2011
04.02

 

Now these two are really out of left field. I love the way DCD slip these oddball characters into their waves rather than relying on the big hitters all the time.

After Playalong/Art Asylum’s “Minimates with building blocks” attempts in the ill-fated C3 range, DC Direct decided to snap up the licence, bringing us 2-packs of Minimates a la Marvel, but with no chase figures. 8 waves were produced in all.

 

Packaging

The packaging style for this wave is consistent with the previous waves. Batgirl takes the spotlight as the character breaking out from the bubble. The figures are held into the back tray of the blister by twist ties. Apologies for not having packaging pictures accompanying the DC wave 4 reviews. As usual the fantastic Minimate Database will have them!
 
 
 


 

The Figures

Deadman

Deadman is the ghost of a murdered circus performer named Boston Brand. Although intangible he can interact with the living world by possessing human beings. He’s very much on the periphery of the DC universe so it was something of a surprise to see him included in this wave. I’m not complaining though.

Facially Deadman is let down by the fact that he’s a character with no hair. These always seem the hardest likenesses to capture in Minimate form, though to be fair the fact that his skin is completely white does mark him out from the other baldies in the Minimate milieu. I think Deadman could have done with more black over his eyes to suggest a heavier forehead. The lines of the cheekbones could have also done with being heavier to suggest gauntness. The guy, after all, is a ghost!

The body is very simple, it wears the collar piece as previously seen on Star Sapphire and Booster Gold. It works better here than it did on Star Sapphire but again the chest definition is way too high, and would have looked a lot better if there was no definition there at all. Deadman’s costume is all red, apart from the large white ‘D’ on his chest. Other than the muscle definition the ‘D’ is the only decoration on the ‘mate. There is no detailing at all to the back of the figure. The only other non standard parts on this ‘mate are the ‘pixie’ style boots as first seen on Harley Quinn. I don’t know if it’s just the figure I have or if it’s a complaint across the board, but these boots don’t seem to be very well engineered. There’s a gap between the base of the leg and the top of the boot. It irritates me more than it should do, but all the same on a figure this simple there shouldn’t be issues like this.

Deadman has no accessories. He has C3 feet and as he’s a baldy he has a solid head with no peg hole.

In conclusion: It’s good to see characters like Deadman being produced. Especially so early in the run, but all in all he’s a bit of a humdrum ‘mate.

MMC Score – 6 out of 10


 

The Spectre

Boy does this guy have some mad continuity issues. Okay, he’s the Spectre, he’s the Spirit of Vengeance, and he’s somehow tied to a cop called Jim Corrigan. Let’s leave it at that!

There’s not really a great deal to the Spectre. His costume is green and white. He wears a cloak. Errr… That’s about it. That’s not to say it’s a bad ‘mate. It’s not. It’s a good attempt at an odd character. While I like that the hood part of the cloak is separate to enable the head to turn, I don’t like that the bottom of the hood obscures the bottom of Spectre’s face. Having said that, the face is really quite non-descript. The expression is almost identical to Deadman’s, if it wasn’t for the fact that Spectre’s head has the peg hole, you could swap out the heads and only another die-hard Minimate fan would really notice the difference.

Decoration on this ‘mate is minimal. The chest definition is nicely rendered in a muted grey tone. The ends of the forearms have a green ring and the hands also are green. For some reason DC’s ‘Spirit of Vengeance feels the need to wear green trunks, maybe those white tights are too revealing for comfort? Anyway, apart from a small touch of bleedover I’m pleased to note that the trunk lines on the legs are almost symmetrical. Huzzah, and indeed hooray. It’s about time! Spectre wears the same ‘pixie’ boots as Deadman. Interestingly his seem to fit a lot better leading me to believe that the issues I have with Deadman are likely a one off.

The Spectre has no accessories. He has C3 feet and the peg-hole head.

In Conclusion: Another esoteric choice from DCD. Alone it doesn’t light any fires, but within the context of the DCU Minimates it enriches the collection.

MMC Score – 6 out of 10

 

Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan

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