Black Widow

Sure, there are legions of movie-goers who are now VERY familiar with the character of the Black Widow, thanks to the blockbuster Avengers movie. However, how many of them have a long history admiring and enjoying her exploits from the original Marvel comics source material?

Natalia Romanova aka Natasha Romanoff made her comics debut way back in April 1964 in Tales of Suspense #52. While characterizations varied slightly from time to time, the Black Widow was almost always the sleek and sultry super spy, and has been associated with a number of groups including (and most obvious now) the Avengers, but also SHIELD, the Defenders, the Thunderbolts and the Champions.  (There have also been a few other personages who claimed that title, besides Natasha, both in the Marvel 616 Universe as well as the Ultimate Doppleganger one, though none are as famous.

Given the enormous popularity of the Avengers movie it seemed obvious that Funko would release a Black Widow POP to stand alongside her comrades. Yet, while Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and even the Hulk made the cut, Black Widow (as well as her sometimes more-than-friend, Hawkeye) were nowhere to be found.  It has to be a conspiracy, the evil machinations of Loki or maybe a corporate oversight (that STILL hasn't been corrected).

In any event, we'll correct  it (and quite easily too). For those STILL unfamiliar with the Black Widow (you HAVE heard of the Avengers, right??), here's a comic book based reference pic.

And here's our custom Funko POP Black Widow:

The extremely easy recipe to make your own custom Black Widow POP is:

• The head is from a Phoenix POP.
• The body is from a Catwoman POP, repainted with the belt and widow's sting. 

That's it!! 

Scarlet Witch

Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch is not a character without controversy. Appearing first in X-Men #4 (March 1964) she has the distinction of being related to both Magneto (his daughter) and Pietro, aka Quicksilver (his sister) as well as being the wife of the cybernetic creation, the Vision.

Gifted with mutant Hex-Powers, Wanda has been a reluctant member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Avengers, and the West Coast Avengers (before they disbanded),

In more modern times, she has gained even more controversy being responsible for depowering more than 90% of the mutant population in the House of M and Decimation story arcs.

Still, for those of us who are Silver Age fans, Wanda remains one of Captain America's "Kooky Quartet" of Avengers (herself with Cap, Quicksilver and Hawkeye)  who replaced the initial original founding heavy hitters.

Since there's no Scarlet Witch POP from Funko at the present time, I had to make a custom of her (being the devoted Silver Age fan that I am).

Here's the standard reference shot, with the Vision:

And here's our custom Funko POP Avengers Scarlet Witch (shown with our custom Vision):

The recipe for making Wanda, the Scarlet Witch is as follows:

• The Body is from a Phoenix POP, repainted, with a cape from a Martian manhunter POP.
• The body is also from the same Phoenix POP, but with her headress/crown sculpted from Magic Sculp.
• The hex-power emanating from her hand is from her natural mutant ability.

The recipe for the Vision can be found in the article on him listed separately here in our files.

Thor (comic book style)

Definitely the major powerhouse of Classic Silver Age Marvel comics, the Mighty Thor, Norse God of Thunder is impressive. His manner, powers and prowess with his Uru hammer, Mjolnir, are legendary and have been the stuff of legend since appearing in Journey into Mystery #83, back in August of 1962.

To me,  it was always amazing and amusing that a Norse God of Thunder could have been created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two "nice Jewish boys" from New York (perhaps that's because I'm just a "nice Jewish boy" from Boston, lol!)

In any event, the Mighty Thor has been the majestic heavy hitter for Marvel for decades now, traversing the Rainbow Bridge between Asgard and Midgard (Earth) in order to protect us mere mortals.

Now, if someone could just explain to me how a Norse God came to acquire a "pseudo" Old English accent (in the Silver Age comics), I'd be content.

While the good folks at Funko Inc. have made several POP figures of Thor for they are all (at least of this writing) in the style of the MOVIE, not the Classic Silver Age COMIC BOOK appearance. 

So, it's time for TheFunkustomizer to come to the rescue:

Here's the obligatory Silver Age reference pic:

And here is our Custom Funko Comic Book style  Thor:

He was definitely fun to make. Can you guess how he was made before looking at the recipe?

• The head is from a Sinestro POP, repainted.
• The body is from a stock movie Thor POP, repainted.
• The hair and helmet top are made with magic sculp.
• The wings were from a Round 2 Captain Action Thor mask.
• The lens flare in the pic is in honor of J.J. Abrams  (lol).

Now, THAT's my THOR!!

FOR ASGARD!!! 

Ant-Man

It was way back in the 60's when Henry Pym first appeared in Tales to Astonish #35 as Ant-Man, the diminutive size-changing hero at Marvel Comics (and the analogue to the Atom at DC).

I've always been a fan of Hank Pym, scientist first and superhero second (sounds like Reed Richards too, huh?). Over the years, he changed his costume and even his Superhero name multiple times (when in complimentary super-size mode, he was also Giant Man, and later Goliath, not to mention the time when he switched his normal red togs for yellow and black ones and started calling himself  Yellowjacket, with no memory of his other identity).

Regardless, his contributions to the Avengers (along with his wife, Jan, otherwise known as the Wasp) have been significant, even if there WAS that little slip up of creating one of the most powerful super villains in existence, Ultron (hey, everybody is entitled to one mistake, right?)

Here's some reference shots of Dr. Pym aka Ant-Man (before he added the Cybernetic helmet). This was my favorite "look" for him, and how he appeared back when he helped "discover" Captain America frozen in that block of ice ....

 

And here's our Funko POP custom of Ant-Man!

Now reduced to a size of 4 inches tall, Ant-Man is desperately trying to escape the ferocious feline named Leo!  Run, Ant-Man, run! 

The recipe:

• The head and body were from a Buzz Lightyear  POP, repainted.
• The obligatory antennae were added.

The Vision Custom POP

Appearing in the Avengers #57 comic book, starting in October 1968, the Vision was a favorite character of mine (yes, there was an earlier version of the character created in 1940 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, but that was before my time!).

Something about this android (actually technically called a "synthezoid"), originally created by the evil Ultron was gripping and intriguing to my 9 year old brain, back in 1968. The fact was that he became a sort of semi-tragic character as he was transitioned into being a "good guy", now imprinted with the memory patterns of the then-deceased Simon Williams. Was the Vision more humanoid than robotic? Well, Wanda Maximoff, the mutant Scarlet Witch, might answer the latter, since she fell in love with him and (via her hex-power) even had 2 children by him (which were more recently ret-conned out of existence by Marvel Comics).

In some ways, the Vision was similar to DC Comics' Martian manhunter, in both appearance and the fact that he was often depicted as lonely under than cold exterior.

As of the moment, Funko hasn't yet made a POP figure of the vision, so it's customizing time (and this is a very easy one!)

First the reference pic:

And now my custom Funko POP figure:

The recipe for the vision is ridiculously simple and appropriate to his comparison to the Martian Manhunter.

• The entire figure is a repaint of the Funko Martian Manhunter POP.
• The only add-ons are the two tiny yellow diamond decals on his head and chest.

Wow.. That was a quick custom...

Relocating him to the Avengers Mansion, as seen in the pic, took a bit more time...

Will we make a custom of Wanda, the Scarlet Witch to go with the Vision? Or perhaps even Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, to complete the romantic triangle? All we can say is ... watch this space!  'Nuff said.