Rumble in the Jungle

I know, I know that the actual name of this two-pack is Justice in the Jungle, but I like that name better. It has a better ring to it.



This is the last DCUC Two Pack from Mattel, the two characters are linked by their animal powers and thus, the name of the pack. Anyway, the name is kinda wrong. B'wana Beast is a white African superhero so the name Justice in the Jungle may actually apply to him (although it would be more accurate to say he's from the Savannah, but it's a common stretch, like when we say that the lion is the king of the jungle). But Animal Man, is not a "Jungle" hero, he's a suburban hero that even uses a jacket since he doesn't like to show his body too much. He has a wife and kids and even a minivan. Calling this pack Justice in the Jungle is like calling a Two-Pack with Aquaman and Johnny Quick "Justice in Lake Michigan", Aquaman apply, with a little stretch, since he's ocean based, but Johnny Quick is out of his environment.



That - completely idiotic - rant aside, these two-pack contains two of my favorite comic characters. And that's thanks to the awesome work of Grant Morrison. Morrison has had his ups and downs, but his run in Animal Man (that's when I knew B'wana Beast) and Doom Patrol are two of my favorite ever. They, along with stuff from Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and others changed the way a teenage me read comics.



Animal Man is a great figure, but I must confess I'm very attached to the DCD version of the character and only bought this because he came along with B'wana Beast. I still find the articulation of Mattel a little too obvious in figures with lighter color schemes, like Animal Man's orange spandex suit (I know... What was he thinking, right?). Except for that the figure has a very nice sculpt. And nothing else. He doesn't really need anything else, since his powers come from borrowing "animal" powers, but some animals would have been a nice touch, especially since this was the last Matty exclusive two-pack. Going the extra mile as a farewell present is always good. But Mattel is not THAT nice.



B'wana Beast is a really freaky character: He has a freaky power (he can join two animals into one fucked up chimera) and a freaky costume and a freaky name. And if there's something I love is a freaky character. And I guess someone at Mattel/DC Animated loves him too. For a Z list character he now has not one, not two, not even three but four (FOUR/4/CUATRO/QUATRE!!!) action figures. A 6" DCUC version, a 5" Batman the Brave and the Bold version, a 3 3/4 JLU version and a tiny (I don't really know the scale here...) Action League version. Man, that's a lot of B'wana love.


(Yes, I used the same shot for both comics... Sorry)

The figure is simple, but amazing (still, he really needs nipples!), it's almost a plain base buck, with some details in the loincloth, boots and helmet. The helmet looks especially great.

Now that I have an incredibly obscure character, I want more. Like:


Ram, from the New Guardians. This character had it all, a cliché (he was a Japanese guy that was turned into a machine-Japanese-guy), a killer look, cool powers (although nobody really explained them), and a really freaky and failed purpose in life (he was the only heterosexual "human" male in a group that was supposed to have sex to trigger the next human evolution and... Wait for it... And he has no genitals! You can see it in the pic, he's naked and unless the girl he was dating a the time had a USB port, the next evolution is bye bye).

OK, Mattel, so maybe not him, but how about one of the other New Guardians for my Batman display, like:


Floronic Man (or Floro) a Batman villain, turned hero, turned villain. You know the drill. C'mon you can even flock him... I know you like to flock toys, Matty...

No? Well, since we're talking about talking plants how about...


Swamp Thing! The one and only...

I know, I know. Vertigo limitations. But if we could overcome those limitations you can make toys of...


The brotherhood of DADA! You're making a Doom Patrol, so a cool group of villains from the...

Yeah, Vertigo era, damn! But another member of the Doom Patrol you could make is...


Karma, another freaky character with great hair and weird powers.

OK, OK, not him either? But since we're talking about weird...

(I can go on all day, so I'll better stop now). You heard me Mattel, let's do this!

Until next time. B'wana love for everybody!