Power Princess

So I Wonder which Woman this character is supposed to be a pastiche of? Power Princess uses her extraordinary strength and skill to protect Earth alongside the other members of the Squadron Supreme. When the Squadron Sinister was introduced in the 1960s, it was just Hyperion, Nighthawk, Doctor Spectrum and The Whizzer. It wasn't until 1982 that writers realized there were more than four members of the Justice League, introducing eight more in Defenders #112 - Power Princess among them. As mentioned in the last review, these new Squaddies aren't even human - they were specfically grown by someone within the US government and mystically given life, so her entire backstory as Princess Zarda of Utopia Isle, a mysterious island of warrior women, was just implanted in her memory (along with a few other things). The Simulacrum Squadron Supreme was designed by Ed McGuinness, and this is the most "Wonder Woman" she's ever looked. Her original costume was baby blue, with red bands on the arms, a red helmet that covered the entire top half of her head, and a symbol on her chest that combined a ♀ female symbol with a fist in the center of it. Later was a toga-style purple swimsuit with yellow armbands and no helmet, then the same thing with golden armor over it, then a combo of the first two costumes: the original thing with the helmet, but now in purple. (There was recently another one wearing a black and gold jacket and an unusual headdress, but that was an evil alternate reality version of her.) But this one? Drops all the pretense! Power Princess is wearing a strapless one-piece suit that leaves her arms and legs bare. There's a metallic golden belt at her waist, with a matching bit of angled armor along the top of her bodice. She's got similarly protective bracers covering her forearms, and wears a golden tiara. Even the black and gold colorscheme isn't entirely unheard of for Wonder Woman! If someone told you this was some Elseworlds costume, you'd believe them. This Marvel Legend is, head to toe, a new sculpt. How can Hasbro make their toys feel like they're worth this much? By cutting back on all the reused bodies. Zarda is a towering stack of cheesesteak with nicely defined musculature, broad shoulders, and thighs that could make Chun-Li jealous. All the golden armor is sculpted elements, not just painted, and the cloth of her suit wrinkles where it stretches over her abs. The armor at the top of her boots is separate, so the legs might be reused in the future, by the rest of the body is decidedly less likely. The figure gets the usual articulation, including the shin swivels so many of Hasbro's new molds have skipped lately. While she's got open hands right out of the packaging, you can swap those for a fist (right hand) or open hand (left). Since she's a warrior woman, she comes with a sword and shield. They both have a classical look, and are exactly as they were drawn in her first appearance. She used several other weapons in the Heroes Reborn series, like the Chain of Veracity, No-Blade the Invisible Sword, the Invisible Barbed Wire of Ares, and a Rainbow Ax made out of a shard of the broken Bifrost, as well as revealing her gauntlets are forged of Utopian Uru and bound to her soul with unbreakable astral chains - in other words, they can come to her like Mjolnir comes to Thor. You'll just have to pretend for all those features, but she still looks very cool and ready to fight whoever you put her against. Series 11 has a Build-A-Figure, the Void, and Power Princess gets both legs. Jason Aaron's version of the Squadron Supreme was an interesting new take on the team, and Ed McGuinness' design of the costumes was great. The only thing we would have changed would have been to put a sixth member on the team, so Power Princess could have been released in a two-pack like everyone else was. The toy is an absolute stunner regardless, and easily one of the most appealing releases in this series. Doctor Spectrum | Nighthawk | Hyperion | Power Princess | Blur -- 04/08/24

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