Video courtesy of my site, Comics Now. Used with permission (duh).
Diamond Select's Gallery line is a great value at $45. At that price, it's tough to find too much to complain about. The sculpts are always excellent, and I usually have a "I can't believe it's plastic" feeling after looking at them. The paint is decent, too, but there's usually some degree of imperfection in the finish. These problems usually surface where two different surfaces meet, manifesting in overspray or sloppy brush lines.
This past December, Diamond sent me the Aquaman film Black Manta Gallery—a GameStop-exclusive—and I was immediately struck by how much cleaner the paint work was. Last week, Diamond sent two new GameStop-exclusives, and lo and behold, the paint is better on these, too. We already looked at Harley a few days ago, and now, it's Batman's turn.
Design, design, design
As I pointed out in the Harley review, the Injustice 2 aesthetic isn't really to my taste. I like a cleaner-looking costume without so many lines and doodads. That said, I'll do my best to evaluate this piece for what it is, and not based on my idealized picture of the Dark Knight.
The sculpt
Simply put, this is outstanding. For starters, the Batsuit looks very true to the game, from the general profile of it to the bat on the chest, to the finer details. The pose suggests Batman having just landed, immediately coiled for the next attack, his cape billowing out behind him. All of those (in my opinion) over-designed elements from the game are actually an asset here, as the assortment of textures and suit features are actually pretty impressive in real, physical space. The cape alone is worthy of me endorsing the entire statue, but the rest of it is just as striking.
The paint
You can see a lot of the excellent paint in the pictures under the Sculpt heading above, but what's really impressive here is the finer details, and there is no place where this is more evident than on the head.
I'm reusing some pictures here, but look particularly at the lines where the face meets the cowl. Those sorts of clean lines where high-contrast edges meet—it's just not a very common thing in this line. Look at the last picture—I expected the underside of that nose to be an absolute mess, but it's not. The paint is some of the cleanest on any Diamond product, and I've had a few Marvel Premier and Milestone resin statues, as well.
Overall
As a tribute to the source material, Diamond Select's Injustice 2 Batman is incredibly faithful. As a Batman statue, it has a dynamic pose, hits the main aspects of the Dark Knight's garb, and cuts a distinctly Batmanly profile. And with impeccable sculpting and paint application, it's one of Diamond's most impressive products at any price point. You can preorder yours now at GameStop.com.
DISCLAIMER: Batman News received an advance unit of this collectible for the purpose of review.
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