Wonderman is one of the many additions to the Avenger team for Mutant Mayhem (although his Rookie is a member of Masters of Evil).   They translated his fear of dying into an interesting dial for both the Rookie and Experienced but his Veteran follows a more traditional path.

Moveability – The Rookie starts with a Speed of 8 and two clicks of Charge.  Good decent movement for a brawler type of piece.  You will still have to be within 4 squares to land a charge, which isn’t always easy to do.  Both the Experienced and Veteran bump their starting Speed up to 10 and also gain Flight.   The Experienced only has one click of Charge and gets Earth Bound near the end of his dial, but the Veteran doesn’t have this ability so he can fly around throughout his whole dial. 

Attackability – The Rookie has an average Attack of 9.  It will get by, but expect to miss a few attacks here and there. The Experienced and Veteran both start with 10 so it gets a little better. What makes the Rookie and Experienced different is that towards the end of their dials their Attack actually goes back up to their starting values.  This is suppose to signify Wonderman fighting back harder as he nears death. I actually like the dial. So many figures simply become moving terrain after a few clicks of damage, but this makes Wonderman a useful figure as the game nears its end and everyone else is on their lower stats. As for the Veteran his dial is more traditional and his Attack holds more steady, but drops throughout his entire dial.  With no range Wonderman is strictly a close combat expert unless you throw objects with Super Strength.

Damage – The Rookie starts with a Damage of 3 while the Experienced and Veteran get a Damage of 4.  All have a deep dial of Super Strength so use items if you can get them.  Like the Attack value the Rookie and Experienced end with the same Damage value they begin with so on his last dial they have just as much chance to do damage as their first.  This uniqueness in Heroclix makes them stand out over some of the run of the mill brawlers.

Defendability –  About what you expect for a brawler of this point value.  Rookie starts with Defense of 16 with 3 clicks of Invulnerability followed by Toughness. Experienced starts with 16 as well but gets 1 click of Impervious followed by 3 of Invulnerability then Toughness.  The Veteran starts with 17, 2 of Impervious before Invulnerability and Toughness.  He should be able to hang around for awhile as long as he isn’t ganged up by your opponent.

Miscellaneous – The Rookie and Experienced have a typical sculpt although the Veteran sculpt is cool with him having a see through purple plastic that makes him stand out. I’m not sure what the transformation is in the comics that made him change, but perhaps another reviewer will fill us in.

Playability – Wonderman fits the mold of a typical 100-point style close combat brawler. No range, Super Strength, good damage.  Normally this figure would be lost in the obscurity of all the figures you can plug into this role on your team.   The Rookie and Experienced however stand out as a different option with their dial going down and then back up.  This could give you an advantage if you play your cards right.  The Veteran is good, but he seems almost like another Veteran Captain Britain so you can take your pick.   In all the Experienced is my favorite and if I pulled one I think I would find myself fielding some teams around him.

Overall Score: (Out of 10.  Score of: 4 = horrible, 5 = below average, 6 = slightly above average, 7 = great, 8 = outstanding)

Rookie Wonderman – 6.0

Experienced – 7.0

Veteran – 6.9