Ra’s
al Ghul is my favorite Batman villain. That’s the only reason I
always get his stupid name right. The correct pronunciation has
varied across media, which drives me insane. Before I ever heard it,
I pronounced it “rohz”.
Side
Note: I do not understand how dictionary pronunciations work. I never
have.
The
first I ever heard of Ra’s al Ghul was the excellent and
mythology-defining Son of
the Demon by Mike W. Barr
and Jerry Bingham. Between the art and the writing this was
sequential storytelling of the highest caliber. I hadn’t read
anything quite so impressive at the time I read this one, and it is
still one of my favorites. I had never heard of Ra’s, and the idea
that there was this character that thought he was so incredibly
awesome that only Batman was good enough to be or provide his
successor was a powerful concept. It was this weird Moebius strip of
character reinforcement. Ra’s was saying Batman was awesome and
Batman was admitting that Ra’s was awesome and it was this whole
pro wrestling logic cycle of making everything seem even more
awesome.
Since
then, Ra’s has been used somewhat sparingly. I haven’t seen or
read that many stories with him and when he is used as the Dark
Knight’s antagonist, the instances I have seen were well done.
Ra’s
al Ghul is a character that doesn’t allow for much interpretation.
While most of Batman’s rogues gallery is filled with folks who look
like clowns or scarecrows or penguins and leave a lot of room for
alterations; Ra’s is defined by his motivations, not his looks. He
is as smart as Batman. He is as skilled as Batman. He wants to
reshape the world into a more perfect place. I think this lack of
malleability is why I like him so much – no writer is going to be
able to come along and make him something other than what I think he
should be. Also, Ra’s is not a crazy person (except for his
post-Lazarus pit mensies). The crazy thing gets old sometimes.
Having
said all of that, I fully expect a New 52 Ra’s to be introduced
that is just some crazy person that lives in the alleys of Gotham.
FIRST
GLANCE
Oh, look
– it’s that suit again. And is it just me or does that head look
super-cartoony?
PACKAGING
I like
the DCSC window box, but I have to admit to being excited that
Batzarro in December marks the last time I will see it. Okay, well –
not the last time. I’ll probably order Damian Wayne and Ice
whenever they get around to offering them. But overall the Infinite
Earths sub has been a chore. I freely admit that I was dumb to sign
up.
That’s
not a bad summary of Ra’s. Mattel has been doing a pretty good job
with these bios. The art on the back of the box is pretty nice as
well. But is it just me, or does this painting of Ra’s look sort of
like Billy Bob Thornton?:
The more
I think about it, the more I think Billy Bob would be a fantastic
Ra’s if he can do a different accent.
LOOKS
SUIT
BODY!
More on
that in Needless Things’ upcoming review of the ENTIRE DC Signature
Collection, so stay tuned. It should post around the end of
January/beginning of February.
Yes,
it’s the ol’ suit body shared by so many DC figures, plus a new
head and cloak.
The head
looks pretty bad. I think it’s a combination of the sculpt and the
paint job, but whatever the case, it’s way too cartoony when
compared to most of the other figures in the Mattel DC lines. It
looks mushy and the paint is a sloppy mess. The eyebrows and… uh…
beard thingies are way off-target and the dry brush on the hair looks
half-assed. The eyes themselves look pretty good, but I think some
sort of shading around them would have helped a lot. The profile of
the sculpt is okay, but there needs to be more fine detail.
Especially when this is one of only two new parts on the figure.
I don’t
like the suit, but it’s only because I prefer the bare-chested,
tights-and-tall-boots wearing Ra’s. And I don’t care how ticklish
that makes me sound. If I’m getting an action figure of al Ghul, I
want The Demon’s Head in his full glory, not Mr. al Ghul the real
estate magnate. Heck, Kenner took it a step further with their Ra’s
al Ghul from Batman: The
Animated Series:
I’ve
never
seen a Ra’s as badass as that one. Then again, comparing anything
to Batman: TAS
is a sure road to disappointment.
So the
suit is basically okay. As far as the color goes, this is a pretty
accurate depiction. The character has often been seen I just such a
suit with a red tie, even on The
Animated Series (though
Kenner was wise enough to avoid that version). In the pictures it
looks like the thighs of the figure are a noticeable different shade
of green from the rest, but in person you can barely tell. And trust
me – this is the sort of thing I call out all the time if it’s
bad. This isn’t bad.
The cloak has a great collar and a slightly too-big clasp thing, but is oddly narrow in the shoulders.
ACCESSORIES
Ra’s
comes with a scimitar that is ludicrously huge.
It’s
actually a pretty good-looking sword and it’s actually made of a
rigid plastic, but it’s so damn big!
"Overcompensating? No - why do you ask?" |
Can we
start a petition for this playset that would also include a good,
shirtless Ra’s with an alternate “post-Lazarus Pit mensies”
head and hands (they’d be all clawed). I’m sure Matty would only
charge us $300 for it.
FUN
This
figure is not fun. It is an ugly man wearing an ugly suit with an
ugly cape. It can’t pose much and it’s not even all that nice to
look at. Oh, and it’s worth noting that his ball-jointed head can’t
look up or down at all.
OVERALL
This
isn’t the Ra’s al Ghul I wanted, but I suppose it’s the Ra’s
al Ghul I deserve.
And no –
I will never get tired of abusing that quote. But I will try to limit
it to Batman-related things.
The head
looks bad, the look is utterly unexciting, the sword is so big it
makes the most ruthless leader on the planet look like a child. This
figure gets a double blech.
The only
reason I’m keeping it is because there’s no other Ra’s in the
DCUC style.
If you –
like me – won’t consider your DC collection complete without The
Demon’s Head, check out the usual suspects – BigBad, eBay, your
friendly neighborhood con – and be prepared to pay a premium.
2
out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment