Last week we checked in with the latest DC HeroClix in the Iconix line (check out that review HERE), and now we’re back to look at the current “standard” expansion from that comic book universe: DC HeroClix Notorious! As you might guess, it’s a set focused on the villains, creeps, and weirdos of DC Comics and a not insignificant amount of DC animation too. The first “Mega Set” from WizKids, Notorious contains no fewer than 75 figures with traditional Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Flash villains, new “goon” characters, Sinestro Corps and Black Lantern Corps members, classic Legion of Doom characters from Super Friends and modern characters from the Harley Quinn Animated Series, and more. Today we’ll crack open a booster brick of Notorious as well as the accompanying Play at Home Kit and Dice & Token Pack.

As always, a HeroClix brick provides you with ten boosters, each containing five game pieces and their respective cards. There’s the usual rarity system so every pack will contain a number of commons and uncommons along with a rare, super rare, or chase. Figures in this set come in boosters decorated with plenty of baddies, the front panel featuring artwork of Lex Luthor leading the villains of Earth. The sides of the booster box show off Mr. Freeze, DCeased Joker, Sinestro Corps, and Black Lantern Corps, while the back panel has info on HeroClix and online resources along with three more characters from the DCeased storyline.

Booster 1

• Common 005 Manhunter
• Common 006 Court of Owls Assassin
• Uncommon 022 Black Hand
• Rare 035 Killer Croc
• Super Rare 061 Golden Glider

Booster 2

• Common 002 Superman
• Common 003 Batman
• Common 015 White Rabbit Goon
• Uncommon 025 Sinestro
• Rare 044 Nekron

Booster 3

• Common 004 G.O.O.N.
• Common 005 Manhunter
• Common 012 Black Manta Goon
• Uncommon 032 Zod
• Rare 040 Mr. Freeze

Booster 4

• Common 010 Gorilla Boss
• Common 012 Black Manta Goon
• Common 018 Scarecrow
• Uncommon 026 Brainiac
• Rare 033 Polka-Dot Man

Booster 5

• Common 001 Lex Luthor
• Common 016 Solomon Grundy
• Uncommon 030 Starrophyte
• Rare 037a Ra’s Al Ghul
• Super Rare 051 Harley Quinn

Booster 6

• Common 001 Lex Luthor
• Common 017 Qwardian Thunderer
• Uncommon 025 Sinestro
• Uncommon 027 Gentleman Ghost
• Chase 072 Wonder Woman

Booster 7

• Common 008 Gorilla City Warrior
• Common 010 Gorilla Boss
• Uncommon 023 Lightning Lord
• Rare 045 Poison Ivy
• Super Rare 050a Two-Face

Booster 8

• Common 007 League Assassin
• Common 009 Joker Goon
• Uncommon 019a OMAC
• Rare 039 Amanda Waller
• Super Rare 055 The Penguin

Booster 9

• Common 007 League Assassin
• Common 009 Joker Goon
• Common 011 Polar Bear
• Uncommon 031 Captain Cold
• Rare 046 Black Adam

Booster 10

• Common 013 Bizarro
• Common 014 Riddler Goon
• Uncommon 029 Mirror Master
• Uncommon 031 Captain Cold
• Rare 043 Cosmic King

Here’s the full breakdown of the figures in this brick (your results will vary of course):

COMMONS (including duplicates)

001 Lex Luthor

002 Superman

003 Batman

004 G.O.O.N.

005 Manhunter

006 Court of Owls Assassin

007 League Assassin

008 Gorilla City Warrior

009 Joker Goon

010 Gorilla Boss

011 Polar Bear

012 Black Manta Goon

013 Bizarro

014 Riddler Goon

015 White Rabbit Goon

016 Solomon Grundy

017 Qwardian Thunderer

018 Scarecrow

UNCOMMONS (including duplicates)

019a OMAC

022 Black Hand

023 Lightning Lord

025 Sinestro

026 Brainiac

027 Gentleman Ghost

029 Mirror Master

030 Starrophyte

031 Captain Cold

032 Zod

RARES

033 Polka-Dot Man

035 Killer Croc

037a Ra’s Al Ghul

039 Amanda Waller

040 Mr. Freeze

043 Cosmic King

044 Nekron

045 Poison Ivy

046 Black Adam

SUPER RARES

050a Two-Face

051 Harley Quinn

055 The Penguin

061 Golden Glider

CHASE

072 Wonder Woman

First thing I always do is look over the pulls and the general collation here. In this booster brick we got at least one copy of each 18 commons, 10 out of the 15 uncommons (including a Prime), 9 out of 16 rare (including two Primes), 4 out of 19 super rares (three Primes), and one of the elusive 13 chases. It’s always a good start to collect the full set of commons, so that’s good. 10 out of 15 uncommons isn’t bad either, and pulling more than half of the rares is nice. As a “mega set” Notorious has a ton of super rares and chases so it’s going to be extra hard to get all of those, but a brick will get you a good running start.

Diving in deeper, we’ll go through each rarity level and see how the figures we pulled fit into the expansion set’s themes. The commons kick things off with a couple of them starting with the retro Legion of Doom figures! Here we’ve got Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, and Scarecrow from that illustrious lineup, and there will be more later. Superman and Batman appear to be the rare heroes in a set full of villains, but they’re actually members of the Legion of Super Villains from the Absolute Power storyline. And then there are the goons! Manhunter, Court of Owls Assassin, League Assassin, and Gorilla Boss are generic minions, while G.O.O.N., Gorilla City Warrior, Joker Goon, Polar Bear, Black Manta Goon, Riddler Goon, White Rabbit Goon, and Qwardian Thunderer are specifically goons with the new “Expendable Goon” traits!

Moving into the uncommons, we see far fewer minion and generic types and more specific enemies of iconic DC heroes; the generics here are OMAC, Mirror Master, and Starrophyte, each of which can be played in multiples and with varying unique effects. The Legion of Doom recruits Sinestro and Captain Cold, while Black Hand represents the Black Lantern Corps, Lightning Lord the Legion of Super Villains, and Brainiac the Injustice League. Rounding out this rarity level is the Kryptonian Zod and Gentleman Ghost who’s equally at home on Suicide Squad or Secret Society of Super Villains teams.

The rares follow on similar trends, now with not a single generic character. Nekron arrives to lead the Black Lanterns and Cosmic King joins the Legion of Super Villains, while Amanda Waller recruits Polka-Dot Man to the Suicide Squad. Gotham City is strongly represented here with Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, Ra’s Al Ghul, and Poison Ivy, all of whom overlap with multiple teams thanks to multiple keywords. Last but not least is the Guardian of Kahndaq Black Adam, a truly team player with keywords for the Justice Society, Legion of Doom, Secret Society of Super-Villains, and Sinestro Corps.

All four of the super rares in this booster brick are connected not just because they’re notorious villains, but also by the keyword Gotham City Underworld! That makes perfect sense for Batman baddies like Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and The Penguin, though maybe a little surprising for Flash Rogue Golden Glider (in a very welcome return to HeroClix). And rounding out the pulls is the rarest one of all, the fearsome zombie Wonder Woman chase from DCeased!

Not only does the Notorious expansion provide you with TONS of new villains and generic minions for your bad guy teams, it also brings along some tried and true mechanics as well as some new stuff too. The biggest addition, as mentioned above, is the “Expendable Goon” series of traits. Seen on figures like G.O.O.N., Gorilla City Warrior, Joker Goon, Polar Bear, Black Manta Goon, Riddler Goon, and White Rabbit Goon, these traits can generate additional goons when one is KO’ed, create various terrain, apply action tokens, move attackers, or even create objects. It’s a great way to add flavor to minions and give them more ways to impact the game, and characters like The Penguin can interact with goons in even more unique ways. Meanwhile, Black Hand and Nekron bring back Grave marker mechanics, Sinestro hands out the Injustice League team ability to fellow Sinestro Corps members, Polka-Dot Man has a crazy dial and jumps to random clicks, and Zod can challenge your opponent to a battle of wits (dice); these are just some of the fun and thematic traits and special powers seen in this set!

Overall, I’m really pleased with the figures in this set. Sometimes you can hear “all villains” and worry that everything will be dark and drab, but of course it’s comic books we’re talking about so while there are some stealthy characters like the generic assassins there are also plenty of vivid and colorful characters, especially with the Legion of Doom members! As a big fan of the whole Lantern side of the DC universe I’m really excited about all the new Sinestro Corps and Black Lanterns, and I’ll certainly need a lot more Manhunters and Qwardian Thunderers. Those figures look great, and some other standout elements for me include the graceful ice skating pose of Golden Glider, Nekron looking super evil and scary, G.O.O.N. and friends up to no good, Mr. Freeze with his awesome transluscent helmet, Zod looking like he’s about to tell his enemies to kneel, Ra’s al Ghul rising from the Lazarus Pit fumes, and Harley Quinn blasting zombies. Penguin looks amazing with his billowing smoke cloud as does Black Adam hovering and calling the lightning, while Wonder Woman is super creepy lurching toward you covered in gore. My absolute favorites, though, are the tiny (yet adorable) Starrophyte and Gentleman Ghost who’s perfectly rendered in all of his fleshless glory!

Like other recent sets, Notorious continues the trend of Legacy Cards. These are pretty rare, one random card coming with an entire brick of boosters, and breathe new life into classic and fan-favorite figures from years and sometimes decades past. The Legacy card we pulled here was for Joker’s Wild Man-Bat from 2016. This new version cuts the price from 55 to 45 and replaces flight with the ability to move through characters. Rather than bearing a trait giving friendly Batman Enemy characters Steal Energy, the new Man-Bat has two traits; the first applies Bleeding tokens to hit enemies that increase the damage they take and the second gives him permanent Super Senses and +2 attack on the move. Finally, the “Feast on Your Blood” special power has become “Feast on Blood” combining Blades/Claws/Fangs and Steal Energy with the addition of healing the total damage hit characters took for the latter!

Want more Notorious? WizKids has you covered! First up, spruce up your games with the Dice & Token Pack. Replace your tiny dice, cardboard bits, or whatever you’re using for action tokens and play with these heavy-duty poker chip-style tokens. They’re ringed in Joker/Lex Luthor themed green and purple and feature artwork of Two-Face, Bane, Mr. Freeze, Joker, Penguin, and Riddler. As is now usual, the reverse sides feature bystander tokens created by figures in the booster set, this time Shark (Kamo), Cat (Catwoman), and Thorn Vine (Poison Ivy). Last but certainly not least are the dice, in matching green and purple with a surprisingly good-looking goon mask and beanie cap symbol on the “6” side.

The last piece of the Notorious lineup is the Play At Home Kit, a format WizKids debuted during the pandemic and which I’m happy to see is continuing. It’s a very straightforward product, a non-random box containing a unique figure and a double-sided map (with labeled squares so you can keep track of the action when playing with remote opponents). In this case there are two outdoor battlefields, Atlantis Throne Room and Harley’s Rooftop. If you’re an old school player returning to the game, you’ll note that all HeroClix maps are square now instead of rectangular. The figure in this set is none other than Poison Ivy straight out of the Harley Quinn animated series! She’s a powerhouse at 100 or 60 points with the Batman Enemy and Wonder Woman Ally team abilities, highly aggressive powers, and unique traits and special powers revolving around placing Plant hindering terrain markers and Gaia’s Armor tokens to protect her. This kit also came with another Legacy card, this time for 2015’s Superman/Wonder Woman Brimstone.

Notorious is a fantastic addition to HeroClix, with a great character lineup featuring both iconic villains and generic goons and minions to serve them. There’s a nice mix of new versions of old favorites as well as characters appearing in plastic for the first time, and dials range from simple to use mooks to complex powerhouses that will challenge veteran players to master. You can pick up your Notorious booster boxes, Play at Home Kit, and Dice & Token Pack right now at your local comic book or game store. And as always, good luck with your pulls!

Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and stay tuned to Action Figure Insider as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix! If you don’t have access to a local comic book or game store at this time you can also order your HeroClix directly from the WizKids website.

Review and photos by Scott Rubin.

Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games.