Batman & Son - DC Direct Batman Figure

I'm not a huge fan of the "Batman & Son" storyline, but the DC Direct version of the main character is one of my favorites...

Five figures were released for this line, with my two personal favorites (Batman and Joker) both being sculpted by Jonathan Matthews. This version of Batman is thick. He's a huge, bulky Dark Knight, with enormous rounded biceps and shoulders, tightly clenched fists and a jawline that comes across as rock hard. The grimace is perfect, as are the short cowl ears and pupil-less eyes. His belt sports tons of pouches for storing bat-goodies, and eyes thick (and heavy) rubber cape wrinkles thoroughly above his shoulders, and fans out into spiky points at the ends. It's a terrific overall look with only one minor exception: his torso just at the base of his ribcage juts out oddly (it's sticking out farther than his pecs, which would be cause for some serious concern on a real person, I'd imagine). Paint apps are flawless, with some neat gloss added to the boots and gloves, while everything else is a flat matte.

"Batman & Son" Batman doesn't come with much in the ways of accessories- just a Batman Base, which he doesn't need to stand. As far as articulation goes, there are 11 points, but I can't get anything in the way of dynamic poses out of them: nicely ball-jointed head, ball shoulders, pin elbows and knees, t-hips and swivels at the glove tops. He's going to do a fine job of standing and scowling, with an occasional tilt to the head or a raised fist, but that's about it. Which is ok by me, since I like the way he looks in his "standing and glaring at you" pose.

This version of Batman is big, strong and fully intimidating. It's Batman in your face, no holds barred, not the guy hiding in the shadows or grapelling from rooftop to rooftop. True, he's severely limited in terms of pose-ability, but I'm willing to overlook that because he looks great just the way he is...