Gnaw Legends Class Figure (Titans Return)

Gnaw is a Sharkticon, one of the Quintessons' servant race. Their character and behaviour is more reminiscent of piranhas in my opinion. Apparently Gnaw is the Sharkticon who makes friends with Wheelie. I think Gnaw is my favourite of the Titans Return Legends class figures thus far. Although they have all been pretty decent.

Gubila/Gubira Ultra Monster Sofubi

Gubira was a kaiju who appeared in the original Ultraman series and was likely one of the more awkward suits for actors to wear as it was a four-legged deep sea monster. Gubira looks like a cross between a narwhal and an orca but is also capable of scurrying about on land. With only 4 forays against the Ultra Garrison under its belt Gubila is a classic but obscure kaiju. I'm guessing the discomfort of the design is a large part of its infrequent appearances.

Seaspray (Transformers Generation 2)

After my jump from Aquaman to Tiger Shark to Bill Everett to Amazing Man I didn't have any other specific theme in mind so I decided to just go with a generic oceanic theme. To whit the oldest Transformer left in my collection. I too busy being born and developing basic cognitive and motor skills when Transformers first hit the shelves but I was the perfect target age for the Generation 2 (G2) line. I had a handful of G2 toys but they all went to yard sales or goodwill over the years except inexplicably (yet happily) Seaspray. Seaspray is the Autobots' resident water expert and had a ridiculous blubbery voice in the original cartoon. He is identical to the G1 release except his blue parts were replaced with a metallic blue. Nice and shiny.

Amazing Man (Amazing Heroes Series 1.5)

So thinking of Namor via his foe Tiger Shark got me to Namor's creator (one of my favourite comic artists) Bill Everett. Everett was quite the character in real life and in the golden age of comics he came up with many other features that didn't end up as popular as the Sub-Mariner. One of those was Amazing Man. John Aman was an orphan chosen by the Tibetan "Council of Seven" to become Amazing Man and go out into the world and fight for justice against The Great Question a disciple of the council who felt slighted that this outsider would be given such a great honour. Amazing Man's origin is not the most groundbreaking, even at the time but if it rings a bell to modern comics readers that's because Roy Thomas (a huge Everett fan) took the basic details for the origin of Iron Fist. This connection was further deepened when Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction introduced the Marvel version of John Aman in Immortal Iron Fist #8 as the Prince of Orphans. Roy Thomas also used the now public domain name "Amazing Man" for a hero in All-Star Squadron back in the 1980's. Amazing Heroes goes back to the original "Green Mist" design though that particular super power is hard to replicate in a toy.

Tiger Shark (Marvel Legends Infinite Series)

So after I got the Ocean Warrior Aquaman figure I started thinking about how much I liked the aquatic superheroes. As a kid I loved to swim and so it was a natural fit. My next slew of posts is a bit of stream of consciousness. I didn't have any other Aquaman related figures on hand (they are in storage at my dad's place) so my mind turned to the other major underwater Monarch-of-Atlantis-cum-superhero Namor the Submariner. I didn't have any Namor figures around but I did have one of Namor's foes the sinister Tiger Shark. Todd Arliss was an Olympic swimmer who suffered a spinal cord injury. Despondent and desperate he allowed Dr. Lemuel Dorcas to perform an experiemental procedure grafting the DNA of a tiger shark and that of the Sub-Mariner with his own. The resulting mutations transformed Todd Arliss into the super-villain Tiger Shark! So when I saw this relatively obscure villain in figure-form I just had to pick him up.

Ocean Warrior Aquaman (DC Universe Classics)

Aquaman is the most famous of the underwater superheroes and probably the most ridiculed in the greater pop culture sphere. As a small lad I saw episodes of the 1960's Aquaman cartoon, which while being ridiculous in that 60's way it was not overly campy and portrayed the King of Atlantis as a competent, powerful hero.  This version of Aquaman sports an "ocean camouflage" outfit which was designed by Neal Pozner and drawn beautifully by Craig Hamilton in the 1986 miniseries. This look is a severe departure from the classic orange and green scales and fins but I think it looks fantastic. If you like Aquaman or if you are a fan of the fantasy genre I recommend checking out the series.  After the miniseries Aquaman went back to his classic togs and this design was not seen again until 1995 when it was worn briefly by the villain Thanatos and then Aqualad wore a black and red version of the suit as Tempest. This figure has the usual DCUC articulation and luckily the paint job is above par for the line since the costume design is completely dependent on crisp paint lines.

Forager (DC Universe Classics)

The first of my acquisitions from Calgary Expo (the second being Aquaman). Forager is a "bug" from New Genesis who first appeared in New Gods #9 back in 1972 and he is pure Kirby classic. I first encountered him in the Jim Starlin/Mike Mignola miniseries Cosmic Odyssey. Forager is a character I like more for his wacky design, I'll admit to not having read all of his only handful of appearances. But he's fun. His legs are a bit wobbly but he can still stand. The legs don't want to stand straight up giving him a weirder posture which I think works for a "bug" though I don't think it's on purpose.