Tiger of Tamura

The Black Tiger is the worlds most skilled big cat. He has rarely been seen by the eyes of man and is believed to have magical powers that can be transferred to one who can capture or kill him. The magical Black Tiger is also known to be the killer of evil spirits and protector of all that's good.

As far as fully articulated figures go, I think it comes no better than the Four Horseman. These cowboys of the plastic action frontier gave us the Bronze Tiger; arguably the best two head sculpts and action figure paint jobs to date. The new 52 is in full swing and all of our favorite superheroes have pulled out alternate uniforms. With the Tiger Cage being officially the only Bronze Tiger site on the web, I decided to do a custom figure and review for the Shogun of TaskForce X, the Bronze Tiger.

The Agent O version of an alternate uniform is based on this panel from Flash #46

Quick Trivia: BT and the Flash are both from Central City  (who knew).

The color scheme is inspired by the black tiger, BT's burnt orange uniform, Mia Cabrera's tiger mask the legend of the Tiger King and the idea of Ben being the direct descendant of  Sakanouye No Tamura Maro - Sei-i Tai, first man to hold the title SHOGUN.

The figure has all the standard articulation of DC Universe Classics. The combination of hands that bend at the wrist give BT the dynamic of martial arts stances. Now his mastery of the empty hand can be shown in his poses.

Tamura Maro was one of the greatest warriors of Japan. His sword and bow are legendary. Benjamin Turner being one of the seven sons of Tamura maro (story by OA1) I gave BT a seven ringed broad sword, a power bow and his great ancestors sword. the sword of Tamura Maro.

The medallion has the Japanese Tiger symbol in the center. The other symbol is the symbol of the Tiger King. It's engraved in the center of the belt and on top of the head of the tiger mask. The symbol is in  truth on the top of the head of male tigers, you should see it in the stripes and it means king; hence the Japanese legend of the Tiger King. Inside the quiver is a hidden compartment to store whatever dangerous compounds or secret bad guy paraphernalia that had to be taken.

To wrap it up, this is my first 6inch custom job. I tried to take this and pour in as much originality as I could and still stay true to the original Bronze Tiger character created by Dennis O'Neil and Jim Berry.

The new T.F.E. version

Omega Agent 1.

Deviant Arts: the killer tapes

The Shadow Hunter

continues to slash thru the snake holes of Basilisk as the serpent blood of Lord Naga's terror cells overflow in the Bronze Tiger's quest to cut off the head of Lord Naga himself. The snake tracks leads the Tiger to a manufacturing company full of reptile genetic abominations, ready to be fully released onto a suburban town where deaths have been swelling. This time it seems like a familiar cat has been on the trail of these same snakes. Catman,  finding himself overwhelmed and out numbered, is assisted as the Bronze Tiger descends from the rafters. The Shadow Hunter and the assassin of the Secret Six face .......

Death from the eyes of the Kobra

For those of you who don't know who Thomas Blake aka: Catman is

He's a member and former leader of the Secret Six.

And if you do know Catman you know the guy is no joke.

Along with OG killa Benjamin Turner

the snakes don't stand a chance ..... or do they?

What do you think of the Bronze Tiger / Catman team up?

Gunz and Onez: the 23rd Chamber

Tools of the TRADE:

What's the weapon of a living weapon? I don't know exactly, but I do know that every great superhero not only has theme music, but their own trademarked weapon of choice; magic lasso, Billy clubs, utility Belt..... the mighty Mjolnir. Now I don't have to tell you who these weapons belong to and the same holds true for the ceremonial battle mask of Benjamin Turner. It's without a doubt the tiger mask.

Having traveled from Atlantis to Apocalypse the tiger mask has served BT well.

But I have a love hate relationship with this particular piece of head gear.

Most artist can't draw it correctly, it either looks stupid and awkward or the mask

makes the man look like an actual tiger. A redesign is needed for sure.

Mia Cabrera over at Deviant has the best version to date.

A stylized tiger with elements of a Japanese Samurai kabuto 

and the Wakidate (side crest) could represent

the Clan of Sakanoye NoTamuramaro.

On certain missions and at random times the Bronze Tiger uses weapons

of his Shogun roots. Which leads to a question.

Should the Tiger have another trademark weapon?

The Last Man Standing

Deathstroke vs the JSA

My nephew and action figure collecting partner sent me these fight pictures and second round drag out of Slade vs the JSA. I guess they wanted some get back from the beat down he gave em from Identity Crisis. Either way, here we go....FIGHT!

Slade Wilson, the Terminator aka: DEATHSTROKE
Mercenary assassin and scourge of the DCU. Possesses various enhanced abilities at an almost superhuman level. These include strength of ten men, heightened speed, agility, stamina and reflexes.

Deathstroke can use 90% of his brain making him a tactical genius, adept at turning an opponent's own abilities against them. He has years of military training and possesses a healing factor that enables him to heal from physical injury much faster than a normal person; however, it does have limitations. He cannot regenerate entire limbs. So he can be killed.

Slade is expert hand to hand combatant and a weapons expert, but his signature weapon is a power staff, that fires lethal and non lethal energy blasts from both ends. He could probably use it right now to keep from getting kicked in the face.

Oh well, that kicking stuff didn't last.

Looks like these guys have just got the business done to em. And Deathstroke needs some new guys to fight. Maybe beat the crap out of some marvel guys? Deadpool, Blade, Taskmaster, who knows. Thanks Jake for the pics man. And until your guy meets the Bronze Tiger he gets the win.

Paradise Island: Nubia

Drop me off at this island with Nubia and you don't even need to come back.....matter of fact don't come back I'm straight! I guess you can see why/ so why is Nubia not back into DC continuity? It's 52 ways to relaunch ms Prince back into the books, more even. I'm not going to give you my why's. Just read the facts and on this one I really want to hear from the women of comics, movies and or reviews; especially  the Wonder Woman and Artemis fans.

At the height of Linda Carter's Wonder Woman television series, Nubia was to be introduced to the show. A mego or Barbie doll was also put together to go along with the series. Of course it didn't happen. This is a nice collectors item or toy. The four horsemen from DC Universe classics would be my maker of choice for a Nubia action figure. This would give the guys a way to get one too (just looking out).

Nubia is one of those characters that has everything. Backstory (needs to be updated though) A list connections, unique powers and weapons and a variety of different looks to build off of. So what's the problem? With vixen now being used goods in my eyes  http://betaisdead.blogspot.com/2011/02/black-superheroes-vixen.html Nubia could be the the Love interest of the Bronze Tiger in his own title (DC gives everybody else one) or team title (see TaskforceX/the other league)

Nty-way Wonder Woman should get an animated series and Nubia should get some damn exposure.