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	Batman, from ‘Batman – Crimson Mist’; Elsworlds, DC Direct Meat and Potatoes; 5.0 Perks; 5.0 Homer Facor; 5.0
				Description; the Dark Knight meets Stephen King meets Dracula.  The most ruthless and lethal vision of Batman brought to life in 3-D.  The figure is approximately 7” tall and is based upon the vampire vision of the Dark Knight from ‘Batman – Crimson Mist’ graphic novel.  The figure has the hunched, animalistic look of Batman when he makes his final conversion of vampirism.  He’s in the classic attire but with a large, Kelly Jones inspired cape and a pair of posable bat-wings.  The sculpting and posture are like Nosferatu; a hollowed out belly, emaciated warms, and the face of a demon.  . The figure comes with a small stand and one of the Batman’s wooden throwing stakes.
Many years ago DC gave Batman a horror slant by creating ‘Batman vs. Dracula’ as part of it’s ‘Elseworlds’ line.  I thought this would suck.  Visions of bad Transylvanian accents and a special bat-suit with a wooden stake launcher popped into my head. (Although... as an action figure... no mustn’t give in to the dark side!)  Fortunately I was very wrong.  The story by Doug Moench and Kelly Jones was an amazing combination of superhero fun and horror as Dracula comes into Gotham.  This ISN’T your father’s Dracula with the big cape, castles, blah, blah, blah.  This thing is still the charmer, but he’s mutated into a creature from hell with giant wings who’s gone mad from feeding on drug-users.  The story was amazing and become a trilogy.  In order to defeat this demonic fiend Batman turned into a vampire.  Yeah, trouble is brewing.  By the end of the second book the Dark Knight is close to succumbing to the more horrible drives of the vampire and is staked by Gordon and Alfred.  Naturally, it CAN’T end that way, so he’s resurrected.  Unfortunately by this time there is barely a smidgen of Batman’s noble self.  He’s consumed by the base, horrible aspects of the vampire.  No, he’s NOT Angel... heck, he’s not even Spike.  So what did DC Direct create?  It’s the best figure they’ve created. The meat and potatoes on this figure aren’t quite perfect, but pretty dang good.  The articulation on this figure is solid, although it could always use a bit more.  Shoulders, hips, knees, elbows, wrists, even a little on the neck.  It’s nice to have ball-joints on the shoulders, considering the nature of the figure, but ball-joints on the hips also would have been a huge help.  Just the same there’s enough articulation for good poses and good playability... well, assuming you want to terrorize your other figures with this thing.  Bwahahahahahahahahha!  What hits you is the sculpting on the piece.  Sure, DC Direct figures have always had great sculpts but this is over-the-top.  By this time in the trilogy Batman has been consumed by vampirism.  He’s become a true monster; dripping fangs, a hunched body, demonic wings, even his torso is emaciated like Gloom.  All of these details are reproduced to perfection on the piece.  The veins on the wings almost throb with demonic rage and the figure’s face is the stuff from nightmares.  There are the fangs, the gargoyle-ish brows, and that open mouth... a demonic grin even Dracula would shiver. And finally there are accessories!  Ok, nothing huge by any means, but Batman does come with a bat-shaped throwing-stake and a special ‘Elsworlds’ stand.  Ok, this figure should have a much bigger stand, maybe with rocks or cobwebs or something.  However the simple stand with the ‘Elseworlds’ shield and identifying the figure is a huge improvement from the other DC figures. Homer factor is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay high for me.  You regulars know I’m a Batman freak, but this version of the figure is something I never expected.  Basically this character is juuust this close to being a villain, but if he could be done it would be a gorgeous figure! I am not disappointed.  This is an outstanding figure; great sculpt and articulation, FINALLY some fun perks to go with an amazing character.  If you’re a Batman or horror fan, this is a must-have for your shelf.  And for the comic fans, good news; there are all those ‘Elseworlds’ characters waiting to come out... and series 2 is already set for 2006.  Woohoo!