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Sometimes as toy collectors, we can look across our displays and, no matter how many toys we have, only see the ones that aren’t there. They are the missing figures. The characters toy companies never got around to, never thought were important enough, or worse – the figures companies felt the need to show us at comicon in the “We’re Never Gonna Make These” case…<\/p>\n
There are superheroes I’ve always been drawn toward. My interest in Dr. Fate and Firestorm began as soon as I saw them and hasn’t waned in twenty years. And as I’ve continued with comics since my days as a wee tot, I’ve read on as new characters have been introduced and become a fan of many of them as well. But one thing that doesn’t tend to happen is being made to care about an old character. It’s unusual for a writer to take a character I’m already familiar with, and without retconning or warping them in some way, make me care about them when I hadn’t before. But Geoff Johns has done just that with a character in Blackest Night: Mera. <\/P><\/p>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\nI didn’t dislike Mera before Blackest Night, I just really didn’t look past Aquaman to see her. And though I do have to give Johns credit for making Mera the hottest hero in the DC Universe, he did have to finish off what Bill Willingham and Kurt Busiek started and kill just about every other Aquaman family character first. That’s comics though, a little bit you love and a little bit you hate. Anyway, Mera is finally on the minds of almost every DC Universe reader. And many (including myself) would like to see her have her own limited series or even a monthly title. But even if she received a book, even though she’s a vetted, decades-old DC character with hundreds of appearances, the one thing she’d still be missing is an action figure.<\/p>\n
Now, let’s be up front and point out that Mera has received some merchandise love before. Back in the great heyday of comics that was the late sixties, Mera pulled down a few 2″ figurines and a 12″ doll. And if you’re into them, Tonner has offered up two more 12″ dolls in recent years. DC Direct finally got in on some Mera action with a mini-bust, but I’ll be blunt: not good enough.<\/p>\n
In the Green Lantern crossover, Blackest Night, she’s taken the fanbase by surprise. I wasn’t expecting much out of her when BN started. Johns seemed to be leading us down the path that Garth was finally going to be Aquaman only to pull a switcheroo and leave Mera as the last woman standing. And even though they regenerate thanks to those black rings, Mera’s already delivered a couple good death blows to those nasty Black Lanterns. It’s been great to follow her character’s story arc so far and things are looking even better now that, along with Flash and the Atom, she’s poised to be in the core group of heroes that have to defend Earth from the Black Lantern invasion. On the DC message boards, fans are clamoring for her to receive her own series and for DC Direct to produce a figure in their Blackest Night line. Not bad for a character that many might have dismissed if asked six months ago.<\/P><\/p>\n![](\"requests\/addons\/dcdmerabust.jpg\")
This is Mera we’re talking here. The wife (ex-wife? widow?) of Aquaman. She first appeared in 1963 as the queen of her home dimension, Xebel, and began aiding Aquaman in his adventures. One of the components of those sixties comics (that seems to be lacking today) was the relationships that some heroes had with their wives and families. Mera aided Aquaman frequently in his adventures and still found time to marry him and give birth to their child, Arthur, Jr., back in those sixties issues. Interestingly, the Ideal Company even chose to show the Aquaman family on the Super Queen Mera’s box art<\/a> (see Doll Reference.Com<\/a> for more info). For some reason, I find that really cool. I miss the days of heroes having actual relationships in comics and I wasn’t even alive when they were printed! Her relationship with Aquaman has been strained by various writers since then, and, like many female leads, she has been prone to being written out-of-character when she does show up in modern times. But for right now, that seems to be over.<\/p>\n
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Finally, we have the strike while the iron is hot argument. It’s time for a Mera in action figure form. The character is hotter than she’s ever been and she’s on the minds of DC Fans everywhere. We’re shouting out to both companies currently creating DC figures on this one. For DC Direct, it would seem ridiculous to not have a Mera figure in one of the upcoming Blackest Night waves. Blackest Night fans are sure to pick her up and there’s plenty of Aquaman fans (admit it, we all like him a little bit) that wouldn’t mind finally having a Mera figure for their DC Direct display. While a DC Direct figure is sure to be tall and hopefully well-sculpted, it’s not going to let Mattel off the hook.<\/p>\n