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ADVANCE REVIEW: WizKids DC HeroClix Superman/Wonder Woman Expansion Set
Kryptonian And Amazon Princess Headline Latest Set...
To purchase WizKids' DC HeroClix Superman/Wonder Woman Expansion Set and for all your hobby miniatures and gaming needs, visit MiniatureMarket.com.
Last week we took a look at the Organized Play kit and Fast Forces pack for the latest DC HeroClix expansion, and today we’re going to go over the full booster set of Superman/Wonder Woman from WizKids Games! DC fans have been waiting eagerly for this one since the last set from that property was Justice League: Trinity War all the way back in February (though there have been several fun Marvel sets since then). Of course, with a set so-named you’re going to expect to see a lot of Superman and Wonder Woman-related characters... and it doesn’t disappoint. Other sub-themes in this expansion include Earth 2 and its Wonders of the World, alternate/evil versions of Superman, mythological characters from Olympus and Wonder Woman’s domain, and the highly-anticipated debut of characters from Superman: Red Son! The booster set has 17 commons, 17 uncommons, 17 rares, 13 super rares, 6 chases, PLUS 6 colossal figures with the return of Super Boosters.
Starting right at the beginning of the commons this set lives up to its name with a Superman and Wonder Woman; both are rookie 100 point versions from the Justice Society of America and offer something different for team building. We’ll also see several incarnations of these sculpts, a classic Clark Kent opening his shirt to reveal the “S” shield underneath and Wonder Woman standing defiant. Other Superman family characters at this rarity level include the current look of the armored Steel, the brightly colored and shield-bearing Guardian, and the metal-skinned Captain Atom (a Prime and a character fans have been clamoring to see return to HeroClix for a while). Earth 2 is well represented with the dark and brooding Batman (Thomas Wayne), the Jimmy Olsen of that world called Accountable, and the fantastic pair of Huntress and Power Girl. You can’t have a HeroClix set without fun generics to collect into swarm teams and so here you’ll find the evil Parademon, heroic Amazon, and down to earth Investigative Reporter, Newsboy Legion, and Soldier. Finally, the villainous Justice League Elite returns to the game with the imposing Coldcast, frumpy Hat showing off his namesake, and the reptilian, winged Menagerie!
Up next are the uncommons, and again we see Superman and Wonder Woman at the forefront. These figures are based on the same sculpts we saw in the commons updated to their Justice League incarnations with a more familiar “S” shield and Wonder Woman wearing pants. Other characters from Superman’s world at this level include the smartly dressed Clark Kent (who clearly is not Superman), Jimmy Olsen with bowtie, the beautiful Lana Lang, Superboy, and the recent Superman frenemy Ulysses. The Wonders of the World from Earth 2 are reinforced with the blue-suited Superman II (Val-Zod), dual pistol-wielding Hawkgirl, and the female Red Tornado. A generic Mermaid sneaks in at an uncommon slot and the Justice League Elite gets one more member with the cybernetic-limbed Sister Superior. Bad guys in the Superman universe start popping up here with the Earth 2 Superman clone gone bad Brutaal (a Prime) and the tough as nails General Lane. From Wonder Woman’s home of Mount Olympus and the magical realms are the modern incarnations of mythological characters with the smartly dressed Apollo, energy summoning Circe, and sword-wielding Artemis (utilizing the Amazon sculpt).
Things get decidedly more evil in the rare selection with villains who have confronted both of our titular heroes. Wonder Woman’s foes here include the armored and colorful Dr. Cyber, diminutive Doctor Psycho, and high-flying Silver Swan. Coming for the Man of Steel are the rogue Kryptonian with tattered clothing H’El, the Almerac princess Maxima who seeks Superman as mate, the demonic Lady Blaze and Lord Satanus, and of course Lex Luthor in his power suit. The fleet-footed Hermes represents Olympus and brings with him the hulking First Born, and from Earth 2 is Green Lantern Alan Scott and the mystically armored Dr. Fate. The rares include a third Wonder Woman based on the common sculpt, this time with a modern look and silver accents, both Superman Blue and Superman Red (Prime) from the famous late 90s storyline and two ladies who have loved the Man of Steel: the mermaid Lori Lemaris and of course Lois Lane.
The super rares continue most of the trends seen in the rest of the set and begin with an amazing Superman featuring the common sculpt but with the addition of two figures as Clark morphs into the Man of Steel. His best friend Krypto, the super powered dog, makes a triumphant return to HeroClix with an adorable little sculpt, and there’s also the modern Supergirl plus her Prime Red Lantern incarnation. Villains at this rarity level are serious threats with the American alien more powerful than Superman known as Wraith, the flame-headed Atomic Skull, Eclipso wielding his sword and gem, Apokolips general Steppenwolf, and the chaotic and cartoonish imp Mr. Mxyzptlk. Hades on his creepy throne wraps up the Olympians, and Superman’s recent transformation into Superdoom is captured in a hulking figure that means business. Lastly, the super rares include a couple of wild cards with the classic outer space rogue Vartox and Sebastian Faust, the son of villain Felix and a figure designed by the 2014 HeroClix Team World Champions team.
This set’s chase theme is the fan-favorite alternate Earth story Superman: Red Son, the 2003 mini-series by Mark Millar in which Kal-El’s rocket crash lands in Soviet Russia rather than Kansas. This great comic featured reimaginings of several heroes and villains from the DC universe, and six of them are getting the HeroClix treatment! Up first is Batman, the terrorist scourge of the Super-Soviet System followed by the Luthor-created flawed Superman clone Bizarro, seemingly docile alien robot Brainiac under Superman’s control, and Codename: Green Light (former P.O.W. Hal Jordan equipped with a Green Lantern ring). The main set ends with both Superman and Wonder Woman from Red Son, the former sporting a Soviet chest emblem and the latter her unique darker costume.
Starting with 2011’s Giant-Size X-Men, certain HeroClix sets have included “super boosters,” larger blind boxes containing special items like colossal figures, vehicles, or team bases. Super boosters return to DC HeroClix with Superman/Wonder Woman and bring with them six new colossal figures from classic and modern storylines. Joining the recent Earth 2 lineup figures is the Atom, U.S. Army Sergeant Al Pratt grown to massive size and utilizing atomic punches. Reaching way back into the vaults WizKids summoned the War Wheel, a WWII Axis weapon covered in spikes and cannons, and the giant ape with Kryptonite eye beams known as Titano. Brimstone was a creation of Darkseid sent to decimate the Earth and takes the form of a massive humanoid fire creature, while Solaris is a supercomputer/robot/sun from the future of DC One Million. Probably the most anticipated colossal in this set is the Batman/Superman Robot, the giant mecha creation of Hiro Okamura the Japanese Toyman!
With a set featuring so varied a collection of characters it’s no surprise that Superman/Wonder Woman is full of cool sculpts and figures with great poses. Overall this expansion is really solid and shows how much care and attention WizKids is putting into sculpted detail. Poses run the gamut from heroes looking strong and resolute like Superboy and the tough and defiant Wonder Woman seen throughout the set with subtle differences on the various versions to the raging fury of the massive First Born. Other figures that really stand out by the energy and disposition in their poses include Clark Kent with his classic “about to open his shirt” pose, the saucy Power Girl spoiling for a fight with her cape flapping behind her, Coldcast looking extremely intimidating with his arms crossed, the haughty and godlike H’El floating above his enemies, and Vartox giving the world a singular view of his majesty with Hyper Powers activated and one sexy outfit. There are also highly detailed textures that really bring characters to life like the intricate armor details on Steel, the beautiful feathered wings on Hawkgirl and Silver Swan, Lori Lemaris and the generic Mermaid’s scaly tail and water effects, First Born’s crazy cloak, and the lumpy, veiny skin of Wraith. Stand out sculpts in this set start among the common figures and go all the way up with Superman tearing open his shirt to transform (and the super rare version with two more figures flying out of the sculpt), the Soldier/General Lane in a detailed and decorated uniform, Menagerie with her animalistic exterior, the arcane armor and helmet of Doctor Fate, Dr. Cyber’s robotic armor and revealing costume, and the demonic horned duo of Lady Blaze and Lord Satanus. As always the super rares are teeming with great sculpts and among those the best might be Hades on his tortured soul throne, Steppenwolf in full Apokoliptian armor, and the massive Superdoom with spikes and violent organic protrusions. The chases look great too, and with their larger canvasses the colossal figures are covered in fantastic detail like the fur on Titano, fire effects on Brimstone and Solaris, and all of the intricate robotic parts of Batman/Superman.
Is the Superman/Wonder Woman set dominated by blue, red, and yellow? Well, there are plenty of figures with that iconic color scheme but the wide range of heroes and villains mean all sorts of great colors and patterns. Paint quality and application is good across the board with lots of picked out details, solid work on eyes and important notes like logos and emblems, and more. It’s even great that there are characters dressed for the real world like the Investigative Reporter, Newsboy Legion, Lana Lang/Lois Lane, and Soldier/General Lane next to otherworldly gods, demons, and aliens! I always like to check out the use of metallic paints and translucent effects on figures, and this set doesn’t disappoint on those fronts either. The former shows up on the various armor of figures like Steel, Parademon, Doctor Fate, Lex Luthor, Atomic Skull, and Steppenwolf, the Amazon’s blade, Sister Superior’s robotic hand, Eclipso’s sword, and Wonder Woman’s bracelets; the metal skins of Red Tornado and Captain Atom look especially cool. As usual, translucent plastic effects are used for flying bases, energy blasts, and the like with attacks generated by Captain Atom, Apollo, Green Lantern, and Vartox, Atomic Skull’s blazing head, Red Tornado’s column of wind, the water details on Mermaid and Lori Lemaris, the halo effects on Circe and Faust, the entirety of Superman Blue and Superman Red, and fun additional elements like Doctor Psycho’s backdrop, Brainiac’s translucent head, and Green Light’s energy trail. Some of my favorite paint jobs in this set include the various Superman figures with their different chest emblems and clothing details, the brightly colored Parademon, Brutaal with his fearsome and simple color scheme, the dark Apollo contrasting with his energy effects, the bright and beautiful Supergirl, and all of the tiny details on the diminutive Mr. Mxyzptlk. As with the sculpts, all of the chases and especially the colossal figures have great paint applications, notably chase Superman and Wonder Woman with their intricate costumes and again the epic Batman/Superman Robot.
There are a lot of cool mechanics returning or debuting in this set, and all appropriate to the characters. As usual many of the generic figures get or provide bonuses when around more powerful allies, and it goes both ways for Guardian and the Newsboy Legion. The equippable ability previously known as Entity Possession returns here and is featured on both Eclipso and Brainiac, letting them boost another figure for 25 points or after they’re KO’d. There’s somewhat less token generation among the figures of Superman/Wonder Woman, but three figures can create bystanders that are really cool; Clark Kent can summon a Superman token for a brief instant as he keeps up appearances, Hermes unleashes the Caduceus Snakes from his staff, and Hades turns KO’d characters into Suffering or Heroic Souls! There’s even a new ATA in the set for Wonders of the World and it’s printed right on the figures’ cards so you don’t need any extra elements. There are several new mechanics in the set in the form of traits shared by multiple figures and which we may see again in the future. “The World Needs to Know” gives reporters different de-buffing abilities while the Divine Aura of Apollo, Artemis, Wonder Woman, Hermes, First Born, and Hades gives them limited Outwit and Probability Control protection. When the sky is darkened and a powerful figure appears people naturally assume it’s Superman, but that’s not always the case. This expansion introduces a trait called “Wait, That’s Not Superman...” that lets you swap out a figure named Superman or Superboy for a figure with that trait of equal or less points at the start of the game. You’ve got lots of options for customizing your force now with that trait on Superman II, Brutaal, Ulysses, Superman Blue, Superman Red, H’El, Wraith, Vartox, Superdoom, Red Son Bizarro, and Red Son Superman! One problem frequently facing high point figures is that they’re out-actioned by their enemies. To combat that several tentpole figures in this set have a new trait called “The Odds Are Against Me” that gives them Outnumbered tokens which can be removed to give them free action attacks. The uncommon Superman and Wonder Woman go even further with their shared “Standing Tall” trait that lets them spend a token to have temporary Willpower. Lastly, all of the colossals in this set have a new feature that lets you play them at a miniscule point value (15, 20, or 25) with a pair of special powers; Colossal Indifference prevents them from attacking smaller characters normally while Colossal Retaliation gives them special attacks they can perform in response to an attack on your team!
I always like to take a gander at some of the new traits and special powers in a new set as these really differentiate characters and add new layers of fun (and sometimes complexity) to the game. Some of the more interesting traits in Superman/Wonder Woman include Earth 2 Batman’s “Miraclo Pill” giving him three uses of drug-fueled powers per game, Huntress and Power Girl boosting each other through “World’s Finest” abilities, “Magical Hat” that gives Hat your choice of standard attack or damage powers for a free action or power action respectively, Jimmy Olsen and Lana Lang turning into superpowered menaces with “Transform into Giant Turtle Boy!” and “Transform into the Insect Queen!”, “The Green Will Not Let Me Die” turning Green Lantern back to click #5 after he’s KO’d once per game, Superman Blue and Red’s “Energy Absorption and Release” giving them and adjacent allies immunities to powers, Lady Blaze and Lord Satanus’ “Sibling Rivalry” playing off each other, and “Messing Around With the Odds” that lets Mr. Mxyzptlk roll a d6, lock it and put it on his card, and use it to replace dice rolls. There are tons of neat special powers too like Captain Atom’s “Containment Suit Rupture” that can deal penetrating damage to everyone nearby and KO him, Coldcast’s “Electromagnetic Pulse” countering defensive powers on enemies after he Pulse Waves them, “I Love a Challenge” boosting Artemis’ attack and damage (which becomes penetrating) when she attacks her highest point enemy, rare Wonder Woman’s “New Goddess of War” dealing penetrating damage to enemy figures who didn’t attack on their last turn, Red Lantern Supergirl’s “Just Stay Down!” that can burden an enemy with Earthbound/Neutralized after she hits it, “Red Sun Lights” that lets Batman counter any number of powers on an enemy when he uses Outwit, and Superman’s “Exile to a Farming Collective” that pushes characters away who hit him.
In addition to the main booster set of figures that we’ve been looking at above there are a few related products hitting stores alongside Superman/Wonder Woman. The Earth 2 Wonders of the World Fast Forces pack brings you six figures with sculpts from the main set and all new dials for Superman II, Batman II, Hawkgirl, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, and Red Tornado. Those figures have complementary point values for easy team building, and the set even comes with an exclusive Helmet of Fate special object! See our full review of that Fast Forces HERE. Also arriving this week for collectors are two Dice & Token packs, each featuring poker chips/action tokens and dice with images and the emblem of Superman or Wonder Woman. Lastly, brick and mortar stores have access to the Superman/Wonder Woman Organized Play kit with a Limited Edition New 52 Action Comics Superman figure and a new double-sided map depicting the Daily Planet building and Mount Olympus. Check out our review of that OP kit HERE.
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
Review Sample Courtesy of WizKids Games
To purchase WizKids' DC HeroClix Superman/Wonder Woman Expansion Set and for all your hobby miniatures and gaming needs, visit MiniatureMarket.com.
