Harley Qwednesday :: February is Harley Quinn Variant Month at DC!

Next February DC Comics will be shipping 22 of their titles with Harley Quinn themed variant covers. I don't know if the stories within will involve Harley Quinn too (I doubt it) but some of these are suitable for framing and I might very well try to get one or two of them.

Check out the roster below:

Action Comics #39
by Nicola Scott &
Danny Miki
and Jeremy Cox

The cowboy hat/boots really sell this one.

Aquaman #39
by Amanda Conner
and Paul Mounts

Oh Harley, Aquaman is not pleased with your Dolphin Lasers!

Batgirl #39
by Cliff Chiang

This one is pretty cute, and proves that Harley isn't the only one in Gotham with a sense of humor!

Batman & Robin #39
by Emanuela Lupacchino
and Tomeu Morey

I really like this one. sexy, cute and a little retro too! Since I pick Batman & Robin up monthly, I hope my LCS gives me this variant by default!

Batman #39
by Jill Thompson
and CV Painting

This one is pretty funny, and has a bit of a Tim Sale feel to the artwork. I like it!

Batman/Superman #19
by J.G. Jones
and Alex Sinclair

This one seems like an 'inside joke' for the artists/writers, with the audience members being caricatures of them or other inside folks. And they really nailed that Batmobile.

Catwoman #39
by Jim Balent

At first I thought this was a parody of oversexualized Catwoman covers. Then I saw that it is actually by Jim Balent, which makes it sort of 'Meta' and makes me want it in spite of myself.

Detective Comics #39
by Dave Johnson

Harley looks sufficiently crazy on this cover!

The Flash #39
by Amanda Conner
and Paul Mounts

Cute concept.

Grayson #7
by Dan Panosian

A lot of action in this one. Very James Bond. I like it!

Green Lantern Corps #39
by Jason Pearson

This one also feels like it was inspired by Tim Sale.

Green Lantern #39
by Mike McKone
and Dave McCaig

Nice helmet, GL!

Harley Quinn #15
by Marco D'Alfonso

Two lunatic Harley Quinns. Good times.

Justice League Dark #39
by Joe Quinones

This cover is pure unadulterated genius! Joe Quinones hits one out of the park! I have to get this one!

Justice League #39
by Dustin Nguyen
and CV Painting

Dustin Nguyen's range is apparent in this cover, which is simply a thing of pure beauty!

Justice League United #9
by Mikel Janin
and CVDL

This cover isn't terribly inspired. Missed opportunity!

Sinestro #10
by Ian Bertram and
Matt Hollingsworth

I love the style here, and the visual joke is pretty clever too.

Supergirl #39
by Joe Benitez and
Peter Steigerwald

Such a great expression on Harley's face on this cover!

Superman #39
by Amanda Conner
and Paul Mounts

More clever cuteness from the great Amanda Conner!

Superman/
Wonder Woman #16
by Francis Manapul
and CVDL

This one looks like a piece of museum quality fine art. If only Wonder Woman's role were being played by Lois Lane. Sigh.

Teen Titans #7
by Sean Galloway

Super cute!

Wonder Woman #39
by Phil Jiminez
and Hi–Fi

This one is pretty 'classic comic cover' and I just love that Kenner inspired mallet! I'll definitely pick this one up if I can get my hands on it!

Well that's all 22 of the Harley Quinn variant covers available February 2015. Do you plan on picking any up?

Clawful :: Crableg Variant Edition

Clawful is one of my favorite MOTU characters of all time. Why I don't have the MOTUC version is beyond me. Well, actually I've attempted to get him a couple times, and the stars mis-align to keep him out of my grasp every time. A story for another time however...today let's look at an original Clawful that I was able to net!

This is the leg variant version of Clawful, with different legs than the standard Clawful (of which I own the early 2000s re-release.)

The other version I own has Skeletor legs, but this version has Buzz-Off legs. Not sure how these variants were released, what numbers they appeared in, or if either is more valuable than the other. I do know that this version has crossed my path far less than the other version, so I would say this one is the harder to find of the two.

I won this Clawful, complete with his green mace, off of the Pop Pop, It's Trash Culture blog a couple months back. It's nice to have an actual original Clawful again, since he was a childhood favorite. I can now add this original MOTU Clawful leg variant to my collection that consists of the Clawful re-release and my Fuerza T Destructor.

Clawful was a pretty foolish individual in the cartoon, but I always saw him as a formidable sea-based foe for the Masters. And the fact that he did not speak with a Maine accent is a massive missed opportunity in my opinion.

Clawful was one of the last MOTU figures I got as a child before I grew out of the toyline, and I think that also has an affect on his nostalgia factor for me.

Harley Qwednesday :: Imaginext Harley Quinn Variants

While waiting for my Imaginext Harley Quinn to arrive I noticed something odd on the pics I've been seeing of 'in hand' examples:

On the left is a Harley Quinn currently listed on eBay (PS don't buy these on eBay - they're still in stock on F-P's website!) and on the right is the one Chunky B has in hand.

Anyways, lighting notwithstanding, the major difference between these two Harley Quinns are her arms and hands - note that in the pic on the left her arms/hands are correctly colored to Harley Quinn's original costume design and on the right (Chunky B's version) the red and black are inverted! This isn't a simple case of mismatched parts either - Chunky B reports that his arms hands are anatomically correct (and so are Harley's HAW HAW!) There are also more examples of each variation on eBay.

So it appears there is a variant out there. Why? Maybe she was 'fixed' early on in production and 'corrected' for the rest of her manufacture run. Or maybe there are just two different versions (possibly from two factories?) It is odd that they made both arms and both hands in both colors, yet did not mismatch the colors (ex: black arm black hand.) which makes me believe that it wasn't an assembly mistake.

I do hope when (IF!) I get mine she is the correct version. Sure, this isn't nearly as ugly a design faux-pas as Aquaman's yellow boots, but it would be nice to have Harley looking right.

Follow-up Question

Fans of the Question waited decades until the character, originally published in Charlton Comics and later acquired by DC, was released from copyright limbo and allowed to become "real" in the form of a little plastic action figure.

Last year Charles Victor "Vic Sage" Szazs was released as part of the JLU toyline, representing his fan-favorite appearance in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.

Kudos to Mattel for not stopping there.

My new-found fascination with DC Infinite Heroes had me perusing the pegs a little closer the other night, and I found The Question!


(Click for larger Image)

But here's the coolest part, I found the Question "variant" figure! This one is different from the image on the card, which shows the standard figure; the variant has a different colored suit and lighter brown hair, as well as an overcoat:



I didn't realize they were releasing variants in this line, and as with most collectors, I have a love/hate relationship with variants. That is, I hate them when I can't find them and love them when I do.



That's not entirely true. I also think variants that do nothing to enhance a figure or reflect an actual comic/cartoon/movie representation of the character are lame. This Question is great because the overcoat is part of his look in many Question appearances and it really enhances the figure's design.

In fact, he's so cool that I'm not sure if I want to free him from his plastic prison just yet. I think I'll wait to get the standard Question figure and weigh my options then.

So now my DCIH ranks have reached two. Since I don't see this train stopping any time soon, I think I'll steal my friend Charles' G.I. Joe/Cobra ranking system in order to keep track :)

Infinite Heroes: 1
Infinite Villains: 1