They may be gone, but they are not forgotten. Thumb through the dollar box of your local comic shop and a plethora of abandoned universes lay waiting to be re-discovered.
And while it’s unlikely that many of these universes will ever get a second chance at publication, that’s not to say there’s nothing worth salvaging here. Many of the characters and costume designs are wonderfully and unapologetically toyetic. They may have missed their chance the first time, but with toy companies like Funko and Figures Toy Company dusting off old licenses left and right, perhaps its time to re-visit some of these forgotten comic universes. Without further foofarah, here are 7 Comic Book Universes That Deserve Action Figures!
7. Image Comics “1963” Imprint
The Fury! The Tomorrow Syndicate! Mystery Incorporated! The names may not be familiar, but the archetypes are. A skewed homage to Silver Age Marvel Comics, Image’s 1963 gave fans a dose of good old-fashioned comic book fun with modern metatextual slant. If you’ve never read these books check them out. For less than the cost of a burger and fries you can get one of the most entertaining comic runs in recent decades, and then you might want an Unbelievable N-Man figure as much as I do!
6. Dark Horse – Comics’ Greatest World
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ve only read a few of these books, but since when do you have to know who a character is to enjoy a cool toy? I had a C-3PO figure long before I saw Star Wars, but that never stopped me from having fun with it. I mean, check out Hero Zero up there — part DC Comics Guardian, part Marvel Comics Iron Man, all nifty-looking blue-and-yellow armored dude. Okay, the shoulder-pads are a little dated but remember, the book came out in 1993 — I bet you looked pretty funny back then, too. I’ll take one of each.
5. The “First Comics” Universe
In the 1980s, one of the most exciting new publishers out there was First Comics. And while issues with printing and distribution killed the line before it’s time, that doesn’t mean there aren’t properties here worth developing: Steve Rude’s Nexus, Mike Baron’s The Badger, Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg, Ostrander & Truman’s Grimjack and Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar, just to name a few. These are exciting and inventive characters with a visual flair that would translate beautifully to action figure form. While their creator-owned nature of these characters means it might be tough to gather them all back under the same umbrella, it’s hard to argue that they would make for one heck of a toy-line.
4. Continuity Universe
Ah, the 1980s. What a weird and wonderful time to be a comic book reader. You just never knew what you were going to find on the shelves from week to week. Sometimes it was just crap, other times it was interesting crap. Take Continuity Comics. While the storytelling may have been a bit throw-away and violent in that typically Nineteen-eighties fashion, there’s no denying that the Neal Adams-designed characters looked cool. Armor, Ms. Mystic and Samuree are all crying out from beyond the grave for the action figure treatment. I mean, a series based on Revengers would sell based on confusion alone!
3. Atlas/Seaboard Universe
In the Nineteen-seventies, the former publisher of Marvel Comics set out to sink his former company. Angry that his son was not given the promised position of editorial director, Goodman created his own version of Marvel, with the intent of undercutting Marvel’s audience. To do so, he hired many comics professionals away from Marvel, offering them creator’s rights and some of the highest rates in the industry. And while the line stiffed due to poor distribution and excessive editorial interference, many of its original characters had a gritty and uncompromising quality that would translate well to toys. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want little plastic representations of the Brute, Planet of the Vampires and the Grim Ghost? Oh, put your hands down, you know I can’t see you!
2. The Hanksverse
When you say “the Golden Age of Comics” many names leap to mind: legendary creators like Siegel and Shuster, Simon and Kirby, Will Eisner and C.C. Beck to list just a few. One name not as familiar to fans of the genre is Fletcher Hanks. While Hanks worked only worked briefly in the earliest days of the comic book industry, he is remembered for his take-no-prisoners style of storytelling and the outlandish characters he created. Stardust the Super Wizard, Tabu, and Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle had only had a handful of adventures, but their weird legacy endures. The fact that these characters are now public domain is just icing on the cake for a toy manufacturer willing to take a chance.
1. The Amalgam Universe – Marvel/DC
Unlike the other examples on this list, the Amalgam Universe had a set window of existence. A crossover between DC and Marvel Comics led to a limited series and then a set of one-shot books exploring what would happen if the two universe were merged. The Spectacular Spider-Boy, Doctor Strangefate and Dark Claw are just a few examples of this amalgamation, and fans of these books have been crying out for action figures of these characters ever since. And don’t say it could never happen — if the Punisher can meet Archie, nothing is off the table. At least, that’s what I tell myself every time I look at the empty space on my toy-shelf saved for Lobo the Duck!
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