I wasn’t familiar with Lilith before buying this wave of products, and this purchase is definitely an example of how effective BAF’s marketing tools are for me. To me, Lilith is the daughter of Dracula in Tomb of Dracula, but this version is the Mother of Monsters, who was the villain of Ghost Rider in the 90s. I have a huge blind spot when it comes to 90s Marvel lore, but I did find Lilith to be an important part of the Midnight’s Children subset of Marvel comics at the time. Let’s meet Lilith!
The art on the box shows some work that’s pretty representative of the art style of the time, as well as the character of Lilith from the Midnight’s Children related books I’ve read. Many of her figures stand in mist and green flames, looking moody. I wonder if this painting has been edited or if this is 90s style new art because in most issues I read Lilith’s outfits are more ridiculous and have more cleavage on display.
Lilith didn’t bring much, just two pairs of hands and BAF parts. The hands, fists, and usual spellcasters are all familiar, but from what I’ve read, Lilith mostly stands around gesturing in a generally magical way, so they fit in nicely. I think another way of expressing it would be better, especially an expression of anger. She seems to bring up green magic a lot, so some of these green energy effects can’t go wrong.
The BAF arms look great and the sculpt is very sharp. So sharp that it actually left a dent in my hand when I assembled him! I’m very happy with Blackheart so far.
The sculpting feels like a familiar bodywork, but it works well here. Her design as a whole confuses me, like what the hell is going on with her head? It looks like she has two horns with a piece of cloth draped between them and the horns flowing out like hair. Maybe her brain is exposed underneath. Regardless, the portrait is nice, with a charming evil smile, and the sculpt does a good job of depicting the weird hair/rag design from the comic. The translucent plastic and sculpted texture give the “hair” an almost crepe-like feel. Very scary.
The cape attaches to a hook at the back and swivels to make it easy to remove, but stays in place very well. It doesn’t hinder pronunciation either.
For the most part, I really like this paint as I feel like the fishnet finish is very clean and the face has some great eye and makeup prints. The neckline of her dress isn’t too clean on the chest and I feel like they don’t quite match the comic design there, minimizing cleavage like they do on the box art. It makes me wonder if this is an overcorrection by the company, trying to rise above some possible sexist or overly sexualized character design complaints, or if the new neckline is better suited to this basic figure. I don’t think it’s a big deal, especially since this is a character I’m not particularly invested in, it’s just something I noticed and was curious about.
Articulation is new Legends standard with double hinge elbows. I’m glad they are doing this more often now. The top of the neck is also hinged with a ball joint and there’s a pretty big gap between the bottom of the head and the top of the neck, so there’s a lot of tilt there. The joints are also needle-free, if that’s important to you. I still don’t like the single mid-torso swing joint for any kind of crunch, but there’s a nice incline.
Overall, Lilith is a solid figure that’s a little plain in terms of accessories and could use a little more pizzazz. I did give her some green effects for some of the shots below, as I happened to have them on my Black Series Morgan Elsbeth. It’s nice to have a Ghost Rider villain, and I’m enjoying reading the Rise of the Midnight Sons crossover. From what I understand, she plays a pretty important role in these books, and many of the monsters the heroes fight are her “children.” Reading these books makes me want to buy a ’90s Johnny Blaze with his cool-guy tones, stubble, ponytail, trench coat, and cigarette combo.
