ROBIN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Robin was the sidekick of Batman and a member of the Justice Society Infinity”

In 1961, Flash #123, a story titled “Flash of Two Worlds,” reintroduced the original Flash, Jay Garrick, by showing his exploits as having taken place on a parallel Earth to that of Barry Allen, the then current Flash.  The story’s success led to follow-ups, reviving other Golden Age DC heroes, and placing them on this newly created “Earth 2.”  Since Earth 2 had allowed the characters to age more or less in real time from where they’d been left off in the ‘40s, when the “original” Dick Grayson reappeared six years later in 1967, he wasn’t a teen sidekick anymore, but rather an adult member of the Justice Society.  But, where his Earth 1 counterpart would take up the monicker “Nightwing,” Earth 2 Dick maintained the “Robin” name.  While the Earth 1 Dick gets most of the toy coverage, Earth 2’s version gets a lot of coverage himself, and he’s even joined the Earth 1 version’s four Super Powers figures with one of his own.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin is the final figure in Wave 13 of McFarlane’s Super Powers, numbered 66 in the overall line-up.  He’s not specifically denoted “Earth 2” anywhere on the packaging, but the bio on the back indicates it, though the call-out of Justice Society Infinity is a really specific post-Infinite Crisis reference.  When Earth 2 Dick Grayson first reappeared, he was sporting a costume heavily inspired by Batman’s, rather than his own Robin costume.  This figure is based instead on his second, more on brand costume, which, it should be noted, was actually worn by Earth 1 Dick Grayson first, during one of of the JLA/JSA crossovers.  Earth 2 Dick had full possession of it after that, though, and he kept the look until his demise during Crisis on Infinite Earths.  The figure stands 4 5/8 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s using the standard male body that’s based on the Flash mold, a first for any version of Dick in the line.  That said, it’s a far better match than the rather large base body of the first two Nightwings, and means he scales far better next to the various basic Batmen, so I certainly don’t mind it.  He gets a modified version of the Gold Label Nightwing head sculpt, with the hair removed on the sides and the lines of the mask removed, so that his wrap-around mask can be properly displayed.  I like that they keep that bit of consistency between the two.  He also gets a new belt piece, which matches well to his unique belt design as seen in the comics.  It’s all topped off with a cloth cape, which I think is actually a little nicer than a lot of the others from this line.  His color work is very bright and colorful, and the paint application is mostly pretty clean, and without any real slop or bleed over.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When McFarlane’s Super Powers started, we got a modern Nightwing, and I figured that was the only Dick Grayson we’d get.  Then we got ‘90s Nightwing, and I was like, wow, I guess we’re getting two, but that’s got to be it, right.  Then we got ‘80s Nightwing, and I was really happy, but also 100% sure there was no way there could possibly be another Dick Grayson.  So this guy?  Totally out of left field.  Am I shocked?  A bit.  Am I unhappy?  Not in the slightest.  He turned out really well.  It’s a design that translates really well to the aesthetic, and it just makes for an incredibly fun figure.  And, sure, I’m now thinking it’d be great to *also* have his first costume, but you know what, I’m okay with just this one.