BATGIRL

DC: THE NEW 52 (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Fun FiQ Fact #0075:  Barbra Gordon, the second Batgirl, was introduced into the comics in 1967 as a prelude to the character’s introduction in the third season of the live action Batman.

Barbara Gordon’s victimization at the hands of the Joker in Alan Moore’s “The Killing Joke” is a pretty messy story for a lot of different reasons.  Ultimately, DC’s decision not to quickly reverse Barbara’s paralyzation, and in fact embrace it and make her a stronger character *because* of it worked in her favor, with her Oracle role becoming quite a defining turn for her.  That said, it was still definitely a bummer the way they ended her time as Batgirl.  So, honestly, one of the New 52’s biggest selling points for me was its reversal of Barbara paralysis, allowing her to return to the role.  And return she did!  She’s even maintained it through several reboots, which is cool, and now she’s a major supporting player in Nightwing, which continues to be a favorite book of mine.  But we’re not talking about that right now.  No, we’re jumping back to the New 52 days right now.  Oh yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batgirl was released in DC Collectibles’ DC: The New 52 line in September of 2014, with a second run in February of the following year.  She was released alongside Supergirl both times, and Nightwing the second time.  The figure stands about 6 3/4 inches tall and she has 19 points of articulation.  She’s down the two thigh swivels that Nightwing got, but swaps them for shin swivels at the top of the boots.  Beyond that, the articulation scheme remains more or less the same.  It’s not a fantastic range of motion or anything, but it’s alright for some more basic posing.  Again, it’s biggest hold-up is the lack of mid-torso joint.  Still, it’s not awful.  She has a totally unique sculpt, based on her New 52-era design.  Her re-work is one of the ones that was a lot more “just add ridges to the classic look” oriented.  Honestly, it’s one of the more passable looks.  I think the ridges on the yellow sections are a little much, but it generally still works okay.  The sculpt translates it well, and generally makes some of the parts I like less work a little better.  My figure has a slightly warped right ear, which was caused by how she was packaged, but beyond that, the sculpt holds up.  I quite like the head sculpt in particular; while the Nightwing sculpt didn’t quite feel like Dick Grayson to me, this one definitely feels like Barbra Gordon.  The color work on Batgirl is decently handled.  She’s technically using a slightly later color scheme for the design, since her earliest appearances had a purple lining to the cape.  That said, I like this scheme a little more.  I do wish the paint used an actual black for the bulk of the costume, rather than the very dark grey, but it’s at least a clean application.  Batgirl is packed with a grapple gun, which there is no way for her to hold without snapping the thumb off her hand.  Gotta love that DCC quality.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

After breaking on the Nightwing figure I reviewed last week, I felt a need for a corresponding Batgirl.  I was in luck, because this one came into All Time fairly shortly thereafter, allowing for me to stick to my usual Nightwing/Batgirl pairing.  She’s actually a little better than the Nightwing figure, I think.  Not the best Batgirl ever or anything, but certainly still very cool.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.