Review of Jock, Cooke Batman Black & White statues

Introduction

The extremely successful Batman Black and White statue series continues with the release of two new characters: Batman by Darwyn Cooke, and Dick Grayson as Batman by Jock.The Cooke is sculpted by the very talented Jonathan Mathews, and the excellent artist Mike Locasio did the Jock.

Both of these have just started shipping, well in advance of the originally planned release date. I'm all for surprises like that!

These are no longer 'limited' editions, so there's no numbering of any sort, but considering the large number that were produced before - often in the thousands - it's probably not that big of an issue for most collectors.

You should be able to pick these up for as little as $70 with a little shopping around, and I have some terrific suggestions in the Where to Buy section.

Packaging - ***
Both statues come in the now standard black and largely white boxes. Again, I'm not a fan of the new DC logo and the predominately white color scheme, including the peel away look on the front of the box.

They've also dropped the COA concept along with the numbering. They do use the high density foam though, always a big plus.

Sculpting - ****
I love both of these sculpts, and they couldn't be any more different in style.

The Cooke is a bit more old school animated style - the Jock is more modern comic book style. The Cooke is fairly static and stoic, the Jock is perhaps the most dynamic sculpt of the entire series. The Cooke has limited detail work, appropriate to the style, while the Jock has lots of texture and small details, again appropriate to its style.

And yet both of these are outstanding versions, well worth adding to the display.

The Jock is actually Dick Grayson as Batman, not that anyone viewing the statue is actually going to care that it's not Bruce behind the mask. The statue is swooping down from above with a batarang and rope spread between his hands and flowing out behind. The cape is also flowing up and out, giving you the impression of great speed. The statue attaches to the base with a short metal rod, and it's a two piece set up. This is a statue that you'll want to put on the top shelf.

The Cooke is much simpler in style. He's standing looking upward, with one hand fisted and the other wrapped in his heavy cape. It's a determined stance, not nearly as action packed as the Jock, but perfect for the character nonetheless. This one is a one piece statue as well.

Both fit in nicely with the rest of the series in terms of scale, but both are unique enough in style to stand out in the crowd.

Paint - ***1/2
For the most part, the paint work is clean and sharp. The cut lines are generally good, and I like the contrast of matte and gloss finishes.

They used some wash on the Jock, but it's not over done or too heavy. The Cooke is cleaner, which makes sense due to the style, and the pupil-less eyes look great on both. There's a minor blip here and there, but nothing that's going to detract from your overall enjoyment on either statue.

Value - ***
You can pick either of these up for around $80 with out much effort. Spend a little extra time - like by perusing the sponsors in my Where to Buy section - and you can get much closer to $70, which is a good value for both of these. I suspect that by dropping the 'limited edition' business, they have produced quite a few more statues, allowing them to pull the price back down on each.

Things to Watch Out For -
My Cooke had one small glove spike broken off, but it was a clean break. I didn't notice it til after the shoot, when I was putting him away and I found the piece in the bag!

Overall - ***1/2
I don't know how they manage to keep producing interesting and cool black and white statues - you wouldn't predict that a series like this could possibly have legs. But they continue to amaze me with the general quality and diversity of the selections.

Both of these are very well done, and they really represent two very distinct ends of the spectrum. It's a little disappointing that they've dropped the pseudo limited nature of the line, but if it keeps the price tag down around $70 each, I'm good with it.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has the Jock for $70, and the Cooke for $78.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered a lot of the black and white statues:

- most recent was the New 52 Jim Lee Batman.

- before that was the Sam Keith version, the Mignola variant, the humorous version based on artwork by Sergio Aragones, the Gleason and Chiang versions, the Finch version, the Bermejo Joker, the Tony Daniel Batman, the Arkham Asylum version, the cool Man-bat, and don't forget the other black and white Joker Jim Lee.

- before that, we had the Quitely version of Batman, the Bermejo, the McGuinness version, the Dave Mazzucchelli version, the Penguin, Gotham Knight 2 version, the Bruce Timm version, the Ethan Van Sciver version, the Aparo, the Neal Adams and George Perez versions, the Gotham Knight, Bob Kane, Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Matt Wagner, Mike Mignola, and Kelley Jones. *whew*

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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