Black Adam Action Figure

DC Direct

 
"Bring on the bad guys," cried the unwashed masses, and after the recent humdrum Green Lantern wave, DC Direct responded in a most unexpected fashion -- Black Adam! Captain Marvel's ancient foe! A month or so early! Shazam! Him too! Black Adam is, of course, the immortal enemy of the Shazam force; one of a long line of evil men who use the power locked within an ancient Egyptian scarab (conveniently included with the figure -- use if you dare!). He's supposedly gone straight and joined the JSA but I'll believe that when I see it. But back to the plastic matter at hand. I've been drooling over the prospect of this little bugger for some time now, so let me enjoy this, as I stick him under the critical microscope.

Word has it on the DC Direct message boards that this Black Adam's body is actually a repaint of the original Captain Marvel deluxe figure, issued a year or so back. There was then some grousing on said message boards about that as well. To that I reply -- bollocks! Number one, who cares about the original Captain Marvel figure? Ancient history -- it's a solid, accurate body sculpt, so there. Remember He-Man? Fucking hell, every single figure got the steroid maximus body sculpt, accuracy be damned! This body has the proper outfit and proper proportions, which brings me to... Number two, remember that Black Adam is the evil counterpart/twin to Captain Marvel, like a negative image, so it stands to reason that they'd have equal physiques, stacked up, pound for pound. Gold boots, wristlets, and sash? Check. Black tights? Check. Lurid gold lightning bolt mocking everything Captain Marvel stands for? Check.

On the head sculpt -- my god, it's impressive. The detail on the DC Direct villains' facial features has been at times breathtaking (especially in the case of Star Sapphire and Captain Cold) and Black Adam is no slouch either. The face is all razor sharp angles and translucent skin, looking like it was carved out of pure cocaine. Hair is jet black, scraped back from the forehead, exposing a severe vampire hairline. Piercing black eyes, aristocratic frown -- damn good stuff. Black Adam seems to this big softie to be as much David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth as he is super villain extraordinaire. Hmmm. Regardless of occult rock connections, Black Adam is perfect to channel the glory days of Whiz Comics and the Monster Society of Evil. Would C.C. Beck play with this toy? Of course he would.

DC Direct: http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/

Matthew Damascus