So, is the DCU line going to end without us even getting any of the Endless or an in-scale Swamp Thing? txt
Man. They've made all these obscure characters I don't care about (though I'm more of a Marvel person), but they're not going to do Sandman, Death, Delirium, etc? And I want a regular-scale Swamp Thing without that weird jointless experiment.
For that matter, couldn't they make us some Frank Miller-style Dark Knight Returns figures? The DC Direct ones were disappointing.
I myself would never buy the DCU line. Too cartoony for me. I think it about time for a Hasbro style DC line ala Marvel universe.
The Endless have been off limits for the license for most of DCUC's run, just as Swampy was. It's only since DC started bringing the Vertigo characters back into the mainstream DCU that Dr. Holland became possible, and I'm actually surprised at the Death statue for SDCC, as I wasn't aware the Endless were likewise being integrated.
As far as any of the Endless being made as figures, they are far more obscure than ANY figure Mattel has done in the DCUC line, so I would have been surprised to see them even if they had been game. Vertigo has a very limited audience to begin with (getting more limited all the time, to the point there are rumors it may not be long for this world). The Death statue is aimed at the SDCC crowd, who is more likely to know her than the larger base for DCUC.
I do agree that a classic character like Swamp Thing, though, deserved better than an out-of-scale figure made from a material that will likely fall off the figure's endoskeleton before the decade is out. I still want a sculpted, regular plastic Wrightson version, which is now impossible with the Club Infinite Earths line (no figures that require all new molds). I doubt even the Horsemen could pull off a proper Swampy re-using existing parts...
I think Sandman and Death are a lot more recognizable than a lot of the DCUC characters. I've had to read the back of the package to figure out who some of these are. Just recently I saw some golden or silver age looking character from the Exposed Brain build-a-figure wave. I have no idea who it was and frankly it looked so blah that I didn't even bother taking it off the pegs to read the bio.
Agreed, I think Morpheus, Death, et al. are far more recognizable than some of the figures in the DCU line.
I follow everything in trades so I read it a bit late, but was Swamp Thing being released at SDCC supposed to coincide with Brightest Day?
Still, there are way more super-heroey characters I'd want to see before we got to the Endless. I am a bit surprised that the stactions aren't the same scale, though, you'd think even if they were distinct lines that you'd want some crossover.
Agreed, I think Morpheus, Death, et al. are far more recognizable than some of the figures in the DCU line.
Your talking about characters that never appeared outside books that sold maybe a couple hundred thousand copies at their peak (and that's likely a VERY generous number for Vertigo/pre-Vertigo books). Outside a handful of characters like Magog and some other more recent characters DC nudged Mattel into making (like the Rainbow wave), most of the characters made were known to a lot of people. Kamandi is likely considered obscure, but he sold millions in his day, and was recently seen by a couple million people on multiple Brave and Bold appearances. In fact, until the last couple waves, almost all of the DCUC figures had either a long time appeal from the times when comics sold in the millions or some recent exposure outside the comics.
It's no reflection on the quality of the characters or the books; it's simply who Joe Average will recognize more. Truthfully, Morpheus would have been one of the least known characters overall in the line up to about wave 17-18. More folks likely know El Dorado...
I guess it depends on where you were and what books you were reading.
Back around 91 when I was working in the only comic book store in DC, the Vertigo stuff was selling better than most DC books except New Teen Titans and Batman books. And I have more affinity for Constantine and Mopheus Sandman and Death than I do Jemm or Bronze Tiger. But that's just me.
Anyway, I never thought of DCUC as the place for those guys. The fact that Swamp Thing got in there is a testament to the popularity and awesomeness of the character, despite the final product being lackluster. I myself would love to see DCUC or the subscription make a Mopheus Sandman and a Grifter and some other guys not normally considered 'main DCU', but I imagine a lot of real diehard DC guys would hate that.
Superhero comics haven't sold in the millions in some time. As great as Kamandi was it definitely didn't sell in the millions per issue range. I don't even think any of the best selling Silver Age titles did. Golden Age superhero comics may have reached past the million copies mark. Nowadays they are printed in much smaller numbers.