DCUC Wave 17

It's the figures based on the completely gratuitous scene in Blackest Night when various Super-characters are made deputies against their will into the various Lantern Corps! It was a scene that had no impact whatsoever on the story and was purely added because Geoff Johns thought it would look cool as a splash page! (Probably. I don't actually know his process, but I bet the writer's commentary bears this out.) Well except for Mera, because they couldn't be bothered to design a new sculpt for her. So instead we get more Hal Jordan figures, and everyone hates Hal Jordan. Let's do them all in one mega post!

Figure 1: Star Sapphire Wonder Woman

I'm not going to go into the ridiculous costume design, because that was the fault of the comics and I'll get either angry about how stupid the whole thing is or laugh at how ridiculous and stupid the creators are for creating this abomination of good taste. Instead I'm going to comment on how this figure has the same sculpt as the Star Sapphire figure from the Green Lantern Classics line, so you've got the cut joint in the torso which looks really weird on female figures that have their entire stomach exposed by a stupid costume design. The feet were a bit stiff so I had to put her... in... a...freezer... oh god. I'm going to stop now before I start making a bunch of "Women in Refrigerators" jokes. So all I'll say is that I wanted this figure to bolster the Star Sapphires roster, but I hope in the future they release Star Sapphires with more sensible costumes.

2. Sinestro Corps Scarecrow

You really have to wonder how much pull the Batman department at DC has if they mandated that Scarecrow couldn't be the Yellow Lantern of sector 2814. I mean, come on, he's the perfect fit. Instead they went with Amon Sur and teased a Sinestro Corps Scarecrow but never delivered. So really, if they didn't make this figure to join my ever burgeoning Sinestro Corps collection I would have had to figure out a way to make him myself... and it would have looked horrible. So it's a good thing they made this guy. I dig him, even if his coat sort of gets in the way of articulation and I don't know what's going on with his hands. But the double jointed elbows, the double jointed knees, and the hinge wrists  allow for some good flexible "ooga booga booga" poses for the Scarecrow and really, that's all you can really ask for. Great figure.

3. Blue Lantern Flash

I might be alone in this, but does anyone else think it's weird that the Flash symbol is laid over the Blue Lantern symbol? Because the way its positioned makes it look like the logo is actually from a "No Blue Lanterns" campaign. Or maybe it's "No Hope." I like that, Barry Allen, the Flash representing No Hope that there will be any sense of forward momentum in the Flash titles because someone like Geoff Johns will wipe away all the progress made in developing Wally West into a great main character in order to bring back the relatively dull Barry Allen. Yes, I have a grudge. But Barry's the only DCUC Blue Lantern out there, so I'll take what I can get. And if I ever get really annoyed about it, I'll just pretend that this isn't Blue Lantern Flash, instead I'll assume he's the latest part of the Flash mythos: Bizzaro Flash.

4. Indigo Lantern Atom

Hey, remember Savage Sword of Atom? I don't, but I'm pretty sure that's the only reason Atom was picked for the Indigo Lanterns. Because he had a fairly well known alternate costume that looked as primitive as the others in the Indigo Tribe. Because damned if I can think of what about the Atom would make him seem compassionate. The part where he recently stomped on the brain of a criminal in order to induce strokes and seizures as part of an interrogation technique? Although I guess, really, which superhero could really be considered compassionate? I don't see any of them particularly interested in the rehabilitation efforts of criminals. Super Heroics are more a case of a "let me punch you and leave you to rot in prison" philosophy.

But they did adapt the Savage Sword of Atom costume in a way that looks good. And in that respect this is a pretty good representation of that look. It's certainly my favorite DCUC Atom they've done, since his normal costume isn't as striking or unique.  (And they've never done a Ryan Choi.)

5. Orange Lantern Lex Luthor

Translucent orange armor looks ridiculous, but the articulation on his ankle joints is amazing. You can bend them to a 180 degree angle, giving you a straight line that is impossible to achieve on normal human bodies, but now achievable in action figure form. His lantern has no handle, so he must cradle it in his arms. Actually I don't remember him ever holding the lantern, but hey, they actually included an accessory so don't complain.

Like the Flash, he was wanted because so far he's the only Orange Lantern DCUC figure that's out.

6. White Lantern Hal Jordan

Oh man, I'm totally going to take off his head and just create a head-swapped custom figure. Seriously, White Lantern Hal Jordan is the embodiment my hate about the current state of DC comics. By the way, white, silver and gray are a really weird combination of colors. Every time I look at it something feels wrong.

The Anti-Monitor

 Because I got the whole wave, that means I could put together the Anti-Monitor. I didn't know if I'd like this figure, but its won me over because of one very important factor: cloth cape. I hate plastic capes due to their inflexibility and their hampering of aritculation, but this one has no such drawbacks. Sure it sort of clashes with the rest of the figure, but not significantly and not in a way that I consider a detriment.

Admitedly I would have liked this figure more if Geoff Johns hadn't overexposed the character by using him repeatedly and thus lessening his impact with each successive use, but if I pretend that stuff never happened and instead focus on the character as the bad guy from the original Crisis of Infinite Earths, then its pretty cool. And now a size comparison so you can see how much the larger than average BAF really is.

Current Corps

Green Lanterns: 10
Sinestro Corps: 5
Red Lanterns: 2
Star Sapphires: 2
Blue Lanterns: 1
Orange Lanterns: 1
Indigo Lanterns: 1
Black Lanterns: 1