Shoot 'em up

I want to focus on one aspect of the latest duo to be previewed by Wizkids - that trait and the fact there are some things that appear in comic books that just don't have a place on the Heroclix table.

For those not in the know, the "Must Help.. My Sidekick... The Junkie" power reflects a time in comics when Green Arrow found out that Speedy was addicted to heroin.

I haven't read the story myself although I understand it was very well done and at the time was breaking new ground in mainstream comics. All very commendable stuff, and I'm fairly certain I would enjoy reading it, but to me it just seems totally out of place in a game that is supposed to be about action-packed superhero battles.

Besides which, it makes absolutely no sense in story terms: if I play Man-Thing or Human Torch they don't take pushing damage when standing next to this figure. Social commentary at work.

If Wizkids is determined to go this way with traits could we be seeing the likes of:

Speedy (Mia Dearden)
Retrovirus: Before giving Speedy an action roll a die: on a roll of six remove her from the game; or

Ultimate Scarlet Witch & Ultimate Quicksilver
Dude, that's your sister!: Whenever these characters are adjacent to each other give them a 'Getting down & dirty' action token

Interesting things to read about perhaps, but not the stuff of a tabletop game.

Leaving the trait to one side, I'm not too impressed with these guys. There's lots to like: loads of running shot, a white power that negates the downside of the duo ability and an interesting way of boosting low-cost figures. However, the scult isn't actually a sculpt - it's two single-base figures standing next to each other – and why is Hal's ring sneezing?

But the thing that really get's my goat are those opening clicks of Defend - one decent hit and these guys will be half way down their dial; they'll go down quicker than Roy Harper propositioned by a smack dealer. All in all, 187 points is a good few points too much for my taste.