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Remember when we said there was no good third figure for the Silver Banshee & Metallo pack to come with? That's because everyone else of any consequence is in this set.
Warlord, a former navy test pilot who landed in Skartaris years ago and made it his home, asks Supergirl, Green Lantern, Stargirl and STRIPE for their help in protecting his land. Deimos is gathering troops to conquer Skartaris and acquire the Great Stone, which is actually a large piece of Kryptonite revered for its ability to heal. The JLU team agrees to help Warlord as he faces Deimos and his troops in the battle for Skartaris.
We've reviewed a Warlord figure before, so you probably
already know everything you need to know about him: Travis Morgan, modern-day man, crashed his plane at the North Pole, found a secret Hollow Earth world, became their barbarian king. Perfectly normal, perfectly natural.
Warlord uses one of the standard JLU male bodies, but he looks far from average. He's barechested and barelegged, with silver bracers that have large red dots on them. His feet are painted to look like cloth wraps with fur at the top. Yes, painted fur. It's just as stupid as the painted chain across his chest. Yes, just his chest: Mattel was too cheap to paint it on his back too. And yet they actually went to the trouble of molding him a new right arm with a fanged skull on the shoulder. He's also wearing a fancy loincloth that includes a holster on the right side.
And of course, he's got a new head. Even if repainting a Green Arrow head would have given us the right kind of beard, there's no way to fake Travis Morgan's Thor helmet. Seriously, it's a silver helmet with big white wings on the sides - all he's missing is a hammer. Well, that and his hair - he has long white hair, which should be sticking out the back.
There had already been one JLU Supergirl figure, but that was in her holdover Superman: the Animated Series "riot grrl" costume. This one is in a more traditional Supergirl suit - in other words, a Superman suit with a skirt instead of pants. It's a decent look, with a blue shirt and a red skirt. That sounds like a no-brainer, but she's worn some awful things over the years.
While the previous Supergirl had a unique body, this one just uses that one same body Mattel gave every JLU woman. In one way, that makes sense, since part of the plot of the episode was all about how Supergirl was maturing as a hero - thus, why not give her a more adult body? But this same body for every woman is so boring. You can throw a cape and a new skirt on her, but it's still not exciting.
She does get a new head, but there's just something about it that looks "off." The head and hair are separate pieces, and while her hair doesn't look as flat as it did on the cartoon, it also doesn't blend into the toy properly. Remember when NECA figures all used to look like they were wearing wigs? It's like that. Plus, her face is just a weird shape.
The third figure in the set is Deimos, who you've probably never heard of. He's a wizard based in Skartaris, and was well on the way to conquering the place until Warlord crashed the party. He's got an army of dino troopers, but was getting routed by an elderly man in fur underwear? Are we sure that it was Warlord's fault Deimos was losing, or was he just an unsuccessful chump who was destined to lose?
Deimos uses one of the skinnier male bodies, because who ever heard of a bulky wizard? He's wearing an absolutely ridiculous outfit, one which entails a red shirt with a massive collar that exposes his chest. He has new arms with flowing sleeves, and a new skirt piece that's short in the front reaches all the way down to his heels in the back. He's wearing sandals, but those are just painted onto his legs.
He has a very severe, narrow face, fitting his scrawny body. Since he's an evil wizard, he has a black goatee and receding hair that's slicked back. He's got pointy cheekbones, while his actual cheeks are sunken. His eyes look sleepy. Not angry, not vengeful, not powerful... sleepy. Wake up, Deimos! Your forces are getting overrun!
This is a decent set, in that all three figures are new. Of course, the episode ended with an epic swordfight, so of course Mattel included no swords, and made sure that neither Warlord nor Deimos could hold one even if they had been included, because Mattel will always be Mattel. Still, getting a set without a Superman or Batman in it is a rare thing.
-- 07/09/15
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