The 1990’s were an odd and fun time in comics, there were tons of reboots and new characters popping up out of nowhere and many of them were pretty original and different from the established norm. One of my absolute favorite characters from Marvel in that era is Darkhawk. The first 20 or so issues of his series are probably some of my all time favorite superhero comics. I admit the series lost its luster after that point, but the comics were so well done the memories of them stick with me to this day and are some of the few comics from that era I insist on keeping. Darkhawk didn’t suffer the problems of special covers until around issue 25 (With a foil cover) which made him stand out as well. In a time where gimmicks ruled Darkhawk had a classic feel to him. In many ways his series reminded me of Spider-Man’s old series, a teenager with great powers trying to figure out exactly what he can do and what his limitations are.
Darkhawk is one of the last characters I ever expected to see in the Marvel Universe line. I love him but at the same time I can understand that not everyone feels the way I do. Yet in my searches for Marvel Universe figures, he has been one that is very hard to find (along with X-23) which gives me a bit of pride because it appears Darkhawk might be getting the love I think he deserves.
The figure is pretty standard fair as he uses that same lanky body that has been used for characters like Loki and Iceman. This works for Darkhawk has he was often portrayed as thin and quick. His wings are another great feature that snaps on. They work one hundred times better than the webs on Spider-Woman and part of me wishes she had a similar set up. The wings click into Darkhawk’s gauntlets perfectly and do not fall out easily. This allows for some interesting action poses with him. He also has a claw in his right hand. As far as I can tell this is not removable (I have tried, believe me). It appears as if something could go into the left gauntlet in the same place. I’m not sure if this is intentional (Implying the claw is supposed to come out) or if it is simply reusing the gauntlet to keep the tooling costs down.
The amulet and shoulder pads are attached tightly. They appear to be separate pieces but are glued down tight and are not going anywhere. The head sculpt is dead on and looks great. The head is easily identifiable and recognizable.
Darkhawk is one of those characters that has bounced around the Marvel Universe. I can understand him not being high on anyone’s want list. Still he is a great supporting character for the Avengers, Fantastic Four and almost any Marvel team. I have to give this figure a very high recommendation.
GRADE: 5 Stars
