Hey Speed Readers,

Yesterday DC Collectibles gave us a “top secret” look at the main villains in their Forever Evil crossover coming up; The New 52 versions of the Crime Syndicate of America of Earth 3. More notably, Johnny Quick:

Johnny is sporting a pretty radical design that seems to be part Silver Age and part Modern Age Johnny Quick injected with some New 52 sensibilities. Honestly, when the design was first announced I was not a huge fan of it. I found it to be way too busy and just kind of…lame. But the more I see it (like with a lot of New 52 stuff) the more I find myself digging it a lot.

We’ve had two different Johnny Quick 6-7 inch action figure releases in the past featuring the Silver Age look that has also slowly grown on me over time:

Way back in 2002 DC Collectibles (at the time DC Direct) gave us our very first Crime Syndicate of America figures in their classic look from the Silver Age. Looking at them now versus releases from even just a year later, DC Direct DC Collectibles has come a long way with their figures. Oddly enough the figure possesses pretty much the same points of articulation that the recent New 52 action figure releases have been sporting. Which is extremely disappointing when you factor in it being eleven years later and the cost of action figures these days ($24.99 usd).

Mattel decided to bring us an updated Johnny Quick in 2011 via a Crime Syndicate of America box set that featured the team of villains in a mix of Silver Age and Modern Age designs; Johnny Quick and Power Ring from the Silver Age with Superwoman, Owlman and Ultraman featuring their hipper, more modern designs. Since this figure was made years later and was released as part of Mattel’s now defunct, DC Universe Classics line, the figure features a lot more articulation than we got with the original release and a stronger than expected head sculpt.

Fast forward to 2013 and we are seeing the Crime Syndicate’s Johnny Quick and his cronies for the third time in plastic form. This version as you can see in the pic from DCCollectibles.com above will be featuring 25 different points of articulation which will be a huge improvement over the New 52 Justice League action figures from last year. While I applaud DC Collectibles for listening to most collectors and adding the extra articulation it is unfortunate that they couldn’t have added it before the release of so many New 52 figures with the old look. I just hope that the contrast isn’t too jarring. I will say that I do mix and match DC Direct/DC Collectibles and Mattel’s figures in my collection and they all work pretty well together. At least they are keeping the scale consistent.

As I mentioned the more I look at the design for this character the more I find myself liking it. It has a bit of a Rocketeer/Bulleteer feel to the costume and I’m loving the pseudo-jacket and helmet/goggles. I personally would have preferred if they would have gone a little simpler with the color scheme (don’t see the point of that maroon) but overall easily my favorite Johnny Quick design so far. Well at least as far as the comics go. I would have loved to see something closer to the design from the  2010 DC Animated movie, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths:

Actually on second thought…

What do you all think of the New 52 Johnny Quick design? Who plans on picking this guy up when he drops in March of 2014? Are you as annoyed as I am with DC Collectibles switching up on the articulation this late in the game? Please, let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

–Devin

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