Review: DCD Justice Parasite
I don't think anyone would claim that Justice was the greatest work connected with Alex Ross, but I do think it deserves far more credit than it tends to receive. The comic series, which was written by Jim Kreuger with art by Ross and Doug Braithwaite, is a Justice League story told in a tone reminiscent of the Silver Age.
The first three or four issues are absolutely fantastic, detailing a conspiracy of supervillains which come frighteningly close to destroying the League one member at a time. In the space of a few issues, it shows the villains finally acting with a purpose, drive, and intelligence they seldom have. Their plans are simply brilliant; their methods are inspired and cruel.
But rather than dealing with this using the characters and tools laid out in the initial issues, the story begins pulling in dozens of heroes. It's still a good read, but it never really lives up to its initial promise.
Anyway, Justice provided Alex Ross with the opportunity to redesign DC's supervillains. One of the more extreme makeovers he did was on Parasite, now transformed into a zombie-like lumbering monstrosity. DC Direct released a series of figures from the series a while back, and, while this wasn't a toy I felt a need to hunt down, when I found him going for a good price, I jumped.
The first three or four issues are absolutely fantastic, detailing a conspiracy of supervillains which come frighteningly close to destroying the League one member at a time. In the space of a few issues, it shows the villains finally acting with a purpose, drive, and intelligence they seldom have. Their plans are simply brilliant; their methods are inspired and cruel.
But rather than dealing with this using the characters and tools laid out in the initial issues, the story begins pulling in dozens of heroes. It's still a good read, but it never really lives up to its initial promise.
Anyway, Justice provided Alex Ross with the opportunity to redesign DC's supervillains. One of the more extreme makeovers he did was on Parasite, now transformed into a zombie-like lumbering monstrosity. DC Direct released a series of figures from the series a while back, and, while this wasn't a toy I felt a need to hunt down, when I found him going for a good price, I jumped.
Appearance and Construction: 8/10
It's a good likeness, but there's something a bit underwhelming about the look of the figure. In some ways, I think it's too good of a likeness, capturing more of the color scheme than is wise. The figure is simply too light: there's way too much pink and not enough purple.
That said, the sculpt work on the head, hands, neck, and back is absolutely fantastic. While it limits posing options, I also want to commend the stance, which is very true to the source material.
In terms of construction, this is a solid piece. While I'll have some complaints later on, it's good here. My only real complaint in this category is with the paint, which isn't dark enough and, in some cases, is uneven.
In addition, I do have to mention that the hip and knee joints are very distracting here. Normally, this isn't a problem, but when you're sculpting half of a toy as a single piece, it makes the other areas stand out. This is something we'll return to in Play and Display, but I do think there's a case to be made that this is almost a statue: rather than including a few joints that seem out of place and don't do much, maybe it would have just been better to leave them out this time.
That said, the sculpt work on the head, hands, neck, and back is absolutely fantastic. While it limits posing options, I also want to commend the stance, which is very true to the source material.
In terms of construction, this is a solid piece. While I'll have some complaints later on, it's good here. My only real complaint in this category is with the paint, which isn't dark enough and, in some cases, is uneven.
In addition, I do have to mention that the hip and knee joints are very distracting here. Normally, this isn't a problem, but when you're sculpting half of a toy as a single piece, it makes the other areas stand out. This is something we'll return to in Play and Display, but I do think there's a case to be made that this is almost a statue: rather than including a few joints that seem out of place and don't do much, maybe it would have just been better to leave them out this time.
Packaging and Extras: ----
Last week, one of my favorite DC Direct figures, Darkside from an early wave of Batman/Superman, had one of his arms break off. I was posing his arm, and the peg snapped. Well, I reattached it, at least temporarily, but his articulation is no more. Why am I bringing this up? Because, like every other broken or damaged DC Direct figure I can remember, he came packaged on a card. Unlike Parasite:
Nothing - I'm telling you NOTHING - beats a box. There doesn't seem to be any kind of rhyme or reason about it: maybe DC Direct just uses magic boxes. Or, more likely, they use boxes for some sort of "deluxe" figure or something. I don't know.
There are no accessories this time, which is understandable, since Parasite doesn't generally use any. You do get a base, though, along with a small bag containing two pegs to be used with said base (pictured right). Okay: I get it. This is so you can use a peg in one hole and remove the other, so there's not a second, unused peg, right? If so, that's really thoughtful. If anyone from DC Direct is reading, let me say two things, on behalf of all collectors I know: |
First, thank you for trying to help. And second, please, for the love of God, just stop. Do you have any idea how many pegs I've lost over the years? On top of that, they just don't hold the figure in place as well. A second, unoccupied peg isn't as big a deal as a character lying on their side with a peg sticking out of their foot.
Still, it's a nice, generic base that can be used with numerous figures.
Still, it's a nice, generic base that can be used with numerous figures.
Play and Display: -1
Surprisingly, Parasite can stand, at least for brief periods of time, without his base. I wasn't expecting this, given his pose, and I almost called this category even because of it. But, frankly, it's just not enough.
The issue here is articulation, or rather lack thereof. I count eight joints on Parasite: hips, knees, elbows, and shoulders. The hips are the standard 'T' style, and the sculpt prevents them from bending one way or another very far. In fact, none of the joints give you much. The pin-jointed knees and elbows are highly limited, and the ball-jointed shoulders aren't much better.
But the problem, as always, isn't really the joints that are here, but the ones that aren't. The lack of cut wrists and ankles limits your posing options greatly, but the real painful omission is the head. The chest, neck, and head are all sculpted together, so Parasite can't look around.
I appreciate that this is intrinsic to the design, that DC Direct wanted to maintain the look of the original. But, if that's the case, they really needed to go all the way and sculpt this as a statue. As it is, the contrast between the joints that are here and the ones that aren't just looks silly.
The issue here is articulation, or rather lack thereof. I count eight joints on Parasite: hips, knees, elbows, and shoulders. The hips are the standard 'T' style, and the sculpt prevents them from bending one way or another very far. In fact, none of the joints give you much. The pin-jointed knees and elbows are highly limited, and the ball-jointed shoulders aren't much better.
But the problem, as always, isn't really the joints that are here, but the ones that aren't. The lack of cut wrists and ankles limits your posing options greatly, but the real painful omission is the head. The chest, neck, and head are all sculpted together, so Parasite can't look around.
I appreciate that this is intrinsic to the design, that DC Direct wanted to maintain the look of the original. But, if that's the case, they really needed to go all the way and sculpt this as a statue. As it is, the contrast between the joints that are here and the ones that aren't just looks silly.
Price Tag and Final Analysis: 7/10
As a sculpted piece, this is amazing work. But that's really not surprising: DC Direct employs incredible sculptors. The issue this figure runs into is one I keep coming up against when I review this company: they can't seem to make up their minds on whether they're making toys or statues. Usually, they wind up occupying some sort of middle ground that at least partially works. But this time, it drags the figure down a bit.
Not enough to make it a bad piece, so long as you like the character and/or style. But it does keep it from getting anywhere near the levels of greatness DC Direct is sometimes capable of.
The price for this varies from store to store, but I usually see them starting in the sixteen to eighteen dollar range - the original price tag on this one read $16.99. But Parasite has been out for a while, and I've seen him priced at eight and even six bucks: both more than reasonable. Personally, I held out until I saw him priced at three... and even then, when I reached the front of the store, I was told there was a sale going on.
Yup. $2.40 for a DC Direct figure. Does it get better than that? I sincerely doubt it.
Not enough to make it a bad piece, so long as you like the character and/or style. But it does keep it from getting anywhere near the levels of greatness DC Direct is sometimes capable of.
The price for this varies from store to store, but I usually see them starting in the sixteen to eighteen dollar range - the original price tag on this one read $16.99. But Parasite has been out for a while, and I've seen him priced at eight and even six bucks: both more than reasonable. Personally, I held out until I saw him priced at three... and even then, when I reached the front of the store, I was told there was a sale going on.
Yup. $2.40 for a DC Direct figure. Does it get better than that? I sincerely doubt it.
You know, it didn't occur to me when I was taking that picture, but I bought every figure above at clearanced prices. Cool! Oh, and I have a blog. What, you expect a transition for everything?