Tag Archives: kyle rayner

Super-Articulate: Catching Up on DC Multiverse

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As seen at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Mattel still has a few fine DC Multiverse figures to get out before they surrender the license to McFarlane. Among the figures are a terrific-looking Killer Croc Connect & Collect figure, Red Robin, Katana, Alfred (with three extra heads!) and Red Hood (Jason Todd). Currently shipping is the Titans-heavy Batman Ninja assortment featuring Nightwing, Starfire, Rebirth Wally West, Beast Boy, John Stewart, and TV Black Lightning; still in some stores and heavily moving on eBay is the Lobo assortment, featuring Kid Flash, Batman Beyond, Kingdom Come Superman, and Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. Rayner gets our look today.

“DC Rebirth” Kyle Rayner: It’s labelled as DC Rebirth, but this is really Classic Kyle Rayner. Hal’s Emerald Twilight replacement, the GL of Grant Morrison’s JLA, and the subject of many fine stories by Ron Marz and others, Kyle Rayner was the definitive GL of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. He’s been recostumed, renamed (Ion), rebranded, pushed aside, sent into deep space, given various love interests, lost love interests, and struggled to find his place on both a characterization level on a level of being part of a company that isn’t sure what to do with their “middle children.” (Seriously, what the hell happened to Connor Hawke?)

On the figure front, however, this is a GREAT job. The power effect is definitely appropriate to the Banks/Porter art of Green Lantern and JLA from the day. The battery looks good, and the figure itself is terrific. Imminently poseable with a great expression, this is a rock-solid Kyle Rayner.

DC Multiverse Store Report: At present, I have seen absolutely zero of the Batman Ninja wave in the Midwest. Shazam and Sivana continue to haunt stores, and Lobo wave figures still turn up. I only expect this to get worse, especially with THREE waves to get out before the end of the year (Killer Croc, Retro, Mammoth).

Flashback: Doctor Psycho: Doctor Psycho was part of a two-figure Collect & Connect wave that included Wonder Girl and Wonder Woman (DKIII version) in 2017. The torso and arms came with Wonder Woman, and the head and lower body came with Wonder Girl. I had absolutely no interest in the DKIII Wonder Woman, so I bided my time waiting to get the various pieces on eBay. I finally did. How do they look?

Doctor Psycho: Hey, not bad! This isn’t a great figure in terms of poseability, but he looks accurate as hell, particularly with the one slightly exaggerated eye. The appearance is influenced by the Villains United-era of the character. It’s not super-exciting, but I’m glad that it exists. I put him on the shelf next to DC Universe Classics Deathstroke and other villains.

While the Mattel era is almost over, they’ve given us A LOT of good stuff over the years. I’m going to keep up for now, and I’ll be interested to see what comes our way in the future. Thoughts, readers?

Review: Omega Men #1

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om001aWith only two major publishers putting out superhero themed comics, it is a natural that the two will compete against each other in terms of making similar products, especially when one of the products explodes in popularity.  Such is the case with the Omega Men, DC Comics’ presumed answer to the popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy, a popularity which mostly came out of nowhere after the movie set the characters on a path to name brand recognition.  While DC Comics might want to copy Marvel’s success, there is a far bigger problem to deal with.  Marvel’s cosmic universe is defined by a lot of different players that come and go, and so the stories end up being a lot more random.  DC on the other hand mostly defines its cosmic stories through the Green Lantern Corps, or the various other corps that are affiliated with it.  Although there are cosmic like titles such as those focused on Superman, or cosmic settings such as New Genesis/Apokolips, when it comes to space it is the Green Lantern that rule in terms of popularity.  Cutting a piece of the cosmic pie for the Omega Men is therefore a difficult proposition to begin with.

The story in this issue is fairly straight forward.  It follows a raid against the Omega Men in retribution for their supposed murder of Kyle Rayner.  As such the issue features a heavy dose of action, but it also serves as an interesting way to introduce the characters to those who would otherwise be unaware of their existence.  As various members of the strike team are knocked off we get to see who is doing the killing.  This also helps to establish the Omega Men as grittier versions of their previous incarnations, ones who are not afraid to kill in order to achieve their goals.

It is an interesting approach to introducing these characters, as the action sequences often confuse as to what exactly is going on.  At the same time it is an effective though simplistic approach to introducing the characters.  More so, the Omega Men have a lot of catching up to do in terms of having their own set of stories to rely upon, and this issue, barring all else, at least seems capable of doing this.  The story here is entirely readable, but it also at the same time feels like a piece of bigger puzzle, as though DC itself is trying to figure out how exactly to sell these characters and to make them into galactic gold.

Story: Tom King Art: Barnaby Bagenda
Story: 7.9 Art: 7.9 Overall: 7.9 Recommendation: Read