Schadenfreude: noun; pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. German Schadenfreude, from Schaden ‘harm’ + Freude ‘joy.’
Now, I’ve checked the box and contents for this Batman and don’t see any, but if you’ve read the Icons discussion threads on the Fwoosh DC Forum, you would know that this figure comes with a box full of it.
So it is with no pleasure in anybody else’s pain that I take a hard look at what has to be the most polarizing figure line we’ve had in some time. DC Collectibles has marketed this line as a 6-inch (more on that later) super-posable line that will include iconic versions of DC characters from throughout their comic appearances. Batman is selected from the Batman: RIP storyline coda Last Rites, based on art from Ivan Reis.
Let’s start with that. I happen to remember Last Rites pretty fondly; Batman only actually appears in two issues of that story, and the art was by the very underrated Lee Garbett. I like Ivan, but other than maybe a variant cover, he was not involved with Last Rites. Just wanted to point that out. Anyway, the obvious intent here is to make a Batman in his very icon-worthy pre-Final Crisis and Batman Inc looks, with his classic blue and gray costume. In that regard, he is very successful — he has the look and colors of a core Batman appearance.
Yeah, we’ll get to scale. Let’s cover some other stuff first. It’s my intention here to do something I don’t generally approve of doing here, and that is to look at this figure in a sort of vacuum — where I’m trying not to hold it to the standards of other lines. As I said, though, I do so not liking it. Because it’s a cop-out — this line was developed in full view of all its contemporaries, not in some pocket universe where nobody has ever seen a “Marvel Legend.” And for a company to willfully ignore things that have become consistencies in modern action figures, while at the same time trying to cash in on an audience built around such consistency is . . . let’s go with “dirty pool.”
If I were to ignore everything else, and just judge this Batman on his own, this would be my conclusion:
He is a good, quality figure, with nice plastic consistency and very clean paint applications. The face sculpt is somewhat plain, but conveys a very “style guide-like” Batman. He has some painted black lines on his eyebrows that look more pronounced on some figures, and thus more silly, but mine came out okay.
The articulation has the right quantity, and the right placement, but their function is not where I would want it. DCC’s unique thoracic joint system is a combination of two types of joints used on other figu– I mean, two types of joints: a floating upper torso and a hinged lower torso. This combination looks good on paper, but in practice I find it totally inferior to using just one method properly. The upper torso can rock backward pretty well, but there’s little forward motion, and thanks to sculpt on the serratus muscles, it can’t turn much. Likewise, the hinged section doesn’t really pick up the slack, instead just offering a small degree or rocking forward or backward before its range bottoms out.
This is similar to the hinged hips — they have excellent outward range, but are obstructed in coming forward by the pelvic sculpt. They bottom out very short of that 90-degree bend “sitting in a chair” pose. Earlier prototypes of these figures seemed to display some play on the ball joints inside the hips, allowing the hip to be rotated in an outward, at least a little. That is not on this figure. He has no give whatsoever, and the omission of a thigh cut really hurts here because were there one, it would allow him a little more give in the lateral movement — basically, you could rotate the top of the hip to “cheat” that range. So yeah, losing that thigh cut was a major mistake, and it’s compounded by some minor mistakes in making clearance for those hips.
He does have his double-jointed elbows and knees. The range is good, allowing him to touch the back of his hips to his shins, and offer some nice range for his arms and shoulders, but the aforementioned hip range and the big rubbery cape mean you will not get that crouching, brooding Batman pose you’re after. There are also good joints on ankles and wrists, allowing for swivel on the former and hinges on the latter. And the wrists are easy to pop out, to allow for his accessories . . .
Batman comes with two open hands, two batarangs, and a molded hand with a grappling hook and line. This last one is pretty damn cool, as you can slide the rope through the molded-in handle, allowing for some nice climbing poses. This isn’t a bad selection, but with a looming price increase, a little extra, like a variant head, would’ve made this much more impressive. The cape is a burden, even though it is somewhat flexible. Its sculpt puts most of its bulk behind him where it, again, fights some poses, and worse, gives him an odd balance that likes to let him topple when standing straight.
Okay, out of that pocket universe. This Batman comes in at exactly 6 inches tall — to the top of his ears. That means he is not 1/12 scale. He is not the floating 6-inch scale that we use to identify figure between 6-7 inches in height. He is literally just 6 inches tall. What this means for you, individual collector, I’m not sure. But I can tell you with some confidence that he is likely not to scale with anything but his line-mates.
And a lot of that is because there’s more at play here than just his height. Looking at his hands, head, and feet, you can see that they run significantly smaller than most figures. This is something you expect with realistically scaled figures, although they usually have bigger heads, but these are championed as comic-based. And in comic-book proportions, they look . . . dainty. You can see here even Han Solo’s bare hands, which are more real-world proportioned, look bigger than Batman’s glove.
And Superior Spider-Man’s hands, feet, and head look gigantic in comparison. This is interesting because side-by-side, though close in height, Spider-Man’s proportions turn him into a lot more bulky-looking character, almost Batman-esque — very different than he appears next to other Legends. And here again, we’re in the no-vacuum zone. No matter how much some would like to pretend otherwise, this is a world with lots of Marvel Legends. Comparison to this line is inevitable, even if it is unfair.
Generally, import 6-inch figures tend to be more in line with this type of scale — it’s not at all uncommon to seek out a 6-inch Figma or Figuarts figure only to find them actually smaller than that in person. But even in scales like SH Figuarts, Batman’s 6’2″-6’4″ and 240 lb build translates to a taller than 6-inch figure, with significant bulk over more average characters. In comparison, I almost would say he would make a reasonable Dick Grayson Batman in this scale, but that’s clearly not what he is. DCC proudly proclaimed this Batman as Bruce Wayne in his pre-Final Crisis look.
Even alongside DCC’s other 6-inch line, Batman Animated, the difference in bulk and overall size is really surprising. Sure, there’s a major difference in style between the two figures, but I have to admit, I thought they would be a lot more comparable than they turned out to be.
It’s tough to make-or-break on a line with a first figure, especially when that first figure is a departure from a standard. But, as I have done this year, if the figure is good enough, you almost tend to rebuild your collection around them. Sometimes this is easier than other times. And this is one of those times where I’m sadly not going to be doing so. When it comes down to it, even if this Batman were that magic 6 1/4 to 6 1/2 inches that folks were looking for, I would see him as only a marginal, if any, improvement over my other Batmen. Sure, the paint looks better and the articulation count is higher, but his style isn’t really that much more “iconic” than a Four Horsemen Batman, making that kind of a wash, and his functionality makes those extra joints not a significant improvement over a DCUC figure.
As I said, though, I take no pleasure in knowing this is going to let some folks down. Nor am I trying to piss in the cereal of people who are satisfied with what DCC is doing. Instead, I hope my look and thoughts here might be sufficient to help those of you who aren’t sold yet whether this figure makes sense in your current or future collection. For me, though, scale included or forcibly excluded from the equation, DCC had some high aspirations that this figure just isn’t quite hitting the notes of. He is by no means a bad figure, but as I said, he does not exist in a vacuum, and I don’t see him as a significant-enough improvement over his predecessors to warrant their replacement. So for me, DC Icons looks to be a pretty smooth landing at the wrong airport. Your landings will certainly vary.