Figure Review: DC Direct Stargirl

Welcome to my first action figure review of many to come! I am going to try and post quick reviews of action figures as I get them (before they move off of my desk and sadly head off to cold storage in the basement).

I wanted to take a quick look at the recently released DC Direct JSA Series 2 Stargirl action figure. Stargirl, a.k.a. Courtney Whitmore, a creation of the illustrious Geoff Johns, has had her own comic serires (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.), been part of the Justice Society of America for a long time, appeared in the animated show Justice League Unlimited (with her own figure from Mattel), and even had a live action appearance in Smallville.

We now finally have a comic accurate version of Stargirl to put along side of the other members of the Starman legacy (will we ever get a Mikaal Tomas, Prince Gavyn or Farris Knight figure? most likely not). The design is based on the JSA cover paintings of Alex Ross, with a pose typical of the more statue-like Ross interpretations of DC's heroes and villians. The blue metallic paint really works well and brings the figure to life. The attention to detail is nice with different reds used for the gloves and the Cosmic Converter Belt. There is something about the facial sculpt that strikes me a bit odd, but I can't put my finger on it (maybe the odd smile). Overall, I think this interpretation captures the character very well, and is a worthy addition to anyone's DC collection. (Overall Rating: 4/5)

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

First post! I don't get out to the movies much any more, but my wife is kind enough to encourage me to go out at night and see one now and again. So, given the opportunity, I had to go and finally see Iron Man 2 (thank you Island Cinemas for comfortable seats).

I have always been a HUGE Iron Man fan (as it was one of the first comics that I regularly collected as a kid) and I loved the first movie. The sequel is comparable, but definitely not as well executed. I won't go into a plot recap, but I wanted to mention that a large segment of the beginning of the movie was Tony Stark exhibiting self-destructive behavior and being a general snarky @$$. Pretty amusing, but it started to wear thin after a while. The whole "I'm dying, so I'll go out in flames bit" works at first, but it doesn't have the same impact as the gradual decent in alcholism from the comics. Loved the "futurist" tone of the movie and the issues it brought up such as the use of drones by the military, the techno-utopian Stark Expo, and privatized security. I loved the interaction between Tony, Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow) in the donut shop. It really felt like a Marvel comic book come to life. The fight scenes were great. War Machine was awesome. Howard Stark as Howard Huges/Walt Disney/Wernher von Braun was classic. I was also quite happy that Agent Coulson returned (spinoff!).

The whole movie just seemed a bit frenetic and disjointed, it lingered too long on unimportant scenes and rushed through scenes that should have built dramatic tension. It just didn't hang together as well as the first. Still enjoyed it. Still can't wait for more exploits from Tony Stark/Iron Man in future movies whether it is the Avengers or Iron Man 3. I'll just count my blessings that I got two great films about one of my all-time favorite super heroes.