Alrighty folks, it’s time for another Marvel Monday and today I’m pressing on through the Absorbing Man Wave, this time with the second half of Marvel’s “Villains of the Night,” Jack O’Lantern!

As part of a shared slot, Jack comes in the exact same package as Morbius did, with his name only appearing on the back panel. This is the Marvel NOW! version of the character as he appeared in Agent Venom’s book. I suppose I should say “version of the characters” (plural) as Jack is one of those villains who has had many different identities. Hell, forget about all the other villains, Hobgoblin could have made a killing franchising out an army of Jacks.

And what a very unique looking figure he is! That’s not always the case when it comes to Marvel Legend’s sea of re-painted bucks. And yet, Jack still makes use of a recycled body. The last (and only) time we saw this one before it was transparent and bundled with the Thunderbolts as Ghost. I would never have made that call in a million years and yet seeing it makes it seem like a no-brainer. It’s a super thin body with lanky limbs, which lend themselves to a creepy look.

And it’s amazing what some fresh paint and colored plastic will do! Even though I have Ghost in my collection, Jack still comes across as a newly tooled figure to me. He’s mostly black, but his chest harness and straps are painted brown and there’s some super sharp silver paint on the fixtures. His belt is a newly sculpted piece and has a secondary belt displaying his reserve pumpkin bombs.

The head sculpt here is mighty awesome. The fully realized jack o’lantern noggin is beautifully painted and features some snazzy flame effects wrapping up around the back of the head and spilling out the eye holes too. Magnificent!

Articulation is mostly what I’ve come to expect from the Legends line. That includes rotating hinges in the shoulders and hips, double hinges in the elbows and knees, swivels in the biceps, wrists, hips, and waist. The ankles have hinges and lateral rockers, the torso features an ab crunch hinge, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. Yup, the only odd thing here is the lack of hinges in the wrists and the fact that their swivels are pretty far up the forearms. Also, I should mention that the shoulders have some crazy tight ratchets, that make it hard for me to work with them. I’m really not sure why Hasbro felt the need to do that, it isn’t an issue at all on Ghost, but it can be a little frustrating when playing with the figure.

Accessories! In addition to the Absorbing Man leg, Jack comes with his flying broom, sickle, and a flaming pumpkin bomb. The bomb is a simple little piece sculpted in the same brilliant translucent orange plastic as the flames on his head. He can hold it pretty well in either hand.

The sickle is pretty big and a little ungainly. Because Jack’s hands aren’t designed for holding it, the sickle has a plastic rectangle on the grip to slip his fingers through. It works OK, so long as you’re happy with him holding it in the right hand. One side of the sickle has a cool hammered look to the sculpt, but the other side is largely unfinished.

Lastly, you get his flying broomstick, because… COMICS! It’s partially painted and partially the exposed translucent plastic that is a running theme with this figure. There are a couple of bars to tuck his ankles onto and a grip bar, similar to what we saw on the sickle so he can hold the handle of the broom. I’ll confess, I wasn’t too keen on this piece when I saw it in the package, but I’ve found that it’s actually quite a big of fun and with a little work, he can pose quite well with it.

Jack O’Lantern is a character that I didn’t even know I wanted until I had him in hand. His design is wacky, creepy, and sinister all at once and all of that is executed beautifully in this figure. Everything about him feels fresh, and since the previous use of this buck was a limited release, he should be like a totally newly tooled figure to a lot of collectors out there, and that’s something we don’t see all that often in this line. So far, The Absorbing Man Wave is batting two for two. Next Monday, I’ll see if I can throw a wrench into the works with a look at Speed Demon.