THE COOL, CRUEL CAPTAIN COLD

What is it about villains with cold-based superpowers/super-gadgets? The tragic Victor Fries will always be my #1, so I guess that makes Leonard Snart here #2... Though I'm sure I saw him in a variety of media as a kid, my first solid recollections occurred as a teenager, seeing him as a guest baddie on the Batman/Superman Hour, etc. He's kinda over-the-top, but he at least seems like more fun than glum, "Let's Kill Humanity" Mr. Freeze.

Completed in July 2013, Captain Cold is primarily a 25th Anniversary Arctic Snake-Eyes, with some fur from a Snow Serpent and a head from a Han Solo in Hoth gear figure. The goggles and pistol were pulled from my accessories bin. I was never a huge fan of the yellow/gold and all that additional fur on Cold's costume, so I tried to ground the design more in reality by giving him some heavy leather gloves. As a nod to his roots, though, I did want to include fur on the shoulder and parka. My hope is that he's instantly recognizable.

MEANWHILE, AT THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CENTRAL CITY... 

"Hurry! Before HE shows up!"

"That's all?! We need to make this worth the trouble!"

"Wait-- I thought I heard something..."

"Alright, Cold-- FREEZE! Get it?"

"Geez. Rough room. Only one guy, Lenny? Business is bad. My fault. Now you see me--"

"Now you don't! Howdy! Right behind!"

"Alright, Snart. Back to jail."

Captain Cold is one of the newest in my series of villains, particularly the Legion of Doom... Now that I've got most of the team started, I kinda feel compelled to complete it. Mr. Snart is not alone, however... he's part of a larger nightmare, which continues with the second series of Gotham's Most Wanted, debuting at CustomCon 35!

SOMEWHERE IN GOTHAM...

"Snart-- we are not leaving without the component. You are merely hired help, not the brains of this operation."

"FREEZE! We need to get out of here! The Bat will be here any time!"

COMING UP: A RETURN TO THE PULPS

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

When I was little, my mom used to tell me stories about when she was a little girl and how she was terrified by re-broadcasts of The Shadow on the radio-- "That laugh and the voice," she would say. "WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN? THE SHADOW KNOWS!"

The way she described him, I thought he was a ghost or a monster, not the ground-breaking pulp character I discovered later through comics and the 1990s Alec Baldwin tour-de-farce "film." At the time, I loved it, and it introduced me to characters from 50-60 years earlier that inspired a lot of what I obsessed over-- Batman, and, oh, you know, comic books in general. As laughably cheesy as it is, this piece probably wouldn't even exist without it.

Completed in June 2013, this project has been in the planning stages for a decade. Works in progress go back to when I was using GI Joe A Real American Hero parts, and it all started with one piece: the head. Lamont Cranston (or Kent Allard, depending on which continuity you're going with) here consists primarily of a Marvel Universe Professor X figure with an Overkill GI Joe head and Indiana Jones fedora. The pistols and cape are just repainted accessories from my Fodder Graveyard.

The Shadow is the newest addition to my series of pulp characters (both vintage and modern) started with The Batman, The Rocketeer, The Phantom, and Indiana Jones. I'm hoping to expand with childhood favorites like The Green Hornet & Kato, some members of the BPRD, and maybe even The Shadow's friend & ally Doc Savage, The Man of Bronze... and what good are pulp heroes without villains?

My take on The Shadow is, much like The Batman of Gotham, The Shadow is a dark hero that uses intimidation, fear, mind games, hypnosis, and clouds of hallucinogenic gas in his war on New York's criminal underworld. A gangland horror story of mythic proportions, mobsters, small-timers, and psychos have come to know and fear THE SHADOW! Though considered a vigilante by law enforcement and the U.S. government, he's also proven himself as a hero and true patriot, so he's being courted-- rather than pursued...

"Your mind is clouded... AND BELONGS TO ME!"

COMING UP: THE COOL, CRUEL CAPTAIN COLD...

I WILL RECORD ALL KNOWLEDGE AND DESTROY ALL CREATION

Can a digital villain ever truly be stopped or captured? Further complicating things, if a computer is the perpetrator of a crime, is it truly guilty? Can a computer be good OR evil?

Brainiac has always been one of my all-time favorite Superman villains, though I first encountered the more Terminator-looking incarnation from the Super Powers toy line in the mid-80s. An evil robot who's smarter than Superman? Sign me up!

Later I read about Brainiac's other incarnations and learned to appreciate the green skinned living computer, which is the first version I wanted to tackle. 

Completed in June 2013, Brainiac was actually the first of the Man of Steel set finished. He's almost all GI Joe movie parts, with a BAT arm and greebles grafted on. 

Credit where credit is due, Heroes Assembled Customs' Brainiac was a huge inspiration. Love its mechanical arm and quasi-Giger vibe!:

http://www.figurerealm.com/viewcustomfigure.php?FID=49323

Just like Lex Luthor, this Brainiac was inspired by the Man of Steel film. Loved the movie, and I can't wait to see how they integrate these two legendary Superman villains into this new canon. With Brainiac, I hope they go dark and bio-organic, like HR Giger or the Engineers from Prometheus and make him a truly terrifying, unstoppable threat.

COMING UP: WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

THE GREATEST CRIMINAL MIND ON EARTH

Lex Luthor, World's Greatest Criminal Mastermind, has always been a favorite. My first exposure was more than likely via Super Powers and the various Super Friends repackagings out in the early 80s. When I was 4 or 5, I clearly remember being completely confused by Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor WITH HAIR! My pre-K mind was blown.

Despite Hackman's wisecracking performance, I loved Lex Luthor. While playing with my Super Powers and Secret Wars toys, I had Lex conspire Dr. Doom, Kang the Conqueror, Magneto, and Doc Ock-- the ultimate league of evil!

Lex here was completed July 4th, 2013. He is fairly straight-forward, consisting mainly of a GI Joe movie Destro body and Professor X head. The original plan was to do Lex in the Kryptonian battle suit, but, in true Wile E. Coyote style, my robot body has issues... still very much in the works, though.

The Luthor I grew up with was still kind of the mad scientist version, which slowly transitioned into the billionaire industrialist with lackeys. I sorta see him has an evil version of Doc Savage or Indiana Jones: A villainous adventurer with a never-ending supply of resources to get whatever he wants...

NEXT TIME: "I WILL RECORD ALL KNOWLEDGE AND DESTROY ALL CREATION."