How I Made My First Marvel Legends Custom Figure

Something different for today! I’ve had a recent desire to get back into a childhood hobby of mine: Marvel Legends! With the march of time, the toy line of Marvel figures has changed hands from Toy Biz to Hasbro and there’s been many improvements in how these toys are made. With that said, I found a bunch of heavily discounted Marvel Legends figures, many of them X-Men related, and on a whim, I snapped them up with one goal: make custom MC2 Marvel Legends figures!  Here’s my first attempt, making the leader of the Uncanny X-People; Jubilee as she appears in the MC2.

 

To start off with, I had purchased the X-Men ’97 series Jubilee figure which has a great head sculpt and detailing. Normally Jubilee figures portray her rocking her iconic 90’s clothing with the blue gloves, rolled up yellow jacket, pink shirt and blue shorts, but the figure here reflects her costume change from seen at the end of X-Men ‘97’s first season. Fortunately, I also picked up the Husk figure from the Nemesis Build-A-Figure series, which has the now-classic Generation X red body suit I needed. I learned as a kid that hot water and Marvel Legends don’t mix, and thus with a ‘boil and pop’ I hit what I thought was my first stumbling block.

 

Oh no! Are the heads not interchangeable? Turns out the pegs are designed the same, and with a little adjustment I was able to swap them over. Some blue tack was required as one head socket was bigger than the other. The boil and pop let me take Jubilee’s coat and arms out and re-place them on the Husk figure’s torso.

 

The second problem, and again it was very minor, was the hands. Jubilee in the MC2 wears yellow gloves, the 90’s version had blue gloves and neither of these figures had either. Enter the Age of Apocalypse Rogue figure which was part of the Colossus Build-A-Figure series. Marked down a ridiculous 80%, I got this and several others in a bundle very cheap. And she has yellow gloves. Everything came together and all is right with the world, folks!

 

Anyway, I’m extremely happy with how this turned out and how easily the parts came together. I’m looking forward to making more in the (MC2) future so stay tuned!

 

Until I figure out how to paint figures, manufacture my own accessories and make my own dollies, I remain

 

frogoat

Mutant Spotlight: Daze

 

The mutants of the MC2 present a tantalizing glimpse at days of future present, allowing us to see how the mutant minority is treated in an overall brighter reality from most X-Men stories. Let’s take a brief look at one of the most obscure mutants to originate in the MC2niverse: Daze.

Not to be confused with the Main Marvel Universe character nor the 2099 character both also coincidentally known as Daze, the MC2’s Daze made her first (and at time of writing only) appearance in the pages of J2 #10. Daze’s real name is unrevealed, though she may be a native of the island nation Madripoor, given her welcome greeting to Zane Yama aka J2 and Logan aka Wolverine.

Daze appears to be around Zane’s age, certainly the two are nearly the same height. Daze also appears to be of African descent, and though some online databases claim she is African American, I cannot see any indication she’s from the United States. That said, Daze is a fan of the Avengers, quickly recognizing J2. Recruited by the enigmatic magnetically powered Magneta to join a potential super-team alongside Rina Logan aka Wild Thing and J2 (unbeknownst to the Avenger himself), Daze was evidently selected for her ability to transform into various gaseous vapours.

 

Beyond the fact she was being tested and evaluated by Rina and Magneta as prospective team member, we don’t learn anything further including the potential finalized line-up of Magneta’s team, nor what became of Daze following Magneta’s turn to the dark side in later stories.

 

I submit Daze for your approval, faithful readers. In a just world, she’d be part of an ‘All-New, All Different X-People’ relaunch book and we’d know far more about her. What say you? Anyone interested in a Madripoor post?

 

Until I stop thinking of Jimi Hendrix while reading about this purple Daze, I remain

 

frogoat    

Spider-Symmetry: Sal Buscema

 

Since learning of the passing of Mr Sal Buscema, I’ve struggled to find an adequate way to show my respect for one of comics’ true legends. I’m deeply saddened and at a loss as to how to convey how much of an impact Sal has had upon the industry and myself personally. That said, I think the best kind of tributes come from fellow artists in the field, so here is just one example of Spider-Symmetry which demonstrates the impact of and sincere reverence for Our Pal Sal from one such comic book artist, Mr Ron Frenz.

 

From the pages of the fantastic ‘The Child Within’ story which ran through Spectacular Spider-Man #178-#183 (with an epilogue in #184) by J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema, we get this wonderful full-page splash to end issue #173:

 

As penciller on Spider-Girl, Amazing Spider-Girl and the Spectacular Spider-Girl eras, Mr Ron Frenz would pay homage several times to long-time Spider-Girl inker and good friend Mr Sal Buscema, with today’s example coming from the final issue of the Spectacular Spider-Girl mini-series, issue #4:

 

Sal’s contributions to the comic book industry cannot be overstated, from his extensive runs across various titles, to his famous and dynamic ‘Sal Buscema Punch’ pose, to his dedication and kindness, not to mention inspiring entire generations of comic book fans and aspiring artists. We have lost a major pillar of the MC2 Universe, someone who chose to essentially come out of retirement to work on Spider-Girl and for that I will be forever grateful. Thank you, Sal.

 

 

Until I manage to better find the words to express myself, I remain

 

frogoat

What to Watch Before Wonder Man

 

The newest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to release on Disney+ in mere days, so I’ve put together a list of the most relevant previous MCU entries of both the movies and shows to watch before the Wonder Man series hits our screens.

 

 

For this first entry, I recommend starting with Iron Man 3 (2013) which (kind of) introduced the armoured Avenger’s comic book arch-foe, The Mandarin. Controversially, the movie instead delivered a rug-pull moment and revealed ‘The Mandarin’ to be (SPOILERS!) actor Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) playing the role of the terrorist villain in propaganda material for the real mastermind of the film.

 

 

The fallout from the controversial decision was mitigated somewhat with the release of the short film All Hail the King, first released on the 2014 home release of Thor: The Dark World and now easily found on Disney+. The short focuses on the incarcerated Trevor Slattery being interviewed by a reporter who reveals there is a real Mandarin who is very much angered at his title and Ten Rings organisation being co-opted. The ending is ambiguous, with Trevor being broken out of prison to meet his namesake…

 

Next up, 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming introduced the Department of Damage Control, who were responsible for cleaning up in the wake of the Battle of New York seen in the first Avengers movie.

 

Notably, they grow and take on more responsibilities, collecting advanced technology and policing those with superpowers as we would see in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Ms. Marvel (2022) and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). The most relevant DODC member is Agent Cleary (Arian Moayed) who will return in Wonder Man, pursing Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).

 

Meanwhile, Trevor Slattery returns in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), having been kept almost as a court jester by Wenwu (the real name of ‘The Mandarin’) to entertain members of his Ten Rings organisation. I’m curious to learn how Trevor made it back from mystical Ta Lo and headed to Hollywood for Wonder Man…

 

Hopefully that’s all the background you might need before Wonder Man releases this week.

 

Until I go full method and gain superpowers requiring cool shades, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

Is Devil Dinosaur in the MC2?

 

Here’s a fun idea I’ve been chewing over for a while now: What characters could exist in the MC2, but where never seen, referenced or perhaps simply weren’t introduced into Marvel Comics until afterwards? I’ve previously produced a post pondering this proposal when I looked at one of the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy to see if Groot could potentially exist in the MC2. For today, I wanted to take a bite out of another character I’m fond of, to see if Devil Dinosaur could exist in the MC2?

First, we must consider some rules, ironic though it may seem for a thought experiment such as this. Usually the MC2’s point of divergence, ‘cut off point’ or ‘branching point,’ is comics published after 1998, when the MC2 imprint began publication. There have been exceptions to this, with some characters who were created after this point appearing in the MC2, such as Anya Corazón aka Araña. With regards to Devil Dinosaur, we have a very different issue to consider.

 

Created by the king of comics himself, Jack Kirby, Devil first appeared in Devil Dinosaur #1 from 1978. Devil is a mutant tyrannosaurus-like theropod dinosaur of the species known as ‘Devil-Beasts’ (Fallen Angels #4). While Mr Kirby’s intent was for Devil and his ‘Small-Folk’ hominid companion Moon Boy to hail from the distant past of the Main Marvel Universe or Earth-616, it’s now firmly established that they originate from an alternate Earth known as ‘Dinosaur World’, which is officially and in-universe designated as Earth-78411 (The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (vol. 1) #3, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #7, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update ’89 #2, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #8,Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone (and the Monster Hunters) and so on). With all that information as support, it’s safe to say Devil Dinosaur is not native to the 616 Universe. So, does that rule him out of the MC2 Universe also?

 

Fortunately, Devil has traversed the multiverse on multiple occasions, in addition to interacting with visitors to his world from the 616 including Godzilla via Doctor Doom’s Time Platform (Godzilla #21-#22). Devil and Moon Boy have also encountered various others including a Skrull (Devil Dinosaur Spring Fling #1),Lockheed (and nearly Shadowcat) of Excalibur (Marvel Comics Present #174), Ghost Rider and Howard the Duck (Ghost Rider (vol. 3) #81-#83), Wolverine, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Ka-Zar (Wolverine: Global Jeopardy #1) and the Fallen Angels group which included members of the New Mutants team (Fallen Angels #4-#8).

 

One significant story came in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Annual ’98 (aka ‘Annual #31’) written by none other than Spider-Girl co-creator Tom Defalco. This story saw the duo of Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur stranded once again on Earth-616 and this time under the hypnotic influence of the Ringmaster of Crime. After Spider-Man liberated the pair, he suggested their relocation to the Savage Land where they were settled soon after.

 

Not only is this story written by MC2 alumni Tom Defalco, but it was also published in 1998 making it a likely inclusion into our hypothetical pre-MC2-publication cut off point. So, could Devil Dinosaur reside in the MC2? Yes, it is possible Devil and Moon Boy remain secluded in the remote Savage Land of Antarctica. Considering no published MC2 stories have visited the Savage Land, I’d like to think Devil and his friend are still out there…

 

Until we get Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Season 3, I remain

 

frogoat