Superman

I just received my Alex Ross Superman from DCBS (only $12.50!). When I was looking at it in the box, I was impressed, but now that I have it standing on my desk, I’m actually a little disappointed.

First, I was under the impression that these figures were supposed to be on a larger scale than the regular DC Direct figures, but this one certainly isn’t. Superman stands at exactly 7 inches tall, which is the correct scale according to what I heard (seven as opposed to regular DCD 6 inches), but is perfectly in place with my other DCD figures, particularly the Red Son Superman (who also comes in at seven inches). Maybe I heard wrong on that one in the first place; regardless, I expected this figure to stand above my other DVD figures, and it just doesn’t.

In general, the likeness to Ross’ Superman is great; however, I’m not convinced that this is a good thing when translated into plastic. Superman’s face is so contoured with clefts and lines that he looks a bit like a young Ronald Reagan. It doesn’t look bad, but I think the problem is that in going from Ross’ hyper-realistic style to a mass-produced action figure, something is lost in the translation. As an example, take the eyes: they don’t look real on the figure because they are done with only three paint apps - white, black and blue. To match the hyper-realistic sculpt, more paint apps would have been necessary to impart the detail contained in anyone’s eyes, much less Superman’s. Had this been a mini-statue, I imagine that it would be far more detailed paint-wise, but it would have carried a much heftier price tag.

Paint problems plague the rest of the figure as well. The outside of the ‘S’ emblem is etched into the figure’s chest, one assumes to stop paint run-off from the emblem itself onto the blue uniform. This etching is so deep that it looks like a trench. Furthermore, you can tell that the red paint was laid before the yellow in the emblem, because it shows through quite a bit, particularly inside the S itself.

Now, let’s talk about what’s done right on this figure. All of Superman’s musculature is subtle, as it appears in Ross’ paintings. The details of the uniform are all there, including the sizeable gap between the top of the cape and Superman’s neck (a detail I love in his depiction of the character). The figure stands well on or off its base, and has the now standard ball-jointed shoulders for a little extra posability.

All in all, I’m really upset that the paint details mar what is otherwise a beautiful figure. If you’re a Superman fan, or a fan of Ross’ work, this figure is probably for you, but if you just want a Superman figure, I would look at some of DCD’s other offerings first before buying this one.

As a final note, I didn’t realize until I had the box in my hand that this series of figures isn’t just Justice League, they are actually from the Justice mini-series on shelves now. Confusing.