As promised last week, I’m back with another look at the Marvel Legends comic-based characters from the two recent Guardians of the Galaxy-themed waves. This was an interesting couple of waves for me as a fan who currently interacts with the Marvel Universe through the films more than comics. I’m a big comic reader, but I certainly have gaps in my reading and a lot of these characters fell into those gaps in my knowledge. Click through for some more pics and thoughts about these Marvel Legends!
Death’s Head II is one of the few comic-based figures in this wave where I did read his book at the time of publication. During the ’90s, I pretty much only read books illustrated by Alan Davis and was disenchanted with comics for the most part. Death’s Head II jumped out at me because the inker was Paul Neary, part of the original art team on my all-time favorite comic Excalibur.
He has an almost comically “extreme” design, but, damn, it works for me as a toy.
I had not read any of the new Nova series prior to buying this figure, but I read the first trade and enjoyed it. It felt a little derivative of things I’ve read before but was enjoyable. The figure is pretty fun and poseable.
Having Titus, the main antagonist for Nova in that first arc, works well. He’s an odd design, but it’s a fun figure and the contrast to the tiny Nova is amusing and the sculpt is fantastic.
The inclusion of Phlish is a fun little accessory and adds to the overall range of character sizes.
I read a bunch of Hickman’s Avengers run to get a sense of Ex Nihilo, and he seems to mostly stand around and monologue with a big grin on his face, and this figure captures the feel of Ex from the books perfectly.
Darkhawk is a cool character that I know folks have been asking after for a long time, so it’s great to finally get him.
Vance Astro makes me want a comic based Yondu badly. The portrait is dead-on and I love the metallic paint job on his suit.
I’m familiar with Adam Warlock, but I think I would have preferred a Starlin-era take on him. I do have to say that I prefer this version of Magus.
Finally, we have Angela, a Spawn refugee that has been added to Asgard’s pantheon and an ally of The Guardians of the Galaxy. This is another case where ’90s excess design cues makes for a really fun figure. The only issue I have is that the sword is a little gummy.
Overall, I’m glad to have these figures. The only one that’s kind of rough for me is Ex Nihilo. I ended up liking the figure, but after reading his appearances, I actively hate the character.
