Whirlwind is the very best of what makes a B-lister.
He has a distinctive if unremarkable power set, an obligingly faceless appearance and an almost unshakable association with one of Marvel’s greatest also-rans. As a foe of Giant-Man, Whirlwind was painted into a corner early on, never allowed to reach his potential because of pesky continuity issues and sketchy motivations. He made the cut as a Master of Evil, but has yet to prove himself as one of the major power-players of the Marvel Universe. Lucky for him, his stock just went up thanks to a new figure released under the Marvel Legends banner. Without further ado, let’s take a look at Dave Cannon, aka Whirlwind.
David Cannon first appeared in Tales to Astonish #50. As the Human Top, Cannon used his mutant abilities to rob banks and ingratiate himself to the criminal underworld. He was shut down by Giant-Man and the Wasp, but this defeat only served to focus his malevolent intentions. In the guise of “Charles Matthews,” Cannon began to chauffeur wealthy socialite and Avenger Janet Van Dyne around town. This unique position allowed him unfettered access to criminal cases, providing him information he could use against his unknowing employers. Cannon joined Ultron in an ill-fated attempt to defeat the Avengers, but found himself exposed. He lost his job, his joie de vivre and that sweet chauffeur’s hat, but that didn’t stop him from being a thorn in the Pym’s side.
In recent years, Marvel writers have taken Cannon’s obsession to the extreme, having him kill lookalike Wasp prostitutes and blaming the Pyms for his decent into criminality. As a longtime reader, this feels like a bit of a stretch, considering Whirlwind could have chosen to have done anything with his life in his 50+ years as a Marvel character: he never accepted personal responsibility for his crimes, never bothered to reform or embrace mutant causes or even retire from crime. He continues to be a first-class pain in the ass.
Whirlwind first appeared in toy form in 1994’s Iron Man: The Animated Series lines. I can say without question action figure collectors owe a huge debt to the Fox cartoons for developing Marvel’s heretofore-underdeveloped characters and giving ToyBiz a reason to issue them as action figures. Seriously, getting a Whirlwind figure out of this was unquestionably the best thing about that horrible Iron Man cartoon. I mean, Airplane’s Robert Hayes as Tony Stark? What were those Fox children’s programming executives smoking?
Whirlwind was spot-on. ToyBiz gave us a note-perfect rendition of the character, down to his signature spinning wrist-blades. The figure was one of the nicer offerings in a line burdened with gimmicks and remains a high point of that period.
Whirlwind also appeared in series two of of the Marvel Infinite Series 2014. The figure featured metallic paint but not much else: the bare-bones articulation and non-removable helmet are signs of a line groping its way towards self-imposed obsolescence. Only the obsessed and completionists could bring themselves to care, but no one ever said been a Whirlwind fan was going to be easy.
Whirlwind is poised to rip through the first quarter of 2016 as part of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinite Series Captain America Onslaught wave. I know, it’s a mouthful, but all Hasbro expects of you is two fistfuls of cash. So how does Whirly shake out against the best of 2016? Well, let’s take a look.
Judging from the musculature of the thighs, the new Whirly is built on the Grim Reaper body. Much like Morbius before him, I can’t help but feel this body is too big for the character. I get that Hasbro wants to use that new tooling, but that use should be judicious; the Bucky Cap body is a much better candidate. Alas, what’s done is done. We can only hope for the best.
Whirlwind’s face is oddly placid beneath his helmet. This is one instance where a more extreme expression would have worked: with so much of the face hidden, the audience needs to see some evidence of emotion. The fact we’re saddled with Dave Cannon’s “poopin’ face” is a drag considering how long it took this fan-demanded character to get a figure. Hopefully customizers will find this an easy fix.
For years it may have seemed like pissing in the wind, but fan-demand for Dave Cannon has finally bore fruit. Adding Whirlwind to our shelves brings collectors one step closer to a complete Masters of Evil and adds some more weight to the villains’ ranks.
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