A box labeled “Adult Collector” showed up at Max’s house.  No, it’s nothing dirty!  It’s just some highly desired action figures depicting DC Comics’ heroes of the 31^st century: the Legion of Super-Heroes!  See Max geek out here and use just about every Legion expletive!

Super-Fly Comics & Games’ plucky sidekick Max Lake has embarked on a journey to read his collection of DC & other comics! Join Max each week every Friday as he takes on his Library! Titles reviewed by this blog do not necessarily reflect what the store has in stock, but you can always email the store to special order something that you’ve seen here at superflycomics@gmail.com. You can also call Super-Fly at (937) 767-1445 or just ask someone at the store next time you’re there for special orders. You can read past entries of the blog here. Any questions or comments for Max should be sent to maxdlake@gmail.com or feel free to comment in the comments section below. Check out @maxdlake to follow Max on Twitter. The things Max writes do not necessarily reflect the views of Super-Fly Comics & Games, and Super-Fly Comics & Games is not responsible for what Max says—especially anything that bugs you.

 

Written 3/26/12

 

Man oh man!  Surprise of surprises today!  I went out to work with Loren today, and Maureen called me on a break from school when she stopped by home.  Apparently, the Legion of Super Heroes 12 figure set by Mattel arrived TODAY!!!!  Sprock!

 

I came home to find the box clearly marked waiting for me inside the house.  I was able to take a few pictures with help from Loren’s cell phone which I’ve provided here.

The figures include from Top Left to Right, then Bottom Left to Right:

 

SUPERBOY:  Superboy is naturally, Superman as a boy, Kal El/Clark Kent and the character the Legion of Super Heroes were created around.  Superboy was once visited by three super heroes from the future that were members of the Legion of Super Heroes.  Despite giving Superboy a hell of a hard time, they let him join their super cool future club and fight interstellar crime with them.  Superboy has flight, strength, speed, invulnerability, heat vision, freezing breath and all the other various powers Superman has.

 

COSMIC BOY: Rokk Krin is his real name.  Cosmic Boy is one of the three original Legionnaires that visited Superboy in Smallville.  Cosmic Boy can generate magnetic forces.  He has also been the leader of the Legion from time to time.

 

SATURN GIRL:  Emra Ardeen is her real name.  Saturn Girl is one of the three original Legionnaires that visited Superboy in Smallville. Saturn Girl has telepathic powers.  Saturn Girl is also the girlfriend and eventual wife of Lightning Lad.

 

PROTY: Sidekick to the Legion of Super Heroes.  Proty is an amorphous blob that can shapeshift.  That’s about all I know about Proty, except I do know he gave his life to save Lightning Lad in one adventure by taking his form and sacrificing himself in Lighting Lad’s place.  Also in Proty’s case is a human sized Legion flight ring, which not only provided flight to members, but a force field as well.  To wear one was to show membership in the Legion of Super Heroes, so even Superboy wore one even though he didn’t need the powers it granted him.

 

LIGHTNING LAD: Real name is Garth Rannzz, Lighting Lad is one of the three original Legionnaires that visited Superboy in Smallville.  Lightning Lad generates electricity in the form of lightning bolts.  Lightning Lad has also been a leader of the Legion before.

 

BRAINIAC 5: Querl Dox is his real name, Brainiac 5, a descendent of Superman’s enemy Brainiac and coming from the planet Colu, Brainiac 5 is a 12^th Level Intellect and one of the most intelligent beings of the universe.

 

CHAMELEON BOY:  Chameleon Boy’s real name is Reep Daggle, and his ability is shape shifting.  It isn’t really a super power however, as it is the natural ability of his alien race, the Durlans.

 

ULTRA BOY: Real name is Jo Nah and his special abilities are strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, penatera-vision (whatever the hell that is).  He has one limitation to his mighty power set: he can only use one super power at a time.

 

KARATE KID: Val Armorr is his name and he is a martial arts master.  He also has speed, strength and stamina super powers.  Little known fact: DC’s Legionnaire Karate Kid predates the 1984 film of the same name.  DC Comics granted Columbia Pictures permission to use the name for the movie and there is a thank you in the film’s credits to DC Comics.  However, because the Legion of Super Heroes take place in the future, the Karate Kid films took place thousands of years in the Legion’s past.  In an interesting twist, other Legion members have mentioned the movies to Val in the comics!

 

WILDFIRE: Drake Burroughs is the man under the armor—well kind of.  He has actually been turned to energy and his armor is the only thing keeping him together.  However, it grants him the special powers of strength, the ability to project energy blasts, and flight.

 

COLOSSAL BOY: The tall boy is Gim Allon and his ability is to increase size and mass of his own body.  In the Legion of Super Heroes series I read by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson, Colossal Boy’s giant size was his natural state, and his super power was shrinking.

 

TIMBER WOLF: An animal natured member of the team, Brin Londo AKA Timber Wolf has strength, speed, agility, and enhanced senses at his disposal.  This guy has been known to lose his temper from time to time.

 

INVISIBLE KID: Known as Lyle Norg, Invisible Kid’s super powers are Invisibility, and the ability to also make others invisible.  But is he invisible or nonexistent?  Looks like the latter, as he is an included joke or nice touch of the set, just a hollow plastic shell with a figure indentation.  I get it, but another figure would have been cooler.

 

MATTER EATER LAD:  Don’t laugh at that name too hard; Tenzil Kem is an actual Matter Eater Lad, as he devours and disintegrates any form of matter.  I haven’t read any comics with him (yet!), but I’d like to imagine he does so one bite at a time.  The figure of him is actually chewing.

That’s all the figures, and they’re awesome one and all!  I can’t believe I actually got this set!!!

And not to mention I have two other figures I’m expecting to arrive this week: Phantom Stranger and Wildcat!  I am stoked!

And that’s where I’m going to leave it for tonight.

NOTES FROM NOW (9/16/12): What’s great about Mattel made figures like the Legion of Super Heroes set is the high level of articulation there is in each figure.  I’m coming to prefer them by in large to DC Direct, now DC Collectibles, figures.  What’s interesting is that DC Collectibles seems to be putting out a wide diversity of products, but seemingly more statues than action figures.  Other than the Batman:Arkham City and the New 52 Justice League coming out, there’s not as many offerings as they had when they were DC Direct.  I’ve heard DC is letting Mattel do most of their figure work now, but I don’t know if that’s true. I wouldn’t terribly mind so much if that was the case though.

And yes, I took these guys out of the box.  While displaying them in their “HQ” box is cool, it’s even more fun to pose them and see them up close.  I kept the box though, natch!  It’s always good to have options.

Past entries of the Read My Library Blog