I like Barbara Gordon. I like her as
Batgirl, I like her as Oracle. Obviously I liked her when the
mind-blowingly hot Yvonne Craig was on screen in short dresses and
go-go boots or that amazing, skintight, sparkly purple bodysuit.
Not so much when she wasn’t actually
Barbara Gordon and Alicia Silverstone was playing her; even if Batman and Robin is one of my favorite movies ever.
Over the years I’ve read some of the
pre-Oracle Barbara Gordon stuff as well as a few stories that were
written after but took place before. I highly recommend The
Greatest Batgirl Stories Ever Told and The Cat and The Bat
if you want a couple of quick primers on Barbara’s career as
Batgirl.
And then there’s New 52 Barbara
Gordon, who is once again Batgirl.
When it was announced that Gail Simone
would be writing Barbara Gordon I thought it would be the best thing
ever. She was the only writer to have had any real success writing
Wonder Woman (in my opinion) and her run on Secret Six is one
of my favorites. Who better to write about Ms. Gordon’s return to
crime fighting? I hated to lose the character of Oracle, as she had
become one of my favorites, but the thought of Simone on a
Barbara-as-Batgirl title was exciting.
And then it came out and I didn’t
like it. I mean, I really didn’t like it. I’ve gone into
it in detail before, but I didn’t like the style of her writing or
her characterization of Barbara. I gave it six issues and then
dropped it. I’ve checked in a couple of times since then and things
don’t seem to have improved. Of course, that’s the case with most
of the New 52 books.
But as much as I don’t care for the
comic, I do like the look of the New 52 Batgirl. I dig the colors and
– like Batman – I think this is one character where the armor
look is appropriate. I knew I was going to buy this one the first
time I saw a production photo. What I wasn’t going to do was pay
thirty bucks for it, which is what Billy’s Toys was
charging. As much as I love that store, that was unreasonable.
Thankfully, I found Batgirl – along
with Batman and the rest of the new DC Unlimited figures –
at Target just a few days later. Also, unlike Batman, Batgirl didn’t
break.
First Glance: I really
love the colors and design of this Batgirl. Granted, the golden boots
and gloves are probably a bit absurd, but whatever. They look neat.
Articulation: Batgirl
has what is basically the standard for Mattel’s DC figures, with a
couple of minor differences.
Head – ball joint
Shoulders – swivel/hinge
Elbows – swivel/pivot
Wrists – swivel
Abdomen - swivel
Hips – swivel/hinge
Thighs - swivel
Knees – pivot
Ankles - pivot
Thanks to the hair the head is a bit
limited in its movement. You can still get a bit of left to right and
up and down, but not much.
The arms feature completely new
articulation for Mattel’s DC figures. Rather than having unsightly
– and often fragile – bicep swivels, Batgirl has swivels at the
tops of her elbow joints. These provide the same functionality as the
bicep swivel but are visibly undetectable and much sturdier.
The abdominal swivel is reminiscent of
the one from the Star Sapphire figure. Except, of course, that
this one actually moves a bit and doesn’t completely destroy the
profile of the figure. I actually prefer this to a waist swivel on a
female figure because the edges can line up more easily. Obviously
the ideal point of articulation for a female figure is a GI Joe-style
rocker at the waist, but those are probably more expensive to
produce.
All of the joints on my Batgirl work
well. None are stuck and they are all tight enough to hold poses.
Sculpt: This figure is
almost entirely new parts. The only ones we’ve seen before are the
hands and maybe the head.
This is pretty much the same head as
all the other Batgirls, but it seems to have a slightly different
shape to the hair and a bit more detail. I don’t know if going back
and touching up a sculpt is something they can do, but it appears to
be what happened here. It’s fine because it all still works.
Batgirl’s costume may be different, but her cowl and hair are
essentially the same.
The hands are the same hands that every
other DCUC female has. It’s actually a little irritating since the
textures on the New 52 Batgirl’s gloves are some of the most
practical and interesting things about the design. All of the other
ridges and seams and stuff on the costume look cool, but they don’t
necessarily make sense. Why do her gauntlets look like HR Giger
designed them? But the glove details look like they could provide
some sort of functionality to improve grip or something. Also, this
is a 6” action figure so maybe I should just calm down about it.
The rest of the figure looks awesome.
The black portions have a body armor look that is reminiscent of
Nolan Batman, possibly even more so than the New 52 Batman. This
helps the joints blend in and make the figure much more visually
dynamic than other Batgirls. I really do feel like these New 52
designs make for great-looking figures even if they do look too busy
in the comics. The Bat symbol on the chest is deeply sculpted and
well-defined. Far superior to the painted-on logos we’re used to.
The gauntlets and boots are new as
well. The gauntlets have all of the wacky ridges that I can’t quite
explain but that look cool. The boots are impressive because the
bat-shaped tops actually extend up above the joint and look very cool
while the feet have treads and detailing to make them appear more
functional than your average superhero sock-boot.
Barbara’s utility belt is chock full
of detail and sits angled on her hips, looking much better than the
DCUC female buck with a tacked-on belt.
As much as I like the execution of the
design on this figure, my favorite part is that it isn’t warped
like my other Batgirls. Mattel packaged these DC Unlimited figures in
neutral poses and used a minimum of the figure-deforming rubber bands
in securing them in the package. As a matter of fact, I don’t think
Batgirl had a single one. This warping-in-the-package has
traditionally been my biggest issue with Mattel figures and I’m
glad they have finally addressed it. I hope this continues.
Coloring: The glossy
black of most of the body looks very good. It doesn’t require
washes to have depth and the seams and plating stand out on their
own.
The gold on the boots, gloves, utility
belt, and Bat symbol might be a little silly, but it does contrast
very nicely with the glossy black and the purple of the cape lining.
The facial details seem a bit more
crisp than other DCUC figures. The eyes are centered and the lip
color is solid. Unfortunately, Mattel has once again overlooked the
fact that BARABRA GORDON IS A FUCKING REDHEAD.
Side Note: I understand that the figure's hair looks fiarly red in all of these pictures. I assure you that in person it is not. It is some sort of muddy brown.
This is such an
important aspect of her character that DC went so far as to de-age
her father, James Gordon, to the point where he has red hair
again as well. As does her psychopath brother, James, Jr. It’s a
whole fucking ginger family, just like the O’Dares in Starman,
except that Mattel can’t fucking get it tight. This:
This is RED HAIR ON AN ACTION FIGURE.
As is this:
And this:
AND THIS:
As a matter of fact, I made a whole list of redhead action figures.
THIS IS NOT (even though it looks like it in this picture, but it isn't):
FUCKING SHIT, MATTEL.
Flair: This Batgirl has
a new cape. It looks good, but I might like it if the scallops at the
bottom were a bit deeper. The flat black matches the color of her
cowl and the purple lining is a great touch. There’s a bit of mess
around the edges on mine, but nothing too terrible.
Accessories: Jack and
shit. I don’t get it. Penguin comes with his umbrella and I think
that crazy Total Justice-looking Hawkman comes with two weapons.
Mattel already has several Bat-themed accessories tooled and I do not
understand why they couldn’t have thrown at least a Batarang in
with Batman and Batgirl. It’s totally lame and it’s going to
knock what is otherwise an excellent figure down lower than she
should be.
Packaging: The same
overwrought blister card we’ve been getting since the Batman Legacy
figures came out. It looks good, but is it really necessary? There’s
a bio and some stats on the back:
And I can’t help but notice that
“Gadgets” was left off of Batgirl’s list of abilities. That’s
still no excuse, Mattel.
Value: $15.99 honestly
isn’t bad for a 6” figure in this day and age. But she should
have at least come with a Batarang.
Overall: The figure
itself would be excellent if it had the correct hair color. I love
the sculpt and it incorporates far more new parts than I had
expected. But factoring in the hair and the lack of accessories, I
have to score it lower than I would like.
3
out of 5
It looks like Batgirl is one-per-case
right now, so if you see one and can overlook the incorrect hair
color, grab one. This really is a great-looking figure, which makes
it all the more frustrating that they screwed up something as basic
and character-defining as hair color.
Just for fun, here's a picture Lil' Troublemaker wanted me to take:
-Phantom
No comments:
Post a Comment