Intereviews > Despero (DC Universe Classics)

Oh man, am I finally on the last one of these? I think I’ll go back to the round robin format next time. That, or spread the intereviews out over a longer period. Anyway…

My intereview today is with Despero, one of the Justice League’s oldest and most formidable villains–

Puny human! What do you want? Explain to me now or die!

Oh, great–this is going to be one of those interviews.

What do you mean, speck?

(sighs) So, you’re the Build-A-Figure for DCUC wave four…

Never speak of that again! You cannot imagine the utter humiliation of being dismembered and having your limbs sold in separate packages–what am I, Johnny Longtorso? To say nothing of having my arm or leg share stale air with the likes of the Amazon female…

Wonder Woman.

Never speak–

–her name again, yeah, I get it. Anyway. It’s interesting the Four Horsemen decided to go with your look from the Justice League Task Force era of the mid-1990s, when you were ostensibly a good guy after being possessed by a robot called L-Ron.

One of the few ignominious periods of my otherwise illustrious existence, yes. Why were so many comic book villains made into anti-heroes in the 1990s? Venom, Deadpool, Deathstroke, me…

I blame Frank Miller. I know DC Direct is releasing an “Enemies Among Us”-style Despero next month, so it’s possible Mattel and DC are trying not to overlap too much. I asked the Horsemen about it a few months back:

POE: In recent years, the more iconic Despero has been the bulked-up, half-naked one in the Superman/Batman “Enemies Among Us” storyline; but the DCUC BAF is the one from the “Breakdowns” storyline in the Justice League Task Force a few years back. Was this a 4H decision, and/or was it partly to avoid competing with DC Direct, which has an “Enemies” Despero coming out around the same time this year?

ERIC TREADAWAY: It’s a little bit of both. We work very closely with both DC and Mattel to make sure that we’re not really going to be stepping on each others’ toes too much when it comes to release dates of certain characters, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. In those cases we try to figure out a good alternative ­ as with Despero ­ where the characters have very distinct differences that would be palatable to a wide range of collectors.

CHRIS DAHLBERG: Also, we designed Despero for Mattels’ DC Universe Classics line in a way that we could come back a few years down the road and, with a few minor alterations, create a more “Enemies Among Us” -inspired version of him.

Personally, I prefer your “Enemies” look, so with any luck we’ll see that sometime down the line. It’s worth noting that some fans have found Etrigan‘s cape looks pretty good on you (and it’s not like it’s hard to find extra Etrigans these days–he’s the biggest pegwarmer from wave one).

But aside from the design choice, your sculpting is excellent. While your sculpt is actually less complicated than Lobo’s, whose body buck you share, your head sculpt is superb. There’s also some great detailing on the straps hanging from your belt–

While your praise is expected, adequate and richly deserved, I do have other things to do today–such as crushing the Justice League and conquering the galaxy!

Hang on, give me a few more minutes here, Despy.

Never call me that again or I shall destroy you.

Look, can we please just get through this? The paint applications to your face and torso are very well done, but the excellent wash on your chest isn’t on your arms, which is a bit jarring, though not really a big deal.

Your armor, for those who are curious, is removable, although the pegs on the back of the armor are glued into two holes in your back. They’ll come out and go back on easily enough, but be aware you’ll be tearing the glue.

The armor can hold your gun, which is a golden version of the one that came with Lobo. You’ve also got the holster and pistol as your sidearm, giving you the most accessories for a BAF since Metamorpho. All the weapons fit in their holsters and your hands very well.

As for articulation, you’ve got–

–the standard DCUC articulation, yes we all know! Why must we do this every time?

Because someone might stumble upon this website looking for a Despero review, never having seen the site before and being completely unfamiliar with DCUC. You’ve got a ball-jointed head and shoulders, H-hinge hips which allow for ball-joint like motion, swivels at the biceps, thighs, waist, and wrists, and hinges at the knees, elbows, ankles and torso.

Since you’re a BAF, I had to attach you legs and arms. They’re fairly solid, though they do attach to a rotating socket within each joint, so if necessary, one could glue the peg to the socket and not lose any articulation. Many people did that with Metamorpho’s legs.

For now, I’m displaying you without armor. I’ll probably pick up an extra Etrigan at some point to see how you look with his cape. Overall, though, it’s fantastic to have gotten one of my favorite JLA foes so early in DCUC–even if you’re sort of the “good guy” version.

I’m not a “good guy”! I am EVIL INCARNATE! INCARNATE!!!

Thanks for having me.