Wednesday, June 13, 2012

DC Comics New 52 Batman costume / Bat-suit good or bad? Just accept it :) It's a done deal

The New 52 is a 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero books, in which all of its existing titles were cancelled, and 52 new series debuted in September 2011 with new #1 issues. Among the series being renumbered are Action Comics and Detective Comics, which had previously retained their original numbering since the 1930s. Touted as a large publishing event following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC's relaunch entails changes to both the publishing format and fictional universe to entice new readers.

Much of Batman's history and timeline remains intact. With the exception of Stephanie Brown, all of the Robins have been accounted for and Barbara Gordon has spent time as Oracle, recently returning as Batgirl. The stories build on recent developments, and Bruce Wayne is again the only Batman.

BUT Batman does get a new costume.


The new Jim Lee designed Batman costume / Batsuit will be featured in the popular DC Direct Batman: Black & White statue series. The 5.5" statue will retail for US$80 when released (USD69.99 if you pre-order at BigBadToyStore). The only "Batman Black and White" statue I have is the Mike Mignola inspired version which I had posted earlier (pictures HERE) and that particular version has become very sought after :)

From legendary artist Jim Lee comes the latest collectible in the "Batman: Black and White" line. Designed to the unique vision and style of Jim Lee, and complimented with the traditional moody, monochromatic color scheme, this Caped Crusader statue sculpted by Paul Harding measures 5.5" high x 6" wide x 5" deep.


During the last major Comic-Con, DC COMICS revealed an 6.75" action figure line featuring the Justice League members (Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash and Cyborg) all wearing their New 52 attire. Batman will be the first in the series to be released. Check out the new 52 Batman action figure!


One of the figures that made it through before DC Comics pulled the plug on all pre-New 52 action figures is this 1/4th scale "Museum Quality Statue" line Batman in his slightly pre-new 52 costume. This is inspired by the Batman Reborn / Batman Inc. version of Batman which I think looks fantastic except that I chose not to collect 1/4th scale because the quarter size makes the figure rather BIG and takes up that much more space both horizontally and vertically and I've designed all my display cabinets for 1/6th scale figures and I intend to keep focus and stay with 1/6th scale because to me, 1/6th is good enough without having to go into 1/4th.


But you have to admit, this looks rather NICE for a statue. That's the other thing: I don't fancy statues :( these things are mostly cast in stone and non-articulated. Manufacturers have wised up and added real fabric costumes to the 1/4th scale statues (now called Premium Format Figures) which previously haD their costumes painted on and that lost them a lot of points in terms of realism when 1/6th scale figures had fabric outfits / costumes and ultra-detailed miniature accessories and weapons which statues did not possess.


The Dark Knight emerges from the rubble of Gotham City in the latest from the museum quality line of collectibles. Measuring approximately 18.75” high x 9” wide x 11” deep, this hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain, mixed-media statue is packaged in a 4-color box. On sale September 12, 2012 priced at US$324.95.

Well, Bats all folks :) for now...

You can pre-order the New 52 Figures at BigBadToyStore

1 comment:

Super-Duper ToyBox said...

Awesome! I liked the Jim Lee New 52 designs- even Superman ;)