The world has seen the new Superman: Man of Steel trailers, and they’re enough to make DC Comics geeks tingle just a little. While Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was undoubtedly about the darkness in men’s souls, Man of Steel might just be about the lightness in them, and none too soon… even though we’ll have to wait until the summer of 2013 to really find out.
Superman is one of history’s most collectible and internationally recognizable characters, spawning items since his creation in 1938. As such, it’s nearly impossibly to enumerate everything that the big, yellow-and-red ‘S’ has graced in the past 70-odd years—but it’s completely within the grasp of sensibility to pick out a handful of really exceptional action figures dedicated to the big, blue boyscout as he’s appeared throughout history.
DC Direct ‘Showcase’ Superman
5) DC Direct’s ‘Showcase’ Superman
DC Direct did Superman proud by releasing a figure of his Silver Age form, because the Silver Age is when comics stopped being about street crime and started being about weird science crimes. During the Silver Age, Superman (and his pal, Jimmy Olsen) went through a lot of weird changes, from being blown up like a balloon to changing his iconic costume to an evil suit for an issue or two, but the weirdest are captured here, with three switch-out heads and accessories on an iconic Curt Swan-drawn body.
Here, we have Superman as an alien big-head with elongated fingers (Future Superman), a lion, and finally, an ant (or, as he’s also known, Super Ant). All of these are transformations Superman went through when he was exposed to Red Kryptonite, and they’re all gloriously ridiculous, capturing a really neat time in Super-history.
Mario Omitting the Kenner Super Powers version Superman, IMHO, is a MASSIVE oversight. As far as I'm concerned, it should come in at number two, right after your spot-on number one pick. May 16th, 2013 at 2:40 PM