McFarlane are well known for their 'plastic statues' - action figures with such limited articulation that they're almost literally incapable of moving, but which, on the up side, look pretty good. Isis here is the finest example of this self-made sub-genre yet - she's no 'action' figure, but she looks incredible.
The Age of Pharaohs story is basically the Osiris myth retold with most of the mystic bits and all of the weird sex taken out - and, of course, with Spawn thrown into the mix. Thus Osiris is deposed and murdered by his treacherous brother Set, leaving Osiris's wife Isis to fight back against the traitor king. Originally she did so by gathering up the pieces of her husband's body (except the penis, which had been eaten by a fish, so she substituted a dildo she had lying around), resurrecting him, and impregnating herself, in the form of a hawk, with their son Horus. Ancient Egyptian religion was a good deal more colourful than the kind you get nowadays. In the Spawn version Isis disguises herself as a slave girl to escape detection by Set, and spends the next eight years rallying loyal forces into a clandestine resistance movement dedicated to overthrowing the traitor and putting her son Horus, sired by Osiris before his death, on the throne of Egypt. Fair enough, but I liked the hawk version better.
Regardless of where she comes from, Isis looks fantastic. McFarlane are well known for detailed sculpts, but this is a level above anything they've done before - everything about her is exquisitely rendered, from the roughness of the cloth wrapped around the hilt of her sword to the weave in her loincloth, the soles of her sandals and the beadwork on their straps, the smoothly worked surface of her shield and the rougher hewn wood texture of the inner surface, the overlapping cords wrapped around her arms and the threadwork on the bands holding her array of daggers to her limbs, the texture of the hawk feathers in her headdress and even the silken, oiled texture of her hair. Better still, all this detail doesn't overwhelm the figure - to look at, she seems sleek and simple, almost spartan in her appearance, all elegance and hidden muscle stretched out like a dangerous cat on the prowl. It's only when you look closer that you realise the level of intricacy in her sculpt.
Her paintwork is almost flawless - there's some very minor lack of coverage on some of the edges of the cords around her arms. On a figure this complex, with this much minute detail, it's an impressive achievement that that's the only shortcoming worth mentioning. Isis's face is especially beautiful, a combination of sculpt and paint working together perfectly to create a lifelike, expressive face. Ever since the earlier Warrior Angel Zera figure I've admired McFarlane's ability to invent interesting, engaging faces for figures which aren't based on long-running characters with existing galleries of art, as most comic-book action figures are. Isis is the best yet, with a face and bone structure ideal for her Egyptian heritage (this is New Kingdom Egypt, before the later Arabic influx, so she looks very Mediterranean/African), and a striking expression conveying wariness, as if she's concerned about being spotted on whatever clandestine endeavour she's about on, but also a sense of calm that says no matter what goes wrong, this lady won't panic.
As mentioned at the beginning of this review, Isis is a McStatue - the only articulation on her are swivel joints at her biceps and wrists, intended solely to fine-tune the position of her hands so that she's resting on her left hand and holding her sword with her right in just the right position. Her shield is removable - the strap is elastic, tight enough that it hugs her figure when in place, but it can be safely worked over her head and arm with a little care, revealing the smooth, bronzed expanse of her back. Personally, I'm quite fond of the added sleekness she gets when the shield is off - but the shield is such good work, and fits her so well, that I've left it on, and I'm actually intending to buy a second Isis to display 'stripped down'. The sword comes in two pieces, blade and handle, so as to fit into her closed grip, but removing it leaves her arm randomly sticking out holding thin air, so it's best left where it is unless you have some other accessory for her to hold. Incidentally, the sword's guard is fashioned into the form of a horned cow's head, and the pattern of wrapping on the ankh-shaped hilt (Isis is almost always depicted holding an ankh) mirrors this icon - I mention this because Isis, after assimilating the goddess Hathor, also acquired her fertility symbolism of the cow. McFarlane didn't just make their figure up, they obviously did some homework on New Kingdom iconography first.
The base further enforces this - it's rugged but eroded rock, of the kind you'll find fairly easily along the hills above the Nile, and as well as various coins strewn about, it includes three canopic jars, the kind used (in sets of four) to hold a dead person's organs when they were mummified. The attention to detail shows in that the heads on the jars are correct - they depict Hapy, Duamutef, and Qebensenuef, three of the four deities who protected the organs. Even the name cartouches used on the packaging are correct - Isis's really does say 'Isis', the Crocodile God is 'Sobek', and so on.
This isn't a fun figure, or one to give to the children to play with. It's an adornment, a decoration - a mass-market statue. And it's beautiful. I'm no exaggerating when I say that Isis's quality as a visual work qualifies her as art. Taken as a 'plastic statue' action figure, mass-produced in some factory and sold for $25, she's nothing less than a masterpiece. I gather she's selling out fast, and no wonder.
