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REVIEW:
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED - AQUAMAN/PARASITE/STARGIRL
By Thomas Wheeler


If one wants some proof that Mattel is making good on its promiseto start providing a better supply of some of the harder to findsets in the JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED line, even before that linebecomes a Target exclusive later in 2008, one need look no furtherthan the recent appearance of the three-pack featuring AQUAMAN andnewcomers to the line PARASITE and STARGIRL, a set so elusive thatsome people weren't even sure it existed.
The package back pictures several other sets I can't say as I'veseen, and would like to, especially the set with Amazo, Nemesis,and Lightray. Hopefully, in due time. Meanwhile, let's have a lookat the characters in this particular set, starting with...
AQUAMAN. For someone who's considered a reasonably major player inthe DC Universe, few characters have had their background storiesoverhauled as significantly, especially in recent years, asAquaman. In point of fact, since the Aquaman figure offered in thisset is very clearly reflective of the character of Aquaman from aspecific point in the history of the comics character, there's somemore recent aspects to Aquaman in the comics, like the fact thatapparently it isn't even the same individual anymore, that I'm noteven going to bother getting into. I was reading his history andwas honestly having trouble even making sense of the past couple ofyears, especially around and since the events of Infinite Crisis.
So let's take it to a certain point appropriate to the character asreflected in the animation and leave it there. Certainly Aquamanhas a considerable history up to that point, even if that's beenopen to a certain amount of rewriting.
In his early Golden Age appearances, Aquaman had the ability tobreathe underwater and superhuman strength enabling him to swim athigh speeds. He was also shown to have the ability to communicatewith sea-life and have them do his bidding. Initially, he wasdepicted as speaking to sea creatures "in their ownlanguage," and only when they were close enough to hear himrather than being telepathic in nature. While he was oftendescribed as the "sovereign of the sea," with the watersof the entire globe his "domain," and almost every seacreature his "loyal subject," the title was never anofficial one. Aquaman's adventures took place all across the world,and the only base he appeared to have was "an ancient templeof lost Atlantis, kept underwater," in which he kept asolitary throne.
Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted inMore Fun Comics #73 (Nov. 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC'santhology titles, Aquaman later featured in his own title multipletimes. Nearly two decades later, during the superhero-revivalperiod known as the Silver Age of Comic Books, he was a foundingmember of the Justice League of America. Later still, in the1990s-present Modern Age of Comic Books, Aquaman's character becamemore serious, with storylines depicting the weight of his title asKing of Atlantis.
Aquaman's first origin story was presented in flashback from hisdebut, narrated by the character himself: "The story muststart with my father, a famous undersea explorer -- if I spoke hisname, you would recognize it. My mother died when I was a baby, andhe turned to his work of solving the ocean's secrets. His greatestdiscovery was an ancient city, in the depths where no other diverhad ever penetrated. My father believed it was the lost kingdom ofAtlantis. He made himself a water-tight home in one of the palacesand lived there, studying the records and devices of the race'smarvelous wisdom. From the books and records, he learned ways ofteaching me to live under the ocean, drawing oxygen from the waterand using all the power of the sea to make me wonderfully strongand swift. By training and a hundred scientific secrets, I becamewhat you see -- a human being who lives and thrives under thewater."
Starting in 1959, the "Silver Age" of comics, Aquaman'sbackstory and character were revised, with various new supportingcharacters added and several adjustments made to the character'sorigins, powers, and persona.
In Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959) and subsequent Silver Agecomics, it was revealed that Aquaman was Arthur Curry, the son ofTom Curry, a lighthouse keeper, and Atlanna, a water-breathingoutcast from the lost, underwater city of Atlantis. Due to hisheritage, Aquaman discovered as a youth that he possessed varioussuperhuman abilities, including the powers of surviving underwater,communication with sea life, and tremendous swimming prowess.Eventually, Arthur decided to use his talents to become thedefender of the Earth's oceans, first starting a career as"Aquaboy" and later, when he grew up, calling himself"Aquaman."
After the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series, severalshort limited series were produced in the late 1980s and early1990s -- beginning with 1986's, four-issue Aquaman, featuringAquaman in a new, largely deep-sea blue, costume. The series waswell received and a follow up mini series was in the works, thoughit was eventually canceled due to creative problems.
In 1989, Legend of Aquaman Special rewrote the Sea King's mythosand origin, though keeping most of his Silver Age history intact.The Modern Age Aquaman is born as Orin to Queen Atlanna and themysterious wizard Atlan in the Atlantean city of Poseidonis, wasabandoned on Mercy Reef as a baby because of his blond hair, whichwas seen by the superstitious Atlanteans as a sign of a curse theycalled "the Mark of Kordax." The only individual whospoke up on Orin's behalf was Vulko, a scientist who had nopatience for myth or superstition. While his pleas were to noavail, Vulko would later become a close friend and advisor to theyoung Orin.
As a feral child who raised himself in the wilds of the ocean withonly sea creatures to keep him company, Orin was found and taken inby a lighthouse keeper named Arthur Curry who named Orin"Arthur Curry" after himself. One day Orin returned homeand found that his adoptive father had disappeared, so he set offon his own.
Orin later returned to the seas mostly staying out of humanity'ssight, until he discovered Poseidonis. He was captured by thecity's then-dictatorial government and placed in a prison camp,where he met Vulko, also a prisoner of the state, who taught Orinthe language and ways of the Atlanteans. While Orin was there herealized that his mother was also being held captive, but after herdeath he broke out and fled. Eventually, he made his way to thesurface world, where under the name of "Aquaman" hebecame one of several superheroes emerging into the public view atthe time. Upon his return to Poseidonis he was made the king, andsometime later he met and married Mera. The Modern Age Aquaman'shistory is nearly identical to that of the Silver Age Aquaman fromthis point on.
Although for most of his appearances, Aquaman had been known forwearing an orange shirt that appeared somewhat scaly at times, andgreen tights with fins on the backs of the legs, a classic lookthat would later return and is still regarded as the most popularand best-known incarnation of Aquaman (including a magnificent13" figure from DC Direct whose cloth uniform looks downrightmetallic), the Aquaman that would appear in Justice LeagueUnlimited is based on a very different look for the character thatbecame rather well established in the 1990's.
When Aquaman received his own series again with the publication ofa new Aquaman series in 1994, Aquaman lost his left hand when themadman Charybdis stole his ability to communicate with sea life andstuck Arthur's hand into a piranha-infested pool. This causedAquaman to become somewhat unhinged, and he soon began havingprophetic dreams. Soon after, he attached a harpoon spearhead tohis left arm in place of his missing hand. This was the start of anentirely new look: the classic orange shirt was discarded for agladiatorial manica. Forsaking his former clean-cut appearance,Aquaman grew long hair and a longish beard. After the destructionof the harpoon, Aquaman had it replaced with a cyberneticprosthetic from S.T.A.R. Labs. This new harpoon had a retractablereel that he could fully control.
When Aquaman first appeared in the Justice League series, theJustice League in the comics largely consisted of seven extremelyprominent heroes in the DC Universe, and included Batman, Superman,Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman.This was seen as a way of getting the JLA back to its roots.However, when the animated series started up, Aquaman was swappedout for Hawkgirl, presumably for no other reason than to putanother female on the team. However, that didn't mean that Aquamanwould be entirely absent.
The Sea King turned up in a pre-Unlimited episode, in anincarnation largely reminiscent of his recent look in the comics.He had no orange shirt, but he did have long hair and a beard, andmore than a bit of attitude about surface-dwellers. He also had twohands, but this was changed by the end of his appearance, as he wasimprisoned, held in place by his wrists, and the only way out wasfor him to literally cut off one of his own hands. He laterreplaced it with the harpoon-like hook.
Interestingly, the figure of Aquaman in this three-pack has twointact hands! I don't believe this has ever been the case before.Certainly there's been a one-handed Aquaman offered in the JusticeLeague action figure line before. The figure is shirtless, althoughwearing a very elegant dark green cape that the character in theanimated series occasionally wore. He has a gold belt and goldsbands around his wrists, and dark green tights.
Think of this as a somewhat gentler, or at least mildly lessintense, version of the comics character during what was obviouslya troubled period in his life. The attitude is still there, but notquite so much of the emotional and circumstantial baggage.
The figure is nicely detailed, and is a very distinctive figure inmany respects, including the fins on the backs of the legs, and acertain amount of scaling detail on the tights. The face is nicelypainted, including the eyes, beard, and earrings. This particularfigure features the greater level of articulation granted to someof the "higher-ranking" Justice League characters, andcertainly Aquaman is deserving, and is poseable at the head(although not too far because of the long hair), arms, legs, knees,elbows, and waist. Overall, a really superb rendition of theanimated Aquaman!
PARASITE: The Parasite is best known as one of Superman'sarch-enemies. It's got to be hard to come up with enemies for theMan of Steel. How do you oppose a guy who can do almost anything?Then again, put him up against someone whose ability is to leechthe super-powers and even the very life force from other beings,and you might just get a fair fight.
I was surprised in my research to learn that there have beenseveral Parasites in Superman's history. I found that the Parasitethat appeared in the Superman animated series, and one must assumeas such carried over into the Justice League animation, is based onthe second Parasite, real name Rudy Jones, who came along in thecomics following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. However,a little background on the first Parasite wouldn't hurt, as well.
Raymond Maxwell Jensen was a lowlife who got a job as a plantworker for a research center. Believing that the company payrollswere hidden in storage containers, he opened one and was bombardedwith energies from biohazard materials (which was actually wastecollected by Superman when he travelled into outer space), whichtransformed him into a purple skinned, parasitic entity, becomingthe Parasite; any time he touched someone, he could absorb theirphysical and mental properties. Touching Superman would instantlyabsorb a sizeable fraction of his superhuman powers (it wasestablished early on that he is not capable of acquiring the wholeof his powers). The Parasite made a number of reappearances beforethe Crisis, yet he never successfully found a means to permanentlydefeat Superman.
Arguably this character's most notable appearance was in the secondDC/ Marvel crossover, which featured Superman and Spider-Man.Parasite was the main DC villain in this story, recruited byMarvel's Doctor Doom. Doom claimed that he needed the Parasite tofunction as an invincible bodyguard, capturing the Incredible Hulkand Wonder Woman and giving the Parasite a harness that would allowhim to retain their powers for prolonged periods. However, Doom'strue intention was to kill the Parasite by allowing him to absorbso much power that his cells would transform him into a crystalthat would allow Doom to perfect a fusion reactor which he wasworking on. The good guys thwarted the plan, of course.
The second Parasite came along following Crisis on Infinite Earths.Originally a menial slacker, Rudy Jones was transformed into theParasite while working as a janitor at a Pittsburgh S.T.A.R. Labsfacility. Unknown to anyone at the scene, the Lord of Apokolips,Darkseid, remembered the pre-crisis Parasite and manipulated Jonesto become the modern version. He made Rudy think that a wastecontainer might have held something valuable. He opened it and wasexposed to strange radiation that changed his body into a bald,green-skinned villain, a decided visual departure from the originallook of the Parasite.
During one of his stints at Belle Reve Prison, doctors attempted tomake him human again. Despite their intentions, the doctors onlymanaged to change his skin color to the more familiar purple andalso inadvertently increased his absorption power, enabling him tofeed on other forms of energy, such as electricity and heat.
Don't even get me started on some of the more modern comicsincarnations of the Parasite character. It gets weirder thanAquaman. One of the things that the animated series does right forthe most part, it's been to pick the more iconic versions of someof these characters and stick with them.
Parasite isn't exactly on the level of Luthor or Brainiac. However,his abilities certainly pose a threat to someone like Superman, andat least in his more iconic form, he certainly has a distinctivelook, which has been well-reflected in the action figure.
The Parasite action figure is a very distinct shade of purple. Thisis accentuated by what looks like a limited exoskeletal frameworkaround parts of his body, especially his torso, that is a lightershade of purple.
His head is -- okay, his head looks like a rounded off version ofone of those Easter Island statues, but that's not necessarilyinconsistent with the style of the animation in the series, andParasite always did have sort of a featureless face. It's ratheroblong in shape, with proper facial features, including two yelloweyes, managing to look surprisingly menacing for two little dots,emanate from underneath a fairly prominent brow.
Parasite is one of those characters that you wouldn't normallyexpect to see as an action figure. He's just not that prominent.One of the very cool things the Justice League Unlimited line hasdone, and will continue to do, I hope, is to bring out some ofthese less-prominent characters and finally give them their due inplastic. Parasite is certainly one of these, and I'm glad to havehim.
STARGIRL: This character originally started out as the secondStar-Spangled Kid, but took on the name Stargirl after being giventhe Cosmic Staff by Jack Knight, inheritor of the Starman titlefrom the original Starman, Ted Knight. So what you have here is ayoung heroine with abundant ties to the Golden Age of DC Comics.
Courtney Whitmore, stepdaughter of Pat Dugan, found the originalStar-Spangled Kid's gear in her stepfather's belongings and donnedthe costume in order to annoy him as partial revenge for marryingher mother and supposedly forcing the family to move from LosAngeles to Blue Valley, Nebraska. Dugan, a skilled mechanic,designed and built S.T.R.I.P.E., a robotic suit which he rode in toaccompany and protect her.
This somewhat short-lived title, called "Stars andS.T.R.I.P.E.", presented the characters as a modernincarnation of the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, a Golden Agecomic which was something of a twist on the frequent"superhero with kid sidekick" motif, in that the Kid wasthe main hero, and Stripesy, somewhat dull-witted, was the adultsidekick.
Courtney signed on with the Justice Society of America, a perfectlylogical move since that team is best known for its"legacy" heroes -- many of the Golden Age heroes who havesurvived to the present day along with the offspring, inheritors,or successors of other Golden Age heroes. Certainly Courtneyqualifies for this abundantly, bith in her relationship with theoriginal Star-Spangled Kid, and, since being given the Cosmic Staff(and then changing her name to Stargirl), in her affiliation withthe original Starman.
She has developed from a bit of a brat to a well-rounded heroine.She is best friends with Hawkgirl and is also close to Power Girl,whom Courtney considers a role model of sorts. As well, she hasstarted to befriend the new Supergirl, Kara Zor-El. Courtney oftentrusts and stands up for those whom other members of the teamseemingly distrust, such as Atom Smasher, or Brainwave. She hasalso developed good leadership skills and courage, often throwingherself directly into harm's way. She can also be quite violentlyeffective when angered.
In the animated series, both Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. have madeappearances. Stargirl and her partner appear in a speaking role inthe episode "Chaos at the Earth's Core." In that story,Stargirl is childishly jealous of Supergirl's fame. However, in theresulting adventure in Skartaris, the girls come to anunderstanding.
She later appeared in "Patriot Act", where she and otherLeague members were trying to stop a mutated General Wade Eilingfrom rampaging through a city. In this episode she takes the placeof the original Star-Spangled Kid and the original Starman in thesymbolic and unofficial reformation of the Seven Soldiers ofVictory. Stargirl was badly injured by Eiling, but survived theincident and flashes a smile when she is loaded into an ambulance.
She and S.T.R.I.P.E. later helped repel the invasion of Earth byDarkseid's forces in the series finale, "Destroyer."
Despite her growing experience, Stargirl is still seen as arelatively young heroine, and was portrayed as such in the animatedseries. The action figure reflects this very effectively.
The body used is, at least significantly, the same as that of theSupergirl figure that was produced for the Justice League Unlimitedline. That particular figure, in all honesty, is pretty petite,since its diminutive size -- barely 3-1/2" in height comparedto the more traditional 4-1/2" for most of the heroes -- andits rather scrawny stature, made Supergirl look about twelve yearsold at best, and far too young than she should've been.
Conversely, this body mold works well for Stargirl, who, while not12 years old at this point, started her career not much older thanthat, and has generally been portrayed as being somewhat small instature compared to her peers, mostly due to her young age.
There are differences in costume, of course, which are reflected onthe figure. One can see sculpted evidence of Supergirl's shortsleeves on Stargirl's arms, even though Stargirl has long sleevesto her costume. It's not too serious, though, and really just lookslike a ridge of padding, perhaps. The torso, although pretty muchidentical in shape, clearly had to be redone from the originalSupergirl figure, since the original Supergirl figure had the"S" symbol actually sculpted into the figure (and notvery well, I might add). There's no way this would've worked onStargirl, so a new mold was created in the same basic shape, withher star insignia imprinted on it.
Additionally, Stargirl has a thick belt around her waist thatSupergirl lacks, and Stargirl does not have a cape. A new head wasof course sculpted, although the arms and legs are repainted fromthe Supergirl figure.
Overall, though, it works very well. Most of the paintwork isextremely neat, although the blue details on the belt are a littlesloppy. The star on her chest and those on her arms are very neatlyimprinted. Captain America would be proud if he didn't work foranother company, I'm sure.
Stargirl has somewhat limited articulation, but this is not unusualfor a Justice League figure. She is poseable at the arms and legs,and would probably be poseable at the head if it wasn't for herlong hair. It's not that big of a deal. This is normal for aJustice League figure, and the figure still looks cool, and standsup on her own surprisingly well for such a spindly little thing.
Overall, the molds and basic size for Stargirl work a whole lotbetter on Stargirl than they did for Supergirl, and the end resultis a very cool figure, and, like Parasite, one of those charactersthat just isn't terribly likely to receive an action figure of herown otherwise, unless she turns up in Mattel's forthcoming (as ofthis writing) comics-based DC Infinite Heroes line.
So, what's my final work here? I'm impressed. This is a very coolset, and it certainly took long enough to find. Although Aquamanhas certainly appeared before, this is a fairly distinctive versionof him. And Parasite and Stargirl are certainly new and interestingadditions to the collection.
It's still selling quickly whenever it turns up, but if you canfind it, the JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED AQUAMAN/PARASITE/STARGIRLThree-Pack definitely has my enthusiastic recommendation!