Review of Batgirl - Cover Girls of the DCU Statue

Introduction

Cover Girls of the DC Universe is one of my favorite on going statue series right now, so I was thrilled to receive the latest release in the mail this last week. I have added Batgirl to my set, and I'm looking forward to the future releases of Supergirl, Hawkgirl and the armored version of Wonder Woman.

These are based on the artwork of the exceptional Adam Hughes, who has a 1950's pinup style to his interpretations of the DC heroines and villainesses.

They are all sculpted by Jack Mathews, an equally talented man when it comes to clay. DC Direct has an excellent team with these two artists, and by sticking with a team they've managed to give the series a consistency in design and execution that we normally never get.

These are a limited edition of course - or that's what it's called. I just reviewed the Harry Potter Cedric Diggory bust, which was limited to 750 - that's a limited edition. Batgirl comes in at 6000, which is only limited if you're selling them at Walmart, not at the local comic shop. Still, most of these have sold through well, making them a bit more expensive on the secondary market and resulting in rare discount pricing.

Packaging - ***
These are always boxed, and there's never a window. That makes it tough to be sure you're getting a great paint job when you're at the comic shop, making consistent quality all the more important.

On the plus side, the foam trays are very dense and solid, ensuring a safe trip for your Cover Girl. There's also the larger sized Certificate of Authenticity that replicates the main text from the box and gives the edition number and size. This edition information is also printed on the bottom of the box and the base of the statue.

Sculpting - ***
These statues, as the name implies, are generally gleaned from various past covers. However, that isn't a hard and fast rule, and in fact a big selling point is that these can shift into new designs by Adam Hughes. I'm pretty sure that's the situation here, since I've seen the early sketches for this statue, but never an actual cover...yet.

The concept here is that she's perched above the city, looking down over the edge, fretting because her batarang is all tangled up. I'm sure there's some sort of pseudo sexual implications there, but I'm not quite getting it. Anyway, she's aghast since what super heroine would want to be seen futzing with her batarang?

Batgirl is leaning forward, legs locked back and that cute little butt thrust out (sadly, it's largely hidden by the cape), dangerously close to losing her balance due to her rather large endowments. She has a worried, slightly scared look on her face, with big eyes and raised eyebrows.

All that said, it's not one of my favorites. It's the look on her face that's hurting it for me - she looks scared, and that's just not a look I'm interested in seeing on the face of my hero, at least not in statue form. I want her bold, I want her strong, I want her confident. She's none of those things here.

However, the sculpting itself is quite good. Mathews has captured the Hughes design perfectly, and he's given her an appropriate amount of detail for this series. She has that clumpy hair that I've complained about in the past, but since that's a style choice for this line, I've come to expect it.

It's worth noting that the 'rope' for the batarang, which runs out of the top of the purse, is wire, allowing you to pose it however you'd like. I have my batarang off to the side a bit as though it's swinging around as she tries to deal with the tangled mess, but that was to give the otherwise static design a bit of movement. You may prefer hanging it straight down, or getting crazy with it.

She's in the same 9" scale as the rest of the series, and fits in great in terms of proportions and style.

Paint - ***
One of the issues this series has with some consistency is less than perfect paint. None of them have been total slop buckets, but none have had the level of quality that you should be getting when you spend almost $100.

The work around Batgirl's eyes is a little weak, with poor cut lines on the mask and eyebrows. Most of the costume is good, but there's still some yellow slop around the bat symbol, and the edge of the cape is sometimes black...sometimes yellow.

As usual, I like the use of different finishes - matte, gloss, etc. - to imply different materials used in the costume, but in general DC Direct needs to recognize that the paint quality is the biggest issue this on going series faces.

Value - **
Sadly, these are pushing $90 these days, up a bit from even the $80 you could find Harley for just a couple months ago. At $80, I gave them still an average value, but with the price rising, I'm not sure quite as many folks will find these as irresistible.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. The metal posts on her feet fit inside the base cleanly, and there's no other removable parts.

Overall - ***
Currently there are only two series of statues that I'm a completist on - Batman Black and White, and Cover Girls of the DC Universe. Both concepts translate well into polystone, and both look better as a group than as single pieces.

That doesn't mean that every release is a home run, however. For me, this is perhaps my least favorite of the Cover Girls, largely because of the chosen design. I understand the artistic need to mix it up a bit, but I still need my heroes to be heroic. They can be in pain, they can even be beaten, but they shouldn't look scared, least of all over a tangled batrope. I also get that there's supposed to be a bit of humor in this, and you may enjoy it more than I.

While I might whine about the design, I will still say that I'm glad I picked her up and she will look great with the others. I wouldn't buy this statue as my one and only Batgirl, but when combined with the rest of the series, the consistent style gives the overall display a boost.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has her at $90.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Cover Girl statue reviews include:

- there's been Harley, Power Girl, Catwoman/Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Black Canary.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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