Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 9, 2024 | 2 comments

PART 6 of a daily feature on August’s Super Powers variant cover line-up…

Throughout August, DC Comics is publishing eight variant covers in honor of the 40th anniversary of Kenner’s Super Powers line of action figures, vehicles and playsets. Artists Jason “ToyOtter” Geyer and Alex Saviuk combined forces to create covers that homage the packaging, with the kicker being that none of the figures shown were actually made — though they should have been. (Geyer did the figures and the packaging; Saviuk, who was similarly involved in the original Super Powers line, did the “Style Guide” art.)

Our hope is that McFarlane Toys — which has revived Super Powers — will pick up this baton and actually make the figures. (And they’re not saying no. By coincidence, they’ve already made the Gold Superman that’s in the variant set.)

Since we can’t get enough of this whole project, we’re featuring Jason Geyer’s development art for each cover, every day for eight days, along with the final versions — backs and fronts. (His commentary is adapted from Facebook posts he’s done.) We’re be publishing them in the order they will be released by DC.

Next up? WONDER GIRL (Titans #14, due Aug. 21):

“Donna Troy has had MANY name/identity/origin changes over the years, but her classic New Teen Titans outfit might have been the longest lived (at least, it’s been the most impactful, carrying over from the original Teen Titans series). She was another fun one to sculpt,” Jason said. “And it might just be me, but I see a bit of Kate Bush in her face, which fits the ’80s vibes.

“For a brief moment we discussed doing a Mod Wonder Woman in this slot (but not far enough to even decide WHICH mod outfit!) but I’m happy that Donna got her time to shine as she gets much less figure love than Diana does.

“Side note: It was interesting to study the Kenner figures as I did these homage sculpts; today’s figures don’t have the luxury of new tooling for every figure anymore but Kenner really sculpted pretty much every detail they could into each one. So things like Donna’s stars I felt needed to be embossed to feel authentic. But they didn’t sculpt most of the character emblems, unlike today! Probably because they felt printing those would be crisper.”

Thanks, Jason!

Is it weird to say I had a crush on Wonder Girl when I was a teenager? For such a great character, she has really gotten the shaft over the years. This is easily her best design and DC never should have moved away from it: dazzling while being simplistic and fairly utilitarian at the same time. Like Jason notes, there aren’t a ton of Donna Troy figures out there, so I think this one would be a winner for McFarlane. It’d make a helluva splash and I think collectors would snap her up.

NEXT: Kid Flash. Click here.

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MORE

— The Golden Glory of the SUPERMAN SUPER POWERS Variant Cover. Click here.

— GREEN LANTERN: Beware the Power of the Fab SUPER POWERS Variant Cover. Click here.