Astral Dr. Strange

Get a job, hippie!

Y’know, not for nuthin’, but Dr. Strange has the most comfortable looking costume in comics. He’s basically wearing pajamas AND his cape doubles as a blanket. If his sidekick was Harry the Pillow, we’d all be pledging allegiance to Dormammu right now.

So, this week’s mod is one of them “lite on the customization” jobs. No Frankensteining, just a repaint of the Infinity Challenge Doctor Strange…

White acrylic base and–to break things up–antique white gloves, chest emblem and sash. Some blue highlights, creepy black eyes, a light black wash and a spritz of matte sealant to bring it home. Check out the regular Doc Strange HeroClix dial here, Astral Doc dial here.

So why make this figger? Why, to recreate classic astral Doctor Strange moments like that one time Flash Thompson punched him…

Those kids are so high.

Then there was the time ghost Doc talked sh*t about his Defender buddies when he thought no one was listening…

He’s such a charmer.

Back to the custom: I made astral Doc as a way to make the regular, not-dead-yet Dr. Strange Heroclix a unique piece. See, when the living Dr. Strange figure is KO’d, Casper here enters play at the start of that player’s next turn…

Astral Doc has a decent dial, but he has a weakness. At the end of each of its controller’s turns, it automatically clicks. The soul cannot survive outside the body for long! So yeah, the clock’s running when the haunted Doctor enters play.

Overall I’m okay with how this figure came out, though my shading/layering skills with a brush aren’t as good as they’d need to be to truly capture the look of the character. Plus trying to photograph all-white figures is a pain. I thought White Tiger was a hassle, but man, catching ghost Doc on film almost broke me. I’m done with all-white customs. You hear that, In-Betweener? I’m only modding half of you!

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Random Doc Strange from around the web:

Cosplay madness! We have Cary Elwes as the good Doctor, then Dr. House becomes Dr. Strange and finally Robert Goulet: Sorcerer Supreme.

Some toy stuff, including an old school masked Dr. Strange Mego and a neat piece of Marvel Legend astral photoshop.

And finally, we hit both ends of the cool spectrum. On one end we have possibly the slickest pieces of Doctor Strange art you’ll ever see and waaaay over at the opposite end we have the 1978 Dr. Strange TV movie. Don’t click that last link.

Iron Man (’80s)

“Iron Man, Iron Man, does whatever an iron can.”

I love those old ’60s Marvel cartoons. My first exposure to ’em was waaaay back in the day, back before comics went mainstream and finding superhero-anything on TV was a snipe hunt. But there I was, six years old, vacationing in Argentina. Those Marvel toons had long since gone off the air in the States — I never even knew they existed. Bored out of my mind (and only able to understand broken Spanish), I was flipping through the channels when MADRE DE DIOS! The Sub-Mariner was suddenly on the screen! “Te voy a matar, Krang!”

I almost fell off the bed. Superhero cartoons? That DIDN’T have the Wonder Twins or a f*cking super monkey? My world was turned upside down. And holy crap, Spanish Thor was on next! “Yo digo NAY!”

Already a fan of the Marvel Universe thanks to my older brother’s comics, the entire Silver Age Marvel U was now opened to me. The Titanium Man? The Red Skull’s Sleepers? Odin turning Loki into a tree?!? It was the superhero cartoon tipping point: no more Wendy and Marvin. From now on it was horrible Marvel animation or nuthin’. BONUS: Iron Man taught me Spanish.

Speaking of which, that’s a good transición for my Iron Man mod…

There’s been a buttload of Iron Man Heroclix figures–original armor, modern, unmasked, Hulk Buster, Silver Centurion, Ultimates, blah, blah, blah–but when it came to the ’80s version, they totally whiffed. Yeah, they made one, but it was 100% meh. Not Karate Kid Heroclix terrible, just underwhelming for what I think is Shellhead’s most iconic set of duds. So I went in and made my own vodka-fueled Avenger.

I started with…okay, hang on. I’ll get back to my Iron Man custom in a minute, but all this talk about old school Iron Man is giving me flashbacks. When you think “Iron Man villains” nowadays people usually imagine technological threats. Makes sense, given the nature of the character. But back in the day–the far less techno-sophisticated comic book days–Shelhead’s baddie of the month was often a bit more blue collar.

Some of my favorite “Wait, Iron Man is getting his ass kicked by WHO?!?” moments…

Shirtless UFC guy sits on his chest and beats him with a rock.

BONUS: They’re in a sewer. That top rat just rubbed his eyes with his dirty little paws and did a double take. “This is some crazy sh*t, yo!”

Snake bear hug + Impractical vat of acid

“No way to escape! No Way!” Eeesh, Shellhead’s lucky this is his solo book and not The Avengers. Cap would slap his mouth hearing him talk like that.

Monkey dogpile buzzsaw apocalypse

There’s a rational explanation for everything on this cover EXCEPT the bare chested bald guy with the disco medallion. The ’70s were a strange and mysterious place.

something something FRANKENSTEIN MIDGETS!

There it is, the reason Tony Stark drinks captured in a single image. Think the ’70s are bad, Tony? Grab some scotch…the ’90s will see you killed and replaced  with a teenage version of yourself that was plucked from the time stream. True (and bad) story.

Alright, enough silliness. Back to the serious business of figure modding…

Ingredients: All parts culled from Heroclix figures. The upper body & arms are swiped from a Cyclops (Mutations & Monsters). Legs, boot jets and head are modified from the Silver Centurion Iron Man (Supernova). The helmet needed some modding: the horizontal band on the back had to be whittled away and ear pods (ear muffs?) added. For those I used the boobs from a Callisto (Ultimates). That sounds creepy.

Shellhead’s chest beam is lifted from the lantern of a Manhunter (Cosmic Justice). That was a clutch find…I’m terrible at scratch-modding anythinground . Belt buckle and those lil’ nipple dials are pulled from the chest of a War Machine (Armor Wars). Hip pod thingies are the top of the heads scavenged from a couple of Kobra Fanatics (Unleashed).

Shoulder pads & belt are thin strips on index card paper held in place with a pinprick of Elmer’s and hardened with Krazy Glue. Some metallic acrylic paint, a spritz of matte sealant and–SH*T! I JUST SPRAYED A METALLIC FIGURE WITH MATTE SEALANT!! Ah, crap. I’m so used to modding flat-finish figures that I grabbed the matte instead of the gloss. A quick touch-up of metallic paint and…he’s getting a bit goopy looking. Better leave him alone and not make things worse. Custom Iron Man dial here.

Overall he came out okay, but his pose…I dunno. My thoughts going in as that I’d give him the classic “flying bullet” Iron Man look, and while that’s what he ended up with, it’s a bit dull. Maybe I should have given him more of a combat pose, something with translucent plastic “energy blasts” coming out of his palms. Eh, something to remember for next time.

Some random Shellhead from around the web:

Jaw-droppingly awesome Iron Man custom toy & model gallery.

Wicked Iron Man made of Lego.

Wee Iron Man made of Lego.

Saddest Iron Man cake ever here, Iron Man cake gallery here.

Tales of Suspense cover gallery here (Shellhead starts with issue #39), Iron Man cover gallery here.

The Rattler

The Rattler, a member of the awesomely underrated Serpent Society and, if I’m not mistaken, Charlie Murphy’s alter ego. I can’t be the only one who sees the resemblance…

What did the five fingers say to the supervillain?

…right?

No? Maybe if I photoshopped a little cigarette in the Rattler’s mouth. And gave him a loud shirt. And had Prince dunk on him.

Anyway, on to the custom Rattler Heroclix…

Ingredients: Base body is a Wrecker (Ultimates) with the crowbar sliced off. His tail is…I just noticed that his tail kind of looks like a sock puppet peeking up over his shoulder. Are there any sock puppet themed supervillains? Nobody steal that idea, it’s mine.

Rattler’s tail was lifted from a Scorpion (Xplosion). Costume trimmings like boots and his catcher’s vest are all strips of index card held in place with a pinprick of Elmer’s and hardened with Krazy Glue. Acrylic paint, a PFFFT! of matte sealant and Charlie Murphy is in the books. Custom Rattler Heroclix dial here.

I think he came out okay, though his boots should have had that same layered scale effect as his chest. I built him years ago in a one-night modding frenzy along with Cottonmouth, Bushmaster and Deathadder (below). My gaming group was hooking up the following day and I wanted to stomp everyone with the Serpent Society. The customs were finished in time and, true to form, I had my butt handed to me. I can–with two dice–consistently roll under four better than anyone.

So in the early days of ‘Clix–back when there were only a handful of sets–my modding mentality was “more is more.” Instead of taking my time with each custom I’d crank ’em out as fast as possible. Not a terribly conducive way to create good, clean-looking mods. Nowadays I don’t have the time to customize all that often, but when I do, I take my time. Some of my more recent work here.

Some random Serpent Society from around the web:

Custom Marvel Legends-style Rattler (scroll down the page a bit), a Marvel Legends Anaconda and a look at why Deathadder is the coolest member of the Serpent Society .

Rick Flag

The Suicide Squad: A government team of shadowy special operatives, each with a unique codename and costume that hints at their combat expertise.

Hmmm, where have I…

But he can get friction on a Trouble Bubble.

Yeah, the ‘Squad were G.I. Joe’ish, but there were two big differences: one, they were all baguys with explosive collars that blew their heads off if they went AWOL. Two, no Refrigerator Perry. Advantage: Suicide Squad.

Anyway, this week’s ray of sunshine, Rick Flag…

Ingredients: Base body is a Skrull Infiltrator (Supernova) and…that’s where my memory goes off the rails. His head, right hand and holsters are all frankensteined from other Heroclix, but it’s been awhile since I built this sucker. I’m blanking on what figures those bits were lifted from…

Holster straps, wristwatch and Han Solo striped-pantsness are all thin strips of index card paper held in place with a pinprick of Elmer’s and hardened with a lil’ Krazy Glue. Acrylic paint, some matte finish and it’s a wrap. Custom Rick Flag dial here.

He came out okay, though looking back at him now I think I should have chosen a different head for him, one with slightly bushier hair. I dig the pose, though…that Skrull Infiltrator figure is a great lil’ base body.

It's not cool to wave at the Kobra troops, Count Vertigo. You know they get in trouble if they wave back.

Some random ‘Squad from around the web:

Cool piece of Suicide Squad art.

Fan made ‘Squad movie poster here.