LEGO MOC Justice Society of America

I was thinking about The Spectre today, probably because of the new James Bond movie, and it dawned on me that I probably had (between all the LEGO and bootlego pieces I have lying around) enough bits and bobs to make an honest to goodness Spectre minifigure.

I returned home from work (because those are the thoughts I have when I am bored at work) and busted out my stash...and as it turns out I was right!

I've posted about my MOC Jay Garrick Flash and my Sandman minfigures before. As for Spectre, I pieced him together from a bootlego Green Arrow hood, a bootlego Loki cape, a LEGO ghost torso and arms, random white legs, a LEGO Toy Story army man's green hands, a random LEGO green crotch, and a LEGO Ninjago skull.

I love The Spectre, and can't believe it took me this long to piece a LEGO version together!

Enter Lego Sandman :: A Random Toy Pic

This here is a custom Lego JSA founding member Wesley Dodds - aka the original Golden Age Sandman - that I just put together tonight. Lego savvy readers will note the gas-mask is not Lego! The gas-mask actually came from a Kre-O Cityville Invasion blind bagged figure (Hazmat Henry). I found the Kre-O figures on clearance at Target last night, and today realized I had all the rest of the parts needed to make a pretty swell Sandman minifigure! AW YEAH JSA!

Got tough stains? Use Ultra Humanite! Now with Retsin!

One of my favorite action figures of all time is Ultra Humanite from the Justice League action figure toyline.

I just love the character design and character himself. Originally debuting as a proto Lex Luthor (bald mad scientist against Superman) in Action Comics #13, June 1939, Ultra Humanite was killed off in 1940 and didn't re-appear until years later as part of Earth 2 continuity.

Ultra Humanite has survived for many years by transferring his brain from his original body into various vessels over the decades, finally settling on an albino ape (because ALBINO APE!)

As odd a choice as he may seem, Ultra Humanite was one of the first villains to be released in action figure form for the Justice League cartoon. He was of course a welcome foil to the original seven and also of course quite hard to find (because MATTEL!)

In addition, he was released looking exactly like he did in the cartoon, not with day-glow pants or a scuba suit (like most toys from that era.) Ultra Humanite is also superior to most standard Justice League or JLU action figures in that 1) he's an oversized figure roughly in scale to his cartoon counterpart with the other Justice League action figures 2) his construction includes zero re-used parts and 3) he can stand upright on his own.

All of these factors were a big deal in the early 2000s when Ultra Humanite made his plastic debut.

Another factor in making this Ultra Humanite a favorite action figure of mine: I am not an articulationazi; in my opinion Ultra Humanite has just the right amount. Shoulders, elbows, legs, neck and even wrists!

I don't need an Ultra Humanite that can do the splits or suck his own toes and neither do you.

Sadly, although Ultra Humanite is an oversized figure he appears either undersized (or Gorilla Grodd is oversized) when placed next to the JLU Gorilla Grodd action figure. This fact is a wonder of science and nature because Mattel could have very easily re-used UH parts to make Grodd (because MATTEL!) yet they did not, opting instead to just make Gorilla Grodd a hard to find Target exclusive packed with a bunch of re-issues (because MATTEL!)

Finally, Ultra Humanite is awesome because he fits in with almost any toyline of this scale: He can be a Cobra experiment gone awry, he can hang with the big boys in the Mos Eisley Cantina, he can stomp Lego mini-figures until the Lego cows come home.

He is indeed Ultra.

Ultra Humanite originally came with a gun/hoversled accessory which wasn't half bad but is stored away somewhere else for now. But that's okay, Ultra Humanite needs nothing but his keen intellect to destroy the Justice League, the JSA, Superman, or even that chrome-domed pretender Lex Luthor!

Livin' After Mid-Nite...

...Rockin' in the dark!

I love the JSA and the Golden Age of comic book superheroes that spawned the legendary team. One of the greatest of that rag tag group of colorfully clad crime stoppers is Doctor Mid-Nite.

Decades before Marvel's blind superhero began cavorting around rooftops in silly colored underwear, Dr. Charles McNider lost his sight in a blast meant for one of his patients. He later discovered that although blind in normal light, he had perfect vision in absolute darkness! Taking on the persona of Doctor Mid-Nite (because that's what you do when you discover you have a strange ability, right?) McNider soon joined the ranks of the Justice Society of America along with his "black-out bombs" and trusty owl friend Hooty!

"Give a hoot, don't pollute...the halls of justice!"

Hooty rests on Mid-Nite's forearm nicely and even has neck articulation, so he can spin his head all the way around just like a real owl!

"Who turned on the lights?"

As poorly distributed as DC Universe figures are and as difficult as Mattel makes it to get these toys to me, one of my collector's goals is to get all the core members of the JSA in the DC Universe Classics style. I've missed out on Dr. Fate and Wildcat so far but was lucky enough to grab Doctor Mid-Nite and Spectre (more on him later) on the same trip.

Unfortunately for my stress levels, Green "Alan Scott" Lantern and Hourman are part of an upcoming Walmart exclusive wave, so I am going to have to be creative to track them down!

Good thing I have a cadre of collector friends...kind of like the JSA!

Smallville Absolute Justice JSA Painting

The amazing artist Rodolfo Migliari, who painted the JSA round table painting appearing in last night's Smallville Absolute Justice posted a great scan of it on his blog, and has allowed me to re-post it here!

This will have to hold us all over until DC or WB or whoever holds the reigns lets loose of a full sized print. So what are you waiting for, click it for a larger look and make it your computer's wallpaper - oh, and be sure to swing by Mr. Migliari's blog and tell him how utterly awesome his work is!

Hawkgirls Just Wanna Have Fun

Hawkgirl is a great character who really came into her own during the Justice League cartoon from a few years back. She is also a classic Golden Age JSA member. Finally, I have the DCUC Hawkman, so all that together made this DCUC figure one of my must haves, even as I decide to move away from really pursuing the line. Amazingly I found Hawkgirl at Target a couple weeks ago, so of course I snatched her up!

Hawkgirl comes with three weapons, a mace, a sword and a spear.

Her mask and hair make it impossible to move her head, but that's okay, because they did a great job capturing her classic look.

The weapons are all unique to Hawkgirl. That's a cool touch, as I expected at least the mace or sword to be repaints from Hawkman's release.

With the nineties Superboy coming soon from DCUC, I am going to get him to complete my 'Reign of Supermen.' I also want to get more JSA members as they trickle in. With Hawkgirl here, a John Stewart GL is a definite must too. But I swear, after all that, I'm out of DCUC collecting for good ;)

Smallville JSA painting line-up - straight from the artist himself!

When I discovered that the artists who painted the JSA mural for Smallville was the amazing Rodolfo Migliari, I went straight to the source (via his blog) and asked him if he could tell us who was featured in the painting. (I also asked if a print would be made available - I sure hope so, because I can SO see that painting hanging above the fireplace.)

Rodolfo is unsure about a print, but he was kind enough to respond to my query with the line-up! WOW! How cool is that?! Thanks Rodolfo! And now there's no question who we see.

So without further ado, here's his response:

"Bubbashelby, Thank you! I don't know about the print. But I can give you a list of the JSA members in the painting :) from left to right : The Golden Age Star Spangled Kid, Wildcat, The Golden Age Atom, The Golden Age Sandman, The Spectre, The Golden Age Flash, Hawkman & Hawkgirl, Doctor Fate, The Golden Age Green Lantern, The Golden Age Hourman, The Golden Age Dr. Mid-Nite, the Golden Age Black Canary and the Golden Age Mr. Terrific."

Thanks again Rodolfo!

Smallville JSA "Society" screencaps

I captured a few of the screen shots from the Smallville trailer I posted yesterday. Some of these images are seriously too good to be true, so prepare to have your eyes melt out of your head!

Dr. Fate!!!!

Fate had been announced as appearing in this episode before (along with Hawkman and Stargirl,) but the rest really blew my mind, and this episode (a two hour special no less!) is sure to have me grinning from geek ear to geek ear!


The JSA round table! Swoon!

Sandman!!! Drool!

Alan Scott's Green Lantern Ring! Gasp!

And the painting that has me totally flipping my lid. (UPDATE: The artist who painted this fine piece is none other than Rodolfo Migliari!) Even if all these guys don't appear in this episode beyond the painting, just acknowledging their existence in the Smallville universe is so so so very cool. The verdict on who is shown so far is:

Star Spangled Kid
Wildcat
Atom
Sandman
Spectre
Flash
Hawkman
Hawkwoman
Dr. Fate
Green Lantern
Hourman
Dr. Mid-nite
Black Canary (this is the one I question, as Dinah Lance has already appeared in Smallville - but it could be her mother maybe?)
Mr. Terrific

I'm still totally geeking out about this clip, and have watched it a few dozen times. I can't wait for Jan. 22nd!!!!!

Mamma Said Knock You Out!

Today's ToyRiffic toy is none other than boxer-turned-superhero Ted Grant, aka Wildcat!

Wildcat is one of the original members of the JSA, or Justice Society of America, and he debuted in the January 1942 issue of Sensation Comics #1.

Like Batman, Ted Grant has no super powers and also like Batman, he was co-created by Bill Finger (along with illustrator Irwin Hasen.)

It has also been ret-conned as comic book canon that Ted Grant trained a young Bruce Wayne in the "sweet science" when Bruce traveled the world before becoming the Batman.

This DC Direct figure came out sometime around 2000 I think. He was pretty hard to find at the time, I had to call and visit many comic shops before I found one that had him in stock, and he didn't hang on many shelves for long.

The sculpt is awesome but pretty simple, he's basically in a skin tight body suit and that's it. He's also sculpted in a pretty static pose, only his arms can really be repositioned and still look okay.

But that's fine, as Wildcat is always ready to bop someone in the nose.

Wildcat also had some awesome appearances in the JLU cartoon, and was released as an action figure in their toy line. Maybe the JLU Club Blog would like to share him with us all, and if not I can always whip mine out later ;)