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DC Direct Blackest Night HAL JORDAN
In Blackest Night, no evil shall escape his sight...
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Ranked #2 on our Best Superhero Toys of 2010 (see the article HERE) DC Direct’s Blackest Night series continue to amaze with incredible figures from one of the biggest comic events in years. Celebrating the members of all nine Lantern Corps, the first five waves of figures have included an ever-widening variety of major and minor characters. It’s somewhat surprising that it’s taken this long for the line to give us a new Hal Jordan figure, but that day has finally come. Is he worth waiting for? Let’s take a look!
Hal Jordan is one of the hottest comic book superheroes right now in what could be called the new “Golden Age” of Green Lantern popularity. He first donned the ring back in 1959, and went on to be a member of the Justice League and has both destroyed and rebuilt the Green Lantern Corps. In the Blackest Night event Hal served his corps with distinction, helping to gather together the different colored elements in order to fight Nekron and his Black Lanterns. At the battle’s height he briefly wielded the White Light of Life as well, but quickly went back to his familiar green.
Hal Jordan comes packaged in the standard Blackest Night clamshell, tall and heavy with a J-hook at the top. Behind the figure is an insert with the Black Lantern symbol over a green background as well as his display base at the bottom. Packaged to Hal’s right is his Green Lantern power battery, clearly visible. Directly in front of Jordan is the symbol of his given Corps (in this case Green) and his name.
The back of the insert shows all of the figures in the current wave (Blue Lantern The Flash, Star Sapphire Wonder Woman, and Black Lantern Hawkgirl) above brief bios of each of them. At the bottom are listings of the various Blackest Night series, both past and future.
Hal’s Green Lantern uniform hasn’t changed too much over the years, but for hardcore fans there are several apparent differences. Starting with his resurrection in the Rebirth storyline, Jordan has worn a somewhat “younger” looking outfit typified by the approximately waist-length green section (in earlier comics the green continued downward like trunks). The green still extends over the shoulders while the arms and legs are black, gloves white, and boots green. Hal’s head is bare except for his matching green mask. The black is matte while the green is a lightly metallic hue and the white borders on silver. Overall the paint applications are very crisp and clean, with a neatly painted ring and nearly perfect face.
DC Direct’s figures are known for their excellent sculpts, and Hal Jordan doesn’t disappoint in that department. He’s an all new figure just over 6 ½ inches tall, putting him in better scale with other recent releases. Hal has detailed musculature (especially in the torso region) that’s thankfully not overly huge; after all, he’s not Superman. Unlike most Green Lantern figures that have their chest symbols painted on, Jordan actually has a raised disc in the middle of his chest where the symbol rests. It’s a different look that’ll work for a lot of fans, though some may find it distracting, not to mention small. Beyond all of that though, Hal has an absolutely amazing head sculpt. There’s just something about it that seems so lifelike, and yet at the same time perfectly representative of Ivan Reis’ artwork. The facial features, mask, ears, and hair are all very finely sculpted and just look great.
When it comes to articulation, DC Direct figures often fall flat. Sculpt is clearly the number one concern, with poseability taking a firm backseat (and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that point of view). The latest figures, though, have more and more joints sneaking into play and best of all they’re subtle and don’t overly disrupt the sculpt! Hal is a perfect example of this. While most previous versions had about 11 or so points of articulation, the new one bumps it up with a ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and lower legs cut at the boot tops. The boots help with stability, while the extra joints in the arms really help with action poses.
As with most of the other non-Black Lanterns in the Blackest Night series, Hal comes with his lantern power battery along with his standard display base. The Green Lantern is the same one we’ve seen before but it still works just fine. Hal’s open left fist holds it securely, and the handle is removable so you don’t have to stretch out the fingers. The display base is decorated with the current Green Lantern logo (with slanted bars) and holds up the figure with one post that plugs into his right foot.
This Hal Jordan is a great figure. The sculpt is incredible and the paint work spot on. The only nitpick for some will be the size of the chest logo, but when you look at the whole figure it actually works. Green Lantern fans will be grabbing this guy off the shelves, so don’t wait to get yours. For reference, there was also a “pre-paint” version of this figure: the Graphitti Designs White Lantern Hal Jordan sold at last year’s convention circuit.
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
