Review of Spy Vs Spy
Batman Black & White Statue

Introduction

When I was a kid, Mad magazine was our subversive outlet.  It wasn't quite as biting and up front in its satirization of the world as National Lampoon would become, but it was still pretty damn harsh on the media, culture, and politics. Parents hated it - kids loved it.

One of my favorite aspects was Spy vs Spy. I didn't realize until years later that this 'silent' strip was produced by a Cuban artist who had fled Castro's regime, but even as a youngster the cold war imagery was quite apparent.

As the Batman Black and White statue series ages, it has cast its net pretty wide in search of new ideas. The latest is this combination statue of one spy, done in half black, half white, and somewhat resembling Batman. Yea, we'll get to that in a minute.

This is a limited edition of 5000, and will run you around $70 at most retailers.

Packaging - ***
The box shows the statue, with basic information on the back. The interior eggshell trays are collector friendly of course, but while this is a limited edition, there's no Certificate of Authenticity. The edition size and number are printed on the bottom of the base.

Sculpting - **1/2
Let's get the purely mechanical aspects of quality out of the way first.

The statue is on the larger side for this series, coming in at just over 7" tall, even in a slight crouch. He's a pretty thick design too, making him see a bit too large for the series, although that's a tough call - he's a cartoon character, which are often tough to portray in scale with more realistic characters due to the extreme designs.

The quality of the casting is weaker this time, with some rough areas around the brim of the hat and the collar, where the surface isn't smooth and clean. There's a pock marked texture in some areas, as though they had trouble with air bubbles during manufacture. The various sculpted extras on the belt are also quite rough looking, and some have very soft features.

So the quality of the statue itself is not up to the usual expectation for this line. Now let's talk about this design.

The current artist for the strip, Peter Kuper, did the design. It's not his fault. I suppose that on paper this sounded like a good idea - the look of both spies is identical expect one spy is black, one spy is white, and the Batman series is 'black and white'. Why not mash the two spies together to create one combo? And dress him up like Batman?

It turns out trying to create something that crosses between these two worlds was a bad idea, and it ends up looking forced and not appropriate to either. They've added a split hat to create bat-ears, a cape, and a bat symbol as the most obvious nods to the superhero. There's a utility belt too, but it contains the sort of extras that works for the Spy, rather than Batman. And the sculpted edge of the shirt also emotes a Batman theme, albeit more subtly.

The most obvious Bat extra is the batarang in his right hand. In his left he has a stick of dynamite, a very Spy-like addition. He's posed in a walking gate, moving forward towards his enemy, whomever that might be in this mashed up world.

I get what they were trying to do. But I just don't think it worked, and in trying to emote both licenses, it fails them equally. This isn't the first time the series has brought in a rather unique cartoon character - they crossed over with the other Mad magazine artist, Sergio Aragones, several years ago - but this is the first time where it feels like they missed the mark, and missed it by a wide margin.

Paint - *1/2
While I have some serious aesthetic and quality issues with the sculpt, it's really just a quality issue when it comes to the paint. And those issues are even more glaring and obvious.

I think this is the first statue in the entire run that's truly just black and white - no gray at all. The edges between those two distinct colors are sloppy and uneven everywhere, but I included a shot of the top of the hat below as one example. There's stray marks, dirt and dust trapped inside, and even spotty coverage in the black over some of the rough sections of the poorly cast body.

This is one of the worst paint jobs I've seen in the entire series, and I certainly hope this isn't any indication of the quality we'll see moving forward.

Value - **
While this statue is in line price-wise with the rest of the series at $70, the quality of the paint work was a disappointment and well below the norm. That hurts this score as well.

Things to Watch Out For -
As always, the foot peg is metal, so take some care inserting it into the softer resin material of the base. Otherwise you should be good to go.

Overall - **
This is the first statue in the series that I feel really doesn't fit. He's going to stand out on the shelf, but not for a good reason. He'll stand out because it will seem like he's from a different line altogether, and is going to end up at the back of my shelf. That would be true even if the quality wasn't such a let down this time, but with weak work on both aspects of the manufacture of the statue, he's near the bottom of the entire series for me.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - **1/2
Paint - *1/2
Value - **
Overall - **

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth follows the trend, also at $70.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
My most recent review of a Batman Black and White statue was the release based on John Romita Jr's artwork. Earlier reviews include the Breyfogle, the Jason Fabok version, and the Sprang Joker and Batman.

I've covered a TON of the earlier releases as well, and you should also hit the Search Reviews page to find them, or in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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