JLI Series 1 – Ah, the memories……. kinda…..

I’ve been looking forward to DC Direct’s Justice League International Series 1 for – well awhile now, since they were meant to come out before Christmas. This is reinforced by the “teasers” inside the clamshell insert for waves “coming soon” that have already been. I was worried that the delay and the fact that these figures weren’t on display at NYCC might mean that these were going to be dogs, but thankfully, they’re not.

The overall QC on these figures is excellent – no complaints about paint on any of these. They come with a clear base with the JLI symbol on them which is a nice touch, however they all stand on their own. I had a little trouble getting Black Canary to settle but the rest are very sturdy. Batman is suffering from BBPS (Bent Bat Prong Syndrome) on his left prong, something I thought DCD was finally getting over after a bad run a couple of years ago. These are really the only complaints.

I am a bit of a fan of Dinah’s uniform circa-Crisis, in a retro sort of way, so have really been looking forward to this figure. It doesn’t disappoint – a very faithful plastic rendition of the piece. Her head seems a little more compact than the solicit, but it works. Happy with this one.

The Batman in this series is the only one that I’d say is particularly Maguire style. His cloak is very impressive. It’s not flexible enough to do any over the shoulder the stuff, but it hardly matters because it looks so good. The bendy bat-prong is the only issue here, although I think the prongs could also be longer to have the more imposing look he had in JLI. The guy has prong issues, basically.

Like many collectors, I would have preferred Ice’s later costume, but this figure looks much better in person than it did in the solicits. Her arms come posed awkwardly but can be corrected to look a bit more normal. Her face looks less sucked in than it did in the promo shots, which is a plus. I’m hopeful we can count on Mattel for teh more current versions of Fire and Ice.

I can’t say that I’ve ever read a comic with G’Nort in it, seems he came and went during my comics hiatus, so I can only go on a few pics I can find and the word of fans that he’s a bit on the portly side. His tail comes detached and took a bit of fiddling to get in. His mouth is constructed in a way that makes you think it might open and close, but sadly this is not the case. (NOTE: A few readers have let me know it does open - perhaps I didn't pry hard enough!!)

The packaging is bright and enjoyable, and has art of all the characters solicited so far, plus Rocket Red and Oberon. We also know Maguire did turnarounds for Captain Marvel and Dr Fate, and that sounds like a great Wave 3 to me – here’s hoping!

One of the happiest things about these figures is that they’re reasonably in scale with some of the older JLA / JLI figs. We’ve got another wave on the way, but if there is no more (in typical DCD style) there are other figures that will compliment these, albeit not in the same style.

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