iron man

Take a look at the biggest names in superheroes and you probably realize that you're looking at a sea of red, blue, yellow. There are some greens, whites, blacks, etc, but the most iconic superheroes are the red and blue, with yellow accents. It's no accident that the easiest colors to render in the four-color printing process became the choice for bold heroes. But what does it mean for characterization of these heroes? What does it tell us about those characters?

Civil War II is upon us, and all of our favorite Marvel books are going to be subsumed by a conflict that pits hero against hero, sister against brother, and Avenger against Avenger. To keep track of the moral quagmire, we at ComicsAlliance will be following events closely to determine which side is right in this ethically grey debate. This first month sees the playing field established with two prelude issues and today’s big, life-altering Civil War II #1. New characters are introduced, classic characters die, and lines are drawn in the sand as the principal players take their positions and prepare for war.

There have been a lot of Iron Man figures released since the armored Avenger launched Marvel's Cinematic Universe into the stratosphere. Strangely, there haven't been many Tony Starks released. Granted the guy hasn't changed all that much, save for his goatee styling, but you'd think there'd be more than just a few figures of the man behind the machined mask released over the past eight years. In fact, if it wasn't for Hot Toys, that number of plain clothes Tonys would be all but null. But not for long, thanks to SH Figuarts. Finally, three years after Iron Man 3 hit theaters, the Japanese company will be bringing the test chamber version of Tony Stark to shelves. There are a number of different memorable looks from all the Iron Man movies, like Monte Carlo Racetrack Tony, Rose Hill Cowboy Tony, Bootleg Hoodie Iron Man Tony, but the test chamber version is still a solid choice. Hell, I have the Hot Toys version, and I might double down on this one because I like the idea of that "in progress" armor so much.

The Cosbaby figures for Captain America: Civil War were revealed a while back, but Hot Toys has a late addition joining the mix. Though mostly every company's early plans for toy tie-ins were absent Spider-Man, a number of company's got the green light to show off the new version of the webhead this past week. That includes Hot Toys, who has a special set of Team Iron Man Cosbaby figures coming that specifically spotlights the new Peter Parker. While we still have yet to see if Hot Toys will give Spidey his sixth-scale due any time soon, the Cosbaby version is a nice representation of the character. While all the Civil War Cosbaby toys have looked sharp, Spider-Man in particular stands out from the crowd. Part of that has to do with his costume being among the brightest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it's also due to the fact that his concept translates so well to the small body/big head format.

Since the dawn of the Silver Age, legacy characters have been a staple of superhero fiction, and having a new character step into a well loved roll can open up new opportunities for writers and artists to tell different kinds of stories. In this new regular feature, I’ll be looking back at some of the notable and not-so-notable heroes and villains to assume some of the most iconic mantles in the superhero genre. This week we’re going behind the armor to take a look at the various Iron Men of the Marvel Universe, including some of Tony Stark’s very best friends, some of his very worst enemies, and the family member he never knew he had.

If you somehow have been living on a derelict space station that only just crashed back down on Earth and you missed out on the months of hype for Captain America: Civil War, I guess it's a little late for a Spider-Man spoiler warning. To be fair, even Marvel couldn't help but spill the beans on the webhead's arrival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by showing him off in trailers and images well before the film hit theaters. Oddly though, while there is plenty of Captain America and Iron Man merchandise to be found from the new film, there's nary a Spider-Man figure to be seen. That changes this summer.

Hey it's another comic book movie and that means it's time for even more Artist Mix figures from Hot Toys. The offshoot line kicked off last year with Avengers: Age of Ultron, and has since covered Batman V Superman, but now it's come full circle back to Marvel again with Captain America: Civil War. Of course, that means it's time for another Iron Man and Captain America figure because those are the two guys who do the thing in the movie. Fortunately, there's also going to be a Falcon and a War Machine to balance the scales juuuuuuust a bit. Not too much though. Don't want to take too much of the spotlight away from Iron Man and Cap.

In other words, this movie is crowded. Maybe overcrowded. Marvel and Sony’s new Spider-Man (Tom Holland) steals the show with his wisecracks and web-swinging, but serves almost no narrative purpose. Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) is only slightly more important to the story; his main function is to introduce the character to a broader audience before he gets spun off into his own standalone movie in 2018. The subplot involving the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) ties up some loose ends from the last Captain America movie, but it’s not really crucial to the film’s central conflict between Cap (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) over governmental control of the Avengers. (The Winter Soldier barely appears in the original Civil War comics.)

We've barely made it to the quarter-post of 2016, and already Hasbro's released three separate Marvel Legends waves into the wild. Captain America has been the focal point of two of those three, with Captain America: Civil War providing the inspiration for this latest collection. Not only do you get Civil War versions of Cap and Iron Man (yes, again), but you also get the first Marvel Cinematic Universe Black Panther. Some comic book faces like Nick Fury, Red Guardian and Nuke round out the line which is based around a spoilerish build-a-figure (don't worry, those images are all at very end if you want to keep it a secret).

I'll admit, I actually forgot the Marvel Collector Corps was doing a box on Captain America: Civil War once the Women of Power box for June was announced. I just looked right past this month and was eagerly anticipating June's box and the promise of Spider-Gwen, She-Hulk and Squirrel Girl having some kind of representation inside. So imagine my surprise when this little box of Captain America goodness was dropped on my doorstep.