The other day my buddy brought me a box of action figures from the late 80's. His parents wanted that crap out of their basement and he immediately thought of me! Within the box I found a few Transformers and both the Batmobile and the Batwing from Tim Burton's Batman '89. Also various action figures...including one of Superman that I used to have back in the day!
The Superman figure made me smile when I saw it again. I got a lot of amusement out of it as a child, for you see, this figure has a special action feature. Contained within the chest of the figure is a weak magnet. Also included with the figure was a child-sized plastic ring with a green "gem"...a Kryptonite ring! Just like the one Lex Luthor wears! Obviously, the ring ALSO has a weak magnet within...and when you hold the ring up to Superman, the two magnets push against each other. In effect, Superman is REPELLED by KRYTPONITE! Cool! The power of magnetism, finally useful!
Now, obviously I relate to Superman. I wear the T-Shirt, I buy the comics, I even have my own Superman outfit. However this action figure encouraged me as a child to play, not the hero, but rather the VILLAIN! And so play the villain I did! I often pretended that I was Lex Luthor...attacking Superman with Kryptonite...somehow changed into a giant through...you know, technology or something. And it's fun to play the villain! Externalize all of the heroics and let yourself eventually be "defeated" by an army of brave little toys...
I thought of it again when I saw the most recent issue of Superman Unchained:
Lex Luthor...holding a Superman action figure...just like me when I was 10! Diabolical!
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