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Here's something you've never heard us say in a Marvel Legends review before: I have no bloody idea who this is.
Powered by disguise and mimicry, these villains may not be original, but they are deadly.
According to the back of the box, this is "Marvel's Demolition Man" - which would make him Dennis Dunphy, better known as D-Man, the guy who wears Daredevil's old shirt and Wolverine's mask (not to be confused with Dennis Duffy, the Beeper King). He was a football player, then a wrestler, then a superhero, then he answered phones for Captain America, then he was homeless and living in the sewers. None of that is a joke. At some point he was brainwashed by Hydra to become the new Scourge of the Underworld, and apparently that's what this figure represents. Go figure. You caught me by surprise this time, Hasbro!
Scourge of the Underworld was created
by Mark Gruenwald as a way to "trim the fat" in the Marvel universe - he went around killing supervillains, usually ones that were pointless, lame, or cheap copies of another character. He was a master of disguise (which is how he usually got close to his targets), but his "standard" costume is an all-white trenchcoat, wide-brimmed hat and a skeletal mask - in other words, almost nothing at all like this figure.
This costume is apparently meant to be an update of one Scourge wore in 1986's Captain America #320, which was a black commando suit that seemed to be based on Snake-Eyes (remember, GI Joe was one of Marvel's most successful books at the time). He keeps the skull face, though now it's a silver gas mask rather than cloth.
The costume looks really nice here. It has raised piping around the seams, sturdy boots, protective knee and elbow pads, and a few white patterns on the sides to break up all the black. It's got a silver
collar, a zipper down the back, and a slight texture in a few places. It's more detailed than the average Marvel Legends sculpt, and there's a pretty mind-blowing reason for that: other than the hands and shoulders, this entire body is movie Electro! Can you believe they actually found a way to reuse that very specific sculpt? Way to go, designers! It's crazy how well a body with only two new parts can duplicate what was seen in the comic. Granted, that's helped out a lot by the new holster and harness he's wearing - he has a sash over his shoulder, a belt around his waist, and a second belt of bullets above that.
The Scourge has has always used normal,
mundane weaponry, and this incarnation is no different. Rather than some sort of crazy futuristic beam rifle, he carries a pistol, knife and shotgun. As a subtle nod to the days when he was D-Man, his weapons are brown and yellow. The pistols holsters on his hip, the knife sheathes on his belt, and the shotgun he'll just have to hold forever.
His piece of the Red Onslaught Build-A-Figure is the left leg. It's... a leg. Foot, ankle, knee, all the usual leg parts. It's slightly larger than Scourge's own leg, and has nice detailing. Not much else to say until it's attached to the full BAF.
Neither of these figures is very colorful, and neither is wearing the first costume you'd want them in, but mindless thugs need love too!
-- 03/21/16
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