Black Manta

Black Manta

Friday, August 24, 2012

Who is the Unknown Assassin


of the
 



The 5 Deadly Venom were the Bronze Tiger's major villains with Kobra (Regulus) being the arch-enemy. The Sensei is next and the leader of the League of Shadows. The League is the other half of the League of Assassins where Ra's Al Ghul is the leader. The Sensei (Demon Fang) and Ra's (Demon Head) are at war for total control of this assassins guild. Of course members chose sides and each side has it's own formidable killers. These three are the Sensei's top operatives; Jishi, David Cain and Professor Ojo.

Jishi's first and only appearance that I know of is in Detective 485. He's the unnamed assassin that stabbed BT in the back. This guy looks the part of a killer and should have been developed more. No fear true believer, OA1 has crafted a name and story around this guy and it will be revealed in a later post, stay tuned.

 
David Cain, is the father of Cassandra who was once Batgirl. The most deadliest Batgirl to date. She received parts of her training by yours truly the Bronze Tiger. With the torturous abuse that her father put her through I can only see retribution (a good beating) being dealt to Cain by her Master Ben Turner.
 
Professor Ojo, he's not a martial arts assassin, but a dangerous murderer none the less. Everybody knows how the mad scientist story plays out. So moving on, Ojo shows up here and there but his best appearance is in young justice the animated series that's super hot right now. Him the Sensei, Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Shadows all have shown up on the show. You guys just don't know how much I was hoping BT would show up at some point. Bradon Vietti, Greg Weisman, lets do this guys.
 
 
 
 
 
With continuity issues, the new 52 and the interpretation of whoevers writing, things change.
In Young Justice the LOA and Shadows are one in the same, so with that being said, we'll figure out the details together. Long live the Squad
 
 
 
 


Monday, August 20, 2012

Tiger of Tamura


The Black Tiger is the worlds most skilled big cat. He has rarely been seen by the eyes of man and is believed to have magical powers that can be transferred to one who can capture or kill him. The magical Black Tiger is also known to be the killer of evil spirits and protector of all that's good.



As far as fully articulated figures go, I think it comes no better than the Four Horseman. These cowboys of the plastic action frontier gave us the Bronze Tiger; arguably the best two head sculpts and action figure paint jobs to date. The new 52 is in full swing and all of our favorite superheroes have pulled out alternate uniforms. With the Tiger Cage being officially the only Bronze Tiger site on the web, I decided to do a custom figure and review for the Shogun of TaskForce X, the Bronze Tiger.

The Agent O version of an alternate uniform is based on this panel from Flash #46
Quick Trivia: BT and the Flash are both from Central City  (who knew).


The color scheme is inspired by the black tiger, BT's burnt orange uniform, Mia Cabrera's tiger mask the legend of the Tiger King and the idea of Ben being the direct descendant of  Sakanouye No Tamura Maro - Sei-i Tai, first man to hold the title SHOGUN.


The figure has all the standard articulation of DC Universe Classics. The combination of hands that bend at the wrist give BT the dynamic of martial arts stances. Now his mastery of the empty hand can be shown in his poses.



Tamura Maro was one of the greatest warriors of Japan. His sword and bow are legendary. Benjamin Turner being one of the seven sons of Tamura maro (story by OA1) I gave BT a seven ringed broad sword, a power bow and his great ancestors sword. the sword of Tamura Maro.


The medallion has the Japanese Tiger symbol in the center. The other symbol is the symbol of the Tiger King. It's engraved in the center of the belt and on top of the head of the tiger mask. The symbol is in  truth on the top of the head of male tigers, you should see it in the stripes and it means king; hence the Japanese legend of the Tiger King. Inside the quiver is a hidden compartment to store whatever dangerous compounds or secret bad guy paraphernalia that had to be taken.


To wrap it up, this is my first 6inch custom job. I tried to take this and pour in as much originality as I could and still stay true to the original Bronze Tiger character created by Dennis O'Neil and Jim Berry.
The new T.F.E. version
Omega Agent 1.













Friday, August 17, 2012

into the Temple of Doom


Finally the Squad comes face to face with


Regulus is the king kobra of Basilisk a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.
(pun intended)
This guy is the real deal. Not only is his armor amazing, his fight skills look the same way x10. This is what he does to the crew.


Before this slice of humble pie, the Squad was blown up, tricked, turned upside down about to be sacrificed by natives when in comes our favorite Aussie and double agent extraordinaire Captain Boomerang. Digger shows back up and plays his part to the fullest. He kicks the shit out of Deadshot  (who says it's wrong to kick a man when he's down) before Dinkum turns on Regulus and our guys open up a can, on
Basilisk snake worshipers.





Ladies and Gentlemen I must now take the time out and say, Adam Glass and company.....Damn good job people. From beginning to end this was an exciting issue. the action is intense, questions answered and the plot thickens. What more could you ask for? Black Spider doing something, and he delivers.



Fernando Dagnino, you did me right this time. Preciate it man. I wanted to give you guys the last shot in the book, but I already gave you almost the entire read. I think it's safe to say I like this one.
Without being to wordy (to late).

Adam and Fernando did the damn thang on this one. A+