Wendy's DC Heroes Set 5 exclusive review

It makes sense that Set 5 in Wendy's DC Heroes kid's meal premiums would be Green Lantern: like we said last time, with the "Big Three" heroes taken care of, it's time for the secret society of second-stringers, and Flash has already had his turn. The unexpected thing, however, is which Green Lantern they're chosen. Earth has, what, six Green Lanterns now? Seven? They could have put a GL in every one of these boxes and never have to repeat one. Unexpectedly, the one they've gone with is Jessica Cruz, possibly because she, like John Stewart before her, has the benefit of cartoon appearances to make her more familiar than any of the others. She has a straightforward pose, with one fist raised, and her GL battery is hanging from her left hand.

Much to the surprise of all humanity, Gorilla Grodd is not the most unexpected character to appear in this mini line. No, that honor would go to Nubia, aka "Black Wonder Woman." The included card says her real name is Zahavah, which is the current version, but the design, with a skirt worn over armor and chemically straightened hair, is the original pre-Crisis one. Bigshot Toyworks even sculpted the eagle symbol on her breastplate. Originally she was Diana's twin sister (no, really), but now she's a human woman who died in combat and was reborn as an Amazon. The little ID card says her weapon is the Staff of Understanding, but she's only molded with a shield, not even her sword. So the Wonder Woman set had Cyborg instead of a third Wonder Woman character, and here's a third Wonder Woman character in the Green Lantern set. The only conclusion to draw is that Wendy's (or perhaps Strottman, the company that led this promotion for them) insisted each set have at least one boy in it, not three girls.

According to the outside of the box, the third figure in this set is Sinestro; according to the ID card, it's Yellow Lantern. While Matt Kaufenberg is the one who designed all these characters, he just needed to draw them; it fell to Joe Allard to turn those designs into something that could be made as a toy: you know, the size of the feet, the general stances, the way they'd be pulled out of the molds, all that. It seems neither of them got the memo (or got the joke) that Sinestro wears his power ring on his left hand, not his right. He could have been the only figure in this set to have his opposite arm raised! Sinestro doesn't get a Lantern or anything, but the details of his costume are sculpted: the collar, the bands around his forearms, the belt, and the tops of his boots.

The blue colorway I got works decently for Sinestro, but if any set were going to be green it should have been this one! Even purple may have worked, in its way; still better than red, in any case.