Welcome back to my week-long series of “intereviews” with the members of DC Universe Classics Wave 4. For those unfamiliar with the format, I basically pretend the figures are real and “interview” them, sneaking in my review in the process.
My guest today is Ares, the Greek God of War. Thanks for being here, Mr. Ares. Can I call you Ares?
Well, you own me, so it’s not like I have much choice, right?
I was only trying to be polite. Now, I’ll be frank–
–and I’ll be Ares!
Huh? Oh, ha. Very amusing. As I was saying, I don’t know much about you or your role in the DC universe, other than that you’re a foil for Wonder Woman. I can say that back when I was really into fantasy literature and such forth, I often considered buying your DC Direct figure at my local comic shop. You seemed like a huge, Sauronesque badass. And now, years later, here you are, with more articulation and even better sculpting, thanks to the Four Horsemen.
Yes, it’s cool to have had two great figures in ten years, after having none for…well, pretty much ever, right? As for my place in the DC universe, in the Golden and Silver age I was just a Greek soldier in orange armor. George Perez re-invented me for the Wonder Woman reboot in the 1980s with this awesome new look.
The Four Horsemen have certainly done justice to it–as always, I can’t say enough about their sculpting abilities, particularly for a mass market figure. The detailing on the helmet and the “forged steel” look and feel of the chest armor is amazing. I need to learn more about sculpture art so I can better praise the Horsemen’s skills, but I do think a sculpt as detailed as yours is one of the best examples of the Horsemen’s work on this line thus far.
Thank you. I’m particularly pleased they got my scale right–some of the villains have been a little under-sized.
True. On a side note, here’s a thing I don’t get–Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, which is so central to the DCU nowadays, made a big deal about how the Fourth World came into being after “the old gods died.” How do you reconcile that with all these Amazons and Greek gods and such?
(chuckles) That’s true. I don’t really know. I guess you could do what Marvel does with the Norse gods and say we’re really extradimensional aliens or something…though that’s what the New Gods are too, right? Hell, I don’t know.
OK, back to your action figure. Like most of the figures in the fourth wave, you have excellent paint applications. The armor has just the right sheen on it to resemble metal, though a somewhat unearthly blue metal. And the wash on the helmet is very well executed.
I note you have the usual DCUC articulation, which, because this review might be read out of context with all my other DCUC reviews, I’m forced to list here: a ball-jointed neck, ball-and-disc shoulders, h-hinge hips (I think…they could be ball joints under that skirt, I’m not sure), swivels at the biceps, waists, thighs, and wrists, and hinged ankle, torso, knee and elbow joints. The helmet is made from rubbery plastic, which allows for a decent range of motion with the neck joint, but the hips are severely limited by your skirt. Some customizers have taken to cutting them with an X-acto knife to allow more movement.
I notice your cape is pretty stiff, too.
Yeah…I accidentally got heavy starch at the dry cleaners.
Or maybe Mattel just used a harder plastic than they did with Robin’s cape in wave three.
…sure, or that.
Your accessories (other than the Despero part, which I’ll discuss tomorrow) are pretty interesting. While your armor has a very classic, Greco-cum-medieval look to it, your weapons–a sword and an axe–have angular lines that make for a somewhat futuristic look, reminiscent of the Horsemen’s work on Masters of the Universe.
Yeah. They’re kind of Kirby-esque, aren’t they? He always blended that modern touch with ancient or classical armor. I think they work, to be honest–as I said, “gods” like me occupy a weird space in superhero comics, and these weapons hint at that “alien” aspect I mentioned. Not that I’m an alien–there’s plenty of “magic” in the DCU–but H.P. Lovecraft developed the concept that gods and monsters could be science fiction rather than fantasy, and I think that’s often a more palatable perspective for today’s reader.
Indeed! That’s a great note to end this interview on.
Esbat
I wants him more…