Funko’s Latest Legion of Collectors Box Brings All Your CW Heroes Together

Funko's second Legion of Collectors subscription box brings all your favorite characters from DC's television universes together mostly in time for their season finales. Though Supergirl ended in April, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow are all nearing wrap dates on their respective seasons. Thus far, Funko's DC efforts have all been tied to the cinema or television worlds, and that trend will continue into the next box, which is themed around Suicide Squad. You would think eventually Funko will get around to linking these boxes to the comic universe (as they have with Marvel a few times), but perhaps it's for the best to focus on the one consistent constant in DC's stable right now and hit up the Rebirth Universe later.

For now, all we actually have is the DC TV box, and it's pretty good.

While typically the comics included with Funko's subscription boxes have been more timely releases, this time around the company's decided to put out reprint of The Flash #123. For people who have only gotten into Barry Allen's adventures thanks to the television show, you couldn't ask for a more legendary comic issue. "The Flash of Two Worlds" is a seminal DC Comics story, and helped bridge the golden age heroes with the silver age successors revamped under editor Julius Schwartz. This comic brought back the heroes of yesteryear with the pretense of their adventures all happening in an alternate reality on Earth-2. Sounding familiar to any of you Arrow and The Flash fans?

As good as this issue is, that variant cover is bland as all get out. You put the Flash on the cover, and you choose to have him taking a knee? He's the fastest man alive. He should be showing off that power, not preparing to tell the Little Giants it's time to run the Annexation of Puerto Rico at halftime.

With that in mind, it's easy to see why Funko and DC decided the exclusive Pop figure this month should be Jay Garrick. As the Flash of Earth-2, Jay's played an integral role on this season of the television show. While we won't say much more than that, you can learn more about such things in the interweb's hottest The Flash recap report, Up to Speed. As a fan of Jay Garrick's comic adventures, seeing him get this much attention outside of DC's publishing schedule is something I'd never thought I'd see. We're all better off for it, even if you don't happen to like his adapted version.

The Pop does a nice job approximating the TV version of Earth-2's Flash, who instead of a wearing a supersuit like Barry Allen, wears a World War II-era bib front leather jacket emblazoned with a lightning bolt. It works for the character, even though comic book Jay just wears a fairly generic long-sleeved t-shirt. Costume design has come a long way since the golden age. Thankfully the Mercury helmet is still the defining feature, and it somehow doesn't look goofy at all in practice. You might disagree, but to me that just makes sense and really ties it all together. It looks solid in figure form, too.

The other exclusive figure is a Supergirl variant Rock Candy piece. This version has a paint app that mirrors Kara's on-screen costume more than the classic comic uniform the general release Rock Candy figure received. I'm not crazy about the Rock Candy line, but I've also not been a fan of Funko's other attempts at female-centric lines like Vinyl Vixens. Rock Candy is at least a little dialed back in its cutesy approach, but the figure sculpts just look a little off. At least from the neck up anyway.

The body of the figure looks fine, and has a standard Supergirl pose rendered well enough. Her portrait just doesn't mesh. It looks like they were trying to approximate the look and feel of the Barbie doll (which makes up the majority of Rock Candy releases so far) and something like the DC Super Hero Girls, but it gets caught between the two and doesn't come out right at all. The lips are too small, the cheekbones too prominent and the eyes are just too cartoonish.

The box also includes the requisite t-shirt, patch and pin. The Arrow tee design is nice, and uses art that looks like the actor instead of the Pop-ified version we've seen being used in the Marvel and Star Wars subscription boxes. I understand the reasoning behind putting the word "Supergirl" beneath the crest on the, but it still would have been a slightly better-looking patch if that wasn't slapped on there. As to the pin, who doesn't want to have Brandon Routh constantly tagging along on adventures? It'll be just like the Atom is with you wherever you are.

Funko's second DC box is a solid effort, and pays tribute to DC's proud history while focusing primarily on its present. I'm hoping we start to see some boxes tied into the comic world soon, as there's a lot of characters that need some fun merch beyond the TV/movie heroes, and would fit in right at home in a themed Funko box. Just imagine all the possibilities of the Fourth World box (which we'll probably never get). With Suicide Squad up next, we'll have some time until we find out what the Q4 box will be, but if the momentum from DC TV can be maintained, Legion of Collectors will be on the right path.

This box was provided by Funko for review. The Legion of Collectors subscriptions run $25 a box, and you can sign up on the official site if you wish to join.