Review of Zombie Batman - Black & White statue

Introduction

Thanks to DC titles like Elseworlds and others, Batman has been portrayed in a myriad of unusual ways. From old west cowboy to knight of the middle ages, he's been translated into lots of other roles and times.

Some make more sense than others. If you make him a vampire bat, there's some sense of continuity. A zombie...not so much. It's not like he's only been a zombie once either, with his Blackest Night appearance being a bit better known by most fans.  But in the first issue of Batman: Black and White, Neal Adams did a story called "Batman Zombie", and that's the inspiration for the latest gray scale statue.

This statue is based on the artwork of Neal Adams, and is sculpted by the talented Eric Sosa.

Packaging - ***
The box works well enough - good Styrofoam trays holding the one piece statue safe and sound - and it's all collector friendly of course.  There's no Certificate of Authenticity, and this isn't a numbered limited edition.

I'm not a huge fan of the new DC logo with the peel away 'secret identity' theme, but oddly enough it works well with this statue. The pose of the character looks great with the peeling front panel, as he lurches from behind the curtain.

Sculpting - ***1/2
They've done an excellent job capturing the look of Bats from the specific comic story. It was played for comedy for the most part, and this rotting, shambling version of the Dark Knight has the perfect undead pose.  

I've mentioned before that I like it when the sculptor makes the base an actual thing in the universe of the character. They've done that here, by having him stepping off the base as he makes his way toward you.

My favorite touch is the use of independent eyeballs, rather than sculpting them as part of the overall head.  That allows them to be extremely bulbous and extended, as his head rots away and shrinks back. I'm not sure how you pull this off with a statue, but they've managed it nonetheless. If I'm wrong and they were sculpted and molded as a single piece, then it's a pretty impressive feat.

The sinewy musculature and rotting clothing looks fantastic, with excellent texturing and sharp lines.

There's some areas that could use a little sharper definition, like the teeth, but this is a very minor nit in an otherwise excellent sculpt.

This guy stands about 6 1/4" tall, in what is generally a 6" scale series. Some of the statues are bigger than others - a problem, in my opinion - but this one should fit in pretty well with the overall theme.

Paint - ***
This is a black and white statue, with all those shades of gray. The work is very clean, with almost no slop.  Once again, the teeth and lips are a little softly defined, but it's a minor issue.

My bigger issue is the lack of detail work with the paint. There's plenty of rot and ruin here to accentuate, and we know there's at least 50 shades of gray. Instead of using a greater variety, they stuck to a handful of shades and went a bit broad.

A little bit better use of the potential palette, and I would have gone another half star here, easily.

Value - **1/2
This guy is still in that $60 - $70 range at most retailers, and while these aren't a 'limited edition', the price is still reasonable.

Things to Watch Out For -
This is a one piece statue - nothing to assemble.  Don't drop it and you'll be just fine.

Overall - ***1/2
I've always been a fan of this series, but sometimes it can get a bit...boring. It might be different artists, but it's always Batman (most of the time, anyway), and there's only so much you can do to truly distinguish each statue from the other.

But a truly unique version like this has no such problem. Nobody is going to confuse this guy for any other on the shelf, and he's sure to start a conversation or two with those less familiar with his odder variations.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth comes in at $70.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Just recently I covered the terrific Harley in this series. I haven't covered them all, but I have reviewed quite a few -  the Earth 1 and 2 Batmen, the Capullo Joker, Allred, Bane, Batman Beyond, Bolland Joker, Jock and Cooke versions of Batman, New 52 Jim Lee Batman, 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 from 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*

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