[Moose]

Action Figure Spotlight: DC JUSTICE Sinestro, Series 1

Surprise, surprise! Yes, I bought another Sinestro figure. I know, it must come as a big shock to you, the reader <insert lols here>. A little off the path from the normal DC Direct/Universe figures, I was at a sort of crossroads on whether to get this specific interpretation of GL’s most notorious enemy, but I bought this figure because there were things I actually didn’t like about it. For a few months, I had been eyeing it in the collector store as it collected dust on the shelves, but I made a commitment to getting all the GL-specific figures I could before purchasing this. Having only one other JUSTICE figure in my collection (that being Black Manta), I already knew I would be impressed with it on certain aspects (likeness, realism) but there were some aspects I didn’t much care for, which I will explain further. I’m dividing this review into three main points: Sinestro as a character design, Alex Ross, and the figure itself.

The first time I ever saw the character of Sinestro was on the SuperFriends Saturday morning cartoon when he was part of Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom. Even as a kid, I wasn’t totally impressed with him. Truth be told, he looked corny, like a goon clown with that silly triangle design on his shirt. The big head and whiny voice didn’t help matters either. Basically, I saw a low level villain who was less interesting than most of the other villains on his team. His only special power was the opposite of Green Lantern- he could make yellow constructs, which were Green Lantern’s only weakness. It honestly just didn’t make for good story telling, and even on a comic level, it was hard to take Sinestro seriously. He never had any real depth other than being a Green Lantern gone bad, and that scenario had played out so many times before that it just came off as a Darth Vader rip off (even though Sinestro had been introduced years earlier).

So along comes this guy named Geoff Johns, who task it was to put Hal Jordan back in the GL role, which he did very successfully. But the question was: where does Sinestro fit in? Is he still going to be a third rate villain who has occasional skirmishes with GL but is always defeated? Johns’ answer was NO. Finally, we get a worthy villain: one with depth, a constantly developing back story (getting in touch with Parallax during Hal’s insane reign, his relationship with Abin Sur, the formation of his own Corps, his relationship with his homeworld and daughter), and most importantly, someone who was now worthy of our attention. Along with Ethan Van Sciver’s artwork, Sinestro became fresh and new, almost risen from the dead space of the DC Universe, for which he was to become an important fabric of that tapestry. The new uniform (and corps) basically just rocked. Even in the very beginnings of the Rebirth story, his portion of the story would set up for greater things to come. Sinestro became a bit more real, a bit more sinister, a bit more in our faces.

The second part of this has to do with Alex Ross, which most comic fans know as a master of realism within a fabricated world of two dimensional reading material. As a Fine Arts major in college concentrating on realism, I was immediately impressed the first time I ever saw something from Alex Ross, which I’m pretty sure was Kingdom Come. I still rank that story as one of my top ten trades in my own collection. The realism was just incredible- the shading, the placement of figure within background, the lifelike quality given to each and every aspect of any given panel- it was just great. To me, his art speaks in fluidity, constantly flowing while at the same time giving you the big bangs along with the more quiet moments. I could probably write a whole thesis on Alex Ross, but I will save you the torture. So, with this figure being from Ross’ Justice title, there were certain things implied: a realistic three dimensional rendering of characters straight from the comic. They would be faithfully sculpted by Tim Bruckner in relation to every and any aspect of the characters.

So now we come to the figure itself- is it faithful to Alex Ross’ vision? Absolutely. Does it incorporate the realism and detail? Yes. However, I still can’t get past the old version being used. No matter how beautiful Ross’ art is, you can’t really change the core design flaws. This is a pre-Johns Sinestro, utilizing the original dorky costume and big head. Even in realism, this figure just screams “cornball” straight from the SuperFriends show. If one were to compare this figure to the Yellow Corps version of Sinestro from the DC Direct line, the immediate differences are notable: the bulbous head has been slimmed down to be more in scale with the whole body, the new costume design gives Sinestro a bit more serious tone as well as a better detailed overall look. The ears aren’t as exaggerated. In a total redesign, Sinestro looks more “real” than Ross’ realistic interpretation of the old design. Lastly, my least favorite aspect of this figure is the “garter” belt. It just looks rediculous.

Per usual, articulation is standard; knee joints, elbows, swivel head, and hips. As always, articulation is sacrificed for detail, which isn’t always a bad thing, especially if you are just displaying the figure. He comes with a standard display base, and a yellow power rod. One thing I noticed is that the head seems to be on a permanent right tilt, not matter which position you swivel the head into.

For comparing and contrasting, I took a few pics of this figure by itself, and also with other interpreations of the character, namely the two DC Direct GL versions, the DC Universe variant with yellow corps uniform, and the Animated JLU version.

Overall Score:

Articulation: 6- the same as always.
Detail: 10- absolutely faithful to Alex Ross’ artwork, lifted straight from the pages, but a 7 also applies to a badly designed character in the first place, of which Ross had nothing to do with.
Accessories: 7: Standard base and yellow power rod included.
Price: I paid $15 for this, but I also waited until I had acquired certain other figures before purchasing this one. Not an immediate need, but something to pass the time with a review.
Bottom Line: I got it because it was Sinestro, but I own better interpretations, especially the Van Sciver figure. If you are a character collector (focusing on anything to do with one character), then go for it. If not, you can wait.