Let's first start off with Supergirl. This figure looks a little more classic than the 2023 version of the character sold in Targets, but the skirt, head, and cape are new. The more dynamic skirt certainly adds a bit of presence to the figure, and the belt meant to hold up the skirt hides the random lines that are on the torso which were originally from Knightfall Catwoman. The line going down the stomach and the two curving lines near the breasts are already an issue many have with the 2023 version of the figure, and it sucks that those are kept on this figure. The same goes for the rolls on the sleeves near the shoulders. The legs are at least given some flesh tone paint to make the thighs stand out, but the knees are a darker shade of red than the rest of the boots. On the flip side, the skirt is a better length than the previous version, and the yellow in the S-shield is a proper yellow instead of gold. So still not 100% perfect but still a better stab at the character than last time.
Her head sculpt is a little meaner and less generic white chick than the 2023 version, though my copy does seem to have slightly misaligned paint apps. This isn't the exact Supergirl head I would choose, but it's still well made, especially with the shading on her curly hair. Her articulation is the same as before with other McFarlane figures, though the shape of her head, the skirt being fairly stiff PVC, and the way the ankles work on her feminine feet are a little hindered. Supergirl also comes with a right karate hand and an accessory holding left hand meant for a sword she famously wields in her new comic series.
Said comic is issue one of the Infinite Frontier-labeled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow series, which launched in 2021 and revolves around the titular heroine as she finds herself in a new destiny with a future ahead of her after the Dark Night Metals arc. The art is decent, if a bit of a weird mix between badass and average, though the latter fits more with the comic art proper.
I wanted to like this story since many said it was a great relaunch for the character, but I can't get into the writing style. It's like a weird mix between Masters of the Universe and Whedon writing with a few hints of Taika Waititi thrown in. There are things to like about the story, and it's easily better than whatever people come up with about Nightwing's ass or Harley Quinn's farting, but this gives me Thor Ragnarok flashbacks in some ways. I'm not saying this to be a contrarian like DarkSpiderDavid and his dumbass YouTube thumbnails/video titles. All I'm saying is that maybe this is not for me, but I can see why others would like some of the story.
As for Superman, the figure is yet another reuse of the Crisis body, which is still a logical choice as mentioned before. We previously looked at the body on Fleischer and Silver Age, and it still fits the somewhat elderly Kingdom Come iteration of the character. The head sculpt is also a pretty good likeness to is the model who Alex Ross based his version of Superman on, and I would love to see a younger version of the character's likeness in figure form. That being said, the shade of blue and red used on him is almost samey as in the Fleischer version, and it doesn't help that the logos have black behind the S. To be fair, there is some yellow on the diamond outline for Fleischer, and Kingdom Come has black for the belt as well as the gold paint, but it feels more like you're swapping parts with an existing figure than you are getting a separate one.
The figure still works the same in terms of articulation and accessories. His cape doesn't have the wire at the bottom compared to Supergirl, which means it's easier to work with for vanilla displays but also isn't as complete or fully gestural as it currently is. You can still make it work regardless in most poses. And hey, he comes with a flight stand unlike Fleischer and Silver Age.
The comic he comes with is not Kingdom Come proper but instead issue 10 of Justice Society of America. This is from the 2006 comic run of the series, and it is a huge difference in art and writing quality compared to the Supergirl comic. To be fair, this could be attributed to tighter quality control at the time, even if not every DC comic series was perfect in the 2000s. It revolved around Superman meeting the Prime Earth Society members after telling them that they all died in his world as well as show his guilt from how he failed in his eyes compared to the heroes of this world.
Apart from the cover, there isn't a whole lot of Alex Ross art to showcase. So it's less "full on Alex Ross glory" and more of a bonus for people who bought the comic to begin with. It's still a series I like reading more than Woman of Tomorrow, though maybe it's the actual comic art and tone that make it preferable. That and because it was written in a time period where they tried marketing the "fun" tone and mashing up story beats that feel like Whedonized romps. Regardless, the comics make for good ways to check out the rest of the issues, Supergirl is better than her 2023 Target counterpart in spite of retaining some of its issues from the part reuse, and Kingdom Come Superman is still excellent though somewhat samey if you own Silver Age and especially Fleischer. In other words, Page Punchers >>>>>>> that mini-comic wave from Marvel Legends any day.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for Supergirl)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for Superman)
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