For our next stop on what is shaping up to be a busy One:12 winter, let’s take a look at everybody’s favorite runaway bride, Catwoman!
…That’s the only referential joke I’m going to make about the current comics, I promise. I barely touch any of the monthlies of the big 2, and it’s been that way for a while. Luckily, Catwoman’s style and overall look owe more to the surprisingly long ago Hush saga, and the very fun books Darwyn Cooke worked on in the last decade. Selina’s depiction feels to me more like a mature, accomplished character than say the Ascending Knight Batman is. Maybe she’s more intended to square with Sovereign Knight, I suppose we’ll have to see. But yeah, this is a grownup, self-assured and ready to steal some stuff Selina Kyle.
Her costume is essentially that 2000s era black body suit, with the low set leather helmet-style ears and green goggles. There are the usual Mezco style features, but a lot like Batman Beyond in that they don’t feel like too much or too little accentuation. As with other figures of recent note, she wouldn’t feel at all out of place in the Arkham games. The suit fits her form really well, and as the first fully clothed female figure of this line, it doesn’t disappoint. It’s worth noting that the suit doesn’t have a functioning front zipper, so ya’ll will need to do some work to get those cheesecake shots.
Further small touches on the costume are also nicely done, like the boots, gloved hands, choker collar and the belt- which has an opening pouch that contains her (non-removable) lock picking tools. It’s a really cool touch that is easily overlooked. There is also an optional backpack that is a little simple, but it adds some extra texture and color to the figure when it’s on.
For additional accessories, Catwoman has two additional heads (for 3 total)- Unmasked, slightly amused, and angry- and as far as I’m concerned, these are some of the best I’ve ever seen for this character. The standard head has her slightly looking to the side, and I was certain that was going to drive me nuts. It doesn’t; in fact, it is kind of my favorite. The goggles swap between the heads, but I have a recommendation- I would put them on from the bottom up, with the head off; it just works easier. You can still get them on the top of her head if you like. There is also the usual sets of hands- open, fists, holding and pointing- and these have some nice subtle paint details. And lastly, you get the ol’ cat-o-nine-tails- it works, but maybe a bendy one would have been better.
So thus far, we’re coming up roses, right? Looks great, good loadout, lots of personality….Catwoman was easily on her way to a perfect score, righting most of the missteps that the two previous DC women had. But sadly, we go pear-shaped in arguably the most crucial part of the figure– not so pear-shaped as to ruin things, or turn her to junk, but enough to make her only marginally better than those other ladies, and in some ways, that’s almost worst.
I’m of course talking about the articulation. Specifically, just the lack of about 4 points. Catwoman actually gets better range throughout her torso than the previous figures, and appears to do so with some newly sculpted parts. Her shoulders and hips have good range, and the thoracic joinery is pretty damn useful. Hell, even the boots are decently ranged. The problem comes down to her inexplicable use of single jointed elbows and knees. The single swivel joints do an okay job of giving her range, and in conjunction with the other articulation she can still get some good poses. But those poses would have been GREAT with some additional range. With Harley and Wonder Woman, I can understand the desire to maybe use single joints to maintain the aesthetics. I don’t agree, but I can understand. Here, if that’s the argument, it is completely moot; as she is covered literally from head to toe. And those single joints and coverage may have contributed to a rash of quality problems for the figure– I think people would bend her out of the package, not realizing a joint has swiveled backwards and CRACK! busted figure. Needless to say, much harder to do that with any of the male double jointed figures- even under a suit, you would easily tell something wasn’t right.
It’s not a deal-breaker, at least for me, because everything else works so damn good. And like I said, that collective (no pun intended) overall package does put her ahead of her contemporaries. But we are talking a serious chunk of change, and with every male figure at least sporting the extra knee articulation, it can feel like these female figures come up a little short, in value and physically. I’m a long way from feeling like she’s a weak figure, or even that she doesn’t excel past other Catwoman figures- because she isn’t, and she does. But in a line that makes excellence such a priority, she feels more like a “pretty good.”
So, when it comes to recommending this figure, I do so somewhat cautiously- she is a very nice Catwoman figure, and shows improvement in the One:12 line’s females, but at $80+ and shipping, I need her to be more than just 80% of a perfect Catwoman. So, if you know going in what she’s going to be, or if you happen across a good deal, proceed, but do so with the hope we won’t be having this same conversation when we get to a One:12 Black Widow.
