Funko POP! DC Comics – Darkseid

Series: POP! DC Comics

Year: 2013

RRP: $18

Originally debuting in the pages of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen back in 1970, few would have predicted that Darkseid would one day ascend to the position of BIG BAD in the DC Universe. He’s survived being thrown into the Source Wall by Superman, having some of his thunder stolen by (acknowledged) knock-off Thanos – and perhaps worst of all, a terrible leotard costume!     

I can’t pretend to be an expert on Darkseid. My familiarity stems with him mostly from the mid-00s Superman/Batman series and the first story arc of the New 52 Justice League. I wasn’t terribly aware of him as a child…I think he mostly kind of inhabited the New Gods/Fourth World stories until the 1980s, when he and the other characters from the series were enfolded into the wider DC Universe, largely through the seminal Super Powers toy line.

Fortunately Funko have gone with his tunic look, as opposed to the leotard. I didn’t really like his sculpt when he was first released, as he was pretty distinct from the usual Funko style – a little too distinct. But a couple of years on, Funko have released such a diverse group of sculpts that it doesn’t look so out of place any more. It’s much more detailed than you might expect; though the helmet and tunic are smooth and undetailed, the face and limbs are all sculpted with the cracked rock look that has been one of his signatures since early days.  

Now let’s get to paint – the traditional weak point when it comes to POPs. Well, paint is actually quite good! Especially considering that this guy was first released back in about 2013, when Funko was just starting to move beyond the fuzziness that plagues so many of its older (and some of its current) figures. The grey and blue colour scheme, combined with the red eyes, really pops on the shelf.

There are two versions of Darkseid available – this one and a glow in the dark version. The GitD version looks near identical. It sells for considerably more, going off eBay, but it’s not as outrageously extravagant as some of the GitD POPs out there. Had I known there was a glow version available previously, I might have tried to track it down – but to be honest, this is a really great POP whichever version you get. It’s really sold me on a character I’ve never been terribly familiar with and made me want to read more.   

Darkseid looms large among Superman's villainous foes.