Big Things Have Small Beginnings

I liked the film Prometheus because it worked recognizable elements from the movie Alien into a new setting. The android character David is a perfect example of that.

Subtle yet iconic design similarities between the environmental suits in the early movie and Prometheus are especially cool, and the David 8 figure by NECA does an excellent job of showing off that brilliant design work.


NECA has done a great job with all of their Prometheus figures so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the line progresses from here, but honestly, I think this will end up as my favorite figure of the lot.

Michael Fassbender's version of a Ridley Scott android is one of the best parts of the movie. He's cool and a little bit weird, while being just the right mix of friendly and sinister as well. Part hero and part villain--I really like the fact that you don't come away loving or hating the guy, because after all, he's just a machine doing what he's been programmed to do.


NECA's handling of the likeness is very good. Both of the included head sculpts are fine, but I'm probably more fond of the version with the cap. The overall attention to paint detail is a bit more focused, and little things like differences in texture and those tiny decals make it a winner.


The endless number of sci-fi video games and films have made spacesuit design a bit cliche over the years, but I suppose someone like Ridley Scott can be credited with having invented a lot of that. The original environmental suits from the movie Alien were referential of the suits worn in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The suits from Prometheus remind me of a mix between those suits, and something from the Dead Space games, which obviously owe a lot to Alien, so it all kind of works.

The folks at NECA are pros when it comes to building a figure, and in this case they've done a perfect job of blending detail and design with some really nice articulation. The overall production quality of the figure is excellent, and this is one of those rare times when I actually don't mind the fact that the price of "collectible" action figures has risen so high. I never mind paying a little more if I'm actually getting my moneys worth.


That's not to say that all of the figures on the pegs were perfect, as I did need to sort through a few with less than perfect paint jobs, but ultimately I think what I ended up with was very good. The vast majority of what NECA puts out there is great, and I'm very happy that they've had the licence to do Alien, and now Prometheus figues over the years. Can't wait to see what they release next.

The Invasion Begins - Mezco's Martian Commander

If you're one of the three or four people that have been reading this blog over the last few years, then you probably know that I'm a big fan of the Mars Attacks franchise--both the '60s trading card series, and the Tim Burton film. I'm also a really big fan of Mezco Toyz, so when I heard that they were doing a figure in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Topps Mars Attacks trading cards, I got very excited.


Mezco has been responsible for a few of my favorite toy lines over the years. The Living Dead zombie line, their Cinema of Fear horror figures, and the really fantastic Hellboy figures from both the films and comic books were all excellent. I knew that their version of an iconic Topps martian would be very good, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not dissapointed at all. This thing is everything that I'd hoped it would be.

The packaging is just what it needs to be--not too complicated or too plain, with some nice artwork, and a simple bubble that can stand on its own for display. I did have to sort through the lot of these to find the best one on the pegs, as a few had imperfect paint and weathering, but for the most part the dozen or so that I saw were all very good.


Here's what I love the most about this figure: Mezco knew exactly were to put in the details with this one, and were to just leave it alone and go simple. The detailing on the head is a perfect example. It's actually kind of cool how they "got" the idea that the character has this complex and weird head that contrasts with the very simple and now retro looking space suit.

They didn't try to jazz up the suit or helmet with unecessary details. Other than a slight wash to give it texture there's nothing. But the head has all kinds of sculptural detail that's been enhanced with a fairly complicated paint job--orange and pink brain, with those grey metal ear caps--very true to the original artwork on the cards.


I love the old Trendmasters toy line that came out shortly after the Burton film was released in '96, but those figures did not have much articulation, and this one really does. Shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, and kneck all bend or twist. It's maybe a little limited in some ways, as the figure can't do things like grasp the included rifle with two hands, but ultimately I think they sacrificed things like that for sturdiness and stability.


The Martian Commander is built very well, with tight joints and nice rigid plastic that isn't warped or bent weirdly. Overall it's a very solid figure for something so thin and potentially fragile. The included accessories: a small raygun, a rifle, and some kind of weird "ray stick" are nicely made as well, which is a good thing, as you'll actually be tempted to play with this figure, and it's nice that you don't have to worry about the hands, wrists or weapons breaking.


Mezco did a fantastic job designing and manufacturing this one, and ultimately it leaves me wishing that they'd do more martians... or frankly, that they'd just do more figure lines that I'm interested in. I've yet to buy anything made by Mezco that I wasn't happy with, and the Martian Commander is another perfect example. In this case, they may have actually come up with one of my all time favorite action figures.

Autograph Hound

Emerald City Comic Con, with its brilliant crowd of costumed nerds, was just over a week ago, and I had another great time visiting. What I loved the most was that I got a chance to once again say hello, and in some cases make a fool of myself in front of some of my very favorite comic book artists and writers.

Neal Adams is one of my heroes. I love the guy's art, but what's been a huge influence on me is his incredible graphic design asthetic. I schooled as a fine artist when I was younger, and then drifted toward graphic design by sort of absorbing what I saw other people doing. Neal is one of those incredible "old timers" who not only inspires you with his creative ability, but stands as a kind of icon in the sense that he's been doing what he does for decades. I guess I'm just amazed by the fact that he's been a genuine professional for so long... and still does great work today.

Anyway, Neal was kind enough to chat with me for a while, and then autographed one of my favorite covers. It was extremely hard to decide on just one book for him to sign.


The next big treat was meeting Denny O'Neil. It's no accident that the book I had him sign has a cover done by Neal Adams, as the two made history together time and time again. It's really weird walking up to a guy like Dennis O'Neil for the first time, because even though I've always been very much inspired and am more of a geek about worshipping the artists, it's the writers that are really responsible for my long time love of comic books as a form of entertainment. The only thing I could think to say was, "thank you for the great stories", and then he signed the book for me.


And speaking of writers that were responsible for getting me hooked on comics... Chris Claremont is probably single-handedly responsible for my having, in the eyes of my parents anyway, "wasted" a huge chunk of my childhood by obsessing over comic books.

I picked this copy of X-Men #94 for Mr. Claremont to sign, not for the obvious reasons, but because it represents the end of a lifespanning personal story: when I was a kid, I got hooked on X-Men comics some time after issue #100, and even at that point, back-issues of #94 were selling for way more than I could afford with my humble weekly allowance of five dollars. For years I used to sit and talk with my friends and fellow comic book nerds about how it would be great to find a copy of #94 in order to round out our collections. For the most part we all sort of resigned ourselves to believing that it would never happen, and as the decades progressed, the book hasn't exactly diminished in value.

So, fast forward to around a year or two ago, where I'm digging through a box of crappy torn up comics at a thrift store, and out comes this particular copy of X-Men #94. The book isn't in mint condition by a long shot, but it's probably in exactly the kind of shape that it would have been in if I had actually bought a copy back in 1975. I imagined that at some point a seven year old kid like me had really loved this thing, and for whatever reason, fate has dumped it into my hands... for 99 cents.

After boring him with this little story, Chris Claremont was kind enough to sign the book.


Today I tend to read mostly the various Batman titles, and it was really cool to spin past the tables where Tony Daniel and David Finch where sketching and signing.


Mike Mignola is a great artist and writer, and he was kind enough to sign this fantastic Batman variant cover that he did. I love this thing, and am very happy that I got to tell him so.


I'd spent pretty much the entire day chasing Scott Snyder from table to table, and every time I either showed up after he'd left, or got there after they'd capped the line. At around fifteen minuted before the convention was winding to a close, we wandered past the DC booth one last time. I saw that the line to see Scott Snyder was pretty much gone, so I made one last feeble request for an autograph, and the folks from DC took pity on me.

Scott's a cool guy, and the fact of the matter is that Batman and Swamp Thing have been my two favorites this past year. He Kindly signed yet another copy of Batman #1 for me--as I imagine he'd probably done a thousand times before I wandered over--and then called it a day.