly I got him for the Build-a-Figure part but also he was only $5 at Five Below.

Later on I got the "unmasked" version of Flashpoint Batman, who is an alternate universe Batman where Thomas Wayne survived instead of Bruce.  Thomas is older and a bigger hard-ass than his son as Batman and he doesn't have any problems with shooting people.  

He first appeared in the Geoff Johns series Flashpoint where the Flash saved his mother and created an alternate timeline.  Later Tom King revived the character for his run on the Batman title, where Thomas joins forces with Bane to force Bruce out of the Batman life--except Bruce is too stubborn to quit.

This "unmasked" version was cheaper than the masked one.  I don't really like the head because the shape makes it look kind of fat.  I assume that was so it would be the same size as the masked head.  Anyway, he has a huge sword and guns.  Sweet.

After I already wrote the above, I realized there was another T:  Two-Face!  There was a DC Multiverse figure of him by Mattel a few years ago.  I almost got it one time at Target because some ass had put it in the clearance bin, but when I checked on one of those scanners around the store I saw it wasn't actually on clearance, so I didn't buy it.  I don't really regret that as I'm not really that big of a Two-Face fan.  I think this version is more of the Rebirth version:

I know they made a figure or two of the Tommy Lee Jones version from Batman Forever and the Animated Series version back in the 90s but other than that, I don't think they've done much with him.

Then last summer McFarlane came out with another legit T:  Talon!  In the first New 52 Batman comics by Scott Snyder, Talons are the henchmen of the evil Court of Owls.  (Owls, Talons, get it?)  Like Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, the Talons are frozen until needed.  Dick Grayson was supposed to be a Talon but escaped that somehow.

There was also a series about a rogue Talon who was a good guy, fighting other Talons and stuff.  It seemed sort of like Azrael only it lasted a lot less time, just 12 issues and then it was gone.  I don't know if they showed up in Gotham but I think they were in an animated movie.  They might appear in the Matt Reeves movies if they use the Court of Owls.

There's also this upcoming set of Teen Titans from McFarlane that is pretty disappointing to me.  I mean, you have another Nightwing (who already has about 5-6 figures), Arsenal (formerly Speedy), Donna Troy (formerly Wonder Girl), and original Raven (whom I don't like nearly as much as the later Goth girl-type version) who then form a really monstery-Beast Boy.  At the least they should have made Starfire instead of Nightwing because they already have a bunch of Nightwings and they already made Cyborg and Wally West so you'd have a pretty decent Titans roster with all that.  Instead there's a pretty big hole in the lineup that maybe they can eventually fix.

And I realized about a week ago I could have also used Teth-Adam for the Black Adam movie figures since I didn't use them anywhere else:

So anyway, we finally got some Ts.  Go drink some tea while wearing your T-shirt, listening to Ice-T, and watching Mr. T in the A-Team or Rocky III.  I pity you, fool!

A to Z Challenge: Supers

It's too bad S falls on a Saturday because no one will probably read this.  Not that they would on a weekday.  Anyway, like with Spider-Man, Deadpool, and Wolverine, it took a little while for me to get a normal Superman figure.

I'm not sure which one I got first, but I got a couple of the Mattel ones that were different variants.  One was the "Doomed" variant where Superman is infected with a virus turning him into Doomsday:

Another is the Earth-23 Superman who's sort of Barack Obama Superman as he's black and he's president, but he's also Superman!  This version has actually continued to stick around in comics like Infinite Frontier and some version of him was supposed to show up in a show on HBO Max, but the Discovery merger kind of screwed that up.

I also have the Dark Knight Returns version that's chunkier than the regular kind:

I also have the Kingdom Come Superman who's supposed to be older but I wasn't happy with his head so I recolored it myself with some Wite-Out:

From the Five Below in Novi I got the BvS Superman who's actually not that bad a resemblance of Henry Cavill but for some reason he comes with a weird gold shield:

I finally got the McFarlane Action Comics #1000 Superman, which is a really great basic model.  Not that he's basic; I mean he has a flight stand and extra hands.  I just mean he's a regular Superman, not any of the variations.  So he's pretty cool:

I got the Red Son Superman that's kind of the same but with the different suit to represent the Soviet-born Superman and a slightly different head:

And here are some other variations that I don't have:

I mentioned in the first entry that I bought this weird 4-pack from the late 90s or something off eBay.  It had a weird AzBats, a crappy regular Batman, a crappy regular Superman, and Superman "Red" from the brief period where he was two separate energy beings--the "Blue" one came first so I'm not sure why they made the red one.  I don't think Mattel or McFarlane made either "Blue" or "Red" in the DC Multiverse line yet.  Anyway, here are the Superman ones:

I also have a Supergirl from the TV show.  This is the first season where she had the skirt before the PC Police demanded she have pants or whatever:

And there's a McFarlane version of evil Superboy from Infinite Crisis:

And a Jon Kent (Superman's son) from Future State that has an ugly face--at least to me:

There probably aren't as many Superman variants as Batman ones, but there are still plenty of them.  You'd think with the 30th anniversary of the Death of Superman story they could have made the "Reign of the Supermen" characters:  Steel, Superboy, Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman.  I don't think they've really made a Steel figure for a long time.  Or his daughter.  Lana Lang was also briefly "Superwoman" but I don't think they made a figure of that either.  So there's definitely a lot more they could do.

They did sort of make a Superboy and Eradicator, though maybe not the exact 90s versions, so I guess they're halfway there:

And here's just some other ones they made from Future State, where Superman was a gladiator on "Warworld;" Speeding Bullets where essentially the Waynes adopted Clark Kent and so Superman becomes Batman; and Hush where Superman is briefly possessed by Poison Ivy until Batman kicks his ass with a Kryptonite ring:

And here's a Target Exclusive from Flashpoint comics.  It's an alternate universe where Superman's rocket was captured by the government so he's been raised in a lab where they kept him out of the sun so he's all scrawny and weak until Barry Allen and Thomas Wayne rescue him:

It's super-duper!