This has been a really good year for DC figure fans. We’ve gotten a lot of surprises with the inaugural year of Mattel’s Club Infinite Earths DC Universe Signature Collection. One of the most surprising character choices, however, comes in the form of this review’s subject: Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam is a character that’s been around in comics since his first appearance in National Comics #1 in 1940, and was created by none other than Will Eisner. He was originally published under Quality Comics and spent most of his time punching various foreign leaders in the face. His rights would eventually be picked up by DC Comics sometime later along with several other characters from Quality Comics and they were put together in their own team called “The Freedom Fighters”. We also get one of the other Freedom Fighters included with this set, Doll Man.

Uncle Sam’s DC Comics origin portrays him as the pure embodiment of the “Spirit of America”. He’s supposed to be a spiritual entity created through an occult ritual by the Founding Fathers of the United States. They bound the spirit to a magical talisman and merged him with a dying soldier during the Revolutionary War. The spirit bonds with new physical bodies after the old one dies, making the hero Uncle Sam basically invulnerable. He’s also been known to have super strength and enhanced speed, among other powers he’s demonstrated over the decades.

Uncle Sam is a character with a very loyal following in the comics, but surprisingly has very few action figures made of him. It’s great to see Mattel give he and Doll Man the spotlight with the DC Universe Signature Collection. Join me as I determine if this Uncle Sam figure is a worthy start to Mattel delving into the Freedom Fighters.
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