Welcome back to another edition of Demanded Characters. Just because a character is not part of the A list, or is dead; that should not stop Mattel from making a toy of that character. It has worked for both Ted Kord and Barry Allan, though they have recently resurfaced. One character that is screaming to be made by some Fwooshers is Aztek.
Last week it seems that everyone loves a gorilla, especially when they are white and smarter than your average Superman.
So for all you readers who blinked in the 90’s, let me tell you a little about Aztek. There once was an Aztec Shadow god named Tezcatlipoca, who brought about the end of the world when he came to Earth. Through the generations the people of this culture knew they needed a hero to fight the god. In modern times the group that continues the fight is The Q Foundation. The Foundation’s main goal is to train a hero to combat the evil god when he returned. The last warrior to take on the Mantle of Aztek was named Uno, but he took on the name Dr. Curt Falconer. What Curt did not know was that his training was being controlled and funded by Lex Luthor. Once he discovered that the mantel was tainted, he left the hero game. Even though he was out of the the limelight as a hero, he felt he had to make up for his connection to the evil side of the DCU in some way. Aztek tried make up for his past and ended up paying the ultimate price, his life, during a battle with the villain Mageddon. Today no one has stepped up to take on the Mantle again.
Now one to why he should be part of the DCUC line:
Aztek is a hero that came out of a time in comics when the brighter your costume was, the better you looked on foil covers. He almost looks like a rejected sketch from the Rocketeer, but the look works for Aztek. The reason this character would be interesting in the DCUC line is that he has so many parts to his costume that even though he is not that well known, and even with all of Piffy’s ranting about him, he is a visually cool character. Arguably, one of the best figures to come out of the DCUC line is Deathstroke. While his costume seems simple, the textures and all the intricacies of his costume really elevate the figure above many others like a Sinestro, or an Atom. Aztek would be the same. From his 5 pointed helmet to his shoulder discs, he has parts to him that would make you forget he shares the same body with Nightwing. The upper shoulders and neck would give texture to the figure that would again set him apart from the average buck being used today. He could borrow parts from all the heroes, but be put together in a Frankenstein-like way, which would elevate him from an “alright” figure to an amazing figure. I think while most of us are on a charge to get our favorite big names made (I Want a Martian Manhunter in 09!!!) we forget about some of the C and D list characters. Names like Aztek don’t scream at people that you have to have them by name, but when you get the figure in person you’re blown away by how cool he is.
Some images courtesy of Comic Vine
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