Back at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, one of my favorite new series from DC Direct was the set of statues called Cover Girls of the DCU. At the time, they were showing off Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Catwoman, Power Girl and Zatanna, and all looked exceptional in the approximately 9″ tall scale. I knew it was a series I’d be picking up.
And then a strange thing happened. Some how I lost track of them all together, and it wasn’t until late in 2009 when Black Canary was released that I realized I was already two statues behind. Both Wonder Woman and Zatanna had already come and gone, and I had to catch up.
Thankfully, both Wonder Woman and Zatanna were going to see a second shipment from DC Direct at the end of 2009 or early 2010. I received Wonder Woman a couple weeks ago (with Catwoman), and now Zatanna has hit my porch, making me feel all warm and fuzzy once again.
These collectibles are the combined efforts of the talented artist Adam Hughes, who designs the statues, and Jack Mathews who brings them to life in all their three dimensional glory. Each is a ‘limited’ edition, although with numbers like 5000 (the edition size on Zatanna) I think they’re pushing the concept of limited a tad.
If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at mwctoys@mwctoys.com, or head over to my site at Michael’s Review of the Week, Captain Toy for tons more collectibles reviews.
Cover Girls of the DCU – Zatanna statue
DC Direct is already in for several more statues, with some other strong rumors as well. Power Girl is up next and shipping very soon, and Harley right on her high heels. We’ve seen artwork for Poison Ivy, and both Batgirl and Supergirl are pretty much a given. After that, there’s still somewhere in the neighborhood of 352 more excellent choices for female DC characters, and while the line originally used actual covers for the designs, they’ve now said that Adam will be doing some of his own designs for the series as well, opening up the potential list even further. Bring on the ladies!
Packagiing – ***
These come in boxes, just big enough to keep the precious cargo safe and sound. Inside, the statue is packed in a solid styrofoam insert, and DC Direct has included a large Certificate of Authenticity. As I said, the run is 5000 on this particular statue, although I’m not quite sure how that worked with the two shipments. Did they always have a run size of 5000, and they just didn’t ship the second half right away? I suspect that’s the case, but I haven’t confirmed.
Sculpt – ***1/2
DCD has hit on a winning team with Hughes and Mathews. Jack has the talent to translate Adam’s designs properly, with perfect proportions, scale and style.
While these statues are generally smooth surfaced, with little texture or fine detail, there is enough to give them some level of realism and take them just a notch about a straight comic book style interpretation.
My only complaint with Zatanna is a complaint I’m likely to have with the entire series, since it’s clearly an aesthetic decision and not one of skill or quality – the hair lacks a lot of fine definition and detail. It’s less of an issue here on Zatanna than Wonder Woman, where the hair was done up in dynamic action pose, but it’s still annoying to me. I suspect I’ll end up favoring characters like Harley and Catwoman overall, where the hair is covered by a cowl, largely because of this issue.
Paint – ****
DC Direct has brought it when it comes to the paint quality on this series. I did have one statue – Black Canary – with some sloppy work on the eyes and lips, but that appears to be the exception, not the rule. The other three, Zatanna included, have had exceptional paint ops for this price range and this scale.
Cut lines are generally sharp and clean, skin tones are smooth and consistent, and small details are well done. They’ve added some variety by employing different finishes, and the overall final effect is one of a high quality statue.
Design – ****
Each of these, whether it’s based on a comic cover or it is one of the future Hughes designs, is intended to be quite dynamic. They’re shooting for a lot of personality here, which is always a big risk. It can pay off huge when done well, but crash and burn if the execution is poor.
So far the only design that’s questionable for me is Black Canary. For other folks, Wonder Woman was iffy. But I think Zatanna has universal appeal, with a very sexy, sleek dancer’s stance and coy expression. Like Catwoman, every aspect of the pose, from the tilt of the head to the angle of the hips, brings out her best qualities. There are times when Hughes’ ladies are a bit, uh, disproportionate, and yes, a bit sexist in their portrayal. But there’s simply no denying that they are always a) actual women, not little girls and b) hotter than asphalt in Texas on the Fourth of July.
Value – ***
Yep, even at around $80, I’m giving these ladies an above average value score. Considering that the much smaller (around 30% smaller) Batman Black and White statues are already pushing $70, and considering the level of production quality on most of the releases so far especially with regard to the paint ops, the price tag is more than reasonable.
Things to Watch Out For – Nada. As long as you refrain from juggling her over a concrete floor, you should be fine.
Overall – ****
I still like the Catwoman the best of the four releases so far, but that might be due to my affinity towards Batman villains, especially those wearing uber tight all black costumes. Zatanna is certainly right up there with her though, and these two are unlikely to be unseated by Power Girl, at least for me. Harley on the other hand…
Scoring Recap –
Packaging – ***
Sculpt – ***1/2
Paint – ****
Design – ****
Value – **1/2
Overall – ****
Where to Buy –
You have a number of online options if your LCS doesn’t carry these:
– Alter Ego Comics has Zatanna in stock for $85, with pre-orders for the next two at the same price.
– Urban Collector is out of Zatanna, but has the next two on pre-order for around $75 each.
– Big Bad Toy Store has all the ladies listed as pre-order for $85.
– Mike’s Comics N Stuff has most of the ladies for around $90.
– or you can hunt ebay for a deal!
Related Links –
I’m now finally caught up with the series, and have reviewed Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Black Canary.
Golden Globes night. I had just cracked open a cold bottle of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen, while recalling my grandfather’s now-legendary words of wisdom: “Just remember, you can’t drink it all – they’ll always make more.” 
As far back in my life as I can remember, I was reading comics. Of course my tastes have evolved over the course of my life, but sometimes I wonder, what would I think today of the comics I loved when I was in early grade school or even kindergarten?
There is no crow in Aesop’s “The Fox and the Grapes,” which recounts a fox’s vain efforts to get hold of grapes high on a tree. (Spoiler warning: as usual I will discuss stories, including their endings, in detail.) Tashlin introduced the Crow, who tries to steal food from the Fox’s picnic spread. The Fox angrily retaliates by giving the Crow a hotfoot. The Crow then finds the fable of the Fox and the Grapes in a book and decides to restage it. He hangs a bunch of grapes on a tree branch high above the ground, and offers to trade them for some of the Fox’s picnic food. Though immediately obsessed with the grapes, the Fox refuses. So the Crow then watches placidly as the Fox makes repeated and ever more elaborate attempts to reach them, all of which backfire on him. Chuck Jones is said to have cited Tashlin’s The Fox and the Grapes as an influence on his Roadrunner-Coyote series.
Now the Crow, who usually keeps his cool and control of the situation, becomes flustered and angry. On page 1 he was complimenting himself on how quickly and easily he comes up with new ideas; now he realizes that he has just been recycling old ones. The Crow is suffering from something similar to writer’s block: after all, his schemes are what usually drive the comics stories he and the Fox appear in. He quickly concocts a new trick, and it nearly works, but the Fox sees through it. Now the Crow worries that he is in effect over the hill in his chosen profession of con artist: “If I fail now, I’m t’rough! Washed up! Finished!” He’s like a creative figure going through a midlife crisis.
I suppose it’s a sad enough commentary on the state of our current culture that, as I prepare to begin this article by stating that I was recently out for a “FourthMeal” run, I realize there is absolutely no need to explain exactly what “FourthMeal” is. Congratulations, Taco Bell – all of those billions of dollars spent on that ridiculous advertising campaign were dollars well-spent; your nasty little slogan is now part of our common vocabulary.
I’m Joe Covenant. I’m Scottish. And never have enough time to do everything I wanna! Been singing and perfoming for over 40 years… (yes, I am 46.)… and I’ve nearly learned a 6th chord! Everything I do. I do for Song Fu. (If not for this ‘contest’ I would have never met and collaborated with so many talented people.)
Heya folks – Ken Plume here, with an interview from the vaults. I interviewed Stephen Colbert towards the middle of 2003, when it was still possible to set up an in-depth piece with Stephen that wasn’t destined for Entertainment Weekly or The New York Times.
Ignore all of the pale-wannabes and unfortunate attempts to adapt it for other markets, and stick with the original UK edition of Top Gear, hosted by the madman trinity of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. If you don’t like cars, don’t worry – I could care less about cars, but love this show something fierce, and it all comes down to the energy, likeability, and humor of the presenters. Don’t believe me? Check out the newly-released 
Tongs? Who wants use tongs when you’re cooking hot food! Heck, if you use tongs, you probably use oven mitts, too! Well, join the future and start on your journey to become more machine than man by getting a pair of 
Jumping ahead of about 7 unreleased seasons, Springfield’s first family celebrates two decades on the air with the release of 
I don’t know how much work he actually did on it besides lending it his name (or if he’s even read it), but 
If you’re not yet aware of the work being done by the fine folks at La-La Land Records, let this be your wake-up call. They’ve been quietly releasing a whole slew of limited edition, much-requested soundtracks to classic flicks, and the latest to get their treatment is 
I’m always game when someone shakes up the chat show format with a unique take – made all the better when it’s hosted by someone that you actually want to spend time with. Such is the case with Elvis Costello’s 
Combine an anniversary of an evergreen title with rather unfortunate recent events, and you get a 10th anniversary special edition of the Shakespeare in high school 
In the late 80’s when it made its debut, 
It’s often overlooked as the odd period between Cheers and his recent renaissance on Damages and Bored To Death, but 
From the editors of McSweeney’s comes 
You can feel the creak beginning to set in as we enter the 12th season of 
Bring the classic run of the series to a close before the lackluster post-movie, set-in-the-future episodes with the release of 
Don’t let the often cornball series keep you from seeing the original feature 
They’ve become cable classics over the years, despite their last-gasp, 80’s style over-the-top action cheese, but my do 
Lionsgate is releasing handful of their music & musician-centric feature films in a series their calling “Music Makers”, all of which come packed with a sampler CD featuring a track each from the musicians highlighted in the films (with an additional cut from Bobby Darin). The films in question are the Darin biopic 
Maybe it’s in films like 
I never really cottoned to the BBC’s recent slick & shiny take on 
LEVI: So it was right around the corner from where the convention was and Adam and I had a panel on Saturday. We already talked about Chuck and we were supposed to have another panel with another actor who didn’t end up making the convention so it was just going to be me. And I said I didn’t want to just sit up there and say the same things so I said, “Hey, instead of me just talking, who wants to go walk over to Subway and have some sandwiches?”
LEVI: I think that A) it is the element that Chuck is one of them and I feel partly that like Josh and I, we are Chuck and Morgan, not entirely, but when we say we’re gamers, we are genuine gamers. And I think that there is an honesty that comes through in that and that’s not a pat on our back by any means but certainly I feel like the audience feels less duped. I feel like they get to watch the characters and feel like that these guys are like that too. They are on Xbox and like comic books ““ so on a personal level I think they are invested in us too which I think is a really awesome thing. But then on top of that I think it’s an entertaining show and speaks to the fanboy and fangirl. We nod to and allude to, not rip off”¦
LEVI: We’ve already seen some changes and those changes have all been kind of monetary, budget restricting changes which is across the board, really. Some shows didn’t come back at all because they just couldn’t work it on with the budget or they were already on season 7 and it’s like…look, Without a Trace for example was in the top 10 shows or something and it didn’t come back. That was making huge numbers and far bigger numbers than us. So across the board, studios, networks, everybody feels it so I, as tough as it is sometimes, would be like, “Come on, give us a little bit of love.”
I am a huge fan of Lost. And when they hit ““ I thought second season was fantastic. The first half of the third season, had maybe writer changes, but you are not getting the mythology, not getting questions answered, just more and more questions, but not questions at all, just day to day living and I’m like, “Come on, what’s going on?’ And then they went on hiatus and came back and the second half of the third season was some of the best television I ever saw in my entire life. I was like, “YES, here’s my show.” And I felt good because I didn’t give up, I could have, but I didn’t and you feel good that you stayed and it’s still to me the best show on TV. I love Lost. I can’t wait to find out what’s going to happen. I’m dying.
