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Posted by: Keith Chow on February 9, 2010 at 4:27 pm

The results are in, and Absolute Justice, The CW’s two-hour Smallville event introducing the Justice Society, is considered a ratings winner for the netlet. Considering that The CW sent Smallville to the Friday night graveyard, this show simply refuses to die. Chances are, Clark and company are gonna make it a full decade on the air and come back for a tenth season.

And while Smallville is the Energizer bunny of superhero shows, one thing it’s always been lacking is the amount of swag associated with the franchise. Even the DVD box sets are pretty spare when it comes to commentaries and special features. Especially when compared to the plethora of bells and whistles that typically come with genre TV series DVDs. That said, the show has spawned to series of action figure lines by DC Direct. The first (Clark, Lex and Lana) came out when the show debuted, and unfortunately, the quality of the figures reflected the lack of sophistication in action figure sculpting and articulation that plagued DCD toys of the early-Aughts. Several years later, a second series featuring the members of the Smallville-verse’s nascent Justice League was released. This set featured much better likenesses and greater articulation. But to be completely honest, other than Clark and Ollie, the other junior-Leaguers’ costume aesthetics are less than stellar.

Anyway, in the years since that series was released, Smallville has seriously embraced its comic book-y side. In addition to the live action debuts of future JLAers Zatanna and Black Canary, we’ve seen Braniac, Bizzaro, Metallo, the Legion, Zod and even a young Jor-El show up in Kansas’ leafy little hamlet. But no single episode has been riper for plastic immortality than the Absolute Justice mini-movie.

So here’s what I think should make up Smallville’s third series of action figures. Are you listening DC Direct?

Clark Kent/The Blur
Considering Clark’s the main character, it only makes sense that each series of figures should include one of the main guy. Since Series Two gave us his iconic red and blue jacket/jeans combo, it only makes sense that the “Absolute Justice” line would feature Clark in his Season 9, Matrix-y “Blur” getup. Not only is he (finally) rocking the family crest on his chest, the black trench coated Clark would just make a nice variation on the previous Tom Welling action figures we’ve seen from DCD. While we’re at it, give him a swappable head with “heat vision eyes” and you’ve got an awesome proto-Superman figure for my toy shelf! And hopefully, in the near future, we’ll get the opportunity to see an action figure of Welling in the red and blue tights. Until then, you can always swap out the head from the Smallville Series Two one and plunk it down on the body of the Alex Ross Superman figure from DC Direct.

Carter Hall/Hawkman
The most hyped up character in Absolute Justice has got to be the live action debut of Hawkman. Sure, a lot of people laughed at the sneak peeks of Michael Shanks in Thanagarian disguise–and some of flying F/X was pretty suspect, but c’mon, Hawkman’s an innately goofy looking character, especially when translated to live action. Still, what we got on screen was pretty cool and effective. And what might not work on your HDTV can be pretty badass on your toyshelf. Besides, Hawkman has been one of my fave DCU toys since the Super Powers fig with the flapping wings! For the Smallville edition, I’d like flapping wings, a removable helmet and of course his trusty mace!

Kent Nelson/Dr. Fate
Arguably, the coolest character in “Absolute Justice” was Dr. Fate. In all my years as a fan of the DCU and Smallville, never did I think I’d see Dr. Fate translated so brilliantly to the big screen. (Hey, even though it was a TV movie on a little-watched network is irrelevant. I challenge any big budget studio to come as correct as the SV folks did in bringing Kent Nelson to life!) While Brent Stait maybe a little vertically challenged as Fate (and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Most dudes look puny when sharing a two-shot with the 6’4″ Welling), his depiction was spot on. Nelson’s transformation into Fate was easily one of the most goosebump-inducing moments in the show’s nine-season history. For his action figure, I’d like to see Fate come with a removable helmet of Nabu, a bowling ball bag (for Nelson to carry the helmet in), and to take a page out of the Mattel DCUC Fate figure, a snap-on ankh-shaped energy blast.

J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter
Longtime Smallville viewers have been waiting with bated breath for the reveal of John Jones’ Martian form ever since Phil Morris made his first appearance as the Martian Manhunter in the sixth season episode “Labyrinth.” Well, we finally got our wish, if only for a brief second when Fate sent J’onn through a portal to regain his Martian abilities. To commemorate such a momentous occasion, our “Absolute Justice” Manhunter fig should come with a swappable head: one which depicts J’onn in his human, Jackie Chiles-like visage, and one in all its salsa verde splendor! I’d also like to see him packing heat with the double glocks that fit neatly into his criss-crossed gun holster.

So those are the four figures that I think must be included in an “Absolute Justice” line of figures. Of course, it’d be great to see action figures based on Smallville‘s live action interpretations of Stargirl, the Golden Age Sandman, the Star Spangled Kid, and Amanda Waller (I can do without an Icicle, Jr. fig, thank you very much). Buy, hey, that’s what Wave Four is for, right?

So what are ya waiting for, DC Direct! Hop to it!

Keith is the Editor-at-Large of the groundbreaking graphic novel anthology SECRET IDENTITIES and Outreach Director for SIUniverse Media. Visit the official Secret Identities blog to keep up with Keith and the rest of the SI team

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