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Okay, now we're getting to the good stuff!
Shiklah is the shape-shifting superhuman
Queen of the Undead and former Mrs. Deadpool.
Shiklah first appeared in a digital comic, which is, like, one step above above being featured on a cereal box, and one step below those old Hostess Fruit Pie ads. Then she married Deadpool, which is the only thing she's known for, and the reason she's getting a figure in this series. She's a member of an ancient race of monsters that warred with the vampires over dominion of the planet before the coming of man. Her father locked her in a casket so Dracula couldn't find and kill her, but millennia later Drac hired Deadpool to find the casket and bring it to him - by marrying Shiklah, he could unite the monster realms and finally end the feud. But she liked DP more. Wade. Wade! She liked Wade Wilson more than Dracula.
Sheiky-Baby is a succubus - the first thing she does after Deadpool gets into her box frees her from her coffin was kiss him and try to drain all his life energy. Her skin is pink - "paler than red" pink, not "saying 'all lives matter'" pink. The purple markings around her eyes seem to be natural, not makeup, and the toy is sculpted with a terrific evil smirk.
Being a demoness, Shiklah's true form is a giant purple beast with scales and horns - but that would have had to be a Build-A-Figure,
and wouldn't have had a lot of future potential. Her human form, on the other hand, allows for an existing mold and some really complicated paint apps (which are only on the front of the figure, not all the way around, because Hasbro's not made of money). Her necklace and waist jewelry are separate pieces, and the "purple" part of her costume has an intricate skull pattern, similar to that seen in the comics (and David Nakayama's packaging art).
Judging by the art, the thing hanging from her
golden bracelets is supposed to be a Stevie Nicks-ish scarf with bangles hanging off the lower edge. Doing that for real would require a One:12 Collective-style figure, so Hasbro just used the same material they use for Storm's capes, and printed golden dots along one side. Since the "scarf" flexes freely, it doesn't interfere with her articulation any more than wearing a real scarf like this would. But honestly, between the "thing that hangs behind her waist" and the tiny bat-wing decoration in her hair, she feels like she's homaging a different succubus: Darkstalkers' Morrigan.
Shiklah doesn't include any accessories,
but she does have an unrelated pack-in: no, it's not her tiny pet dragon, Bug, it's Jeff the land-shark! This is exciting!
The land-sharks were created by B.R.O.D.O.K. (the Bio-Robotic Organism Designed Overwhelmingly for Kissing) for reasons. They were gigantic, bipedal monsters that were the catalyst for the formation of a new branch of the West Coast Avengers. Gwenpool was on the team at the time, and when she found a baby land shark, she adopted it and named it after the kitten she had briefly rescued during a fight but was forced to give back to its owner.
Land sharks are apparently quadrupedal when they're babies, because Jeff is adorably tromping around on all fours - his right front foot
is just about to hit the ground, while his left back foot is lifting up. He's got the cutest little black button eyes (like a doll's eyes!) and his mouth is open just wide enough to show off some teeth (not wide enough to bite anyone's face off). Jeff is the best! Even Elsa Bloodstone loves him! Eventually Gwen left Jeff with Deadpool, because she was worried she'd never have a solo series again and he'd be lost in limbo with her. I don't know if you can read this, Gwen, but Jeff's plastic now, he's fine forever. Viva la Jeff!
Shiklah's also got a part of the Strong Guy BAF for this series. His right arm or something, I don't know. It's not Jeff, so it doesn't matter.
A lot of fans seemed to not care about Shiklah. But even if you don't know who she is (and face it, you don't), how is that design not cool enough to sell her on its own? Pink skin, black and purple clothes, gold decorations... she looks really neat! And on top of all that, Jeff the land shark, the cutest thing to ever cute! He'll be nominated for Accessory of the Year, just you wait and see! So get the toy now. And if you want to see Shiklah in action, definitely check out Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos, the four-issue limited series that sees her interacting with characters like Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein, and perhaps the best comicbook character of all time: Marcus, the Roman Centurion centaur with diabetes and a Venom symbiote (his battle catchphrase is "it's cloppering time," because HE'S AWESOME. Also he's a werewolf. And after meeting Deadpool now has robot legs). Damn comics are fun!
-- 09/30/20
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