Hey Speed Readers,

The New 52 Captain Cold was released last week and I’m just now getting a chance to get some pics and a review up. Better late than never right?

First off the the packaging is pretty much the same as previous DC Collectibles New 52 releases except that the box sports a darker color scheme to contrast the white used with the Heroes releases. I like the packaging overall, the only gripe I have is that they (Amazon) stuffed the figure in a box that caused a creased in the packaging. Luckily I’m not a On Card collector, but if I were I would be quite perturbed:

 

On the right side of the package we have a cool minimalist Captain Cold graphic:

And on the left side a picture of the figure and the name of the sculptor, James Shoop:

The main thing about this figure we have to realize is that this is not your grandfather’s Captain Cold (ugh), he’s ditched the cold gun and parka for superpowers and a hip hooded vest that he borrowed from Vibe (or maybe Vibe borrowed it from him?). Now being an old school fan I have a great appreciation for what the Rogues brought to the table before the New 52 and I’m a little resistant to a few of the changes. I do however dig the design and the visual flair that Mr. Manapul brings to Cold especially when utilizing his ice powers.

When Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato (the current creators working on The Flash) relaunched the book in 2011 with the New 52 they explained that they wanted to make the Rogues more powerful and more of a threat when it came to facing off against a speedster like the Flash. So, fed up with losing to The Flash every single time, Captain Cold went looking for an edge and found one with the help of amoral scientist, Darwin Elias. Darwin used an experimental procedure to bond the powers of the Rogues’ weapons to the users themselves with…mixed results. Pretty much every member of the Rogues came out of the ordeal pretty screwed up but I don’t want to spoil anything else. All you really need to know is that Cold now has internalized ice powers or cryokinesis.

I will say it is refreshing to get a Captain Cold that comes with something more than a purple/silver/magenta gun. Cold is packed with two ice weapons that look amazing and were sculpted out of nice solid pieces of plastic by DC Collectibles’ sculptor, James Shoop. The ice mace can be swapped out for the right hand or attached to the end of the right hand as kind of an extended ice bashing piece. The ice dagger can be held in his left hand. His right arm also has icy veins sculpted on it that end with an absolutely fantastic sculpted icy arm. I guess you could say that Captain Cold literally has ice water running through his veins.

The hood/head are sculpted separately from the figure so the head can freely move from side to side. Due to the nature of the hoodie he can’t really look up but the Flash doesn’t fly so I think this should be more than adequate. From the way the hood sits on his head you would think the thing was removable but it isn’t as far as I know and I’m not willing to pull any harder on it and risk destroying it; I’m fairly certain it isn’t removable. Not a con or anything since the closest we’ve gotten to a removable hood was the gargantuan DC Direct Justice Series 8 Captain Cold based on the art of Alex Ross (pictured below in comparison shots). You could slide the hood down and get a look at Captain Cold’s receding hairline which was a nice touch. Unfortunately the glasses weren’t removable like DC Direct’s previous Captain Cold release (also pictured below in the comparison shots). I will go on record saying that my favorite of the last three 6-7 inch releases (counting the Mattel one) is the 2001 DC Direct Captain Cold figure. The sculpt is just fantastic and the removable glasses are a great touch.

Realistically (I hate this word by the way), yes the Flash’s villains would pose little threat to him in their previous incarnation but that was a part of their charm; lovable losers who every once in awhile get the drop on a guy that can break the sound barrier on a brisk walk. Usually they accomplish more by working together and watching each other’s backs and as a result they’ve managed to get the best of our Scarlet Speedster on a number of occasions. At the same time The Rogues can and will turn on each other in a heartbeat if it means that one of them can escape or get a bigger score. That is the problem I really have with ALL of the Rogues gaining powers is just that it is a little over the top to expect them all to go through with it. Looking at the New 52 Rogues I guess they could be a bit more apt to follow Cold blindly but I don’t see it happening with the classic Rogues. Weather Wizard would do it because that was one of his main motivations when he reappeared; internalizing his Weather Wand abilities, which he managed to do later with the help of Inertia. Mirror Master’s powers were already so formidable that I don’t see why he would have needed to internalize the abilities. Heat Wave pretty much despises Cold and while he has followed him in the past I doubt he would go this far. In fact I see pretty much everyone turning Cold down and Captain Cold going through the process alone. Cold has always been the Rogue amongst the Rogues and him going off and doing it on his own would fit his character. In other words I don’t mind Cold having powers as much as I do everyone else.

Being one of the more popular and prominent members of the Rogues has earned Captain Cold 3 other 6-7 inch scaled figures from DC Collectibles (formerly DC Direct) and Mattel. The next closest member of the actual Rogues is Mirror Master who is soon to be tied with Captain Boomerang (Who will be seeing his third release later this year via DC Collectibles). Of course Gorilla Grodd and Professor Zoom are in the lead overall but they aren’t exactly “Rogues”.

If you are a fan of the new design of Captain Cold then this is definitely a figure you want to pick up; Great paint job, decent articulation, and a fantastically intricate sculpt definitely brings the New 52 version of the good Captain to life in a solid way. Not to mention that he actually comes with ice-themed accessories. You won’t get a ton of crazy poses out of him but with his unique color scheme he will look great posed with other villains on a shelf or opposite The Flash. The icy stand that he is standing on came from the first Marvel Legends-styled Iceman from a few years back. That explains the Sentinel robot hand at the base.

DC Collectibles DC Comics Super-Villains Captain Cold retails for $24.99 but you can find him for a little more or a little less depending on what retailers and online avenues you take.

What do you all think of Captain Cold’s New 52 look and swanky new figure? Please let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,

–Devin

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