Packaging - ***
Same as usual for DCD, twisties and all. Comedian’s outfit won’t be affected by the twisties, but Rorschach and Manhattan’s suits may require some ironing. I should learn how to iron. The boxes are well-decorated, and each has an interesting quote from the character on the inside cover. Dr. Manhattan’s is my personal favorite: “We’re all puppets…I’m just a puppet who can see the strings.” As a philosophy major, I could write a book on that one. Maybe I will.

Sculpting - Manhattan ***; Rorschach ****; Comedian ***
Manhattan: The features have been sculpted well on the face and body, though his head looks a little small for the body, especially with the suit on (more pics of Manhattan with the suit in Michael’s review). The sculpted fists look ok, but the bendy hands are a tad too big. 

Rorschach: The mask comes off to reveal a very good facial/head sculpt (DCD wanted to keep that under wraps I think, but it’s been out for so long now that I doubt it matters anymore). The paint holds it back from being a perfect likeness, as often happens. His three sets of hands are sculpted well, and he’s the right size in proportion to the other two characters. 

Comedian: Once again, the sculpt looks pretty good if you can find it under the bad paint. The head and body are well-sculpted with few flaws—though the thighs are too big, kind of like those huge hams on DCD’S Dark Knight Batman. His head could also be a *tad* bigger.

Paint - **
Bad news across the board, folks. Not terrible, but mediocre at best.

Manhattan: Eyes and forehead dot are painted well, but when you strip him nekkid, the shades of blue tend to not line up quite right, and he sort of has a cheap look up close. Michael already talked about the painted black thong, and I totally agree. It sucks. If they were gonna paint it on, it could at least look semi-realistic.

Rorschach: First thing I noticed upon removing the mask and seeing Rorschach’s face was the green eyes. Too green. I’ve never seen anyone with eyes as green as a four-leaf clover, and this takes away from the realism of a great sculpt. Had they mixed a little brown in there, they would have looked better, I think. You can see the faintest hint of freckles under the eyes, but nowhere else. As someone with freckles, I can say from experience that they’re more spread out than that. And don’t even get me started on his eyebrows. They almost look like a drunk Hasbro employee did them. They’re just splashed on, with no attention to detail. We’re talking about a high-end sixth scale figure here, not an ordinary plaything. The left eyebrow is worse than the right; at least the right has some hair sticking up on top that are separated from the rest of the eyebrow. They attempted the same thing on the left one but, like Kevin Federline trying to be a rapper, they failed. 

Comedian: If you’re looking for a figure of the Comedian that looks like he just came down with H1N1, then you’ve found it. He’s too pale, and the paint on his face overall looks really cheap and sickly, except for his 5 o’clock shadow, which actually looks pretty decent. I’m not sure what’s going on with his scar, but it stands out bigtime against that pale face and it doesn’t look real at all. It almost looks like someone used a colored pencil on it. The paint on the end of the cigar (not removable) is a little sloppy as well. His moustache and eyebrows are ok, a little better than Rorschach’s, but far from perfection. There’s a pic of Hot Toys’ forthcoming Comedian on Michael’s 2009 SDCC photo section, and from what I can see, it completely puts this one away. Any surprises there?

Articulation  - Manhattan ***; Rorschach **1/2; Comedian **
Manhattan: With several points of articulation, Manhattan can take almost any pose, and stands fine on his own. His ball-jointed neck works better than those of many figures in this line, but he can’t look up. The waist joint was loose on mine, and I had to tie a thin blue rubber band around it to help fix it. 

Rorschach: It looks like Rorschach has the same exact body as Robin, but perhaps with less of a neck (or maybe the head is just pushed down further onto it). He’s the exact same height as Robin, and has the same body type as Robin and both of DCD’s sixth scale Jokers. And for me, all four of those figures have similar issues, meaning that DCD needs to work on this body a little bit and get some kinks out. Rorschach’s legs are a little loose (at least on mine), and his head is slightly loose and bobbles a little if you turn it a certain way; I have the same problem with Robin. The left ankle was really loose on mine as well, so loose that I could easily spin the foot around like the wheel of fortune. Once again, I tied a rubber band around the cut ankle to make it tighter but yet still movable. These loose joints are inexcusable, especially at the retail prices that DC Direct charges. Fortunately, I didn’t get any of these at anything remotely close to retail price. Thank God for ebay. 

Comedian: The Comedian doesn’t move around much, but it’s mostly because of his outfit. You can’t move his legs hardly at all without danger of ripping his pants, and you can’t bend them at the knee or move the cut thigh joints much, either. His arms move about freely, though, and there are no loose joints. As for the head, he can look up a little bit, but not down. If DCD could make figures with heads that can look up and down, then they’d really have something. In the meantime, we can only sit back and hope that one day they’ll finally crack the code to accomplishing this amazing feat. Maybe if they called Hot Toys and asked nicely….

Outfit - Manhattan ***1/2; Rorschach & Comedian ****
Finally, a category where all of these guys pretty much soar. 

Manhattan: Manhattan’s suit looks awesome, and it’s done in great detail (though it gives him the goofy “football player” look that Michael was talking about). It’s easily removed, but the shoes are a different story, and that’s why I’m holding back half a star. Those shoes nearly drove me to be an alcoholic. Instead of soft pleather, giving the shoes a more realistic feel, they’re hard plastic. They’re very difficult to remove, and I broke both his feet off in doing it. Yep. Needless to say, much anger and agitation ensued. On one foot, a piece of the ankle peg was broken off in the shoe, so I hollowed out the foot a little with a knife and it snapped back on good as new (I’m very surprised it worked). The other foot had to be superglued, but it still moves up and down; it just can’t move at the cut ankle, which doesn’t matter since the foot can still turn any direction using the cut shin anyway. Even after completely unlacing the shoes, getting them off is very difficult, and getting them back on is no better. If they were just a little softer, they would come off easier. 

Rorschach: Under his trench coat, there’s a scarf and a reddish-purple striped suit. The hat fits over the head/mask perfectly, and the shoes are made of soft pleather. The trench coat can be undone the same way as all pieces of Manhattan’s suit: with the silver snap buttons. Rorschach’s shirt and suit jacket are the same way, though one of the buttons on his jacket is hanging on by a single thread on mine. None of these buttons are on very firm considering how hard you have to pull to get then to unsnap. They are held by some pretty weak threads that can easily come loose, thus causing the buttons to come off, though they can be sewn back on. After learning how to iron, I’ll be learning how to sew.
Then there’s the mask, which could be a little smaller and thus have a tighter fit, but overall it’s very good. Out of the package, there’s a rubber band tightly holding it on around the neck, but the mask can stay on fine without it, though I like to keep it on anyway to keep the mask from rolling up. 

Comedian: The Comedian’s outfit must be the thing that gives him the higher price tag over the other two. The detail and appearance of this outfit is simply impeccable. There are holsters for both guns at the hips that hold them in snugly and secure them with straps that are a little difficult to pull loose but easy to re-fasten. His right boot has a holster for the knife, into which it fits perfectly. There are also little grooves on his lower back for the shells as already mentioned, and there is also a small pouch/holster on either side of them to store them in (I assume that’s what they’re for). The mask fits easily on his face, unlike Robin’s mask. Those of you who have Robin know how aggravating it is to get his mask to stay on, and you’ll be greatly relieved at how well the Comedian’s mask fits on and stays. The only flaw is the holes in them, which are way too big. There should be only just enough room to see his eyes and nothing else. The mask itself is the right size, but those eyeholes need to be downsized quite a bit, something Hot Toys nailed on theirs (from the looks of it). Overall though, the Comedian’s outfit is spectacular, which it should be since it’s the reason he can’t move around much from the waist down. But is it good enough to make him worth the extra cash above Manhattan and Rorschach? Nope.

Accessories - Manhattan *; Rorschach ***1/2; Comedian ***
Manhattan: Bendy hands and a display stand. It was like Christmas morning.

Rorschach: Three sets of sculpted hands (no bendies!)—fists, open hands, and gripping hands. A large (too large I believe) grappling gun with three hooks that fold out (though one on mine won’t stay out and keeps falling back) and are hooked to a contraption that can be removed. Okay, now for the really cool part: he gets a lighter (the broad open-and-close kind) and a can of hair spray. As far as accessories, this is almost Hot Toys territory. The can has real miniature print and decorations on it, instructions and all (though the can isn’t painted; it’s just a small label that wraps around it). The lighter could be sculpted a little better (and it would be great if it could open and close like a real one, but once again—DC Direct, not Hot Toys) but it’s a nice touch nonetheless. Rorschach has everything he needs to take out his opponents (including the display stand). I wish he had a couple more things in addition considering the retail price point, but he definitely doesn’t come up short in this category.

Comedian: Two well-sculpted guns with writing on them (shown in the photos) and removable clips, a large knife, sculpted fists, bendy hands, stand and the surprise that I didn’t figure out till days after getting the figure: there are fourteen miniature shotgun shells on his outfit on the lower back that are actually removable. I was gonna give him two and a half stars in this category until I discovered those. There’s no shotgun or anything to put them in, but they’re still cool to have, and they make a nice addition to his outfit. He also comes with his face mask, but I consider that part of the outfit, and a good way to help cover a bad paint job. Since the Comedian cost more than the other two—$25 more—at retail price, I don’t see why he didn’t get more stuff. The part in his item description by DC Direct that says he comes with “multiple guns” is misleading, since the term “multiple” makes us think of, well, multiple. Not just two. But at least they’re well done—very well done actually. It’s only a shame that you’re forced to use the bendy hands to hold them (and the knife). With Manhattan, the bendy hands pose no problem since they don’t have to hold anything. Just leave them open and let Manhattan stand with his palms open—a good pose for him. But with Mr. Comedian, they’re an issue. They stay on very well, much better than they have on past figures, but they can’t hold the guns worth crap, and trying to hold the knife with them is just about impossible. 

I fail to see the logic behind the bendy hands. They don’t do ANYTHING well. They typically don’t stay on very well (though Manhattan and the Comedian are exceptions) and they never hold any accessories well. They don’t even look good. Sometimes we get a figure from DCD like their Dark Knight Joker or Rorschach that have all sculpted and gripping hands instead and we think they’ve come to their senses, but turns out it’s just a case of temporary sanity. The bendy hands keep coming back, and at these kinds of prices, DCD will bendy-hand their way out of business.

Fun Factor -  Manhattan & Rorschach **1/2; Comedian ***
Manhattan is blue (which is the main reason I think most of us like him, to be honest), the Comedian has cool armor and weapons, and Rorschach has a removable mask and cool stuff that will actually stay in his hands. Otherwise, there’s really nothing here for kids, and while all three will hold up to ordinary play (especially the Comedian), the movie and all products associated with it are meant for adults only.

Value - Manhattan *1/2; Rorschach **1/2; Comedian **
This is the most difficult part of the review, since these guys are literally all over the place in terms of pricing. First of all, I looked at DC Direct’s website to see the price they had listed for these guys, and I’m convinced that alcohol was involved when they decided how much to charge. The retail price they’ve set is $100 apiece for Manhattan and Rorschach and $125 for the Comedian. Most retailers are charging less, and after doing a little research, these are the average prices that most places are charging for these guys (this is what I’m basing my scores on):

Manhattan: $70-$80
Rorschach: $80-$90
Comedian: $90-$100

My personal scores are higher, since I picked mine up cheap on ebay at $30 (about $8 shipping) for Manhattan and $40 (with free shipping) for Rorschach and the Comedian. Getting Manhattan for that low of a price actually isn’t too hard, but with Comedian and Rorschach it’s a little less common, though they can easily be acquired in the $50 area with shipping included. All three figures are definitely great values at the $30-$40 range, and with a little patience and possibly a little negotiation with ebay sellers—which is what I did with Comedian and Rorschach—it can be pulled off. The only reason I even got the Comedian to begin with is because someone finally agreed to let me have him for $39.95 and free shipping. If not for that, I would have only been reviewing Manhattan and Rorschach since I don’t care for the Comedian that much. Rorschach is the only one, however, that even comes close to being worth DCD’s retail price. At $100, he’s almost an average value. At the $80-$90 range, you’re getting what you’re paying for in my opinion. He’s that good. However, if you go the ebay route I guarantee you won’t have to pay that much. Manhattan, on the other hand, shouldn’t be any more than $50 in my opinion, mainly because of his lack of accessories. The Comedian would be worth a little more if he had one or two more guns and if he had sculpted hands instead of those horrible bendy hands, but even if he had all those things he still wouldn’t be worth over $100. As he is, I wouldn’t go above $60.

Things to Watch Out For -
Manhattan: The freakin’ shoes. If you don’t plan on stripping him down to his birthday suit, it won’t be a problem, but if you do, you’ll end up needing to remove them. They don’t come off easy, and make sure that you completely unlace them and stretch them out as far as you can when removing them.

Rorschach: Be careful when unsnapping the buttons on his outfit; there are several. On mine, they’re not sewn on very well, and can easily come loose.

Comedian: Don’t move his legs too far out or you’ll rip his pants. Also take care when pulling the straps off his gun holsters; the pegs that they attach to feel like they could come loose if you pull too hard.