Sounds like somebody's been gargling with gravel!
Formerly Sheila, mild-mannered and deep-voiced college student,
Dr. Mrs. The Monarch heads a crime empire like no other! Formerly Dr. Girlfriend, this incredibly hot villainess comes armed with an amazing costume and all the weapons and education you need to menace super-scientists all over the world.
Formerly Sheila, formerly Dr. Girlfriend... and also formerly Lady Au Pair, Queen Etherea and, briefly, Dr. Fiancee. This girl goes through secret identities faster than Carol Danvers! She's also the reason we call Poe's wife Dr. Mrs. the Ghostal. It's an homage, you see. Because she's a real doctor. Dr. Mrs. the Ghostal, that is - we're not sure about Dr. Girlfriend/Fiancee/Mrs. The Monarch. We know she attended State University and took classes with Prof. Fantomos (head of the Science Department), but we don't have any proof that she actually earned her doctorate.
Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is the smallest Venture Bros. figure yet. These are reportedly done in a 3¾" scale, but given the designs of the cartoon, that ranges from 5" tall for Brock Samson, to 3⅝" - including the crown! - for DMtM. Is that right? We can't find a model sheet for her, but is she really meant to be shorter than Hank and Dean? It's not unfeasible that an adult woman would be shorter than a teenage boy, but it's still surprising. The sculpt does a decent job of conveying the cartoon's designs, though she does end up a bit "hippy."
When these figures were first shown off, there were complaints about Dr. Mrs. The Monarch's face - it didn't look very much like the animation model. In reality, the face wasn't any more off-model than a typical JLU figure, but it's been resculpted before release - and it looks great! The detail is very crisp and totally accurate. Sheila looks outstanding!
This figure is Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, not Dr. Girlfriend, and so she's
wearing her yellow and black costume rather than the Jackie Kennedy-inspired pink dress. Her crown is molded as part of her head, and the red butterfly pattern is painted on either side of her chest. The yellow is far enough away from the pink skin, color-wise, that they don't blend together. Her wings are done as transparent yellow PVC, molded with a fold at ground level so she doesn't get pushed off-balance by them. They're glued into the toy's shoulderblades. She gets the same articulation as the other figures: swivels at the neck, shoulders, waist and hips, and hinges for the elbows and knees.
When the figure was first announced, she was due to come with a Monarch-themed rocket launcher, all golden with butterfly wings on the rear end. Well, that did not happen. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch has no accessories at all - but unless she was going to come with Kevin and Tim-Tom and didn't, losing her pack-in is no big deal.
Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is the last Venture Bros. figure that we've actually seen. Yes, there are at least plans for three more, but they still only exist as concept art, not mock-ups. Brock Samson completely sold out, though, so we take that as a good sign for the health of this line. And we take Dr. Mrs. The Monarch as a good example of the line's high quality, proof that they're worth buying.
-- 04/10/13
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