Sunday, August 8, 2010

Silver age goodness

As a teenager of the 90s I grew up with the gritty look of comics, people died, Batman was as crazy as the villains he fought and Superman's cape was shredded in every battle he had. Did I mentioned Superman had a mullet, Batman never shaved, the second Robin was dead and Rob Liefeld had established that lots of pouches and no feet were the way to go if you were an X-Men.

During that time I wanted my comics like my coffee, dark and with just a little pinch of vanilla. In that time I decided that the Adam West' Batman I loved during my childhood was stupid and that old comics with silly stories were impossible to enjoy. I guess I was trying to prove I was a man.

Later, I realized how incredibly idiotic this was (I don't even like pouches that much anymore) and in the moment I realized that, I became a better man and just a little bit happier. Why? Because what makes a person better is to experiment and investigate and try new things and acknowledge that not everything that is different is bad. It's called experience.

So I went out, and got this:


Pictured: Experience.

This is DC Direct Silver Age classic set of Batwoman, Batgirl, Bat-mite and Ace the Bat-hound. Characters so silly (most of them anyway) that I wouldn't have paid any attention to them in my gritty pouched years.



Batgirl and Batwoman are nice enough I still believe is not the brightest idea to go and fight crime in the night wearing yellow, green and red outfits. But hey, who am I to judge? They also have their utility purses... I guess that was a little silly, but as I said to that online test about sexual preferences: "the more bat-people, the merrier".

The sculpts are pretty good, it was 2004, quite a good year for DC Direct, they both stand on their own, and they are both graced with a happy silver age smile. And there's so much frowning toys in my Batman display that I'll keep these two around to even the odds.



Bat-Mite is a figure of a character I understand but, like the great Gazoo, never fully liked. It was also the one I less needed, since he was re-released in a Bat-characters box in June this year with a slightly different paint. Oh DCD, I know you too well already...

Still Bati-Duende (Bat-Goblin, as he was called in Spanish) is a nice addition to the bat-shelf.

But the real reason I couldn't let this great box go was this:



Ace, the Bat-hound. My all time favorite Super Pet. Why? Because he's Batman's dog! Because he wears a mask and a collar with the bat symbol! Because he can easily defeat Catwoman and even Catman! Because with enough time to prepare he can beat Krypto too!

The Ace figure was considered more like an accessory, so he has almost no articulation, but he stands perfectly and was placed with the due respect right in front Batman in the shelf. Because if I'm going to be in a display case for the rest of my toy existence I'd like to have my dog there with me. It's just the humane thing to do.

Until next time.

(Damn, all this talk about the 90s... I think I'll have that nightmare with the pouches again...)

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