Category Archives: Marvel
Why Don’t They Make More Multiple Man Action Figures?
Superhero action figures are still a big industry. Just take a walk down the toy aisle at your local Wal-Mart. It’s lined with action figures from all the latest movies; everything from Iron Man and Green Lantern to Toy Story and Pirates of the Caribbean. There are also action figures for WWE wrestling, video games like Halo and, yes, comic books. Just because most action figures come from superhero movies doesn’t mean companies out there aren’t making action figures from superhero comic books.
But why aren’t they making more action figures of my favorite superhero, Multiple Man?
They made this piece of crap once upon a time, but it's crap. Crap I say!
I’m not just squawking like a needy fanboy who wants a toy of his favorite superhero. I ask from a marketing/sales point of view. Think about it. Multiple Man’s super power is to make duplicates of himself. As if he went through a Xerox machine. Therefore, if fans wanted to recreate Multiple Man’s power with his action figure…they’d BUY MORE ACTION FIGURES!
I know I did.
How is this not a no-brainer for toy makers? You usually only ever need one action figure of a character to be happy. But with Multiple Man, poeple would and should buy multiple versions of the same toy to recreate his super powers! More sales!
And it’s not like toy companies wouldn’t touch someone as unknown as Multiple Man. They’re constantly pumping out superhero action figures, not just popular characters like Spider-Man or Batman. They dig into annals of superhero comics to give really obscure characters their own figures. Blackheart, Ms. Marvel, the Metal Men, Captain Ahab, the Wrecker, USAgent, Morph, and many, many more all have had legitimate action figures in the past. And the companies try crappy little gimmicks to recreate their super powers. Cyclops’ eye visor will light up. Wolverine’s claws will pop in and out of his forearms. Spider-Man will come with a plastic web. Nightcrawler had suction cups on his hands so that he’d stick to windows.
Multiple Man needs nothing more than the simple act of BUYING MORE ACTION FIGURES!
Multiple Man has only had a small selection of action figures over the years. The picture above was the first ever Multiple Man action figure, and it was a comic book convention exclusive. It’s essentially a crappy Spider-Man action figure repainted to look like Multiple Man. You couldn’t buy it in stores. I ordered one on e-Bay. Only recently has he been getting any toy aisle recognition.
Multiple Man got a Heroclix token, a Mini-Mates figurine and only last year did he get a legitimate Marvel superheroes action figure. I bought three of them. But they’re his crappy, bad guy Ultimate version using the costume he wore back in the 1980s!
Yes, I own them all.
Compare this to characters like Batman, Spider-Man or Wolverine, who get dozens upon dozens of action figures each time a new line or wave comes out. And they give them crappy little gimmicks. Like Sky Dive Batman, Disaster Control Batman, Combat Belt Batman, Turbojet Batman, Web-Cannon Spider-Man, Night Shadow Spider-Man, Hyper-Tech Spider-Man, Vampire Spider-Man, Anti-Vampire Spider-Man, Werewolf Wolverine, Battle-Ravaged Wolverine, Spy Wolverine…
So basically, I just really really want a cool, legitimate, well-made Multiple Man action figure. Is that really too much to ask for?
Review: X-Men: Schism #5
And so the X-Men are split asunder! Destruction has come to Utopia, but a growing rift between Cyclops and Wolverine has brought the two long-time allies to blows! Who is right? Who is wrong? Can they put aside their differences in time to save the day? Can the X-Men as a family ever recover from that stinging comment about Jean Grey? Can the X-Men defeat one solitary Sentinel? The answer to a lot of those questions is ‘yes’. But as to whether or not the big X-Men split makes any legitimate sense, the answer is most definitely ‘no’.
X-Men: Schism #5
I am not ashamed to say that I completely agree with Cyclops on this one. Wolverine’s decision and his reasoning for breaking the X-Men in half fly in the face of decades of X-Men history! I just don’t buy it.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
That’s not to say this wasn’t an enjoyable issue. The fight between Cyclops and Wolverine came to a great conclusion, and remained epic and brutal throughout. The day was saved in wonderful superhero fashion, and the debate between the two star characters was both respectful and intelligent. They didn’t just part ways flipping each other off, is what I’m saying. The years of respect and camaraderie remained between them, even as they went their separate ways. All in all, I’d definitely say that X-Men: Schism was a worthwhile story. There were some annoying parts, like everything with the new Hellfire Club or Idie, and the character rift wasn’t as clear until issue #4, but now that it’s complete, I think it’s a good story.
But Wolverine’s reasoning is just ridiculous! As much as I may have liked this issue, I had to bring it down a grade for how foolishly stupid and naive Wolverine seems, and how the titular split doesn’t make any sense. Spoilers and more after the jump.
Hey Look, It’s the Avengers!
Hey, hey we’re the Avengers, and we like to Avenger around. Check out these awesome official photos from Entertainment Weekly. We get a mix of publicity photos and set photos of the Avengers. They’re not the greatest of photos…but just seeing them in good definition, non-grainy images is a thing of beauty.My favorite is this one of Tony Stark standing around with Captain America.
A possible movie bromance?
Just the sight of them together…it’s hard to wrap my head around. That’s Captain America hanging out with Tony Stark! This is real. They look great together. The image really works. I can’t wait for a full reveal of all the Avengers together in costume. It’s going to overwhelm the Internet.
Here we have Hawkeye and Black Widow shooting at something. Maybe aliens!
I hope it's aliens
The funniest picture is of the cast just hanging out in costume with director Joss Whedon. I don’t know if it’s just me, but Joss Whedon has been aging terribly.
Oh how I wish I was there
The weirdest picture of them all is the character profile of Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo. This is supposed to be the Incredible Hulk, and this was the best face he could make?
You won't like him when he's pouty
Further Scarlet Spider Teases
A new teaser image of the Scarlet Spider (or a version of him) was released by Marvel Comics today and it looks pretty cool. You may recall back at the San Diego Comic Con, Marvel released an image of his iconic sweatshirt on fire. I posted it then, excited that Scarlet Spider may return. He’s a clone of Peter Parker, and was a big deal when my brother and I first got into reading Spider-Man comics. Well he’s been dead since the mid-90s, so any hints that he might be coming back are pretty cool.
Check out the imagine and a new costume…though the same iconic blue hoodie.
Apparently he'll be teaming up with Bargain Basement Daredevil
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #2
The spidery world of Miles Morales grows a little bit bigger in this second issue. Some of it is welcome and exciting, and some of it is too much too soon. But once again writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli knock one out of the park in terms of character and storytelling. Miles takes a few big steps in this issue and learns some important life lessons – not to mention spider lessons. That the reader gets to go along for the ride is the real treat.
Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #2
The All-New Ultimate Spider-Man is off to a good start. But I don’t think the characters have yet earned the heavy drama in this issue, at least not Miles’ father.
There will be spoilers!
Once again, decompression is the name of the game. Bendis is taking his time introducing us to new star Miles Morales, and he’s also taking the time to introduce Miles to his new spider-powers. We all saw Miles get bitten by the bug last issue. Now it’s time to see what that means. I do not mind the decompression, especially not from Bendis. He practically introduced the concept to the world of comics with the original Ultimate Spider-Man. He writes great dialogue and really delves into the personality of his characters. Unfortunately, we only get a taste of Bendis’ usual snappy banter in this issue. Too much is given over to a long speech by Miles’ father. It’s a nice speech, but we don’t yet know the character enough for it to matter.
At least the rest of the issue is Miles having a goofy, youthful conversation with his dorky friend Ganke.
Henchman-4-Hire