ADVANCE LOOK: WizKids DC Comics HeroClix 2015 Convention Exclusive Animal Man

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New 52 Buddy Baker Coming To A WizKids Event Near You...

Ready for your next exclusive look at a WizKids 2015 Convention Exclusive HeroClix figure? Of course you are! We started off strange with the Weird and followed up with Marvel’s Spider-Ham, and now we return to DC Comics and the newest incarnation of Animal Man! With the relaunch of the New 52 in 2011 Bernhard “Buddy” Baker became a household name with his incredible solo book by Jeff Lemire, and Animal Man got a new look with his updated backstory and connection to the primal Red. Now that Animal Man will be one of the HeroClix prize figures available at major WizKids events this year starting with U.S. Nationals in Glen Burnie, MD the weekend of April 11-12!

Buddy Baker hit the pages of DC Comics in 1965 in Strange Adventures #180 by Dave Wood and Carmine Infantino, though he became the costumed Animal Man two issues later. Proximity to an exploding spaceship gave him his powers, which he used in his early appearances (both minor and sporadic) to fight villains and work with the Forgotten Heroes. In 1988 Animal Man was revived by Grant Morrison in his own book which would cement his fame and popularity among fans, and later came back into the main DC fold to appear in storylines like Infinite Crisis and 52. The New 52 once again gave Baker his own book, telling the adventures of Animal Man as well as his efforts to keep his family together and maintain his acting career. Throughout he would continue to develop and perfect his animal trait “borrowing” powers as well as his connection to the metaphysical fauna energy of the Red.

As noted above, this new Animal Man represents his New 52 incarnation, which we haven’t had in HeroClix yet. The figure itself is the first for the character that includes some actual animal elements as previous versions were just the man himself in different action poses. The prize figure has two parts, Buddy in the front and behind him a translucent representation of the Red from which he summons his powers. Animal Man is posed charging forward into the fray, arms up and out as he calls upon the deadly blows of the grizzly and more. His New 52 costume is sleek and subtle, a blue bodysuit with white boots, arms, and “A”-like symbol on his chest. The costume wraps around Buddy’s face, which is captured in an animalistic snarl. Meanwhile, the animal spirit construct behind the figure is an intricately sculpted translucent white apparition that’s not one recognizable animal but a representation of the potential Animal Man can call upon from the Red. Of course, for offense you can make out the construct’s claws and fangs.

Previous Animal Man figures with special powers and traits (79 points for a regular version and 83 for the White Lantern) included abilities that let them “borrow” a standard power or combat ability from a nearby ally, so how does the new Animal Man improve on that? The new Buddy costs a budget 75 points and comes with the Flight symbol and a hugely powerful trait. “One with the Animal Kingdom” says that each of your turns you can give Animal Man a free action to pick a standard power that’s on the CARD of an “Animal” keyworded figure on your sideline that’s 200 points or less; Animal Man can then use that power until you choose a new one! That gives you an absolutely huge range of options for the figure and as of this posting the point level restriction only leaves out three figures in the game. So find Animal keyword figures with awesome and useful powers and let Buddy choose away.

Animal Man’s dial is a pretty standard six clicks in length with good stats, especially damage with a respectable four clicks of base 3. And, he’s got more powers! Click #1 gets him into the battle with Charge, keeps him alive with Invulnerability, and gives him big damage-dealing potential with Close Combat Expert. On Click #2 he switches footing to a pairing of Blades/Claws/Fangs and Defend (with an 18 defense), then goes on a rampage on click #3 with Hypersonic Speed, Super Strength, and Super Senses. After that Animal Man has Toughness down the dial, and his last two clicks feature a special power letting him use Exploit Weakness against characters off their top click, a perfectly placed end-dial boost. This version of Buddy has a nice collection of keywords too with Animal, Celebrity, Forgotten Heroes, Justice League, and Mystical. Forgotten Heroes especially could use the new member, and with Resurrection Man, Cave Carson, and Ray they come out to 251... at least getting closer to a usable team!

So what do you think of the new Animal Man and his amazing trait? If you’re a fan make sure to head to one of WizKids’ major events this year starting with U.S. Nationals in Glen Burnie, MD the weekend of April 11-12. Get all the information on this event at the WizKids U.S. Nationals page HERE.

Also, be sure to check out the rest of the 2015 Convention Exclusive figures (DC’s Adam Strange, The Weird, Brainiac’s Skull Ship, and Felix Faust with d20 plus Marvel’s Loki Agent of Asgard, Spider-Ham, Ghost Rider, Kree Supreme Intelligence, and Doctor Strange with d20) in WizKids’ big announcement HERE.

Stay tuned to Figures.com as we bring you more HeroClix coverage, and next week we’ll have all the news and photos from the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas!

Review Sample Courtesy of WizKids Games

Photos and Review by Scott Rubin

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