Whenever a new avenue for toys pops up, the knee jerk reaction is to start pondering the possibilities. When Dark Horse announced their new Dark Horse Direct initiative, which is intended to be the home for statues, collectibles and—most importantly– action figures, I think we all knew that this would be the place to get brand new Hellboy figures. Sure enough, that brand new Hellboy is currently available for preorder, both in a deluxe version and a slightly less expensive version.
Being a fan of Hellboy, I jumped on a preorder at BBTS as soon as it went up, opting to go the cheaper route. I dig the horns and sword, but those would never be permanent options for me, so I’m happy enough with the regular version. I managed to piece together an almost complete collection of Mezco’s Hellboy figures a while ago (Kriegaffe eluded me) but I’m always open to new figures of much-loved properties.
But Hellboy is only one arm of Dark Horse’s properties. Over the years, they have assembled an eclectic mixture of characters and pumped out a ton of great comics. If Hellboy is just the first planned figure under the dark Horse umbrella, who else do I want in figure form?
That’s where top fives come in!
Grendel
The various versions of the Grendel are some of the most toyetic designs that have never received super articulated modern action figures. For starters, I think they’d have to go with the Hunter Rose version of Grendel first and foremost. It’s a striking design and would truly benefit from heightened levels of articulation.
The Mask
The concept of The Mask (or Big Head as the character was originally known) is a perfect fit for super-articulated action figures loaded with accessories. He’s worn such a variety of costumes that I don’t have a single definite “look” I’d prefer him in. Maybe either his loud suit or a leather jacket look. Either way, give him a cool variety of weapons and maybe a few swappable heads with various expressions and it would be a kickass figure.
Usagi Yojimbo
Usagi recently got a pretty neat figure in the Playmates Turtles line, so I’m not sure if Dark Horse would have the license to make a figure, but if so, it would definitely be more articulated than the Playmates one. Not that it was bad, but I need my bunny samurais to be as flexible as possible, for the hacking and the slashing and the…samurai-ing.
Concrete
Concrete was a quirky concept—aliens put a man’s brain into a large stone body, adventures ensue–but also a very striking design that would make a nifty figure. In fact, of all the figures on this list, I believe he is the only one to have received zero figures. It’s the most underdog choice on the list, and probably not Hellboy levels of popular, but I’d still buy one.
The Goon
And finally we have my most wanted. I missed out on Mezco’s Goon line from years ago as I wasn’t reading Goon at the time. I’ve since corrected that, and it stands as one of my favorite comics. With pitch-perfect writing that can be hilarious in one panel and gut-wrenching in another, and some of the best art you’ll find in current comics, Goon is a grimy, sleazy, one-of-a-kind comic that combines the subversive nature of EC comics with everyman appeal. If you’re not reading Goon, you should be reading Goon. If you are reading Goon, then you’re nodding your head and hoping this is the next figure DHD announces.
So that’s my five. There are quite a few other options, so I’m very eager to find out dark Horse will have up it’s sleeve next. Hopefully the wait won’t be too long. Like, before 2020 would be great.