A number of us (including Alan Cowsill) are heading down to the Bristol comic con this weekend (hence slightly early update today) so if you’re down there we might bump into you.
Anyway, to kick this week’s update off, I’d like to put show you guys Drax the Destroyer and explain the choice of costume because I know it’s a little controversial.
We looked at all the options for Drax and after a lot of debate and a few e-mails back and forward to Marvel we went for the modern look. Essentially we decided that there were three looks to Drax: the original, the Infinity Watch and the modern. Straight away the Infinity Watch look had to be ruled out, as the character is over 7 feet tall in this incarnation – he looks a lot like the Hulk in a purple cape.
This left us with the classic and modern looks, each of which seemed to have a lot of support. After going through a lot of comics we noticed that the modern version of Drax appeared in more issues and had a lot more (and often better) artwork than the classic version. We also took in to consideration the comments we’ve had about putting more modern (and hence relevant to today’s readers) characters in to the collection. As Drax had a mini-series in this form, starred in a few major crossovers (Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest) as well as Guardians of the Galaxy, and is likely to be back in Thanos Imperative, we thought this costume would be easily recognised.
We definitely considered the original costume. I thought it looked a little like Adam Warlock’s and personally I wasn’t too happy with the way the costume or figurine of Warlock turned out in our collection. I just also want to say that Dan’s comments about capes and saving money is out of context and at no point did we decide to go with the modern version because it might cost less. There are a number of factors that we must take into account to do with manufacturing cost (as I’m sure you expect) however Drax’s cape was not a big factor. Yes caped characters cost more to make but in the end it all balances out.
And as a side note, Dan himself actually championed the modern version in the office.
Anyway, with that aside I’d like to announce another character for the extension: Thunderbird.
This is a character we’ve wanted to include for a while and one that finishes the Giant-Size X-Men roster, which is one of the most important issues in the history of the X-Men. The reason he’s not been included so far is due to his height and also the fact he dies shortly after his debut. After looking through Marvel Handbooks and his first appearance we believe the character is just over 6’. According to numerous sources he’s 6’ 1 ½”. There has been some confusion in the past as in some modern handbooks he’s listed as 6’ 10”, which would make him too big. When it comes to the magazine we’ve decided to also include details on Warpath (the second Thunderbird). I know there were suggestions of doing them as a double pack but at the moment we have more important double packs to try and get through.
Lastly, here’s another sneak peek, an early stage sculpt of Hydroman.
Have a good weekend.
