Iconix: Fortress of Solitude
Earlier this year, we featured WizKids' Iconix Batcave set of Heroclix miniatures and gear. Now it's the turn of the Man of Steel with this appropriately iconic Iconix Fortress of Solitude box. As with the other sets in the Iconix range, the Fortress of Solitude set is both play and display; it makes an impressive display piece for any Superman fan but it's various pre-painted Heroclix figures and objects are equally playable in a Heroclix game.
The remote Arctic Fortress of Solitude has been a constant in Superman and Action Comics through all of DC's many retcons. Rather than focusing on a single period, however, this Iconix set takes pieces from several different iterations of the Fortress and its contents.
Kelex is a robotic servant that was formerly owned by Superman's Kryptonian father Jor-El. It first appeared in the comics in 1986. Kelex somehow survived the destruction of the planet and has made several appearances in DC stories over the years but it is best known as, in effect, the Fortress' caretaker.
Kelex isn't the only robot here. There's also a Superman robot. The Superman robots in the recent James Gunn movie were all rather Kelex-like but for many years the Superman robots in the comics were identical replicas of Superman capable of discreetly substituting for him when he was off-planet or otherwise indisposed. The Superman robot in this set, however, could not readily pass itself off as the Man of Steel because it has metallic skin.
By contrast, the Jor-El and Lara projection is reminiscent of the portrayal in the 2025 movie. It's one of four objects in the set; the others being the Bottled City of Kandor, the Black Mercy (the parasitic alien plant that first appeared in 'For the Man Who Has Everything' in 1985) and the Phantom Zone Projector - looking much like the original version that first appeared in Superboy in 1961.
In addition to the familiar cards that detail powers, effects and exploded dials, this set comes with two 3 x 3 mini-map boards that can be pressed into service to represent Kandor and the Phantom Zone. There are also a couple of one-shot special effects cards. Our favourite is Last Day of Krypton that lets you generate a character with the Kryptonian keyword, albeit that they disappear at the end of your turn. This card appears to evoke the Silver Age stories where barely a month passed without some new character from Krypton turning up in Metropolis. As a schoolboy reading Superman and Action Comics I was left wondering at the time if there was anyone actually at home when Krypton exploded.
All the sculpts in this Iconix Fortress of Solitude set are appealing but the standout not-so-miniature is Superman flying with the giant arrow-shaped key to the Fortress. The sculpt is closely modelled on the image that first appeared in the comics in 1958 and it stands on a base that's four times the size of a standard Heroclix figure!
(Review by Selwyn Ward)
