CRISIS ON THE FIGURE SHELF!!
The Crime Syndicate of America is here!
Figures by DC Direct
Action
Figure Review by : Troy
Brownfield
"But
wait, you say! These are not Super-Heroes, but Super-Villains!"
 A
little personal history:
My mom
bought me a pack of puzzle books when I was four or five years
old. The set was themed off of TV's Super Friends, and each
book featured a different hero or set of heroes. There was
one for the whole team, one for Batman, one for Superman,
and one for Wonder Woman. As I've noted elsewhere, it as that
Wonder Woman book that really got me. Not because of the obvious
connection to Lynda Carter, which my undeveloped body wasn't
quite ready to understand, but because of the OTHER characters
present in that volume. Notably, two teams that I'd never
seen before.
One
of those teams was the Justice Society of America. They fascinated
me, and I remain a fan to this day. The other team that I'd
never seen before were not even good guys. They were EVIL
versions of the heroes themselves! Hailing from another Earth
(Earth-3), The Crime Syndicate of America had set their sights
on both the JLA and the JSA, and it would take both teams
to stop them.
For a
kid who was just starting kindergarten, that was some heavy
stuff.
 To
this day, I remain a fan of both teams. I was delighted when
DC finally announced the Crisis on Multiple Earths
trade paperback, detailing the earliest team-ups of the JSA
and JLA and chronicling the first battle between them and
the Crime Syndicate. However, I was outright FLOORED when
I saw that Crime Syndicate figures were on the way. For a
fan that's wanted to see these guys in plastic for roughly
25 years, it was a good day. And now that they're here, all
I can do is applaud.
Overview:
Honestly, I can't possibly imagine why someone would only
buy one of these. These figures demand to be bought as a set.
The characters appeared together, fought together, and, in
Crisis on Infinite Earths, died together. If you buy
one, you need to buy them all. The other set unifier is quality;
DC Direct has outdone themselves. On top of the obvious collector
and artistic value, the group comes in DC Direct's new resealable
packaging (yes, it works!). Also, each figure is packed with
a stand bearing the CSA logo.
 The
Individual Figures: Each figure is decently articulated
and sculpted with the original comics in mind. Tim Bruckner
did the whole set, and the scale between the five matches
perfectly. The whole group is so striking and colorful that
they draw your eye when standing together.
Of the
five, Power Ring has to be my favorite. Essentially
an evil Green Lantern, he comes with a lantern of his own
and a wearable ring. The ball-jointed shoulders are nice,
and the well-defined articulation makes him very poseable.
Much was made of the originally advertised paint ops on the
character; DC Direct made sure that the colors do indeed match
the most popular version of Power Ring's costume.
Owlman
is incredibly done as well. The impossible owl headress he
wears in the comics actually looks decent here. As the resident
evil genius of the team, Owlman should possess presence. The
figure, with its muted costume tones set off by the unusual
head, definitely does.
Superwoman,
Johnny Quick, and Ultraman are uniformly excellent
as well. While Superwoman is a bit stiff, I like the evil
grin and the nice work on the magic lasso. Quick has great
articulation, and the colors are very vibrant; he might be
my third favorite in the line.
That's
not to say that I'm dissing Ultraman. It's fine work, and
compared to many other figures, it's an incredible job. It's
just that the other members of the team have so much character,
a Superman knock-off kind of gets left behind. Still, the
character itself gets bonus points for facing death with nobility.
Truly,
this is one amazing set of figures. The greatest value of
DC Direct is their ability to surprise the fan with their
next wild release. As much as these characters had their devoted
fans, I never really thought they'd see the light of day.
Now that they have, they are, without a doubt, the perfect
addition to your collection.
Troy
Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. I suppose
an assortment of the Morrison/Quitely CSA would be too much
to ask? Email him at psikotyk@aol.com.
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