Final WIP: Jim Lee Cyclops
X-Men month continues with a Jim Lee-era Cyclops.
The Jim Lee era of the X-Men books is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, these are some of the worst costumes ever. Each one is a textbook of everything that’s wrong with 90s comics visuals… all the straps and pouches and exaggerated anatomy and lack of bilateral symmetry. But on the other hand, I didn’t know the X-Men from Adam before the cartoon that had these costumes… in many cases, these are the character’s archetypical looks. Toy Biz knew this, and has put out nearly the entire Gold and Blue teams, while other eras (John Byrne, Frank Quietly, etc…) have only one or two entries. So I was only two figures away from finishing the team, and needed a Jim Lee Jean Grey and a better Jim Lee Cyclops.
The base is Black Panther, which is a textured black that drybrushed easily up to a dark blue. The hands and knees come from the X-Men Classics Cyclops, which was too puny to represent the character, especially compared to the other Jim Lee-era figures Toy Biz has put out. The hands are doing Cyclops things (pointing and grasping a visor), and the knees have his 90s leg straps. Leg straps were a plague on comics through the 90s; and the only nice thing I can say about Cyclops is that he has two matching straps. I’m looking at you, Superboy.
The feet come from Series 10 Cyclops. Most importantly, the ankle joints are yellow, but I also like the slightly disproportionate size. He’s like a Jim Lawson illustration. The head is an XMC Cyclops mounted on the Black Panther neck, so that Cyclops can finally look up and down. Cyclops toys are cursed with locked-down heads so they can use a light-up feature, but the first thing I want them to do is angle up and shoot off a Sentinel head!
The straps are straight from the winged backpack that came with Air Attack Wolverine. They look a bit awkward in the back, but have the detail, color, and flexibility I was looking for.
I want to finish off X-Men month with group shots, so check back Friday for the whole Jim Lee team.
The Jim Lee era of the X-Men books is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, these are some of the worst costumes ever. Each one is a textbook of everything that’s wrong with 90s comics visuals… all the straps and pouches and exaggerated anatomy and lack of bilateral symmetry. But on the other hand, I didn’t know the X-Men from Adam before the cartoon that had these costumes… in many cases, these are the character’s archetypical looks. Toy Biz knew this, and has put out nearly the entire Gold and Blue teams, while other eras (John Byrne, Frank Quietly, etc…) have only one or two entries. So I was only two figures away from finishing the team, and needed a Jim Lee Jean Grey and a better Jim Lee Cyclops.The base is Black Panther, which is a textured black that drybrushed easily up to a dark blue. The hands and knees come from the X-Men Classics Cyclops, which was too puny to represent the character, especially compared to the other Jim Lee-era figures Toy Biz has put out. The hands are doing Cyclops things (pointing and grasping a visor), and the knees have his 90s leg straps. Leg straps were a plague on comics through the 90s; and the only nice thing I can say about Cyclops is that he has two matching straps. I’m looking at you, Superboy.
The feet come from Series 10 Cyclops. Most importantly, the ankle joints are yellow, but I also like the slightly disproportionate size. He’s like a Jim Lawson illustration. The head is an XMC Cyclops mounted on the Black Panther neck, so that Cyclops can finally look up and down. Cyclops toys are cursed with locked-down heads so they can use a light-up feature, but the first thing I want them to do is angle up and shoot off a Sentinel head!
The straps are straight from the winged backpack that came with Air Attack Wolverine. They look a bit awkward in the back, but have the detail, color, and flexibility I was looking for.
I want to finish off X-Men month with group shots, so check back Friday for the whole Jim Lee team.
posted by Brian at
9:21 PM
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