Gentle Giant Reviews!

— August 2, 2006

Ok, guys and gals…in the never ending battle of why Gentle Giant is the company putting out the best products in the market for the last 4 years, I am starting a series of reviews of all their mini busts. I will also be reviewing their statues and some other items like the bust-ups and maquettes. So stay tuned and make sure to let us know if there is any item in particular you want reviewed.

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Marvel Legends Icons Wolverine Review

— July 9, 2006

Michael Crawford reviewed the Marvel Legends Icons Wolverine over at his site here. These are essentially 12″ versions of Marvel Legends. In the first series, there are Wolverine, Iron Man and Captain America with variants of each. Wolverine and Cap have unmasked versions while Iron Man has a gold variant.

According to Mike, these are showing up at Toys R Us right now. He also says that the variants are easier to find than the regular versions right now. This is most likely an error that will be corrected as they show up in greater numbers. So look for these at your TRU, and head over to Mike’s site and check out the review!

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SPOILERS AHEAD: Amazing Spider-man #532 Review

— June 19, 2006

My spoiler free opinion of this issue is that it is was a really good read. Secondly, it explains a lot of what is going on in Civil War. I wish I had read this issue before reading Civil War #2. The rest of the review contains SPOILERS, so don’t read on unless you want to know what happens. You’ve been warned.

Now that that is out of the way, this issue is about why Tony Stark is for superhero registration. This is the explanation that I have been looking for, BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE. Since reading Civil War #1, I haven’t been able to understand why Iron Man is supporting the superhero registration act. After reading this issue, I still don’t agree with Tony’s stance but at least I understand it. The first half of the issue is actually spent giving a detailed explanation of why Tony Stark believes he should back the registration and why he should be the one to round up those that are against it.

The second half of this issue deals with Peter Parker and the unmasking of Spider-man. Tony actually asks for Peter’s support and tells him that if he stands with him he will back the amendment and he will reveal his identity to the world. Peter struggles with the decision, but at the end of this issue, it is obvious that he is about to reveal his secret identity. This issue also explains the reason why Peter reveals his identity. It comes from Aunt May and Mary Jane, and they actually do a good job of convincing the reader why he should do it. I don’t agree with this decision either, but I do understand why Spider-man does this at the end of this issue.

The only other negative I have is the artwork. This story is illustrated by Ron Garney. I have to say I don’t usually complain about Marvel’s artwork, but I don’t like the cartoony style that I have seen a lot of lately. That is the problem with Garney’s artwork here.

Other than that, it is a really good issue, and it looks like this will be a good storyline. I actually enjoyed this book more than ‘Civil War’ 1 & 2. If you are reading ‘Civil War,’ this issue is really needed to help understand the recent events that take place in that storyline. It always bugs me when Marvel makes a separate book essential reading to understand what is going on in another book. But I guess now that they have blockbuster storylines that crossover with 30 other titles every year, this is just part of the comics world we live in.

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SPOILERS AHEAD: Civil War #2 Review

— June 17, 2006

The second issue in Marvel’s “Civil War” arrived in stores this Wednesday. Apparently, there was a lot of hype surrounding this issue that had escaped me. As a result, I wasn’t informed enough to try and avoid the spoilers long enough to go ahead and read the issue to see what the fuss was about. Anyway, the big reveal that was planned for this issue was spoiled for me on the Sideshow website. They have since taken down the offending post, but the damage has been done.

It seems that I wasn’t the only one that had the issue spoiled for me. The New York Post published an article Wednesday spoiling the issue. Other web sites, mainly Yahoo!, picked up the story and ran with images on the front page. So it was spoiled for lots of other people. Newsarama even had a blog post asking where were you when the issue was spoiled.

Having said all that, I want to talk about this issue anyway so here goes. Remember this post contains SPOILERS so if you don’t want to know what I am talking about, don’t read any further!

After reading issue #2, I am still confused about what is going on. I don’t understand why Tony Stark and others are so supportive of the registration law. But later in the issue we see that Stark is struggling with the issue after all. He is struggling with it so much that he is willing to take down Captain America?

All that aside, the issue was pretty good. We learn about something called 42, which appears to be a Superhero incarceration device constructed by Reed Richards. We also learn that Nick Fury is back and supporting Captain America and his crew. Personally, I was thrilled to learn that Daredevil is part of the resistance.

Okay, on to the final panels, Spider-man reveals his identity publicly at a press conference held by Tony Stark. So now we add Peter Parker to the list of publicly known superheroes. Is there any heroes in the Marvel U that have secret identities anymore? I can probably count them on one hand.

Joe Quesada claims that this is part of a larger story that will have a big impact in the next year, but don’t they say that about every story line? I really don’t see the point of this. It used to be that the secret identity was something that was prized above all else, especially Spider-man’s. What happened to not wanting to endanger the lives of his wife and Aunt May? Well, that is most assuredly coming soon.

I thought that I would enjoy this book because Mark Millar was writing it. Right now, I am still undecided. There are very strange things going on here that cause me to be suspicious about what Marvel is up to. I plan to keep reading it just see what is going to happen next, which I guess is Marvel’s plan all along.

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Review: Marvel Select Spider-Woman

— June 6, 2006

I received the new Marvel Select Spider-Woman from my local comic book store last Wednesday. I thought I would try giving it a review here at Hero Hunt. First, I am a big fan of this character. That is pretty much the only reason I picked this up. I don’t own any other Marvel Select figures. But, when I saw the prototype images for this figure, I knew I would want it. It was a slightly different story though once I got it. I like this figure overall. However, the problems with this figure stem from the differences between the prototype and the final version.

The sculpt is great. It matches the source material very well and looks exactly like the Spider-Woman we have seen in the pages of the New Avengers. One of the first things that catches your eye is the wings. The wings are sculpted out of hard plastic and are attached to the arms and hips. This affects the articulation but I will talk about that later. Other than that, I did not have any issues with the sculpt of this figure. She is even small enough to be in scale with your Marvel Legends.

Of the ones I saw, every one of them had issues with the paint however. I was able to pick out the best one, but I got lucky. Hopefully, you may have an easier time. But the ones I looked at had very sloppy paint jobs. The one on mine is satisfactory, but there is a lot of potential for bleed with all the red, black and yellow. The paint is also a metallic color which may throw you off at first glance.

The articulation on Spider-Woman is very good. She has a ball jointed neck, shoulders and hips with pin wrists, elbows, knees and ankles. That is better than a DC Direct figure usually but not Marvel Legends. As I mentioned before though, the wings restrict the arm movement. The neck joint is also restricted by the hair a bit.

Last, we have the accessories. She comes with a base with 3 Hydra henchmen that attach to pegs on the base. Also included is some sort of blast that attaches to something but I couldn’t figure out where. The base and the figures are very nicely sculpted and painted, but this is where a lot was lost in translation from prototype to final product. In the prototype images, Spider-Woman is standing atop the stairs facing the soldiers. On the base I received, the stairs are not facing the henchmen and there is an urn with fire sculpted onto the top of the stairs. There is a peg for her foot next to it, but she will not fit standing at the top with the urn there. This is not what was shown in the prototype images, and renders the base pretty useless in my opinion.

This is my first Marvel Select figure. Overall, I really like it, but I may be biased because Spider-Woman is my favorite female character. If you can find a good paint job, I recommend picking it up. It will tide you over at least until the Marvel Legends version comes out. At $19, it was a bit pricey though. Especially since the base was probably the most expensive thing, and you can’t pose the figure with it like it was originally intended.

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Marvel Legends 13 Geen Goblin Review

— June 4, 2006

Marvel Legends 13 Geen Goblin review by Michael Crawford over on his site is a review of the new Marvel Legends Green Goblin. As always, Mike has some great pics for us. Plus, he really seems to like this figure. I am really looking forward to this figure as well, so I hope to find Marvel Legends 13 soon!

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