Today we have a Blackest Night double feature! Last week, DC Direct released the second wave of Blackest Night figures hot on the heels of Mattel’s release of the DC Classics Color of Fear two-pack. In this review, we’ll take a look at Kryb and Indigo from DC Direct and then we’ll follow up with a review of Romat Ru and Karu-Sil from Mattel.
Blackest Night is the biggest story in comics right now and we’re only about halfway through the ninety books it runs through. The basic outline is simple: the Green Lantern Corps is now part of a larger mythos with other ringbearers who utilize various emotions that correspond to their particular color of the rainbow. The different colors don’t all get along, but they’re being forced to fight alongside one another against an eighth corps of reanimated dead, the Black Lanterns, that feed on emotion and want to end life as we know it. Creepy, huh? Of course, it’s fantastically more complicated than that and if you’d like to learn more, check out the Blackest Night mini-site at DCComics.com.
One of the difficult realities of the toy world is lead time. If a toy company sees a property that has potential, they can't really strike when the iron is hot. The production process is simply too complicated and drawn out between conception and retail. By the time the product reaches stores, that potential may be nothing more than a lump of hard coal. So toy companies do what they can to mitigate lead time, and DC Direct is one company that has a unique advantage - they are part of DC Comics and can release action figures during the comic events the toys are appearing in. This time, DC Direct has released the first wave of Blackest Night figures right in the middle of the crossover of the same name. These aren't just action figures, they're little plastic tie-ins.
