KR Review #72: Zektax

Let’s face it, it has taken a looooong time for the Destructomorph troops to come together on my shelf, especially in comparison to the other factions. Over the course of the first year of the KR prototype reviews, I only got half of the characters and a handful of variants.

Well, fall 2016 is making up for some lost time and now I've been getting to fill out that roster in rapid succession. The insectoid Zektax^TM is the next entry!

The wait for this 55^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys has been pretty agonising, especially with how astounding the character looked in the comic panels.

Details

Name: Zektax

Subtitle: insectile warrior

Classification: insect

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: commandant of the Murmirians^TM, a barbarian clan.

Background

Zektax only appears in the 12^th KR comic issue Dawn of a new past, where he is presented as the chieftain of the Murmirians, an ancient clan of insectoid barbarians from the eastern quagmires. In olden times, Zektax and his squad of ferocious warriors were well known for roaming their territory as thieves and killers. Although he initially preferred to keep his people's independence, vows of riches and authority gave him more than enough reasons to ally himself with Deptilion, who was in need to bolster the ranks for his insane project of changing Tahron's history. Using his airborne vantage point for spying and reconnaissance missions, Zektax chases his foes unnoticed, then suddenly moves in on his prey, stings and drains them of their energy.

Articulation

Standard, with the addition of a ball jointed extra neck piece, two ball hinged arms (each featuring two double hinges at about one-third and two-thirds of its length) and four ball hinged wings.

Description
Head: insect-like, characterised by a scaly greenish hood that surrounds and merges with a black snout. It displays a pair of long, thin lime-green antennae pointing backwards, a pair of fairly large bulbous glossy-black compound eyes, three smaller red eye spots on the forehead, a black mouth composed of an elongated coiled up tube (or proboscis) flanked by two short segmented appendages (or palps), and a jagged black chin

Body: all his limbs (including two main arms, two mantis-like arms and two legs) and the neck extension are protected by a segmented greenish chitinous exoskeleton and bear numerous details along their length, such as cracks, spines, small porous warts and tiny hair-shaped appendages. The main arms and the legs sport claw hands and feet, and look slenderer compared to most of the other figures. Both his head and neck extension are on ball joints, which gives him a hunched over look and an extended range

Wearables: a segmented black armour with yellow details, two scaly (with some of the scales developing a bit more into spines) black gloves, two scaly/spiny black boots, a large rhomboidal studded black belt and a yellow loincloth made of leaf-shaped leather elements. The armour shows a large hole on the front, which seems the result of a corrosion damage. Through this hole, it is possible to catch a glimpse of Zektax's internal organs, owing to the fact that his torso is fictionally transparent. The belt and the boots display a modified version of the Destructomorph symbol (i.e., a square-shaped blueish winged insect whose back slightly resembles a demoniac face) on the buckle and the shafts respectively.

Zektax's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Zektax is portrayed as an extremely evil warlord, who is capable of seizing his enemies and subjecting them to a terrifying energy-sucking action. The guys at PoliganToys did do a great job of sculpting an entirely new armour that fits over a regular body and helps recreate his ruthless preying abilities. First of all, an additional pair of mantis-like grasping arms projects from the top of the shoulder guards. Each gripping limb is composed of three equally long portions, the first (nearest to the body) of which is spiky, while the second shows a number of tooth-like structures that, together with a similar series of teeth along the third portion, give the arm its grasp on the unfortunate target. Each arm terminates in a large dark claw curved downward and an appendage (made of four segments and ending in a short two-toed claw) curved upward. Aside from catching and holding a foe securely, Zektax's raptorial arms can alternatively lift the prey using their terminal appendages as hooks.

The piercing feature that enables Zektax's sucking of vital force is achieved thanks to an alternative head. This head shows the straightened proboscis that folds away to reveal a slender pointed appendage formed by a pair of white fangs.

Once Zektax finishes gorging on his victim, some of his body parts, such as his heart, antennae and inner wings, start to emit coursing light patterns by bioluminescence. The effect has been mimicked in the figure by casting those elements in lime-green glow-in-the-dark plastic. The most interesting detail is the bulbous heart that is visible through his corroded armour and transparent chest. Since a real see-through torso would have stymied articulation in the figure, a different visual solution, which I believe is the simplest, has been adopted and I think it is rather effective - everything is enclosed in the breastplate covering the front of the torso. The chest cavity wall is actually a clear window that shows details, such as the heart, muscles and other organs, sculpted in low relief behind, with the addition of a bubbling liquid trapped between the two surfaces. The effect renders the hollow torso within and makes it look full of life. Some might be disappointed by the lack of true depth, but, personally, I think it looks really cool and convincing. On the other side, the backplate carries two sets of posable wings. The leaf-shaped greenish leathery outer wings function as a threatening display (due to multicoloured marks that resemble a pair of devilish eyes) and, when folded, as a shield for the inner membranous wings, which are clear and richly patterned with veins.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the alternative head, Zektax only comes with one accessory, which is his signature shield. This piece is very nicely designed and has a cool little blueish Murmirian logo right in the centre of the oval honeycomb-like yellow plate. In the comics, the shield has metal stingers along the side edges, which can activate and retract at Zektax's will. So, the shield comes with an additional silver ring that attaches via some pegs on the back, in order to display it with the spikes deployed.

Overall, how can I not say that this is another awesome figure in a line of awesome figures? Everything is great, from the sculpt, through the articulation, to the paintwork. I particularly love the crazy armour and how it integrates most of Zektax's selling points: the grasping arms, the fluttering wings and the heart glowing through the transparent chest. He is definitively a cool looking figure and another welcome addition to the Destructomorph troops.