Apocalypse

When the X-Men Classics line faded unceremoniously, the figures they had in the line all got shuffled back into Marvel Legends. That's why the past few lines have been so mutant-heavy. Was this guy supposed to be part of it? Don't know. ToyBiz never even hinted at what Series 2 would hold. Born nearly five thousand years ago in Egypt, Apocalypse inspired fear even as an infant. Ugly and malformed, he was abandoned by his own tribe to die in the harsh desert sun. Wandering the Earth, Apocalypse found himself in China, where he stumbled upon an alien ship that had crashed into a mountain long ago. He stayed in the ship for thousands of years, learning the secrets of the alien technology and devising a suit of bio-armor for himself. This bio-armor granted Apocalypse the ability to change form, as well as allowing his body to become extremely malleable. Using the alien technology to artificially prolong his life, Apocalypse created his Four Horsemen to do his bidding - but his efforts were always thwarted by the X-Men and their allies. Apocalypse is one of those Marvel villains that have never really had a definitive origin. Every so often a writer gets it in his head to look into 'Pocky's backstory, and drops a few veiled hints and allegations, but then doesn't last long enough on the book to actually pick any of them up and flesh them out. So basically the guy is a big, muddled mess. The figure, fortunately, isn't. ToyBiz has made a few Apocalypse figures before, but none as good as this. He stands 7 1/2" tall - just about the same size as Hulk or the Juggernaut - and moves at the head, neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, thumbs, fingers, torso, waist, hips, knees, boots, ankles and toes. Actually, the size has been one complaint about the figure. Apocalypse generally looks big and muscular, but also quite tall. The figure looks stockier than fans expected... okay, he looks fat. I think everyone would have been happy if he'd been about an inch taller and an inch thinner. Of course, he barely fits in the packaging as it is, so there's no way they could have done that. The sculpt is very good, really capturing the look of this big hulking behemoth. His limbs are covered by big blue metal plates, and there are a few spots where silver cables poke through. His head is sculpted with those weirdass lips, and his beady little eyes are a metallic red. The design is impeccable - he's even got the big silly "A" belt buckle and the hoses on his elbows. Apocalypse doesn't have any accessories, because he's never really used any. I'm sure, if they'd wanted to, ToyBiz could have come up with something - maybe a baby Cable in his techno-creche? But really, he's fine without any accoutrements. He's got a base, of course, just like all the Marvel Legends. His is a 4" disc with Egyptian detailing on it: snakes, obelisks, a winged scarab, all that. It's a nice enough piece, but it's far too small for Big Blue. Oh well. Put your McMummy on it and be happy. Apocalypse comes with a reprint of X-Factor #25, which sees the mutants fighting Apocalypse and his newest Horseman, Death (eventually to be known as Archangel). This was one of the first stories to feature 'Pocky doing something besides lurking in the shadows, and it shows off his shape-shifting powers. But you look at it, and you can tell he's supposed to be skinnier and taller. What is Apocalypse's power, really? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.

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