History Literature / ActionFigures

* MoreHeroThanThou: When Manticore drops his nuclear tail over a major Massachusetts city (see Sadistic Choice below), Lightstorm and Concorde both fly out to intercept it. Lightstorm insists on taking the rescue because she - possibly - has enough acceleration to get the thing out to sea AND get back before she's caught in the blast radius.

* SadisticChoice: When detached, Manticore's tail becomes a small-scale nuclear bomb. When he drops it over a city, Carrie has the choice of either letting him escape or letting the city be devastated. Needless to say, she chooses the former.

* TheMole: In ''Zero Day,'' ShadoWorks turns out to have numerous agents-in-place throughout government and law enforcement, but also has two moles inside their own organization trying to subvert their plans.

* TomTheDarkLord: The figure who's secretly behind the entire ShadoWorks conspiracy has the distinctly un-ominous name of [[spoiler: Sharona]]. Lightstorm mocks it intensely, while Edison Bose simply says "...really?" when he learns the truth. [[spoiler: It's actually a transliteration of her real name: Shaarnah Kaan.]]

* BoxedCrook: ''Unintended Consequences'' sees [[spoiler: EVERY villain ever arrested by the Hero Squad]] quietly freed in order to become part of the government's Project Thermopylae, a defense against [[spoiler: the alien visitors that were revealed to Earth in ''Power Play.'']]

* TurnInYourBadge: After the Hero Squad raids a top-secret government project in ''Unintended Consequences'' [[spoiler: to rescue the kidnapped Missy]], they're given two choices: either give up the superhero life or be placed under arrest.

* [[Doorstopper]]: The final volume, ''Zero Day,'' is about 520 pages, or about 60% longer than the typical ''Action Figures'' novel. According to Bailey, he considered breaking it into two volumes, but with the story's ThreeActStructure, a single book made more sense and would be kinder to readers' pocketbooks.

%%* HardHead: Discussed.

* SlaveToPR: Concorde knows how important it is for the superhero community to keep the respect of the public. Unfortunately, this includes covering up awkward or controversial incidents and even [[spoiler: arresting the Hero Squad after they invade a top-secret military project to rescue one of their members]].

The series, which takes place over about two and a half years of InUniverse time, consists of:

The series, which takes place over about two years of InUniverse time, consists of:

The series to date, which takes place over about two years of InUniverse time, consists of:

The final book in the series, ''Action Figures - Issue Eleven: Zero Day,'' is scheduled for release in early 2023.

* CurvesInAllTheRightPlaces: Carrie is [[{{Pun}} pretty up front]] about it. "Around middle school I discovered that God saw fit to equip me with Option Package 3-B: [[EveryoneLovesBlondes blonde]], [[BuxomIsBetter boobs]], [[ImpossibleHourglassFigure booty]]."

* TheUnMasking: The first big one comes when [[spoiler:Carrie]]'s identity becomes public, as noted above under Loose Lips. That in turn leads to the unmasking of [[spoiler: the entire Hero Squad]] and then the revelation of [[spoiler: almost every heroic identity in the country, voluntarily]].

* TheirFirstTime: It's the first time for both Carrie and her boyfriend Malcolm when they sleep together in ''Cruel Summer.'' Her mother discovers the condom afterward, and Carrie soon discovers that [[spoiler: she was an AccidentalPregnancy]].

The final book in the series, ''Action Figures - Issue Eleven: Zero Day,'' is scheduled for release in late 2022.

An 11th book is scheduled for 2022. The series is nearing completion, with Bailey expecting it to be 12 books in total.

* CelebrityMasquerade: Edison Bose is a rich and famous industrialist and inventor, the [[IronMan Tony Stark]] of his world ... which makes it fitting that he's also the armored hero Concorde.

* {{Flight}}: One of the first powers Lightstorm ever discovered, she can fly at supersonic speeds. Once she's on the radar of the established super teams (so to speak), she starts [[RealityEnsues carrying a transponder]] so that she doesn't cause any difficulties for air-traffic controllers.

* RealityEnsues: So many examples, but especially when [[spoiler: Carrie]] returns to Earth after fighting in an interstellar war. In addition to the [[HeroicBSOD PTSD and depression]] from the events of the war, it turns out that after eight months' absence, a former job has been lost and the junior year of high school has to be repeated.
** Missy isn't exactly surprised to learn that an attempt to build a large-scale ComicBook/SuicideSquad sort of team for [[spoiler: the U.S government]] is going poorly because the supervillains suck at teamwork and cooperation.