Hermes Conrad - Bureaucrat

When I first started watching Futurama, I felt like it was sometimes too easy to see some of the characters as filling the same niches as Simpsons' characters. (Bender is Homer, Leela is Marge...sort of...etc.)

Hermes was the character that stood out to me as not having an easy Simpsons' equivalent, which I like.

Plus, he's basically a walking quote-generator.

"Sweet something of... of someplace."

For Hermes, I wanted someone bureaucrat-looking, so the Lucius Fox Heroclix (with paperwork) was just right. I used green stuff to *attempt* to make his hair. Not sure about how that turned out. And I guess he lost some weight?

Favorite Episode

"How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" because what else would it be. It's just a great episode all around, and a good spotlight on Hermes.

Favorite Quote

I thought about going with, "My Manwich!" because it's iconic, but my favorite quote is a line from his bureaucrat song:

"When push comes to shove, you gotta do what you love, even if it's not a good idea!"

That's kind of inspirational...if you don't think about it too much.

-c

Turanga Leela - Spaceship Captain

Katey Sagal (Leela's voice actress) described Leela as "...vulnerable and hard at the same time", which I think is 100% accurate and why I like her character.

She's smart, tough, and probably the only competent person on the Planet Express payroll. But they avoid the trope of the "tough chick" by letting her be emotional and feminine as well.

Her relationship with Fry feels realistic because she's every bit as messed up as him. Neither one is perfect and as they grow to understand that, they grow as a couple.

Also, Leela is a total bad-ass.

For Leela, I used the Starling Heroclix and used green stuff to give her one big eye (and also her hair and boots).

Favorite Episode

Like Fry, my favorite episodes with Leela are ones about their relationship. For Leela, my favorite episode is "The Sting". It's a great Leela-centered episode and, to me, it shows how she's starting to feel something for Fry, even if it's still a bit subconsciously.

Favorite Quote

"Please don't stop playing, Fry. I want to hear how it ends."

-c

Philip J. Fry - Delivery Boy

The great thing about Futurama is that the show can be what you want it to be: Sci-Fi Comedy, Space Adventure, Social Commentary.

Or, if you're like me, Love Story.


What I like about the show is that Fry and Leela's romance may not be an epic love story, but it is in many ways realistic. (Minus the time travel, robots, and crustacean doctors.)

Fry is a screw up, but Leela is just as messed up in her own ways. As he learns to be more mature, she learns to be less judgmental. While the show has plenty of funny moments, the things that stick with me tend to be the times Fry and Leela realize what they mean to each other.

And also when Fry does something really, really dumb.

For Fry, I used the Rick Jones Heroclix and added a little extra to his hair to try and capture Fry's do. (Now that I notice, the angle I took the picture at makes Fry look like he has a weird squint...)

Favorite Episode

For Fry, my favorite episode may be "Parasites Lost", since that's the first episode where he can really tell Leela how he feels (even though he needed parasites to do it).

Favorite Quote

My favorite line by Fry comes from the episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back":

Morgan (examining Fry's locker): "I-- I've never seen anything like this. [She picks up a cap.] Why is there yogurt in this cap?"

Fry: "Uh, I can explain that. See, it used to be milk and, well, time makes fools of us all."

That line sums up Fry in a nutshell (or yogurt cap).

-c

Asami Sato - Future Industries CEO

It's kind of hard to put a label on Asami. She does so many things: CEO, Engineer, Industrialist, BAMF. As some people have pointed out, Asami is basically Republic City's Batman.

When I started watching Korra though, I was 100% sure she was a mole for the Equalists and that her crashing into Mako was all arranged. And I guess we were supposed to think that since the writers confirmed that was going to be the plan for her before they fell in love with her character.

And they weren't the only ones to fall for her...

The mini I picked for Asami turned out to be a little problematic. I thought the skirt thing on the Mantis Heroclix was just in the back, but it turned out to be a think skirt that her legs were poking out of. I had to decide between making a hybrid of Asami's combat gear and her street clothes, or cut the skirt and use green stuff to make her pants. I went for the second option, and it turned out OK, I think.

I tried to hit all the details: she has the equalist glove (a little hard to tell in these pictures sadly) and I made sure she had the blue hair clip she seemed to favor with this outfit.

One mistake I didn't realize until too late: her right glove (the non-shock glove) should be more brown. One of the reference images I used had it the same color as her pants, so I went with that.

Maybe she has more than one pair?

Shipping Department

I kind of covered this already under Korra's entry. I wasn't against Asami and Mako, I just found them a little dull as a couple. Well, until Mako started basically ignoring her for Korra, right in front of her. Then I started to feel sorry for her.

Once season 3 came around and they started teasing Korrasami, I was on board but figured it would never happen.

But then it did happen, and Korrasami was confirmed.

I guess this is what it feels like when your team wins the Superbowl?

-c

Bolin - Earthbender

Some of the characters on Legend of Korra can be divisive, but I think there's one thing we can all agree on: Bolin is great!

Bolin is definitely the heart of the new Team Avatar, and as the story goes, you can see how he makes so many decisions (good and bad) with his heart in the right place. Of course, he would join Kuvira...he wanted to help.

Actually, this link on lokgifsandmusings.tumblr.com sums up his character better than I can.

In short: Bolin, Hero of the World.

For Bolin, I wanted a pose that looked like he was doing some bending, and I happened to have a Heroclix Thunder laying around, so...I yanked that light beam thing of his chest, and used green stuff to make Bolin's hair and jacket.

Now he kind of looks like he doing some kind of stomp move. (Maybe...if you squint?)

Shipping Department

OK, I might take some flack for this but...while Opal is nice and all, my preferred partner for Bolin is...Eska.

Yeah, I know. She wasn't particularly nice to him, and she's creepy, but at the end of Season 2, my headcanon was that she mellowed out a little and learned to be a little more...human? And who better to learn from than Bolin.

I'm not anti-Bopal. That's how the story went, so I'm fine with that but, I can't help think, what could have been...

Korra - Avatar

My introduction to Korra was...not ideal.

I binge watched all of The Last Airbender, and then went straight into Legend of Korra (which was just finishing up Season 2 at the time.) Going from The Last Airbender to Korra was total mood whiplash, and it took me a while to really get into the new Team Avatar.

But the show, and Korra, really grew on me. So much so that I would say Korra is not only my favorite of the Avatar series, but might well be my new favorite show of all time. (Sorry, Dungeons and Dragons cartoon!)

So, it was only a matter of time before I started making mini-Avatars...

For my first attempt at Korra, I used a Terra Heroclix I happened to have laying around. I trimmed off Terra's ponytails and changed it to match Korra's and added her fur wrap with green stuff. I say this is my first attempt because I plan to try a couple of versions to see which works best. I know for this one, the pants aren't baggy enough and the color is a little off in places, but this was kind of a trial run.

I totally plan to do all of Team Avatar and then some...

Shipping Department

Before watching Avatar and Korra, I never really knew how strongly fans felt about the characters relationships. When I started watching Korra, I wasn't particularly into her relationship with Mako. I wasn't against it, I just found them both kind of annoying.

As the series progressed (particularly through Season 3), I started thinking, "They don't have to put Korra in a relationship...but if they do, the only person that makes sense is Asami. She seems to really care for Korra and they get along great."

And I figured that would be the end of that thought...

Until the finale...

When I watched the finale, and saw Korra talking to Mako at the party I was like, "Oh, here we go..." but then it moved on. And then she was talking with Tenzin and I was waiting for the credits to roll...and then Asami showed up.

And...the rest is history...

Incinerators - Cobra Flamethrowers

Hey! I colored his flamethrower the wrong color!

Oh well, maybe he's using an older model...

Another figure I never had, and one that I will never remember the name of. In the Ultimate Guide to G.I.Joe by Mark Bellomo, he mentions some of the alternate possible names for this figure, like Salamanders. For some reason, one of those alternate names -- Wicks -- Really stuck in my head and I always think of this figure as "Cobra Wicks", even though it's totally not.

I added a green stuff backpack to the Heroclix Mob Rule mini. Yeah, I didn't try *too* hard to make the backpack look like the fuel tanks, but hey...close enough, right?

-c

H.E.A.T. Viper - Cobra Bazooka Man

I'm pretty sure H.E.A.T. Viper was one of the last figures I bought, back in the day. I picked up a few figures from the '89 lineup and none from the next year, so he was probably one of the last. I don't remember playing with him much, just kind of posing him with all his gear.

Good times.

You gotta love some of the Sci-Fi designs Cobra had for their troops. This guy looks straight out of a Sci-Fi shooter, so using Halo Actionclix for him really makes sense, even if his color scheme doesn't.

All I remember of the H.E.A.T. Viper as a character is in the comics when Baroness has him shoot a barricaded door in an attempt to kill Snake-Eyes.

It didn't work.

Anyway, it seems like there are a million Halo Actionclix in similar poses but with different weapons. I know the one I listed above isn't the same, but it's pretty close. I removed the alien gun this miniature had and made H.E.A.T. Viper's cannon with a plastic coffee straw and green stuff. The backpack, hoses and ankle missiles are also green stuff.

I didn't try to put fins on his ankle bombs because I got better things to do than go blind trying that.

Shooter - G.I. Joe Sniper

I started reading the Marvel G.I.Joe comics around issue #36, but through back issues and reprints, managed to read many of the earlier stories, including the original first issue. And I was very aware of the mysterious 14th Joe shown on computer in that issue:

I was also comic book saavy enough to know that the character listed as "Shooter" was probably a reference to then Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter.

But leave it to comics fans to give that in-joke a backstory.

The new story for Shooter is that she was the secret 14th member of the team, a sniper who supported the team from a distance. And was sadly killed in action during that first mission.

It's a interesting twist on the story and I like the idea that there was a secret member than no one else knew about. Although, since that was in the Devil's Due line, that's probably alternate continuity now...

For Shooter, I used the SHIELD Agent Heroclix.

-c