Justice League Unlimited Screen Print by Dave Perillo x Grey Matter Art

The Blot’s jaw hit the ground yesterday when I learned Grey Matter Art had teamed up with artist Dave Perillo to produce an officially licensed screen print for the iconic DC Comics animated series, Justice League Unlimited!!! JLU was a direct sequel to the Justice League animated series, and focused on the majority of the DC Universe. With this release, Dave showcases some of DC’s most iconic characters displayed in their classic animated form. This poster has some of The Blot’s all time favorite characters – Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Captain Atom, Vixen, Hawk and Dove – making it a must get for sure! The Blot’s always wanted a screen print with Booster in it and it’s finally here!

Justice League Unlimited by Dave Perillo is an 18”x24” hand numbered DC Comics screen print. The Regular Edition is limited to 100 pieces and will retail for $40, while the Foil Variant is limited to 50 pieces and will retail for $50. Both versions will go on sale at 1pm EDT this Thursday, May 21st, at GreyMatterArt.com.

Justice League Dunny Keychain Series by Kidrobot x DC Comics

Yesterday, Kidrobot released what The Blot considers their greatest Dunny series of all time – the Justice League Dunny Keychain Series! Ok, it may not be their most artistic series, and I know fans don’t generally care for licensed Dunny designs but this new 1.5” Dunny series features The Blot’s all time favorite DC Comics super hero, Booster Gold! Seriously, what more could a comic book fan ask for than an officially licensed Dunny?!?! I don’t know who at KR chose this line-up, but thanks!

For this release, Kidrobot has teamed up with DC Comics to shrink the Dunny down to small crime fighting size. Featuring all of the DC Universe’s most iconic heroes and clocking in at 1.5” tall, these DC Dunnys are ready to stop villains in their tracks. Each figure includes a lobster clasp on a detachable ring, which allows this version of the Justice League to become heroic accents to backpacks, purses, keys and zippers.

The Justice League Dunny Keychain Series includes New 52 Batman, Animal Man, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Green Arrow, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Classic Batman, The Flash, Superman, Zatanna and Cyborg. This line-up is the perfect mix of the classic original Justice League, the ‘80s era Justice League International and the New 52 Justice League. Fans can order this awesome series now at Entertainment Earth here for $143.99 for a full case of 24 blind boxes or $23.99 for a 4 pack of blind boxes.

DC Comics Booster Gold & Blue Beetle Pop! Figures Box Set by Funko

The day The Blot’s been waiting years for is finally here… Funko has teamed up with Previews and Diamond Comics to release a Booster Gold and Blue Beetle Pop! DC Comics Box Set!!! I’ve been dreaming of the day my favorite super hero, Booster Gold, and his best friend would get the Pop! treatment and I’m thrilled to learn they will be Previews exclusives with a separate Metallic Edition (yes, we’re actually getting 2 different Boosters). This means JLI fans will be able to get them at their favorite comic book and specialty stores. My fear would be these would be released as limited edition convention exclusive with a crazy high price on the secondary market.

Each Booster Gold and Blue Beetle Pop! vinyl figure stands 3.75” tall and comes packaged together in a full color window box perfect for display. The DC Universe's most hilarious crime fighting duo aren’t scheduled to hit store shelves until December 2017, but you can pre-order them now at the Entertainment Earth for $22.99 per set here.

Coming Soon: DC Comics Dunny Collection by Kidrobot!

The Blot was flabbergasted to learn earlier this week that Kidrobot will be releasing an entire collection of officially licensed DC Comics Dunny vinyl figures! This is the first time ever Kidrobot has released a Dunny collection of officially licensed characters, and it’s garnering some really mixed reviews from the designer art toy scene. While I’m sad to see the iconic designer art toy platform move in this direction, a Batman Dunny Series is really not that big of a change from KR’s recently released Andy Warhol Series. But at least that collection was an artist series dedicated to his body of work.

That being said, The Blot is a huge DC Comics fanatic and I’m super pumped for this new DC Comics Dunny Collection. How could I not be when Booster Gold (my favorite super hero) is getting his very own 1.5” Dunny keychain!!! And for that I will be eternally grateful to the Kidrobot crew. Now who do I need to speak with about getting a case of those adorable Booster Gold Dunnys!?! Check out KR’s official descriptions of their upcoming DC Comics Dunny Collection releases - and thanks to our friends at myplasticheart for the pics:

Batman Dunny Series: Holy Dunny series, Batman! Kidrobot and DC Comics are ready to defend Gotham City with this all new Batman Dunny Mini Series. This series features the most iconic versions of Batman as well as a variety of villains ranging from the movies, TV shows and comics molded to fit the classic Dunny platform. Grab your utility belt, collect all 15 and complete your Bat Cave collection! The series includes Batman, Dark Knight Batman, Classic Batman, Robin, The Joker, Hush, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, The Penguin, Red Hood, Bane, Two-Face, Catwoman, Black Mask and The Scarecrow.

Justice League Dunny Keychain Series: In time for the new Justice League movie, Kidrobot and DC Comics have teamed up to shrink the Dunny down to small crime fighting size. Featuring all of the DC Universe's most iconic heroes and clocking in at 1.5” tall, these Dunnys are ready to stop villains in their tracks. Coming with a lobster clasp on a detachable ring, this Justice League adds a heroic accent to backpacks, purses, keys and zippers. The series includes Batman, Classic Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Cyborg, Aquaman, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Animal Man, Zatanna, Green Arrow and Green Lantern Guy Gardner.

Batman Dunny 5” Vinyl Figures: Not to be outdone with just a mini series, DC Comics and Kidrobot are adding a one-two punch with 2 new Batman 5” Dunnys. Depicting The Dark Knight’s classic blue and gray costume and his most recent New 52 costume, these two Batman Dunnys are a must have for any fan of the Caped Crusader!

The Joker Dunny 5” Vinyl Figures: What is Batman without his greatest villain? In conjunction with the release of two Batman 5” Dunnys, DC Comics and Kidrobot have added a barrel of laughs with 2 new Joker 5” Dunnys - one featuring The Joker in his classic purple suit, while the other features The Joker’s look in the recently released live action Suicide Squad movie. Featuring the latest and greatest incarnations of Batman's arch enemy these two pieces are sure to add a bang to any collection!

DC Comics Announces New Justice League Action Animated Series starring Diedrich Bader as Booster Gold!

Ok, The Blot may have misled you a bit on the title of this post, but DC Comics does have a new animated series coming soon…and they do specifically call out Diedrich Bader as The Blot’s favorite super hero, Booster Gold, in the press release! Justice League Action is a brand new, quarter-hour series from Warner Bros. Animation that will air on the Cartoon Network. Featuring the return of Kevin Conroy as Batman, the Dark Knight will join with Superman and Wonder Woman and the rest of DC’s iconic team of heroes in a series that promises to put the action back in heroics.

Whether defending the Earth, facing invaders from space, or battling the bizarre forces of magic, the always-rotating team of Justice League heroes, are up to any challenge. Episodes will be eleven minutes in length, meaning that the action will be tightly-paced, exciting and awesome! Along with Conroy, Cartoon Network has announced that several other beloved DC Animated voice actors will be contributing to the series, including Mark Hamill as The Joker, James Woods as Lex Luthor, Bader as Booster Gold and much more.

Think Geek Exclusive Booster Gold & Blue Beetle DC Comics T-Shirts

Yes, you read that right! Think Geek has released two new exclusive t-shirts inspired by DC Comics’ greatest heroes, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle!!! The Blot has no idea how or why this has happened, but let me just publicly thank the good people at Think Geek for paying homage to the real “Worlds' Finest” with these officially licensed Blue and Gold t-shirts. I’m not the biggest fan of the drawn on abs, but I know not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Finally, Ted Kord and Michael Jon Carter are together again (just as they should be).

The “Booster Gold” and “Classic Blue Beetle” costume t-shirts are currently available for purchase at the Think Geek online store in sizes S-3XL for $19.99 each. Go…Buy…Now!

NYCC 12 First Look: Booster Gold Bust by DC Collectibles

The Blot’s man enough to admit I got a little teary eyed when I heard the news last night that DC Collectibles had debuted a new Booster Gold bust from their DC Comics Super-Heroes line. I’ve seriously been waiting almost 30 years for Booster Gold statue or bust, and that time is almost here! The only disappointing part is the bust features Booster’s look from DC’s “New 52” reboot, which is pretty horrible. I seriously hate this costume, but even its terrible design won’t stop me from purchasing at least one of these. Come to papa!!!

The Booster Gold DC Comics Super-Heroes bust by DC Collectibles will be a hand painted, cold-cast porcelain statue packaged in a 4 color box. It will stand 6” tall, and goes on sale February 2013.  Pre-order one today from Entertainment Earth for $59.99 here.

The Blot’s Booster Gold Sketchbook - Page 1 Kevin Maguire

For years now The Blot’s been wanting to start a sketchbook of my all time favorite superhero, Booster Gold. Something I could take with me to conventions and have my favorite artists draw a Booster Gold sketch or commission in. There was only one thing holding me back…I had decided long ago that if I was going to do a Booster Gold sketchbook the first commission had to be by my favorite artist, Kevin Maguire. Of course as luck would have it, even after going to comic book conventions for almost 25 years Kevin and I have never been at the same show! Thankfully that changed last November.

When I heard Kevin Maguire was going to be at Wizard World’s Austin Comic-Con at the end of last year, I knew I had to be there. The convention was great, and I was lucky enough to finally be able to start my Booster Gold sketchbook after all these years with a sick Kevin Maguire commission (which you can see in the photo above). Now I’ve got an entire Moleskin sketchbook to fill up! So while this won’t be a regular feature on The Blot Says…, you can expect updates periodically throughout the year whenever I have the opportunity to add to this exciting project.

Booster Gold & Blue Beetle Custom 3” Dunnys by Nikejerk

While The Blot’s been collecting toys and comics for most of my life, I can honestly say I’ve never been jealous of a fellow fan’s collection…until now! The minute I saw the photo above on Nikejerk’s (aka Jared Cain) flickr page my jaw hit the ground. I don’t know who commissioned the Atlanta artist to create custom 3” Dunnys of Booster Gold, my favorite superhero, and his best friend the Blue Beetle but I am extremely jealous. Really I’m just mad at myself for not commissioning them first! Are these spot on or what? I especially love the way Jared handmade the goggles on both figures. All they really need is a little Skeets accessory flying around.

As Jared explained on his flickr page, this pair of custom 3” Dunnys were commissioned by a private collector. After seeing how well these JLI members turned out, the collector then commissioned Nikejerk to customize 14 more members of the Justice League over the next year or so. I can’t freaking wait to see who the collector requested and what Jared comes up with!  Jared's definitely leading the way when it comes to pop culture inspired custom figures.

DC Comics: A Rebirth Part I

As you have probably heard, a few months ago DC Comics made the decision to cancel all of their books and reboot the entire DC Universe. They did so by releasing 52 #1 issues of their entire line, which included their most popular books, some old favorites and a number of brand new titles. To be completely honest I have had mixed feelings about this decision and my views have changed considerably the past few weeks. But instead of debating the merits of a companywide reboot (why waste our time considering it’s happening whether we like it or not), I decided to embrace the change whole heartedly. Therefore, I made the somewhat ridiculous decision to pre-order all 52 #1 issues of DC's "New 52".

Well, the huge box of comics showed up at my front door step on Wednesday and I am going to attempt to read all 52 comics by Sunday. This way I can decide which books I want to keep reading since a few issue #2s were already released this week. Since so many of you have already read these comics I’ve decided to write up very brief reviews and grade each comic to give you a little insight as to how I chose which books to continue to read. Hope you enjoy!

Justice League #1 – This was by far the biggest disappointment of all the books I’ve read so far. Justice League is supposed to be DC’s flagship book with the company’s marquee creative team but this book was a complete dud! Literally nothing happened and they only introduced 2 characters (3 if you count a pre-Cyborg Vic Stone). This was not the best way to launch a much maligned companywide reboot. While I’d like to keep reading, this book seems to have been made for trade paperbacks. Grade: D-

Justice League International #1 – This was the one book I was looking forward to the most. JLI has always been one of my favorite comics and Booster Gold is my favorite character (although I hate his new costume), so you know I was going to love this book no matter how bad it was. Again, not much happened in this issue, but it did a great job introducing the book’s large cast and explaining the formation of the Justice League International. Will definitely keep reading this book if for no other reason than I’m a fanboy. Grade: B+

Stormwatch #1 – Another book I was really looking forward to. I love that DC has completely integrated the Wildstorm universe and is keeping the Authority pretty much intact as a rebooted Stormwatch, especially since that’s how the was first formed. Throw in another favorite character of mine, the Martian Manhunter, and you’ve got a great read by Paul Cornell that really seems to be going somewhere. It’s just too bad the art sucked! Will definitely keep reading this one. Grade: Story A; Art C-

Action Comics #1 – The Blot had high hopes for this one based on the creative team of Grant Morrison and Rags Morales. I haven’t read a Superman book in years but was intrigued by Morrison’s reboot of such an iconic character with a storied and rich history. So far so good…this story set 5 years in the past was interesting and so is Morrison’s take on Superman. Not sure I’d stick with this book long term, but I will definitely give it a second issue. Grade: A-

Animal Man #1 – Buddy Baker is one of those C-list characters I always love reading. I’ve especially enjoyed his last few years of space adventures with Adam Strange and Starfire stemming from their storyline in 52. It was cool to see Animal Man’s newfound popularity and the push DC Comics has since given this new series. While not a traditional superhero book, this was definitely my favorite of the 10 “New 52” books I’ve ready so far. In my opinion Jeff Lemire is one of DC’s top writers and I am so glad the company finally merged the Vertigo universe with the main DCU. Not only did it bring back some really wonderful characters to the proper DC universe, but it gave some of DC’s top writing talent a bigger stage to shine on. Will definitely continue reading. Grade: A+

Aquaman #1 – My biggest surprise from the “New 52” was how much I enjoyed Aquaman! I typically really enjoy Geoff Johns work and you can see his passion for the character in the story he’s crafted. I know Johns is a polarizing writing (you either love him or hate him), but I’m glad to see Arthur Curry finally get his due after so many horrible relaunches and reboots. Not sure I’ll be reading this long term, but will probably pick up issue #2. Grade: B+

All-Star Western #1 – Western comics are really not my thing, but how can you not love Jonah Hex!?! He really is such a complex character when written correctly and the team of Gray and Palmotti definitely know what they’re doing with this old school bounty hunter. I think this book might even have a shot at a long run with its setting now in Gotham and its many ties to Gotham’s future. While I enjoyed issue #1, I won’t be continuing with the book. If the book continues to receive rave reviews I might pick it up as a trade later on down the road. Grade: B

Blackhawks #1 – While I did not have huge expectations for Blackhawks, I was somewhat disappointed in the story. I’ve fallen in love with Mike Costa’s work on G.I. Joe: Cobra for IDW, and was hoping to really like Blackhawks. I think part of the problem was the fact that these are all new characters and I was hoping this series would tie into Blackhawk history more so than in name only. The cliffhanger also did not leave me wanting to find out what happens next. Will not continue reading. Grade: C

Flash #1 – Flash was one of the first comics I ever started reading consistently and have done so for most of my life (that’s over 20 years if you’re counting). I am a hardcore Wally West fan, and why DC Comics would choose to abandon Wally in favor of Barry Allen escapes me. This is a shortsighted decision made by met out of touch with their fan base. For most comic book readers Wally West is the only Flash they’ve ever known, and for most non-comic book readers who DC Comics is hoping to gain as readers with this reboot Wally West is their Flash (i.e. his inclusion in the Justice League Unlimited and Young Justice cartoons). To me this was a very short sighted decision that did not work prior to the reboot and it’s not going to work now. I hate Barry Allen as the DCU’s primary Flash and I hate the new costume. Will not be reading this book again. Grade: B

Demon Knights #1 – I don’t know why, but I was really looking forward to this comic. I’ve heard so many amazing things about Paul Cornell’s work, and so far I have to say it’s all true. I’m also a sucker for books set in the DC Universe’s past featuring their most famous mystical and immortal characters. It’s literally a who’s who of ancient characters, which I think is neat. Every page is chock full of Easter eggs for long time DC readers. I also have to commend Cornell for his decision to not have The Demon rhyme when he speaks. I am sure it was hard to ignore one of the character’s most iconic characteristics, but I can’t imagine reading this book every month with non¬stop rhymes. Will definitely continue reading this book. Grade: A-

Next up...the Batman books!

The Complete Booster Gold Toy Collection

Click on the photo above for a more detailed look

As The Blot counts down to Booster Gold’s world television debut in this Friday’s episode of Smallville (appropriately entitled “Booster”), I thought I’d share a photo of my Booster Gold toy collection. The Blot’s proud to say I own every Booster Gold figure ever produced, and here they all are in one fabulous group shot.

To be honest, owning every Booster Gold figure is not quite the same accomplishment if say I collected Superman or Batman figures. With the amount of toys made of DC Comics’ A-list characters over the past 80 years, it’d be nearly impossible to have a complete collection. I guess that’s just one of the few perks to having your favorite character be a C-list hero. That and none of these figures are all that rare (except maybe the Walmart Exclusive DCU Infinite Heroes action figure in the middle).

For those interested, here’s a key to the Booster Gold figures you see in the photograph above (from left to right): Lead Figure by Eaglemoss Publications, 52 action figure by DC Direct, Heroclix figure, JLU action figure, DC Universe Classics action figure, DC Universe Infinite Heroes action figure, Minimates action figure, DC Universe Infinite Heroes action figure, JLU action figure, JLI action figure by DC Direct, and two more Heroclix figures.

First Look: Blue Beetle on Smallville Photos

Ok, as much as I’d like to only talk about Booster Gold’s appearance on Smallville this long, I’d be doing the show a great disservice if I totally ignored the fact that the Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) was also making his live action debut this Friday. To be honest, I’ve never truly warmed up to Jaime as the Blue Beetle, primarily because of the way DC killed off his predecessor Ted Kord. What really angers me is the fact they could have introduced Jaime as a new Blue Beetle without killing Ted off. It’s not like Ted ever used the scarab that gives Jaime his powers. But I digress…

Before I totally lose all of my non-comic book loving readers, check out these new photos from Comic Book Resources showing Jaden Brandt Bartlett as Jaime Reyes (aka the Blue Beetle). For as much as I love Smallville’s Booster Gold uniform, I equally hate the Blue Beetle armor. It just looks hokey and cardboard-y. To be honest, I’ve seen better and more realistic costumes at SDCC. But hopefully these still photos aren’t indicative of how the costume looks on tv.

For those of you interested in what the Smallville episode “Booster” will be about, here’s the official synopsis: DC Comics character Booster Gold arrives from the future; The Blue Beetle is born! — After everything that happened with the VRA, Lois (Erica Durance) tells Clark (Tom Welling) it’s best to make “Clark Kent” forgettable and awkward so people don’t suspect he’s The Blur. However, the two are stunned when a fame-hungry superhero from the future, Booster Gold (guest star Eric Martsolf), sweeps into town and begins making saves and posing for press ops, completely winning over the city of Metropolis.

Booster begins his campaign to take The Blur’s place as the “World’s Greatest Superhero” and tries to charm Lois into writing a story about him, but she’s not having his antics and begins her own campaign for The Blur. During one of Booster’s saves, an alien weapon in the form of a scarab falls from a truck and fuses itself to a boy named Jaime Reyes (guest star Jaden Brandt Bartlett), turning him into the Blue Beetle. Unfortunately, Jaime is unable to control the suit and Blue Beetle starts attacking Metropolis. Tom Welling directed the episode written by Geoff Johns.

The Smallville episode “Booster” premieres this Friday, April 22nd, at 8/7c on The CW.

Booster Gold Smallville Promo Video

This is a huge week for The Blot, because it marks the world television debut of the Smallville episode “Booster” featuring my all time favorite DC Comics superhero, Booster Gold! With only five Smallville episodes left, The Blot’s still in shock that an entire episode would be dedicated to introducing Booster (and of course the Blue Beetle) to the world of live action TV, but I couldn’t be happier. The costume looks great and from what I’ve seen, I think Geoff Johns did a great job adapting this C-list hero for television. But don’t take my word for it, check out the official preview for this week’s episode for your official first look at Booster Gold in action!

While The Blot’s not fan of Smallville, I can’t get over watching a real live version of Booster Gold. If the episode is anywhere near as good as the promo video clip above, I might have to go back and watch the show's first 9 seasons! Watch for other Booster related posts all this week on The Blot Says... as a lead-up to the character’s big Smallville debut.

The Smallville episode “Booster” premieres this Friday, April 22nd, at 8/7c on The CW.

Smallville First Look: New Booster Gold & Blue Beetle Photos

While everyone else in the world is talking about the changes NBC has made to its Wonder Woman costume, The Blot wants to talk about something a little more important: the first ever images of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle from the April 22nd episode of Smallville entitled appropriately enough “Booster”. As you all know, The Blot’s a huge fan of the JLI, and Booster Gold specifically. In fact, I’d go so far as to say Booster Gold’s my favorite super hero of all time. So naturally I was super excited when news leaked a few months ago that Geoff Johns would be writing another episode of Smallville and it would feature the live action debut of Booster Gold and two different Blue Beetles (Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes).

This is the final season of Smallville, and the show’s creators have done an amazing giving this show a proper send off by bringing in fan favorites from the DC Universe for cameos. Never in a million years did I think we’d actually get a live action Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, but Geoff Johns has made my dreams come true! TV Guide released the first ever photo of Blue and Gold (as Booster and Beetle are affectionately referred to), and to be honest I wasn’t sure how I felt about the image. I’m still a little worried about how Smallville will pull off Jaime’s Blue Beetle armor, but after seeing these new pics of Booster Gold (via The Daily BLAM!) I’m totally sold!

Click on the photo above for a more detailed look

The uniform Booster is seen wearing here is pretty much identical to the “sponsored” outfit he wore during the DC’s weekly comic book series 52. It’s not my favorite look of his, but I think it definitely does the best job of conveying what this character is all about (at least superficially). Portrayed by Days of Our Lives star Eric Martsolf, the Booster Gold we meet in “Booster” is very much "a glory-seeking showboat from the future." According to Martsolf, "the episode takes place in Booster's very early stages where he's at his conceited best, where he believes he can do whatever he wants. He's gonna stay for the photo op and bask in the glory of his heroic efforts." (link) And that’s just the kind of Booster Gold I love!

According to the TV Guide article, which includes an interview with Geoff Johns, the episode will also show Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes’ origin story of how he comes to find himself merged with the mysterious high-tech Blue Beetle Scarab. The Blot’s not really a fan of Smallville, but I always make it a point to turn in when other super heroes visit the show, like the Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes or the Justice Society. But none of those episodes have gotten me nearly as excited as Smallville’s upcoming April 22nd episode.

Smallville Season 10, Episode 18 “Booster” featuring Booster Gold and Blue Beetle will air on The CW at 8/7c.

Booster Gold T-Shirts by Graphitti Designs & DC Comics

As you may or may not know, Booster Gold is one of my favorite super heroes. So his return to prominence in the DC Universe has made The Blot a very happy comic book reader. I pretty much own every Booster Gold related item ever produced, which besides a handful of action figures is not all that much. Well that all changed two summers ago when Graphitti Designs released the “Booster Gold Fan Club” t-shirt at San Diego Comic-Con 2009.

Graphitti Designs is now following up that classic DC Comics tee with the “Booster Gold Symbol” t-shirt, and it’s about damn time! The title of the shirt really sums up its design, as it features Booster’s yellow symbol on a blue t-shirt. So simple and yet so awesome if you ask me! Graphitti Designs and DC Comics have been producing a ton of these super hero logo tees lately and The Blot can’t get enough of them.

Each DC Comics x Graphitti Designs Booster Gold t-shirt comes in sizes S-XXL and retails for $19.99 ($21.99 for XXL shirts).  You can purchase the "Booster Gold Fan Club” t-shirt here and the “Booster Gold Symbol” t-shirt here.

Justice League International Series 2 Action Figures

Readers of The Blot Says… may remember that the late 80’s/early 90’s run of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire on Justice League International is one of The Blot’s holy grails of comics. I hold it in the same high regard as the 80’s run of Marv Wolfman and George Perez on both The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths. And so it made me really happy this week to find out DC Direct was continuing its line of Justice League International action figures based on the artwork of Kevin Maguire.


There was no doubt in my mind that a second wave of figures would be coming because while Series 1 was great, it didn’t include any of the super heroes who really represented what it meant to be a member of the JLI. Yes Batman, Ice and G’Nort were important characters to many key JLI stories, but the humorous legacy of Justice League International was created by its core members: the Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and Fire.


One of the highlights of the JLI era was Giffen and DeMatteis’ unique and absurd take on the classic JLA super hero J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. His new found obsession with Oreos was hilarious and even though they took his personality in a bizarre direction, there is no doubt in my mind that the Martian Manhunter is and always will be the heart and soul of the Justice League. In my opinion his exclusion from the current Justice League series is a key reason the book has been so disappointing to fans; from the very start of the book’s re-launch, the team has been written without direction and focus. Something J’onn often brought to the Justice League of America.



And while I am a little disappointed DC Direct chose to go with Fire and Ice’s original costumes (from their Ice Maiden and Green Flame Global Guardian days), I am pumped to finally be able to own a Justice League team consisting of Blue & Gold and Fire & Ice. These four characters are some of my favorite heroes of all time and I love that they are finally getting their due respect from the higher ups at DC Comics. Now that Tora (Ice) has been brought back to life, we only need to convince the idiots at DC to bring back poor dead Ted Kord (Blue Beetle).


Each Justice League International Series 2 action figure stands between 6.75”-7” tall, features multiple points of articulation, a base to stand on and comes in a 4 color clamshell blister card packaging. You can expect to see the line of Justice League International Series 2 action figures in stores on August 26, 2009.