Skrull Elektra

When it comes to long-term planning, no current comic writers seem to be able to hold a candle to Brian Michael Bendis. When he began writing Avengers in 2004, he started planting seeds that wouldn't take root until four years later, with the big crossover of 2008, Secret Invasion. Art Asylum and Diamond Select Toys will be offering a set of "Secret Invasion Minimates" to commemorate the story, but that's not for a while: if you want something now, to enjoy while the story's still going on, then you'll want DST's SDCC08 offering, the Marvel Select exclusive Skrull Elektra. Elektra Natchios has lived a life of mystery, death and secrecy - making her the perfect candidate to begin the Skrulls' secret invasion. Replaced by the warrior Siri, the Skrulls used their Elektra replacement to infiltrate the Tokyo underworld and obtain valuable intelligence on Earth's mightiest heroes. Though exposed as an imposter, questions still remain as to the Skrulls' true agenda - and the fate of the real Elektra... There's a small problem with that bio. First of all, she was supposed to be replaced by Siri, but proved too difficult for the Skrulls to subdue: she killed Siri and two others that came for her, before being taken down by one mimicking the powers of the Invisible Woman; it's that Skrull, Pagon, who ended up taking over the Hand and was eventually killed. And that's not the only mistake! The "Skrully" Elektra is a straight repaint of the previous Marvel Select Elektra, the third figure released in the line (way back on December 18, 2002). Sculpted by Steve Kiwus, the figure still has a nice level of detail, even six years later. Her skin is smooth, and her famously scant uniform is covered in wrinkles - but unlike many figures, which end up looking like they're wearing garbage bags, this just looks like the material is made of silk. In the comics, she wasn't revealed until she was dead, but this figure shows Skrulektra both very much alive and very much green. The sort of lime color used for her skin is nice, and there are a few highlights and shadows painted on, as well. The face is even a bit better than the previous release, because she doesn't have huge individual lashes around her eyes. She hasn't been resculpted at all, so she doesn't have the Skrull's typically bumpy chin - the effect is created by six thin lines of paint, but it works. The Marvel Select figures are designed in a 7" scale, so Skrulektra is a bit bigger than your Marvel Legends figures, but you could chalk that up to shape-shifting, if you want to integrate. She moves at the neck, shoulders, biceps and waist, but nothing else: the figure has replaceable arms and legs for posing variety. One set of legs is spread wide, with the feet flat on the ground; the other is together, but en pointe. Neither can stand on their own, but only the slimmer pair has a base to keep the figure upright. The original release included a big castle display stand for the figure, and it had footpegs to support her - no such luck, here. You can get her to stand up, but it takes some careful posing. Or a generic display stand from some other source. Skrulektra has five weapons, lacking only the guan dao spear of the original. She has a black and silver sansetsukon (three-section staff) with real metal chains, and two pairs of sai: one simple, the other more ornate. Despite what pop culture would have you believe, sai aren't bladed weapons - they're round and dull, not sharp. They're more for blocking and punching attacks, not slicing. The ornate pair is flat, suggesting it's meant to be sharp, but the simpler set is more realistic. As we said, the figure has two sets of arms. One set, which is more bent at the elbow, is sculpted with the hands open, to hold any of the weapons. The other set is slightly straighter, and has the hands sculpted as fists, but with a gap between the index finger and the rest of the digits, so she can hold any of the sai in either a forward or backward position. For some reason, these hands are a normal human pink, and the green only fades in as you move up toward the shoulder. Strange. What's that about? Though other companies might have just offered Skrulektra by herself as an exclusive, Diamond Select went a step further and gave her a little friend in this set: a generic Skrull soldier. He's the same mold as the one in the Alien Legends two-pack, so everything we said about that one applies here, as well. The Skrull has been repainted, so he isn't an exact clone. His suit is more pink than purple, now, and has black accents rather than blue. The gun, which was previously metallic red, is now a flat orange, and its energy ball is green and yellow, instead of yellow and orange. Articulation's the same, everything moves nicely... it's a good figure. If you didn't get the Skrull/Brood two-pack, this is a good opportunity for you to nab this alien menace, and if you did get the two-pack, well, who couldn't use one more soldier in their ranks? Elektra wasn't one of the must-have Marvel Select figures, but Skrull Elektra is pretty good. She has trouble standing on her own, and the articulation could definitely be better, but this is the only way to get a Secret Invasion figure right now, and the addition of the Skrull warrior just pushes it over the top. For two repaints, the exclusive Skrull pack is a quite worthwhile exclusive.

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