Brother Warth

When the Guardians of the Universe knew that the Blackest Night was coming, two of them went off to form their own new Lantern Corps, a blue one based on the emotion of Hope. Their first recruit was Saint Walker, from Space Sector 1. And since each member of the BLC is recruited by the last member, Saint Walker strolled over to Space Sector 2 (also home to The Reach, the guys who made Blue Beetle's armor) to find Brother Warth. Potential recruits are taken to meet with the Guardians who started the whole thing so they can evaluated and instructed in their new role in the cosmos. Brother Warth is an elephant. There's no two ways about it. You have to wonder what kind of parellel evolution had to take place that an alien in a distant area of space would end up looking like an animal that lives on Earth in the modern day. Not an extinct animal, not an animal that will one day evolve here - an animal that exists in a recognizable form at the very time he ventures off his homeworld and comes to visit us. The odds against that seem astronomically high. And it's not just any elephant, either; he's clearly based on Ganesh, right down to the broken tusk (Lord Ganesha broke it off himself to use as a pen when transcribing the Mahabharata for Veda Vyasa). He has black markings on his trunk that appear to be tattoos rather than a natural coloring, and his eyes are metallic blue. The size of his ears suggests an Indian elephant, backing up our Ganesha theory, and he has three real metal rings poking through both of them. Brother Warth has a little pot belly, and his Blue Lantern costume consists of a black shirt and baggy pants, with a blue sash around his waist, blue wristbands, and a blue half-circle over his shoulders. The blue shape on his head appears to be some kind of hat, not just imprinted on his skin or anything. His skin has a cracked texture, particularly around the joints, and he goes around barefoot. His ring is sculpted on his right hand, but unlike Mattel's Blue Lantern Flash, there's no detail: it's just a flat disc. We're willing to bet that call was made by someone at DC Direct, not by sculptor Josh Sutton. The figure's articulation is, traditionally, disappointing. He has a balljointed neck, but the ears and trunk get in the way. He has swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows and swivel wrists, which is a decent amount of movement, but he doesn't have any knees: just a T-crotch and swivel ankles. Blah! On the plus side, he has a balljointed waist, so he's already in rare company. Warth comes with a Blue Lantern display base, but it's kind of useless for him: with his right foot flat on the ground (as the footpeg forces it to be), his left foot is permanently hanging in midair. The articulation just doesn't support what they were trying to do. He does come with a Blue lantern, though, and unlike some characters, he's molded to hold it. I bought Brother Warth for one good reason: he's the Blue Lantern elephant! Plus, I don't think Mattel will ever get around to him, so this may be he only shot at becoming plastic (though you can never tell). The figure could definitely be better, make no mistake, but he's not bad. -- 07/12/12

Tweet