Mattel: DCUC 90's Superman

90's Mullet Haired Superman

Well I guess I have to apologize that this Superman figure was sidestepped for the past two entries in favor of the newer releases, the Mattel Injustice Superman and the still yet to be released Mattel Movie Masters Man of Steel Superman. But since both of those figures had no bearing to Superman's comic book continuity, let me get back to my regular programming by reviewing the Mattel DCUC 90's Superman.

Superman sports the Mullet hair

Since Superman's return from death, Superman's editorial team decided to give Superman a new look by giving him a mullet hair. I don't know the reasoning behind this, but when Superman was put on the regeneration chamber during his death, his time spent there gave him a longer hair. Since then, Superman never bothered to cut those locks and just leave them be. The mullet hair was so 80's (see Mcgyver), but maybe the writers thought that by giving Superman the mullet hair, he would channel the look of the classic strong men of yesteryear like Conan, Tarzan, and Samson. But whatever real reasons the editorial team had, the mullet haired Superman still had a good three year run of stories. In fact he was essentially a part of the relaunched Justice League Comic book which was written by Grant Morrison. In his own books, the 90's writing team of Jurgens, Stern, Simonson, Karl Kesel, and David Michelinie featured action packed stories that further rooted the post-crisis Superman's mythology. In fact, he was even given a new comic book series titled Superman Man of Tomorrow. Stories such as Bizarro's World, Battle for Metropolis, Fall of Metropolis, Dead Again, Death of Clark Kent, Trial of Superman, among others continued and concluded the plot threads that were planted before Superman's death. With one underlying plot thread, Superman and Lois' relationship, going from strong, to near break up, reconciliation, and the eventual marriage. We would last see Superman's mullet hair when he and Lois finally decided to walk down the aisle. Maybe he thought that he need to have a more cleaner look on his wedding day. Thus, the mullet hair had to go and went back for the classic hair style that he is popularly known for.       

Superman

The Action Figure: The figure is basically a fusion of the DCUC Recovery Suit Superman's head and the DCUC Superman body. Though this figure actually came before the classic DCUC Superman as this served as the alternate figure to the Recovery Suit Superman. He features an articulation similar to that of other DCUCs; a ball jointed neck, ball hinged shoulders, swivel biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, pivot torso, hinged elbows, knees, and ankles, and double pivot hips. The costume colors are also faithful to this version of Superman as the Mullet haired Superman was the one who donned a darker hue of blue. I actually preferred the pre-death of Superman costume colors than this one. The editorial team must have decided to give Superman new costume colors in order to give this version some new appearance besides the mullet hair. The paint applications on the figure are also nicely done. I've previously talked about which figure is the perfect Superman figure for me, but although I ended up indecisive as to what that figure would be, but when it comes to the mullet haired Superman, this is the best figure for me. This figure actually was not the first Mullet haired Superman action figure. Back in the 90's Kenner released two mullet haired Superman via their Superman Man of Steel toy line and the Batman Total Justice toy line. I don't know which came first among the two but I remember choosing the Total Justice Superman over the Man of Steel Superman because I love the sculpt of the Total Justice figure. So I decided to skip the Man of Steel Superman (though I'm currently looking for that one since I've nearly completed the Kenner Man of Steel toy line). That Total Justice Superman for such a long time was my favorite Superman action figure before it got replaced by the DCSH Superman (and so on and so forth). When Kenner was bought by Hasbro, Hasbro re-released the figure of the same sculpt through their JLA toy line but replaced the head with a short hair Superman head (taken from one of the figures from the Man of Steel toy line). I will be doing a review on both toy lines in the near future but as for now I've done some comparison pics below.    

DCUC Mullet Haired Superman and the DCUC regular haired Superman

Two Mullet haired Supermen: DCUC Superman and the Total Justice Superman

Superman The Wedding and Beyond TPB

Defining Comic Book in my collection featuring this figure: There are actually a lot of notable stories to choose from but I eventually decided this Superman The Wedding and Beyond trade paper back collection because this marked the last appearance of the Mullet hair before Superman decided to cut it before his wedding day. And also, this story arc is a milestone because this book includes the Superman-Lois Lane wedding issue. As explained in my previous posts, Superman was supposed to wed Lois in earlier stories but was put on hold in favor of their TV wedding via the Lois and Clark TV series. This made the editorial team come up with stories to extend their engagement and explored stories about their near break up. Prior to their wedding, Superman had been involved in dangerous story arcs where his secret identity became known to the villain Conduit, a former Smallville acquaintance. Since then, Superman's friends and family were subject to the terrors of Conduit's attacks (form the Death of Clark Kent story arc). Superman and his family and friends eventually survived that ordeal but he became too overprotective of Lois. This caused a strain on their relationship and had Lois seeking for space to rethink about their engagement. Superman for the first time after a long while had to go through with his problems alone without the supportive Lois behind him. Lois eventually returned to Superman's arms and accepted his marriage proposal when she realized that she could not live without Superman, and found time to appreciate the goodness of Superman's desire to just help those who are in need of help.

Superman proposes to Lois

Lois also returned to Superman in a bad time as Superman had to deal with his lost powers due to the events of Final Night. With the coming wedding date approaching, Superman had to fight crime without his powers. Good thing that Batman and the Justice League offered to fight crime in Metropolis while Superman tends to his wedding and honeymoon. Bad luck would struck though as Clark Kent/Superman was kidnapped during their honeymoon by the brother of a terrorist that Lois foiled in one of her assignments. Lois eventually would save Clark in a reversal of roles with Clark now being the victim and Lois the savior. This event would make the both of them appreciate each other more and their bond as husband and wife would only grow stronger. Superman's powers would eventually return in the next story arc titled Power Struggle with the help of the New Gods.

Mr and Mrs Kent

Superman: Man of Tomorrow

Superman takes flight

The Mullet's last stand

That wraps it up. I will be doing the last DCUC Superman action figure in my collection in my next entry as Superman undergoes a transformation. See you next time.