|
Remember when Rustin was guessing at future uses for the Deadman mold? Here's one he didn't come up with!
One of the most respected officers of the Green Lantern Corps, Abin Sur fearlessly protected the planets of Space Sector 2814 for over a century. Tragically, he died when his spaceship crash landed on Earth. When the dreaded prophecy of the "Blackest Night" came true, Sur was resurrected as an evil Black Lantern, returning from the grave to plague both Hal Jordan and Sinestro.
Abin Sur's role in the Green Lantern mythos was really just to hand over his ring and die, meaning that ultimately, he's no more important to the story than an envelope. He was a delivery system, not a character, but then again, Hal Jordan is less of a "character" than a "mannequin with super powers laid on it," so that doesn't really make Abin seem out of place among the GLC.
As mentioned above, this figure reuses healthy chunks of the DCU11 Deadman body: everything between the ankles and neck is the same, with only the head, feet and arms being new. It's not clear why they decided he needed new shoulders, but the arms were redone to A) accommodate the Black Lantern forearm bands, and 2) give him double-hinged elbows. Hooray! It's always nice when we get these surprise bonus joints, and it's happening more often now. He even gets swivel/hinge wrists, so even better! Unexpected bonus? With all those joints and the super-scrawny body, you can put him in some fun "sissy" poses.
There was already a DCU Abin Sur, but this one still gets a new head for obvious reasons. The Black Lanterns usually have gray skin, but Abin Sur was super pink to begin with, so retaining some of that hue makes sense. The skin is wrinkled, the mouth is drawn back into a rictus grin, and his nose is almost gone. Even his blank white eyes are sunken in their sockets. Hideous!
To contrast the mauve skin, Black Lantern Abin Sur's costume is black and white pale gray. Everybody ended up wearing a version of their previous costume when they rose from the grave, so theoretically this is the Black Lantern version of a Green Lantern uniform. There are silver band around his thighs, and the Black Lanter hand symbol is on his chest. Unfortunately, it goes over the joint, so it only lines up properly in one position - other than that, it will either get cut off, or have a big gap running through it.
Despite the fact these figures came out in (very late) 2010, they don't include the DC 75th Anniversary collector pins, which is no great loss. For us, it means we don't have to spend a lot of time researching what cover has been cropped down. For you, it means one less thing to throw in storage. However, every Green Lantern Classics figure does come with an inexplicable pair of cardboard 3D glasses designed to look like a GL mask. Supposedly you can play a 3D game online, but any game that expects you to download software is not a game that's going to get played. Flash isn't just Geoff Johns' latest bad idea for a resurrection, guys.
Abin Sur includes the head and lower torso of this series' Build-A-Figure. The groin is the same seen on Kilowog and Brimstone, though it gets a new belt, and the head looks like a skinned gorilla. You'll have to decide for yourself whether it's good or bad that they sculpted Arkillo with his tongue intact, rather than hanging on a string around his neck after being ripped out by Mongul. Talk about inspiring great fear!
Abin Sur made a great villain for the Black Lantern Corps. He had strong ties to both Hal Jordan and Sinestro, meaning they'd have an emotional reaction to seeing him, thus making them more susceptible to the Black Lanterns' manipulations. Similarly, the action figure is far better than he might have been: the right choice of body, the right choice for new joints, and the right creepy new parts all make for a very good new villain.
-- 12/27/10
|
