It’s week #2 of Make My Marvel and I’m already digging in the couch cushions for crumbs. Off to a good start, no? Let’s take a trip into one of the lamer aspects of modern comics, the "extreme" replacement hero, with U.S. Agent!
First off, let’s go over last week’s poll:
At the time I’m writing this, Modern Madrox takes the pickle with 44% of the vote, followed closely by the X-factor blue & gold look with 38%. Surprisingly, "first appearance" only got 15% of the vote and (probably not surprisingly) the leathertastic X-Corps look got 0% with only one vote. The one vote would be me, so you all suck for not falling in line with my obviously superior opinion. I was going to spotlight somebody undeniably cool this week, but as punishment instead you get…
Make My Marvel! U.S. Agent
Cap’s a rotting corpse in Iron Man’s rumpus room now, so of course it’s time for this mort to show up again. Despite his ebbing popularity in the funnybooks, U.S. Agent’s gathered a decent number of supporters in the ML community.
This is usually the part where I give a little background on the character and his powers while simultaneously mocking the hefty amounts of comicbook cheese involved. I don’t really think that’s necessary this time, do you? All you need to know is that John Walker’s got nearly identical powers to Cap, but none of the personality. He’s not so much the Pepsi to Cap’s Coke– he’s more like a Tab or Sam’s Club. The one and only cool thing Captain Shasta has going for him is his look: all black with red boots and red & white stripes.
With a mass-market U.S. Agent figure, you’re undoubtedly going to have to live with some major parts re-use. Ultimate Cap’s lower legs and upper arms both work fine here, but he’ll need a new torso, gloves and head. Plus, as nice as ML8 Ultimate Cap was, this would be a primo opportunity to get rid of that crummy hunch.
When it comes to getting him into figure form, only two things work in U.S. Agent’s favor– luckily, they’re two really good things: He’s another version of Captain America, who tends to sell pretty well. And, with part re-use he’s one of the cheaper figures Hasbro could choose to make. Cheap, easy, & popular: works great for a toy or a prom queen.
Another note: With the Agent, Sasquatch, variant Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman, and Beta Ray Bill, we’re two figures shy of the entire Omega Flight team. It’s not THE premiere Canadian superteam, but it is A Canadian superteam. That’s better than nothing, eh you hosers?
Granted, by the time Hasbro could get around to making Talisman and Guardian, Omega Flight will probably have already been $%&#-canned.
Now, which costume would you want Hasbro to make?
First Appearance/Super Patriot II (I see another 0% here):
Classic/Modern:
Force Works (that’s him at the bottom left):
Maximum Security (your ICBL Judge Dredd figure could give it a swirlie):
Vote correctly, and maybe next week I’ll actually spotlight a good character. And as always, head over the Unofficial Marvel Forum to cast your vote and make suggestions for next week’s MMM!
Discuss and vote: http://www.thefwoosh.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38762
