Continuing to swim along with the Supermania that’s sweeping the known universe and all points west, let’s take a look at the newest Superman-related release from DC Direct.

The second story arc of the popular ‘Superman / Batman’ comic focused around Supergirl triumphantly and somewhat petulantly returning to the DC Universe. Petulance is usually ignorable and easily rectified with an early bedtime and a swift kick to the buttocks, but when your kid can punch a rhinoceros through the moon, you tread carefully. As the story goes, Supergirl appears and subsequently has trouble adjusting to our earthly ways, becomes corrupted by the alien force of Darkseid and eventually returns to normal, with the help of Batman and Superman in an unlikely, character-revealing team-up. The whole thing is written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Michael Turner. Turner’s a good artist, and he’s been around for a while as a top creative name, but he really needs to spend some time re-studying the female anatomy.

Now, the first series of Superman / Batman figures was a low point for DC Direct. Usually known for their high-quality paint and sculpting, but minimal articulation, DC decided to use the exact same generic, balloon-muscled superhero body for almost the entire line, giving every included hero figure the exact same body - a classic technique for cutting corners and saving money in production. So, I didn’t have very high hopes for the second wave of figures. Batman should not look like Superman - case closed.

This second wave of Superman / Batman does have its very high points, but it also has its very low points. Let’s begin with the good stuff.

The line includes five figures : Superman, Supergirl, Corrupted Supergirl (in suitably revealing goth-girl clothes that every female superhero tends to don when they become ‘corrupted’), Darkseid and Batman riding an Apokoliptikan super-Segway. The Superman figure is a nice representation of a young-looking Superman, iconic and ageless, much like the new cinematic presentation of Superman by Brandon Routh. The thin and tall figure adds a great visual variety to the great collection of Superman figures that exist, and Turner’s tendency to greatly elongate the human form doesn’t hinder the figure here.

The Darkseid figure is another excellent aspect of the collection. DC Direct has only released one Darkseid figure before this, contained in a two-pack with his son, Orion. The set has become unattainable due to a high collectability. It really appeals to the ‘I Traded My Son to an Alien for Dubious Purposes’ crowd, because Darkseid is the galaxy’s ultimate jerkface. This figure of Darkseid is super-enormous, and likely the largest figure that DC Direct has ever produced, measuring a full 8 inches tall and towering over all other DC heroes, as he should. As a result, the packaging for the entire line is pretty enormous, even for the tiny Supergirl figure, but the contrast of sizes is significant.

This Batman is a re-packaging of the Batman figure from the Infinite Crisis line (also a line based entirely around the artwork of Turner), only this time, with an extra-angry head. I’m not entirely sure if I need two near-identical Batman figures, only differentiated by their emotional state. I already have a sullen Batman, a party time Batman and the Batman that looks like he just got sniped on eBay. They all look pretty darned similar. Turner does draw a mean Batman though, something more akin to the nightmarish, mythological Batman than the ‘guy in fancy underwear’ Batman. I tend to purchase these DC Direct storyline-themed sets by the half-case so as to get all of the figures at once. DC Direct figures are usually only carried in comic shops and almost never find their way to the Toys ‘R’ Us down the street, so they’re not casually purchased things and easier to grab in one fell swoop online. Unfortunately, this means that you’ll probably pick up a few duds and sneaky repeats.

The major, freakish disappointment comes in the form of the Supergirl figure. With her sloping cro-magnon brow, her baseball sized eyes and wrist-thin waist, it’s hard to appreciate the figure as anything more than an unfortunate perpetuation of negative comic book stereotypes. Michael Turner draws all of his women with powerful jawlines and impossibly thin waists, as if someone took them by the head and just stretched until everything was made suitably disgusting. She’s an Olsen Twin gone wrong, who themselves look like Norfin Trolls, which are things that Death itself would not touch for fear of getting cooties. The paint on the figure also gets a low grade, as the yellow used on the hair also covers a good portion of her forehead. I mean, take a look for yourself, but don’t look too long. It’s creepy.

And thus, if you’re looking to take part in Superman Fever, be picky about it, and above all, keep it fun.

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Article Tags: action figures, Batman, Brandon Routh, Darkseid, DC Direct, Supergirl, Superman

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 1:00 am and is filed under collecting fyi, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.