Here’s something we didn’t see coming – Stan Lee and Joss Whedon are now playable characters in the game of Heroclix.
Something we REALLY didn’t see coming? Morgan Spurlock and Harry Freaking Knowles are now playable characters in Heroclix.
As a part of a promotion of Spurlock’s documentary Comic-Con IV: A Fan’s Hope, WizKids/NECA is offering a very limited-edition bundle of the Region 1 DVD with a four-pack of real people involved with the film. Some hobby stores will have them, and there will be some available at San Diego Comic-Con as well, natch. So let’s take a look at them, shall we?
Here’s the big guy, the co-creator of some of the most enduring super-heroes of all time. How the heck does he fit into the game? Well, he fits perfectly with whatever theme team you might be playing with his trait “The Creator,” and he can stack as many team abilities as you want to play alongside him. Now will you be truly crazy and play him with Superman? He’ll even join that team – Just Imagine Stan Lee’s Superman! Also, he’s got a fun special power called “Cameo Appearance Only” once he takes a few clicks of damage that allows him to leave the game and bring someone else in to do the rest of the work. That sounds familiar – too bad there’s no Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko clix yet to really make that themely.
And here’s the director who done all us nerds proud by creating the most epic super-hero movie ever with The Avengers. He’s become a Hollywood powerhouse now, and that’s amazingly represented in the ridiculously high-powered clix figure – 240 points! The dreaded Mystics team ability! Triple-target Incapacitate! Powers named for a bunch of in-jokes surrounding Firefly, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog! Neil Patrick Harris is now kinda/sorta in the game as well! This guy’s incredible! So are exclamation points!
The director of Comic-Con IV: A Fan’s Hope, not to mention Super Size Me, 30 Days and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, shows us that it’s highly unlikely that these figures will technically be tournament legal, but he’ll be hilarious to play in fun games, when you have to haggle with your opponent over how much his particular figure is worth in order to see whether Morgan Spurlock has a better chance of smacking them upside the head. Of course, in reference to his breakthrough hit, he can also become a super-sized giant. Just pretend you’ve stuffed him full of Big Macs.
And finally… Ain’t It Cool maven Harry Knowles. Good lord. He can lower your defenses, release a penetrating blast and create a mountainous barrier. We’ll just leave that one alone and hope someday we can get a Siskel & Ebert duo figure.
So how crazy is that? Actual celebrity Heroclix! However, if you haven’t been following, there are also some actual big-time super-guy clix that are going to be making the rounds this con season as well. Let’s do a quick rundown of some of those we’ve seen.
First off, check out this big honkin’ deal. It’s the 10th Anniversary of Heroclix, and they’ve finally decided to go all out with Hank Pym and his many, many different identities. In the upcoming Chaos War set, they’re not only giving us his long-awaited archenemy Egghead, but they’re introducing a “Morph: Hank Pym” trait that allows him to swap out between his civilian, Giant-Man, Ant-Man and even his Wasp identities (and one assumes Yellowjacket will be revealed soon), not to mention other abilities that let him team up with his wife Janet Van Dyne, aka the original Wasp. They’re packaging two of those particular forms together for a Comic-Con exclusive. Take a gander.
Get it? He’s Ant-Man! He’s so tiny you can’t even see him! It’s a cute trick, and in keeping with the anniversary theme, it’s a direct callback to the first ever Heroclix set Infinity Challenge, which featured an Ant-Man limited edition figure using the same joke – and the same starting 20 Defense. While it’s fun, it doesn’t seem like much of a “con exclusive,” does it? Well, that would be why it’s packaged with this guy.
The biggest Giant-Man they’ve ever made. Up until now, they’ve made one that was on a standard base, maybe twice as tall as a standard figure, and a zombie version on the same scale – and a giant Yellowjacket, which was from a regrettable Chuck Austen run on The Avengers from about a decade ago or so. Now, however, he gets a 2×2 quadruple base, a huge dial that you can start at either 75 points or a whopping 300, and he now towers far above most clix in the game. Probably even over the Sentinels, too.
Now what else might they be giving us?
Oh, Pocky makes sense, considering last year’s con exclusive figures included three of the original Horsemen of Apocalypse – War, Famine and Pestilence. Now, Ol’ Blue Lips joins the fray at a standard size, rather than the colossal sized versions of him in the Giant-Size X-Men set. However, you can give this guy an action later in his dial and replace him with either of those versions – thus letting him grow into a colossal. Now that’s dangerous.
Now what else?
Oh. The Punisher… but in that ridiculous post-Civil War get-up that reminds us of how awful that whole thing was. Uh. Um. Okay.
DC? You guys got anything?
Ah, that’s better. Martian Manhunter, as he appeared shortly before the big New 52 reboot. We’ll take that. Pretty straightforward and pretty badass. Psychic Blast is nothing to sneeze at, and if you hit him, he gets the game-breaking Hypersonic Speed power to start kicking more tuchus. Methinks you’ve got one more, though…
Oh, cool! Dr. Fate of the ol’ JSA! Good to know the pre-New 52 characters aren’t being forgotten, as this is the first Fate they’ve made in several years, since the advent of special powers that made each figure unique. Interestingly enough, his trait negates anyone ELSE’s use of special powers. Weirdly appropriate, one should think.
There may be more con-goodies revealed in the near future, but this 10th year of Heroclix has been busy, busy, busy, what with the massive Infinity Gauntlet series of tournaments about to reach its peak, and the upcoming Batman’s Utility Belt series bringing DC back into the limelight, with The Dark Knight Rises set, a Batman proper set, and even a New 52 Justice League set.
The game is fun, and it’s different every time! And now, you can give Stan Lee the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, Red Kryptonite, or even The One Ring and let him loose on Batman. What more do you want out of a pastime?
