I'd like to see the characters DC Direct has already released redone in the DCSH line, simply because the Four Horsemen do it better. I've basically stopped buying DCD figures. The sculpts aren't as good as the 4H sculpts, the articulation is lousy, and the figures have bad paint apps and not much durability. Plus, they're way overpriced. With more and more stores carrying DCD lines, you'd think we might see a price drop, since the lines are no longer exclusive to comic shops. I've had three DCD figures that were broken right out of the package, and two others that had breakage issues within a couple of months after purchase for no apparent reason. My DCD Hush has a weak left leg that seems like it'll go any day now. Conversely, I've had no durability issues with my DCSH figures. Mattel is as bad about not including accessories as DCD is, but everything else is done much better with the DCSH line. IT's astonishing that Mattel can do such remarkable work with one line, then release a related line that is absolute garbage (I'm looking at you, Superman Returns!).
Artist-specific figures, however, are out of the question for Mattel. That wasn't part of the license. Hence, we have a wave 3 Batman that "kinda" looks Miller-inspired, and a Joker that sorta looks like Bolland's. That suits me fine, as I think figures that aren't modeled on a specific interpretation are more timeless and iconic. I'd really like to see a new Black Mask that is based on his classic look, which was much cooler than the current "Skeletor-lite" thing he has going.
Mattel does bug me with the scale, though. The original 4H sculpt for Doomsday is HUGE, but it was scaled down by Mattel to reduce costs. At least Darkseid is a bit bigger. The JLU Doomsday, meanwhile, is ginormous, perfectly in scale with the other figures in that line. He's only a bit shorter than the supposedly larger-scale DCSH Doomsday, and the JLU version is much wider!
I'm thinking of getting that Superman, my Batman is lonely and I'm tired of waiting for Mattel to get off their asses and finally release Two-face, Catwoman and Batgirl.
And before they move on to more esoteric figures, Mattel should do new Sculpts of all the iconic guys they already released, at the very least they should release a super-articulated Joker instead of a crappy repaint. And a Nightwing would rock to.
And maybe for the first time ever, they should release a Batmobile that goes with Collecter's figures.
Oh, and Drunken Fist. The Series 3 Batman was inspired quite a bit by Jim Lee's Batman, the face looks like All-star Batman's and The Stitching on the Gloves and Boots, the Emblem' shape and even the treading on the boots are from Hush. Not to mention that most of the black areas are blue just as Jim Lee does it.
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath
Edited by Razhwurz on 17-01-2007 23:27
RE: DC SuperHeroes Series 5! -
Posted on 18-01-2007 00:58
Razhwurz wrote:Oh, and Drunken Fist. The Series 3 Batman was inspired quite a bit by Jim Lee's Batman, the face looks like All-star Batman's and The Stitching on the Gloves and Boots, the Emblem' shape and even the treading on the boots are from Hush. Not to mention that most of the black areas are blue just as Jim Lee does it.
I am aware, I have that figure, and it's my favorite. But the fact remains that Mattel cannot release a "Jim Lee" Batman, or anything else that is specifically based on a certain artist's renedition of a character. It's not a part of their licensing agreement. That's why I said we have gotten figures with touches of a specific interpetation here and there.
(By the way, I and most of my friends find that the S3 Batman draws equally from Miller's Batman.)
Drunken Fist wrote:(By the way, I and most of my friends find that the S3 Batman draws equally from Miller's Batman.)
I thought it was Miller-inspired when I first saw it. It reminded me of the big full page shot in Dark Knight Returns Book 1 after Bruce becomes Batman again.
RE: DC SuperHeroes Series 5! -
Posted on 18-01-2007 16:47
Well, hopfully the fact that we got two Superman serie in a row means were going to get two Batman series in a row.
And on the S3 Batman, what exactly are you refering to that's Miller inspired? When I look at it the only two things that don't shout "Hush" are his face and belt buckle, and as for the face it shouts "All-Star".
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath
RE: DC SuperHeroes Series 5! -
Posted on 19-01-2007 01:55
Just like what DK said, when I saw it my mind flashed to the image in DKR when we first see Bruce back in costume. Dig out the book and look, aside from a few costume details, it looks like the same man. Even my nephew said "Look! It's the old Batman," when we saw it in the store the first time. He thought it was part of a line of DKR figures, he started digging through them trying to find a Joker in the white coat.
Honestly, I don't see how anybody can see Jim Lee's over-rendered art style in this figure. He doesn't have the thunderthighs that are Lee's signature, and the wrinkles on the face scream DKR. This is just one of those things where'll we'll have to agree to disagree. The fact remains that it is not officially a Jim Lee Batman, or a Frank Miller Batman because Mattel cannot produce an artist-specific figure under the terms of their licensing agreement.
Well, the part that gives me the idea that it's inspired by Lee is the use of Blue in the color scheme. You see, there are two commonly used ways of colouring the Black parts of the costume.
1. Shading: Using Dark Greys and Black to shade the Black areas as you would any other color. The side-effect is that using a bunch of dark colours together gives ill definition to the parts.
2. Highlighting: Using Blue to colour the areas where light hits the costume, and leaving the rest pure Black. This give good definiton and an extra visual oomph, but it makes the areas look strange next to regular fabric.
Hush Batman had a combination of both tactics, the Black was shaded like regular fabric, but they used Blue instead of Grey to give better definiton and they exadurated the shadows to give a darker, less Blue visual. The end result is pretty much my favourite colouring of Batman I've ever seen.
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath
Edited by Razhwurz on 19-01-2007 18:20
RE: DC SuperHeroes Series 5! -
Posted on 31-01-2007 15:31
Well, they're here. I was buying groceries at Wal-Mart this morning, and swung by the toy section as usual. Hanging on the pegs was Parasite! I tossed him in the buggy and left the others. No Steel or Supergirl, somebody had already gotten them. The others they had were the Superman we've gotten in every Superman wave, with a black S-shield, another reissue of that terrible 2-pack Superman, and the lava Doomsday. I was tempted to get Doomsday too, since he looked pretty cool, but it's tough to justify buying a simple repaint of a figure I already have. Hopefully, I'll be able to get Steel and Supergirl soon.
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