13/09/2009 Image – Old Friends

Contributed by on 13/09/09

picture by Rivka Jacobs

picture by Rivka Jacobs

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  1. 22/09/09 4:42
    Rivka Jacobs

    Now that the week of stories is past, I wanted to identify the figures.

    a) On the far left is “The Maxx,” a figure based on the character created by Sam Keith that first appeared in a comic book called “The Maxx” published by IMAGE COMICS.

    b) Next to him is Angela, a McFarlane action figure based on the character from the comic book “Spawn,” also published by IMAGE COMICS. The character was created by Neil Gaiman, but Todd McFarlane decided after the fact that all work on “Spawn” was work for hire and took all rights to the character. Mr. Gaiman sued, and won a judgment. Today Mr. Gaiman and Mr. McFarlane own the character Angela 50/50.

    In the “Spawn” universe, Angela is an angelic bounty hunter, working for heaven, who started out as Spawn’s enemy, but eventually became his lover.

    c) In front of Angela is an Isz, a character from “The Maxx” created by Sam Keith. The Isz exist in the subconscious realm of Julie (The Outback) as white Isz, but when a portal is opened from the Outback to the real world, the Isz become black Isz. They are pieces of a shattered soul, and in the real world become minions of Mr. Gone, the symbol of Julie’s trauma.

    d) Next to Angela is the Transformer “Optimus Prime.” Started out as a toy — transforms into a truck — invented as a toy for the Transformer franchise, now appears in many, many permutations in movies, cartoons, video games, comic books, books, etc. etc. etc. There are several versions of “Optimus Prime,” but I think this is the first version. This character in the Transformer Universe is considered leader of the heroic faction of bots.

    e) Behind “Optimus Prime” is a Ganz teddy bear who is a household bear, named Conan. He appears here by default, as his brother Victor von Doom refused to pose for pictures.

    f) In front of “Optimus Prime” is a figure based on the “Batman: The Animated Series” Joker. “Batman: TAS” was a ground-breaking cartoon that premiered in 1992 on FOX, and was based on background and character designs by Bruce Timm. The character “Joker” in the cartoon is very similar to his counterpart Joker who appears in DC Entertainment comic books. All rights to this any aspect of “Batman: TAS” belong to DC Entertainment.

    g) Slightly behind “Optimus Prime” to the right are two Universal horror action figures, Wolfman, based on the Lon Chaney Jr. version of the character from the 1941 film “The Wolfman.” And The Mummy, based on the 1932 film character created by Boris Karloff.

    h) In front of Mummy and Wolfman is a little rubber Stegosaurus. Or it’s a Spinosaurus, or a combinaton of both. I have no idea where it came from, or how my son acquired it, but there it is.

    i) Immediately in front of the Stego-Spinosaurus is a Terminator action figure. A very nice little toy, very detailed, it’s based on the character of the same name, from the 1984 film “The Terminator” and was created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd but brought to life and into our popular consciousness by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    j) Finally, in front of Terminator is a little Star Wars figure that Ian Sharman identified for me as a Jawa, or a member of the Jawa, a short alien race we first meet on Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine. I presume they were created by George Lucas himself.

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