Making his first appearance in Infinite Crisis #3 in February, 2006, Jaime Reyes has the distinction of being one of the new kids on the block in the DC Universe. Of course he carries with him a long heritage spanning eight decades of Blue Beetle. Jaime Reyes is the third individual to take up the mantle of the Blue Beetle. First being Dan Garret, starting out in the late 1930s, which was then replaced by the best known Beetle, Ted Kord. Kord’s Beetle became vastly popular and for many fans is the definitive Blue Beetle.

Jaime Reyes’ Blue Beetle, or Blue Beetle III to some, has come to make a name for himself staring in his own titles, as well as teaming up with Kord’s old friend, Booster Gold, and also becoming a member of the Teen Titans. Most notably he’s appeared several times on the animated series, Batman: the Brave and the Bold, where the character has gained popularity and managed to come into his own. (more…)

The Wonder Twins should be no strangers to regular viewers of the Super Friends in the mid-to-late ’70s. They were the teenage alien replacement to Wendy and Marvin to the Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup. Unlike the two characters who they replaced, the twins had superpowers that were only activated when they touched each other and uttered the catch phrase “Wonder Twins Powers – Activate!” Zan could transform into any form of water in any of the three phases, while Jayna could morph into any living creature. (more…)

Behind every great hero is a great villain. He-Man had Skeletor, Batman had the Joker, and although one could argue that Superman’s equal is Lex Luthor, Darkseid makes for a perfect adversary for the son of Jor-El. Darkseid is instantly identifiable as being evil while Superman is good, and they’re a match for each other when it comes for power and brute strength.

This isn’t the Four Hoursemen’s first crack at ol Darkseid. When the DC Super Heroes line first debuted, Mattel only had the license for Batman and Superman characters. With a range of characters like Scarecrow, Bane, Parasite, and Mongul, the line bounced back and forth between the two properties with each series. It was here that the 4H had their first go at Prince Uxas, second in line to the throne of Apokolips, otherwise known as Darkseid.

Make no mistake; DCUC Darkseid is not just a rehash of a DCSH figure that has been scaled up. His sculpt is all-new with added detail, articulation and accessories that the DCSH entry was not endowed with. The Four Horsemen have always created outstanding re-imaginings of other people’s work, but now their task was to update their own design, so did they manage to school themselves?

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