Review: DC Universe Classics: Katma Tui
I'm embarrassed to admit I had to turn to Wikipedia to remind myself who Katma Tui is. In my defense, there are an absurd number of characters in the Green Lantern Corps, and, apparently, she's been dead for a few years now (don't expect that to stick, though).
I've read a few scattered issues she's been in, but I really know Katma best from her appearance in the Justice League animated series. Apparently, in the comics she made the mistake of marrying John Stewart. Listen up, because this part's important: NEVER marry a superhero. Life expectancy for the spouse of a main character in comics is something like a dozen issues. Sure, some couples make it work (Lois and Clark, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, Green Arrow and Black Canary), but they're the exceptions. Even if you don't end up killed in some cheap ploy to instill a sense of vengeance in the widowed hero, it's probably just a matter of time before someone travels back in time or makes a deal with the devil and fifteen years of your life get rewritten.
Well, I guess Katma had a nasty run in with Star Sapphire and didn't walk away from it. Fortunately, a grisly death in a comic book is about as conclusive as a minor concussion. In fact, she's already back on her feet. Granted, she's a zombie now, enslaved to the will of Nekron as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, but at least she's getting some fresh air.
Originally, she came from the planet Korugar, where she replaced Sinestro as that world's resident Green Lantern after a minor disagreement regarding his involvement in planetary government and his subsequent attempts to conquer and/or destroy the Universe.
The action figure was produced by Mattel. She's one of the between seven and ten figures making up wave eleven, depending on whether you count the variants and the Kilowog build-a-figure. I've already reviewed John Stewart, and the others are on the way.
I've read a few scattered issues she's been in, but I really know Katma best from her appearance in the Justice League animated series. Apparently, in the comics she made the mistake of marrying John Stewart. Listen up, because this part's important: NEVER marry a superhero. Life expectancy for the spouse of a main character in comics is something like a dozen issues. Sure, some couples make it work (Lois and Clark, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, Green Arrow and Black Canary), but they're the exceptions. Even if you don't end up killed in some cheap ploy to instill a sense of vengeance in the widowed hero, it's probably just a matter of time before someone travels back in time or makes a deal with the devil and fifteen years of your life get rewritten.
Well, I guess Katma had a nasty run in with Star Sapphire and didn't walk away from it. Fortunately, a grisly death in a comic book is about as conclusive as a minor concussion. In fact, she's already back on her feet. Granted, she's a zombie now, enslaved to the will of Nekron as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, but at least she's getting some fresh air.
Originally, she came from the planet Korugar, where she replaced Sinestro as that world's resident Green Lantern after a minor disagreement regarding his involvement in planetary government and his subsequent attempts to conquer and/or destroy the Universe.
The action figure was produced by Mattel. She's one of the between seven and ten figures making up wave eleven, depending on whether you count the variants and the Kilowog build-a-figure. I've already reviewed John Stewart, and the others are on the way.
Appearance and Construction: 6/10
Overall, Katma isn't bad, but she's a long way from being great. If you've been collecting DC Universe Classics figures, you've seen these issues before, which is a shame since Mattel has been getting better.
The sculpt work, at least on the head, is good, which isn't in the least bit surprising: Mattel pays for talent, and it shows. But, while they hire amazing sculptors to design their figures, Mattel also cares about the bottom line. As such, they're willing to cut costs during the actual production process.
And that brings us to the paint, or lack thereof, on Katma's face. While they used a good red plastic, it's still plastic, and that doesn't look like flesh. Not even alien flesh.
The body is a little better looking, but there's nothing exceptional, like what we saw on John Stewart's bracers and ring. In addition, while she looks okay, her arms still feel cheap. This is another issue that's been haunting the line - at least the female half - and I'm not sure there's an easy solution.
At any rate, I'm dragging her score down to six between the lack of paint on the face and the feel of the plastic. This is a little harsher than I've been in the past, but I guess I'm just getting less forgiving.
The sculpt work, at least on the head, is good, which isn't in the least bit surprising: Mattel pays for talent, and it shows. But, while they hire amazing sculptors to design their figures, Mattel also cares about the bottom line. As such, they're willing to cut costs during the actual production process.
And that brings us to the paint, or lack thereof, on Katma's face. While they used a good red plastic, it's still plastic, and that doesn't look like flesh. Not even alien flesh.
The body is a little better looking, but there's nothing exceptional, like what we saw on John Stewart's bracers and ring. In addition, while she looks okay, her arms still feel cheap. This is another issue that's been haunting the line - at least the female half - and I'm not sure there's an easy solution.
At any rate, I'm dragging her score down to six between the lack of paint on the face and the feel of the plastic. This is a little harsher than I've been in the past, but I guess I'm just getting less forgiving.
Packaging and Extras: ----
I've got nothing to say I haven't said before, so I'll say it again: the packaging is fine, but not particularly impressive from the front.
On the back, you get a biography, which isn't really useful but still lets us geeks know that Mattel takes the time to get their facts right. You also get a list of the six figures you'll need to collect to build Kilowog, as well as the one figure you can skip (Steppenwolf comes with a base).
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Katma Tui comes with Kilowog's torso and a pair of green energy constructs. The torso is extremely cool, but only if you're collecting the entire set or are into toy customizing. Otherwise, it's useless. The energy constructs would be far, far more impressive if John Stewart hadn't come with a pair of green constructs that were several times cooler. While these are still good, they look cheap and flimsy, especially compared to Stewart's. The shield in particular looks very low quality. Even if they had just made it a circle rather than an oval, it would be quite a bit better. The blade's not too bad, but the inscription reading "China 1" is a little conspicuous. |
A few waves ago, this would have counted for a bonus point, but that was before the price hike. These are sufficient to avoid a penalty, but while I'm glad to get more constructs, I can't raise the score.
Play and Display: +1
Katma Tui has the same basic articulation that most of the DC Universe Classics figure have: a ball jointed neck that only turns side to side, ball-jointed shoulders, hinged abs, cut joints on the waist, upper legs, biceps, and wrists, pin joints on the ankles, knees, and elbows, and the swiveling/turning hips that Mattel must have trademarked (otherwise, every toy company should be copying them).
In Katma's case, everything works fairly well, though the right shoulder is loose on mine and the elbows are bizarrely double-jointed withough quite being able to make a ninety degree angle either way.
Her balance is fine, though. What's more, her energy constructs snap onto her wrists tightly, giving you a wide variety of posing options. Be aware that these are scaled for a female character's fists, so you can't lend her shield to Hal Jordan or anything.
Between the articulation, balance, and how well the accessories work, I'm handing her a bonus point.
In Katma's case, everything works fairly well, though the right shoulder is loose on mine and the elbows are bizarrely double-jointed withough quite being able to make a ninety degree angle either way.
Her balance is fine, though. What's more, her energy constructs snap onto her wrists tightly, giving you a wide variety of posing options. Be aware that these are scaled for a female character's fists, so you can't lend her shield to Hal Jordan or anything.
Between the articulation, balance, and how well the accessories work, I'm handing her a bonus point.
Price Tag and Final Analysis: 7/10
I'm glad I bought her, but that's because I wanted a decent sized Green Lantern Corps. Unless you're a fan of the character or really want to build your own Kilowog, this is probably one to skip.
I picked this up online at Mattycollector.com as part of the whole set. That ran me $120, plus eight bucks shipping and twelve tax. Setting aside the tax and shipping, that means I paid fifteen apiece.
It's not that she's a bad figure - she's not - but there's just no way she's worth fifteen bucks. You can make the case for John Stewart, because he's a far superior figure. But Katma really feels like she came out last year. Now that Mattel's upped the price and, in theory, the quality, there's no excuse for them to have gone with red plastic over applying some paint.
If you can find her on sale for, say, eight or nine bucks, you won't feel like you got ripped off. But these are going for fifteen and up - the Toys R Us near me is asking sixteen, and a collectible store I frequent is charging twenty.
I picked this up online at Mattycollector.com as part of the whole set. That ran me $120, plus eight bucks shipping and twelve tax. Setting aside the tax and shipping, that means I paid fifteen apiece.
It's not that she's a bad figure - she's not - but there's just no way she's worth fifteen bucks. You can make the case for John Stewart, because he's a far superior figure. But Katma really feels like she came out last year. Now that Mattel's upped the price and, in theory, the quality, there's no excuse for them to have gone with red plastic over applying some paint.
If you can find her on sale for, say, eight or nine bucks, you won't feel like you got ripped off. But these are going for fifteen and up - the Toys R Us near me is asking sixteen, and a collectible store I frequent is charging twenty.
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