McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Red Hood - DC Rebirth (Two Pack)

 I guess I just couldn't wait for the single release because I bought the two-pack of Nightwing (in red) and Red Hood as soon as the Cmd.ca store released it! I wasn't expecting to find or want this one, given I was already pretty pleased with my holy grail figure Red Hood from the Arkham Knight game and the DC Essentials one that really hit the spot. This has just proven to me that dual-wielding pistol characters with sweet helmets will always be a want! 

For anyone that isn't familiar, Red Hood is the anti-hero persona AKA Jason Todd, the second-ever Robin in comics. See my Red Hod review here to read up on his character. 

This is an amazing version of Red Hood. Definitely bulkier on top than the DC Essentials version, and with nicer looking pistols. His head and the blackline to define the helmets seams looks really good. The pistols are a nice scale for the figure, and the posing options are good. The paint is pretty clean although I will say they could've maybe added some wash to his jacket and made his leg braces stand out a bit more. I like that there is more just solid black for the torso to help the red logo stand out more here. 

McFarlane Toys The Merciless (Build-a-Figure) - Dark Knights: Metal

 It is assembled! It was very satisfying putting the figure together since it looks glorious! I think overall it was worth buying Wave 2 just to get this beast in hand. The Merciless is another member of the Dark Knights, led by Batman Who Laughs to give rise to a permanent Dark Multiverse. The Merciless is the dark mirrored reflection of a Batman who assumes the powers of Ares. Bruce Wayne of Earth -12 grows to be Batman in typical fashion. Ares, the God of War, creates a helmet that amplifies his powers a hundredfold. For a couple of years, Wonder Woman and Batman work together to stop him from conquering, falling in love in between. 

In a final conflict, Diana appears dead after being incapacitated by Ares, and Batman takes the helmet and dons it. Gaining incredible strength, magma control, pathokinesis (the ability to inspire rage and a desire to fight), and energy absorption, he kills Ares. He begins believing his old code to be worthless and becomes The Merciless. After awakening, Diana fears what the power will do to Bruce, and tries to remove it. So addicted to the helmet's influence, he kills her as well. He goes on a rampage that involves killing nearly every hero. His fight goes all the way to Themiscara and the Greek Gods. His world is about to end in the Dark Multiverse when Batman Who Laughs appears and recruits him to be part of his Dark Knights. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Dawnbreaker - Dark Knights: Metal

 Bruce Wayne of Earth -32 is pretty similar initially. His parents die, and he sees the murderer, Joe Chill. His emotions leave him and are replaced by a cold void. A green lantern ring finds its way to him, and he uses its powers to find and kill Joe Chill. Now, Green Lantern rings don't usually allow the bearer to create a construct that kills, but Bruce forces his incredible willpower while flooding the ring with his cold emotionless void, breaking that one rule. After killing Jim Gordon for questioning his methods, the Green Lantern Corps comes after him. Then he up and murders them all! Wow. 

Afterward, he enters the Green Lantern Power Battery by shedding his former identity and adopting a Batman type persona after the cave of bats under the manor. As his world is crumbling, The Batman Who Laughs offers he join the Dark Knights in subverting the Multiverse. 

This isn't the first time by a longshot that Batman has had a power ring, but it is easily the evilest version! Change my mind! I like how they captured the figure. His skin is this dusky grey, he's got a mean sneer on his face, and his Green Lantern outfit really pops against the black underlayer. I added a slight black wash to most details to make things stand out more, as I'm finding more and more with these figures they are just missing a little something to make them more interesting. His accessory bats are neat, and his poseability works pretty well, though I wish he could look up more. Any flying character should have a lot more head flexibility.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse - Batman Who Laughs with Sky Tyrant Wings (Dark Knights: Metal)

Bringing back the same Batman Who Laughs you know and love (see review here if you missed who the Batman Who Laughs is: Batman Who Laughs review), McFarlane toys made him part of the Build-a-Figure The Merciless because he's a much cooler iteration, and THOSE WINGS THOGH. 

Alright, let's rewind a second. Sky Tyrant is Hawkman of Earth 3 (No, not -3, just 3), where good and evil are reversed. He's of course hella evil and kills to prolong his own life. He actually dies on this Earth, but Hawkman of Prime Earth does end up being infected by The Batman Who Laugh's toxin and unlocks these memories and violent tendencies of his Earth 3 alternate self. He eventually becomes part of the Secret Six alongside other infected heroes. 

The reality is, Batman Who Laughs never actually rips off Carter Hall/Hawkman/Sky Tyrants wings and uses them. That's just a variant cover for Hawkman #18. It is cool though! I like how they mixed up the chest gear and wings for Hawkman into Laughs. The sculpting as usual is both unique in places, amazing, and highly detailed. They really left out some paint here that they would have previously put on though, which I think is a product of Todd rushing through figures as fast as they can be made. Not complaining, but definitely, it's noticeable the product painting is less detailed than usual lately. He comes with the wings, The Merciless head, shoulder pauldrons, blade, and of course the stand and card.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Robin - Dark Knights: Metal

 

On the homeworld of the Batman-Who-Laughs homeworld, Earth -22, the Joker makes Bruce Wayne relive his trauma by repeatedly killing parents of children and then exposing the children to Joker Venom to turn them into infected orphans in the process. Batman breaks free and kills Joker, only to take in the children to try to find a cure. Eventually, Batman succumbs to his own exposure to the Joker venom and becomes the Batman Who Laughs. These children are the Crow Robins of Earth -22. 

This Robin looks great in many ways. He's got the slightly askew ties for his classic red and yellow robin costume, green fish scale shorts, and overly large green gloves and boots. The face sculpt is great, and it is a random draw as to which of the three Robin heads you get with the figure (grinning, screaming or winky face with open mouth). I love all the sculpted pockmarked arms and legs, the folds of the boots and gloves, and the way everything drapes. I'm not super impressed by the fact his face is a stark white but the rest of his body is a drab gray. It's a bit strange once you look at it long enough. The other thing I'm not fond of is the articulation. If DC Icons can do a Robin much smaller with double joints, what happened to this one? It's also a bit awkward, and unbalanced easily due to the way the knee joints are permanently bent. 

Update: Overhaul!

 So as I've been doing reviews the past year with the newer system of rating, I still like the categories, but I'm finding there are places where the difference on a five scale between one point and the next is still not very consequential. The biggest issue I've been thinking about is the Accessory system. There's still a case to be made for not penalizing a figure for low-to-no accessories. But, some wiggle room for having enough at the same time. To this end, I'm changing most of my ratings to a 3 point system, with the idea of handing out zero's for something that is otherwise a statue, poorly painted, lacking in what it should have, or just so difficult to pose it's frustrating. So here's a totally new system! 

Sculpt/Paint /3:  1. Not well painted, basic sculpt like a kids toy rather than a collector. Few                                             details

                            2. Painted well, attention to detail, crisp lines, and few blobs or missed parts. 

                            3. Masterfully painted with lots of great sculpted details and shading. 

Articulation /3:  1. Basic swivel joints from 5-15. All single joints with limited range.

                            2. Some double joints with a good range of motion in the 16-29 range.

                           3. Very mobile with joints that allow lots of motion. 30+ points. 

Accessories /1:  0. It should have some but doesn't OR missing some key accessories

                           1.The accessories are well done. It's either everything the figure needs or most                                    of the essentials. This might be extra hands, weapons or other pieces. 

Fun Factor /3:   0. Plastic garbage! 

                            1. Poorly balanced, limited posing, not a big favourite. Statue-like. 

                            2. Decent posing options, looks good on the shelf, dynamic options! 

                            3. A top figure in the collection, very cool with tons of options for display!

Verdict /10:       1-5 Poor. This figure isn't cutting it. Is there some reason it's in the collection??

                           6-7 Limited: It has some merit, but do you really need this one? 

                           8-9 Worthy: It's worth having! Have you considered getting this one? 

                           10 Amazing. Why don't you have this figure yet??

I think this latest update will just making writing the rating posts more seamless and then it's out of an easier to digest score out of 10 at the end of all of it. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse: Batman - Dark Knights: Metal

 Did I buy this whole line so I could complete the Merciless build-a-figure to complete my Dark Knights: Metal villains? Yes. But are they all good figures?? Also yes! 

This iteration of Batman uses his DC Rebirth suit of black and grey with yellow highlights around the bat symbol and utility belt, but with a rough Badlands-apocalypse type look. This represents the very first artwork Capullo released for the Dark Knights: Metal storyline: Batman holding two axes, bloodied, tattered cape set against a hellish background. That's pretty metal! 🤘

This is a cool version of Batman. He keeps his DC Rebirth suit but is all shredded. They sculpted in those details wonderfully, as well as the intense expression on Batman's face. The articulation is tight but not too tight, and the axes look great. One or two paint details I find are missing comparing it to the original artwork. I REALLY don't need any more Batmen (Except the Black version of Mafex Hush), but with the build a figure piece, and the sweet axes, I couldn't resist. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse : Infected Superman - Batman/Superman Vol 2 (2019)

Following parallel storylines with the Dark Knights: Metal stories, The Batman Who Laughs has created batarangs for some of DC's heroes with a Joker Toxin that creates corrupted versions of these heroes. These are for Blue Beetle, Jim Gordon (why), Donna Troy, Shazam, Supergirl, and Hawkman. The members infected, like King Shazam, soundly beat the snot out of Superman and Batman in a feat of cunning that is not usually Shazam in nature. In order to infiltrate these Secret Six, Superman purposely infects himself with the toxin to learn of The Batman-Who-Laughs plans. You can see how this isn't a great plan! 

The figure is great though. I don't know how close this is to the Superman #1000 from McFarlane produced at the beginning of this line, but I like it! It's got a very solid, bulky chest, and proportions that scream superman. The cape is plastic and pretty solid (oh well), but the look is awesome. I'm tempted to get the 1000 Superman just to compare notes and to have a non-Dark knights metal Superman for him to face off.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse: Murder Machine - Dark Knights: Metal

 Bruce Wayne of Earth -44 started out all well and dandy as any regular 'verse Batman: parents murdered, Alfred raises him, becomes Batman, joins the Justice League. Here though, Alfred is horribly murdered by the rogue's gallery. Bruce becomes obsessed with the video of Alfred's death and the void left by his passing. With Cyborg's help, he builds an AI using Cyborg's technologies to protect Bruce and fulfill a role left by Alfred's passing. This AI, Protocol, starts into full Ultron mode by taking over systems like a virus and pretty quickly kills all of Batman's Rogue Gallery. 

To make matters more extreme, the machine starts taking over Bruce's mind, replacing him piece by piece with cybernetics. He succumbs, and the League tries to intervene. He kills all of them, ending with Cyborg. AT this point, The Batman Who Laughs recruits him, letting him know his universe is slated to die just like all the others in the Dark multiverses. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse: The Flash - DC Rebirth

 

I'll be honest, I only got the Flash as it was part of the two-pack with Red Death. I wanted to complete my Dark Knights: Metal villain team of Batman-Who-Laughs, The Merciless, Dawnbreaker, Red Death, Infected Superman, Crow Robin(s), Devastator, The Drowned, and Murder Machine. All of those have been released in figure form, except for the Drowned. I have high hopes! 

That said, he's a nice-looking Flash! I like the longer lightning pieces, and how you can plug in lightning effects to him (sadly, they didn't include them in the two-pack...why?!?). He is based on the DC Rebirth design of Flash (translation: Lets and MORE lightning to his suit). Some notable differences are the background of the Flash symbol on his chest is just the red of his suit, and the symbol itself is bigger and bolder. There are four lightning lines emanating from his symbol and the figure has more ribbed texturing on the sides of the torso, legs, and triceps. The crowning glory is the angry face sculpt. So well done! 

I can appreciate this figure, and it's got some good points and is in keeping with McFarlane toys recent quality and articulation. I also appreciate that the Flash is a workhorse character of the DC multiverse. He's always bailing people out and resetting the timeline some comic book artists and writers can do something new haha! Go Flash!