Justice League International - BLACK CANARY!

Justice League International -  Series 01 - Black Canary - DC Direct 2009

A few hours ago I heard the news that Warner Bros has fully shut down DC Collectibles/DC Direct after 22 long years. To me, this is truly one of the saddest things to have happened to the toy industry in all my years of collecting. It's sadder than Mattycollector ending, sadder than all the unfinished ThunderCats lines, and sadder than all the various licenses being revoked before my favorite characters could be made. To me, DC Direct has always seemed like the company with the most love for the genre (of both comics and toys) and the company who had the most fun actually making the figures. And, as an artist myself, I will always have respect for the fact that they gave the individual sculptors and designers credit on the packaging. It's amazing how many companies don't/won't do that. Imagine if every novel you read was authorless. Imagine if every comic was penciled anonymously. Imagine if you never knew the names of actors or athletes. Those pasttimes would be a lot less enjoyable. 

Plus who else but DC Direct would give you an action figure of a B-list character in an obscure costume she hadn't worn in 20 years? Do I think McFarlane will carry this torch? In short, no. I think it's a boys' club and the rare female figure will only be A-List and never an obscure design (only modern, classic, or movie). I realize DC Collectibles has been producing less and less in recent years, but my last few purchases were all amazing and I still had high hopes for the future.

This Black Canary figure was something I skipped over when she originally came out back in 2009, mainly due to budget reasons. Plus this costume was completely unfamiliar to me and I thought her face sculpt looked a little odd. But in the years since, I've grown to really appreciate her and I finally picked her up a few weeks ago in a discount bin. She's pretty terrific and I regret not getting her sooner.  I'm thinking a collection of Black Canary figures representing all her random costumes would be pretty cool.

Time for a Comparison Pic!

Cheers!