DC Collectibles - ROLLER GIRL HARLEY QUINN!

DC Comics (New52) Super-Villains  - Harley Quinn - DC Collectibles 2015

Finally I have the big mystery figure of SDCC 2014 in my hands.  For the first time ever, the geeky fandom of the internet failed to leak photos when she was secretly shown to vendors on preview night last year.  I normally respect the "no photos" requests and won't scour the boards for toy paparazzi pics, but Harley is a major weakness of mine so I'll admit I engaged in an afternoon of frantic-but-fruitless googling.  This new "roller girl" design for Harley Quinn was such a relief to me when the first Amanda Conner drawings were shown.  Her previous outfits in the comics and games were just tacky and nonsensical.  Finally she looked tough, sexy, and quirky in an outfit that actually made sense for the storyline.  I think more female artists should be involved in handling costume design. Of course, in the latest comics, she hasn't really been playing roller derby so maybe her costume is changing yet again.  If it means for figures, I'm definitely down.  Let's check out Roller Harley below!

Birds of Prey - BLACK CANARY!

Dinah Lance from the Birds of Prey Boxset - DC Direct - 2003
 
The first time I ever liked Black Canary was in 2002's Batman: Hush storyline.  It was a very intriguing first impression, but a very alien one compared to the Dinah I've grown to love since.  I only have fuzzy memories of her scenes in that story (was she dressed like Mockingbird?), but I definitely remember being reminded of Coyote Ugly.  Sooo.. I'm thinking sexy barmaid fistfights?  I was too old in 2002 to not roll my eyes at that.  Who knows what it was, but something made me start reading Birds of Prey and then I was hooked (shhh.. I even have the show on DVD).  Black Canary is one of the very first DC heroines.  She debuted in a 1947 issue of Flash Comics, just five years after Wonder Woman first appeared.  Granted, that Black Canary had been retconned into this version's mother (only to be merged back into the same character again in 2011).  The only real difference is that the original character did not possess the metahuman "Canary Cry" ability, but other than that they possess the same fighting skills, same looks, and same name.  Plus Dinah hardly ever uses her cry anyway.  Let's check out this classic figure below!

DC Collectibles Dark Knight Rises CATWOMAN Bust!

Movie-Accurate Likeness of Anne Hathaway on a Mini-Bust from DC Collectibles

I love collecting Catwoman Busts.  Of all the DC females, Selina has had the most distinctive and differentiating looks from era to era.  If I had a collection of Wonder Woman busts, you know almost all of them would be the traditional longstanding star-spangled red, blue, and gold.  Catwoman, however, keeps reinventing her appearance every few years, yet there is never any doubt who she is.  Ears and skin-tight suits provide more successful variations than I ever dreamed imaginable.  It's kind of amusing that when I heard that Anne Hathaway was cast as Selina Kyle in DKR, one of my first thoughts was "Awesome! They'll definitely make a bust of that!" ..and I had the same thought when I read rumors of a Catwoman solo movie yesterday (Hopefully with an updated costume if it happens).  I have my fingers crossed that the same marketing logic that brought us the Reeves Superman, Carter Wonder Woman, and Keaton Batman busts will someday provide me with Pfeiffer and Newmar Catwomen.  This DKR Bust marks the 5th Catwoman bust in the DC Direct/Collectibles roster, and I'm sure it's not the last.

Character Spotlight on HUNTRESS!

Helena Wayne to Helena Bertinelli and back again.

I first discovered Huntress in the backup stories of Wonder Woman when I was a kid in the 80's.  I had never heard of her before, but I was instantly sucked in to the mythos of the vigilante daughter of Catwoman and Batman; Helena Wayne aka the Huntress.  Unfortunatley, it wasn't long before that character was written out of existence and replaced with Helena Bertinelli, mafia-entrenched vigilante out for justice.  While the new version still had a lot of the same elements as the original, I was acutely aware of how much the original Huntress' heroic lineage had contributed to my fascination with her.  (That, plus the fact that I really really really disliked the 1989 Huntress series.)  I was sad that the original was gone, but better to have a revamped Huntress than none at all.  Recently DC Comics has announced a new series, World's Finest, to begin in May, supposedly featuring the return of Helena Wayne.  I'm excited but I have no idea what to expect.