DC Multiverse - Rookie Wave

 "Rookie" Collect and Connect Wave

DC Multiverse - Mattel

A Batman-centric wave may sound a bit disappointing considering that's about all we got from Mattel over a decade ago, but stay til the end... it's worth it!  We get 2 new Bat-family characters, a fairly current-to-the-comics Batman, a classic villain, and an awesome Collect and Connect figure... oh, and one made-for-TV dud.  Wah wah!

Duke Thomas is a new Robin in the "Superheavy" storyline.  No spoilers here... you should definitely read this one.  Anyway, this figure is a completely new sculpt/body type for this line.  One that I don't see them getting much reuse/repaints out of, so Mattel is treating us.  The look and paint is spot on.  He gets a fair amount of accessories:  nunchucks, a gas grenade, and an unmasked head.  The articulation is decent, but could always use a bit more in the elbows and knees.







Rebirth Batman takes some warming to...especially in continuing the "no trunks tradition.  I do like the yellow-gold outline around the bat-logo to match the belt and the purple on the inside of the cape is a great nod to the original bat-suit.  I also like the cape being draped over the shoulders a bit, but this does hinder the range of movement here.  The plastic is just a little to rigid to make it work.  The head sculpt, with artist specific/accurate, may be a lil cartoony to fit in with the larger part of my collection.  Like with Duke, the new knees here are strange.

Let's get this over with...here's the least exciting figure in the wave:  The Atom from TV's "Arrow" and "Legends of Tomorrow."  I gave up on collecting most screen-accurate versions of comic characters, as there will inevitably be a dip in the show or movie's quality at some point that makes you regret your purchase.  It's not a bad design for a real-world Atom (though maybe a lil too Robocop reboot?), and I am glad to support Brandon Routh, who I think got a raw deal as Superman.  "Superman Returns" was pretty bad, though it's probably a good thing that story didn't continue, as at some point behind the scenes, "that version" of Lex Luthor might have forced himself upon our hero.  Wait...is that worse than a Ledger-wannabe Luthor that gets off on tricking people into drinking a mason jar of pee?  Anyway, the look of the figure is fine, but the articulation is stiff and limiting.  The mini-Atom figure was a nice touch, but...still bought it for the Rookie.

Batwing is another fairly new Bat-family addtion.  The very Tony Stark-esque son of longtime Wayne Enterprises frontman, Lucius Fox, Luke Fox joins the fray in a sleek-looking version of the Alex Ross/Kingdom Come armored Bat-suit. The suit is mostly shiny black, with some nice blue highlights here and there to make it a little more exciting. Even with some minor armor detail, this figure is a bit plain to me.  The removable wings look to be reused from a Batman Beyond figure.  Not sure why Luke didn't get an unmasked head here when Atom and Duke did.










Lastly is probably my favorite and most anticipated figure in the wave, the Reaper.  Man, for Batman having one of the biggest and most beloved Rogues gallery, Mattel sure likes to have them outnumbered in the action figure offerings.  The Reaper comes with two mace/reaper hand things, but I like to display him with one hand exposed, like the titular character he inspired from "Mask of the Phantasm."  He's pretty spot on to his Year 2 design.  The spikes and lines on the costume are perfect.  He's pretty much a flat, two-tone color scheme, but it is accurate nonetheless.  If there was one gripe with this figure, I guess it would be that the sickles look more plasticy and less metallic.  Maybe a different shade of grey in the plastic?  As long as it's not that fakey, vac-metal stuff they used to use on old Transformers and stuff.



All-in-all, not a terrible wave.  Even with some misteps, its good to see Mattel trying new things with some of these sculpts to try and keep up with Marvel Legends.  If you can look past the odd knee articulation and the Atom to the Collect and Connect Rookie figure (coming up in the next review), it's worth going all in.