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Jervis Tetch is a delusional criminal who believes he is the reincarnation of Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter. He uses his background in hypnotist to commit crimes, and even has a device in his hat that aids with this (how? No idea). In the game, he is a side mission where Batman has to rescue a woman Tetch has kidnapped and dressed up as his "Alice". Later, Batman fights on a massive clock while battling goons with White Rabbit heads. It's pretty creepy! He also has a Most Wanted DLC mission in Arkham Knight. I like his design, with all the patchwork coat and generally grubby look. He's kind of perfect for who he is! I rarely enjoy appearances by him in comics, shows or films but in this case it was a fun little side story.
This figure is a pretty good representation though aside the articulation, I wish the hat fit better. He is the Mad Hatter after all!
In the Arkham games, The Penguin (Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot), is very similar to what he is in any other media form. He's a short, long-nosed, corrupt little man who runs a black market of weapons and runs the Iceberg lounge as one of his larger business fronts. But this isn't just any game, it's Arkham, so as a design choice, Penguin has a broken bottle stuck in his head instead of a monocle. How quaint!
The figure is super well done, but the articulation may be one of the worst out of the whole line, tied with The Mad Hatter. I appreciate that they made his top hat out of soft rubbery material so it's less likely to get damaged or fall and chip paint. He's a solid figure though, and looks great with the others!
The Riddler seems to be one of those villains that are rarely portrayed as a serious threat. He's the king of the B grade villains in the Batman universe; supposedly clever enough to start something, but rarely finish. His catchphrase is pretty well known among geek culture (Riddle me this...), but he's rarely accomplished anything of worth in the comics. There have been a few storylines where the writer has taken the character seriously, and he does create some pretty crazy inventions with very roundabout ways of defeating his enemies and specifically Batman.
One that actually worked well was in the Telltale video game, Enemy Within. In the Arkhamverse, he really gets around town with his machinations. In the Arkham Asylum game, it's mostly just riddles and collectibles for you to find. In Arkham City, the majority of his appearance involves saving hostages to finally confront him in an end mission. Arkham Knight is the most insane, where he has somehow managed to completely revamp underground tunnels and passageways to make insane races SPECIFICALLY for the Batmobile tank. Like, in real life this would cost BILLIONS of dollars and several companies of crews to design. He does have a more prominent story role though, with capturing Catwoman and putting an explosive collar on her neck so Batman has to solve his riddles and save his burglar friend. This iteration of the Riddler is my favorite in a few ways. I like his suit, it's not over the top, but it's signature enough for him. My favorite is his cane design. It's very nifty looking, and most of his canes are pretty plain and kinda boring in showing the question mark design.
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Nothing makes an Arkham game like random minions that populate a completely empty city, asylum or sector! Not only that, but they colour-match their outfits to the villain they are a member of! It's kind of funny how basically each villain has their own gang that either just roams the streets causing mayhem, or guarding some building with hostages/devices. I was kinda disappointed that we didn't get more villain minions than the two clowns. There were plans I believe to make Arkham Knight Tyger Guards, but they got cancelled and never made it to production.
That said, these are super well detailed! Not extremely articulate, but the weapons look good and they are menacing enough to make a couple of good vignettes with Batman fighting. For whatever reason, these are generally extremely expensive but I managed to get them in a pretty decent lot of older Arkham figures and NECA movie TMNT figures.
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I missed out on the NECA version way back when, and never got into Mezco for their version, so this SH Figuarts one is something I had desired ever since I saw photos last year in March. The 1989 Micheal Keaton Batman is my go-to favourite live-action Batman above all others. I'm not crazy critical when it comes to who plays Batman in film. Even rewatching the Clooney and Val Kilmer, while cringey, isn't so bad when you consider a Batman role really doesn't need a ton of acting chops or flair. I'm sure I'll even enjoy Battison as Batman even though my initial reaction was "really?" to his casting in the solo film.
What is your favourite live-action Batman? I rank mine like this:
1. Micheal Keaton
2. Christian Bale
3. Ben Affleck
4. Adam West
5. Val Kilmer
6. George Clooney
7. I haven't seen Robert Lowry, or Pattison yet, but I'm sure when I watch they'll make it in my rankings someday. If this was an animated/cg'ed Batman list, Kevin Conroy would be #1 here.
The point is, this is top for me! And because it's SH Figuarts, he comes with a ton of good accessories, and I really like all the details. His articulation and balance is great, as are most SH Figuarts I find. The likeness isn't as bad as I thought, and mostly I attribute it to how they did his eyes. It's got a weird shine that makes it look like both eyes aren't looking in the same direction. The other main criticism I have for the figure is the cape. It's a super thick leathery material that doesn't want to do too much. Even how it drapes is kinda off. It does allow some plastic pieces to insert to create his gliding scene, so it's not all bad, but probably the least useful cape aside from hard plastic ones that don't move.
In the alternate Flashpoint timeline, (and no this isn't a Dark: Knights Metal character, I know...), Joe Chill actually shoots Bruce, leading Thomas Wayne to seek vengeance on the criminals of Gotham and become Batman. Unlike Batman, he has no qualms about killing. He carries dual pistols and isn't afraid to use the arsenal of his enemies and friends: an amazon sword as well as the scarecrow and poison ivy toxins.
This Flashpoint Batman is pretty sweet, and I like the style! Point cape shoulders, red eyes, and logo, dual pistols are all great design choices that are well represented here. I noticed that McFarlane recently released an unmasked version with the Amazon sword, which is a clever way I suppose to get people to rebuy the figure. I'd much rather he charge more for a figure and include more stuff (interchangeable hands, the unmasked head, and sword) since all those parts don't take up a ton of room in the package. Oh, capitalism.
This figure has some pretty good poseability and has a nice, simple colour scheme. I approve of this figure! Look below for some ratings!
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This figure is BIG and really heavy! He looks great though, with very decent articulation given his size and bulk. I appreciate the articulated jaw and the sheer monstrousness of his spikes and skin texture. He's a cool addition to the Dark Knights and I can't wait to get my hands on the Drowned for a completed group picture!
Here we have another Dark Multiverse alternate Batman! Batman using guns isn't really a new thing, in fact, Detective Comics #27 had Batman use a machine gun at a criminal! The original idea for the character was an inspired pulp hero like The Shadow. Anway! So here as usual Joe Chill kills Batman's parents, but drops the gun while trying to take Martha's pearls. Kid Bruce grabs the gun and kills him. Can't say I blame this one! He later learns all the deadly tricks of combat and in his first year as Batman starts taking down the wealthy elite protecting Gotham's criminals by burning them alive! Hardcore!
He stashes and uses guns he's had all around the city. Needless to say, this Dark Universe builds up with the good characters of the world trying to control his absolute Judge Dredd attitude, and it's about to end when The Batman Who Laughs asks him to join his squad as his second in command on the prime infected world.
I gotta say, it's all the crazy guns that drew me to this one. It also reminded me of the alternate Batman from the future in Batman Vs Superman. He looks kinda neat all stacked up with guns at the back, weapons everywhere on his moulded belts/bandoliers and the grenade launcher and uzi he comes with. Amazing! His poseability is fairly decent despite the belts getting in the way, and as a plus, though his ankles look oddly chopped up, he's got a solid balance and stance. I like the head sculpt, though sideways it appears a bit bizarre. My one wish is that they had bothered to paint the belt parts and guns....it's all just plain gray-black that isn't very inspiring. I will definitely end up doing this.
So this is from the two-pack with Red Hood. Could I have waited and saved some money just buying the Red Hood single figure that came out later? Yes...what's your point!?!? Haha. Realistically though, the only difference here is all the blue parts are red, and the eyes are also black-outlined red instead of white. Otherwise, it's identical! Still very cool next to Red Hood, and with the Damian Wayne coming out soon, Batfamily 3.0 will be complete! The review for the original figure link is here.
