Justice League Infinity No.1 (Sept. 2021)

 Curious about the cover of this first issue of Justice League Infinity, I opened it to find it was essentially a continuation of the Justice League Unlimited series that ran parallel with the wildly popular animated show from 2004-2006. I hadn't discovered JLU until I started this blog years later in 2010, but loved the vast and unprecedented roster of DC characters. This first book is narrated by my all-time favorite, Martian Manhunter, now separated from the League, living his life as many different individuals in search of understanding the often complex human race. Simultaneously, J'onn J'onzz reintroduces Amazo's return, also in search of his own identity and place in the universe...

Meanwhile, the League has surprised the Flash with a birthday party!

The festivities are soon rudely interrupted by Granny Goodness and her Parademons from Apokolips, the situation made even more dire by Kalibak's arrival, challenging Granny for the honor of conquering the Justice League!

Martian Manhunter's mentally tethered instinct to race to his teammates and join the fight is tempered by his commitment to leave that endless battle in continuance of his pursuit in a more universal understanding...

Amazo's similar effort to understand his own existence grows more fierce, while Mr. Miracle reverses the trace polarities of Granny and Kalibak's boom tubes, sending them back to Apokolips with a great explosion ….!

Finally, while retelling the spectacular victory to Lois Lane over a candlelit dinner, Superman disappears, an else-worlds Superman left in his place, demanding what Lois did to him. The chest insignia reminds me of the Multiverse German Superman that appeared in Final Crisis, so I'm curious about the second issue of Justice League Infinity. While I'd hoped for a self-contained issue of this book, I must say it caught the mood of JLU, including the humorous banter surrounding Flash's birthday party, the love triangle between Jon Stewart, Shayera, and Vixen, and the use of Amazo's return to kick off the series. I love seeing the Bruce Timm-inspired art again as well, in all it's cartoony splash- colorful and fun, like comics should be.

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10" JLU Green Arrow

These 10" JLU figures can be hard to come by at a decent price- retailing for around ten or eleven dollars a decade ago, they can run upwards to thirty, forty, even fifty dollars or more on the secondary market today. I love the the 4" Justice League Unlimited figures, styled after the popular animated TV show, so having an oversized rendition of the Green Arrow is of interest to me. I've eyeballed a few on eBay over the last couple years, but recently found this loose specimen in very good condition, shipped for about twenty bucks.

The 10" JLU Green Arrow is much like his 4" counterpart, with the addition of a bowstring. The leg articulation doesn't kick out at the hip, but swivels side to side at the shorts, and a waist swivel was added- this preserves the integrity of the sculpt. The JLU styling worked especially well on this character, proven in plastic with this display figure. I have a 10" JLU Martian Manhunter still boxed as well that I covet, another character I enjoy collecting.

I have quite a collection of Green Arrow figures, including two unopened DC Direct, and two unopened DCUCs. Below are a few currently on display at the Super-DuperToyBox...

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Hey Mr. Postman!

It's been awhile since I received toys in the mail, these sent by blogging buddy Dan over at the Toy Museum! Knowing what a big Green Lantern fan I am, Dan sent me a couple JLUs missing from my Corps, Kilowog and Tomar-Re. Originally released in a 2006 3-pack with Green Lantern (the bald/bearded version of John Stewart), Kilowog and Tomar-Re have a silver circle behind their GL chest emblem.

 

Kilowog is the beloved, burly Kilowog, Drill Sergeant of the Green Lantern Corps, and Tomar-Re was a pivotal Honor Guard Member and one of the first to guide Hal Jordan as a rookie Lantern. He left his power ring with John Stewart before he died, who then gave the ring he'd been using (originally the ring of Abin Sur) back to Hal Jordan- Hal then became an official Green Lantern once more. Time for BIGTOY/littletoy:  JLU Kilowog and Tomar-Re with their DC Action League Kilowog and Tomar-Re...

My JLU Green Lantern Corps: Katma Tui, Kilowog, John Stewart, Arkkis Chummuck, Kyle Rayner, and Tomar-Re... 

 

Thanks Dan for thinking of me and helping me build my GL Corps! Kids, if you haven't been to the Toy Museum to see Dan's great videos, then you don't truly love toys!

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JLU Lanterns

I found some loose Justice League Unlimited Green Lanterns at V-Stock on Tuesday. V-Stock sells new & used CDs, movies, comics, video games, & toys, and has an ever-changing stock of the latter sold in little baggies for as low as $1.99. Pretty cool!

Arkkis Chummuck, Katma Tui, & Kyle Rayner were originally packed together in the orange DC Superheroes: Justice League Unlimited  in 2006. I posted about the Katma DCUC figure not long ago: the Korugarian chosen as Sinestro’s replacement as Green Lantern of Sector 1417 upon his banishment to Qward. Katma looks very different from her DCUC couterpart, most noticeably her change of skin tone, Korugarian's usually being red (like Sinestro). This was likely a result of artistic liscense taken by creators of the Justice League Unlimited show, for reasons I do not know- perhaps her coupling with John Stewart. It seems that her appearance in the earlier Justice League animated show was different than in the relaunched Justice League Unlimited, as well. She originally was packed with a figure stand, the females in this line even harder to stand upright than the males due to their tiny feet- I was challenged by this trait throughout the entire photo session.

Lantern Chummuck had had an unusual introduction to the Corps, accidentally killing a Green Lantern in defense of his homeworld, the ring choosing him as a replacement! From DC Wikia: As was the custom of his people, he ate Lantern Reever's remains to honor him as a worthy opponent. Then, in an effort to bring the senseless war in his region to an end, he established himself non-violently in a position of power on both planets. For these actions, Arkkis was brought to trial at a tribunal by fellow Corps member Malet Dasim. He was tried for devouring his "victim" and his unorthodox methods of bringing peace to his sector. Ultimately, it was decided that Arkkis wasn't a bad Green Lantern, just a strange one, and not used to the standard customs. He was put on probationary status, and Malet Dasim was appointed to advise him in how better to integrate himself with the regular practices of the Green Lantern.

And finally, my favorite of the three: Kyle Rayner. Lantern Rayner was chosen by the last surviving Guardian after Hal Jordan was possessed by Parallax and murdered most all the  Green Lantern Corps, destroying the planet Oa as well. Just a month ago I posted about DC's New 52 Green Lantern: New Guardians  #1, which retells the story of Ganthet's appointment of Kyle Rayner as the last Green Lantern.

Together with John Stewart, my new JLU Green Lantern Corps is a force to be reckoned with!

I've only seen John Stewart in any of the JLU episodes I've been lucky to catch on YouTube; the show was under my radar in it's heyday, having only returned to my childhood love of comics & action figures in the last 19 months. It's my understanding that that Lantern Rayner "adopted" Hal Jordan's origin story for the show, inheriting his ring from the dying Abin Sur, and that use of John Stewart as the shows main Green Lantern was somewhat hotly debated at the time, the least favorite of DC fandom. While liberties were taken with DC Universe continuity, John Stewart turned out to be a great character on the show, bringing ethic diversity and interesting edge to the group dynamic with his no-nonsense personality.

Aside from the reasonable price on these Lanterns, I wanted them to shoot some scenes with my Manhunter Robots, Power Ring, and Sinestro JLU figures! Toys are made to be played with!   :D

I love this group of villains! I'm a HUGE fan of Sinestro, and am pleased with his role in the New 52 Green Lantern title- it's been great! Power Ring is a member of the Crime Syndicate, alternate universe evil versions of the Justice League- he came with a fun clamping-hand construct (pictured above). And those Manhunter Robots I got in a 3-pack with my John Stewart figure almost exactly a year ago- they are rare among this line of toys having feet big enough that they don't fall down all the time.

The Manhunters appeared in the Justice League episode "In Blackest Night". Like their comic counterparts, they were the first before the Green Lantern Corps. However according to the Guardians, "they couldn't understand the subtle gradations between good and evil" and as such were reprogrammed for other tasks such as hunting and guarding. The Manhunters began secretly plotting their revenge against the Guardians for their perceived betrayal, bringing Green Lantern John Stewart to trial for accidentally destroying the planet Ajuris 4. Unknown to the masses, the planet's destruction was faked with the help of Kanjar Ro as part of the Manhunters' plan to overthrow the Oans and take the Corps' power source. Their gambit successfully draws five of the Guardians away from Oa to testify for John, as well as several unassigned Green Lanterns, leaving Oa severely weakened when the Manhunters attack in force. The Justice League clears John's name and then aids in defeating the Manhunters, assisted by the Corps. This was based on the comics story "No Man Escapes The Manhunters," which appeared in Justice League of America #140-141 (1977). (Wikipedia)

*Visit The Watchtower, "fan site dedicated to Cartoon Network’s animated, non-Superfriends adventures of DC Comics’ legendary superhero team!" ...not updated since 2007, but it has some insightful thoughts & information on the Justice League show and it's characters.

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Justice League Unlimited Green Arrow & Batman

I feel a little guilty about showing you some action figures I bought last week, then writing four posts on things I found last year, but this is my toy box and we'll play with what I want to play with  :D  But seriously, I'd been watching episodes of that great Justice League Unlimited show on you tube this week, and realized I'd not shown you these two up close. The TV show that ran from July of 2004 to May of 2006 was under my radar at the time, but I've come to appreciate it since my interest in comics was renewed 18 months ago. The scope of characters featured is pretty large for such a short running series- I counted about 136 on Wikipedia, and the Mattel 4" series of action figures features even more... and I think they are still making them! The final sets will be released this autumn as MattyCollector exclusives, but their staying power is paralleled only by the Batman the Animated toy line! If any of you kids have a big collection, please share a link in my comments- we'd all like to see what you have  :)

The styling of these toys are so much fun! Simple in articulation, most of these were "five point gang". like your old Kenner Star Wars figures. The toys look like exactly like the animated characters from the show, their chunky, exaggerated features & bright colors appealing to the eye. Really fun! Ollie came with an arrow which I forgot to photograph, but he can't grip it, nor does it fit in the bow- still it was nice they included it. I also like the packaging on these- again, simple but splashy and inviting. These toys remind me a lot of the Batman: The Brave & the Bold action figures- FUN and made for play! I can definitely see why they have such a dedicated fan base.

I had paid little or no attention to Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in my youth, which is odd because I was such a big Batman fan, and they are both rich vigilantes with no real super powers. The Brave & the Bold, indeed!

This blue/grey Batman I got loose on eBay quite some time ago- he didn't come with any accessory- the same Batman was packaged with a Wonder Pig, and in a 3-pack with Amanda Waller & General Eiling, in a 3-pack with Deadman & Superman, and countless other 3-packs and 6-packs as well.

The Dark Knight with a couple variants I have mint on card...

Ollie with two other Mattel Green Arrows I have mint on card...

Batman and Green Arrow with Superman and Green Lantern:

*List of JLU figures at Cool Toy Review, many with pictures!

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