The Strange Lives of Batman

The Strange Lives of Batman

DC Multiverse - Mattel

SDCC exclusive set

Another San Diego Comic-Con exclusive?!  Ugh!  Oh well...I've said before that I'm alright with character variants being offered up as exclusives, but not character exclusives.  Then Batman comes along and makes me a damn hypocrite.  I can't pass up Silver Age shenanigans, even if it's paying for what is essentially the same Batman figure four times over!

Four Batmen in one helluva box!  Another box "keeper" here...making me more of a hypocrite, dammit.  But it looks just like one of those bonkers, 80-Page Giant covers!  (I'm not just being a hipster here...I have 80-Page Giant # 1, 15, 16.)  It's got a semi-translucent, plastic slipcover that comes off to reveal the figures in comic panel recreations:  Negative Batman, Zebra Batman, Rainbo Batman, and a standard Batman with multiple accessories.

They all look great.  This Silver Age Bats is slimmer, but more articulated than Mattel's previous effort.  The paint on mine are clean for the most part.  The only complaint I have here is that the capes on Zebra and Rainbow are a flimsy, almost paper thin plastic.  Negative Batman is actually translucent in spots, which is a nice demonstration of the gimmick.






  

The accessories included are alternate heads and face plates to recreate even more crazy Batman variants from gimmicks past:  Alien Batman, Rip Van Batman, and Robot Batman!  The mouth area of all the Batmen can be removed to plug in the beard and robo-chin.  And the heads pop on and off with ease for the Alien look and...saving the best for last...a standard Bruce Wayne head!

So long, Ben Affleck noggin, comic Bruce is finally here.  I think it looks fine on the suited WWE body I have been using for his daytime attire.  If only there were a matching, unmasked Dick Grayson head as well.

I won't detail the background on these oddball looks, but I will provide links for those scratching their heads "why?"  To further answer "why" I needed these...well...I have a Batcave and a problem.  Of course I need Batman variants to stand around as alternate suits or trophies of his past!  It's a no-brainer!

Zebra Batman

Negative Batman

Rainbow Batman

I, of course, did not go to SDCC to get these.  Mattel had a ridiculous online preorder for pickup at the show only.  And then they "sold out" at the show.  If you believe that, Gleek.  I paid about $40 over the asking price in Ebay blood money/shipping.  I gritted my teeth in doing so, but I don't regret it now.  Seeing all the Bat-suits on display in my cave was worth it.

Anyway, enjoy a look at said cave.  It's made up of Mattel's massive BvS playset (the one good thing that came of that movie), various figures (from Mattel's Batman 2003 line, DC Superheroes, DC Universe Classics, DC Multiverse), multiple accessories (batarangs, Batmobiles, Batcycles, Batjets, 1966 Batcomputer), and some custom additions (smaller Batcave section from a kiddie line, Jurassic World massive T-Rex, printed giant penny, Joker Card, blueprints, posters).

DK2 Flash

 The Flash

The Dark Knight Strike Again

Mattel - Walgreens Exclusive

The Dark Knight Strikes Again was pretty bad (not "All-Star Batman" bad), but this Flash figure is pretty decent!  Flash is a Walgreen's exclusive priced at $20, but I held out long enough to find one on clearance for $10 while on vacation.

 

I'm not sure why Barry Allan decided a romper would be a good uniform change, or why to go "Zoom" with the color scheme, but it's different and not wholly visually displeasing.  I mean, it is fairly accurate to the source material, but then again, Frank Miller doesn't make a lot of sense.

My favorite part is the boots.  The lighting bolt off the back is neat, as are the new lifts.  Maybe decades of being a speed demon has been murder on the arches?  Who knows, but the Frankenstein effect puts this retooled/repainted Flash almost a half an inch over his predecessors.  Though cool, the boots also give the figure its only negative.  The leg above the ankle comes from a full-jumpsuit Flash, and its obvious from the weird muffin-top of skin above the yellow.  I guess laces are foreign to him... gotta tie 'em tight if you're gonna break the speed of light, right?

 

For a retooled figure, the changes make sense and isn't bad as far as variants go.  And he comes with a few accessories to sweeten the deal:  a miniaturized Atom figure and an old-man Bruce Wayne head.  Having the Armored Batman from waves back really helped me pull the trigger.  Still, I got him on sale, and wouldn't have paid over $15.