DC Collectibles: Vertigo Cover Girls - Death Statue Review

[Kicksplode]

The original Cover Girls of the DC Universe series is easily one of the most popular statue lines DC Direct has ever produced. Something about a line of simple, sleek, relatively affordable statues designed by Adam Hughes and featuring the iconic heroines and villainesses of the DCU struck a chord with collectors.

Sadly, DC canceled the line with a number of popular characters left out of the mix. One statue we know was in the development stage (because Hughes released his concept art) was a statue of Death from the Sandman series.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/cover-girls-of-dc-death-statue-artwork_zps743056bf.jpg

We never got that Death statue, but DC finally did revisit the older sister of Morpheus in their current Cover Girls series. It's not an Adam Hughes design, but does it have what it takes to stand alongside the classic Cover Girls?

[Kicksplode]

SCULPT

This piece doesn't really break any new ground when it comes to Death statues. Most of the statues in the past have emphasized her playful side, showcasing her with an umbrella and/or top hat and generally being her happy-go-lucky self. The design doesn't veer too far from what we saw with DC's 2001 statue (designed by Chris Bachalo) or the more recent DC Chronicles piece.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/4zpiy1j_zps4455dc32.jpg

But if not very original, this sculpt is definitely an improvement on those older pieces. Compared to the 2001 statue, this Death has better proportions and a generally more sleek body shape. Compared to the DC Chronicles statue, it's a much larger statue and better value. The overall height is a little under 12-inches.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/wbp1qmt_zps142871e4.jpg

The best I can say for this statue is that it hearkens back to the Adam Hughes Cover Girls series in a way most of these newer statues don't. The pose is simple but elegant. While the sculpt emphasizes Death's sex appeal a bit more than normal, it's not overdone. The facial sculpt is really what ties everything together. Death's face has an almost Mona Lisa quality. Depending what angle you view the statue from, she might look playful, whimsical, or thoughtful.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/lzgvicl_zps5a987071.jpg

The pose has Death with one hand on her hip and the other balancing an umbrella on her shoulder. Again, nothing terribly new, but there is one unique element to the sculpt – the eagle. I'm not sure why it's there (since when do eagles symbolize death?), but it adds a bit of spice to the design.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/dasc4qa_zps76dd2691.jpg

I do wish the eagle were detachable, though. It would be nice to have the option to display her with or without. But more importantly, the eagle is made of a more fragile plastic material. The legs are so thin that they're practically begging to be broken during shipment. And that's exactly what happened with my statue. To be fair, I bought it at a discount knowing it was broken ahead of time. And obviously it was easy enough to repair, but I still wish DC had either rethought the design a little or made the eagle as a separate piece.

edit - I didn't even realize until examining these pics, but it seems one of the eagle's legs has already re-broken. So definitely be aware of that issue before buying this.

Score – 9.0

[Kicksplode]

PAINT

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this statue in terms of paint quality. Being basically a black and white character, it's not as if Death has the most complex color scheme. But some of the early Cover Girls statues in this second series (Catwoman, Harley Quinn) suffered from some pretty sloppy lackluster paint work.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/ypkugbn_zps0711be20.jpg

Luckily, this statue turned out fine. The lines are clear and there's no slop to be had. Her skin tone is a simple ivory color – not a lot of shading, but well done all the same. Little details like her eye tattoo are rendered well too.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/xhlgz4n_zps89c08310.jpg

One nice touch is that the statue features several types of black paint to differentiate the different pieces of her outfit. The shirt is a subdued black, the pants have a slightly shinier tone, and the boots and gloves are a glossier shade that stands out nicely. There's a nice sense of contrast despite her monotone outfit.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/5ms1lm5_zps2217a1bb.jpg

The eagle maintains the monotone approach, as it's basically just a dark gray color with streaks of white. The paint is intricate enough to clearly show off the eyes and facial details, but it doesn't really pop alongside the rest of the statue.

Score – 8.5

[Kicksplode]

BASE

Usually, the Cover Girls statues have a uniform style of base. In the original series, it was a simple round, black base with the character's name printed on top. The current statues have a two-toned oval with a small logo along the rim. But Death came during a brief period where each statue had a unique and more intricate base design.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/ztej3ke_zpsfb07b75e.jpg

This base is a pile of old, decaying skulls and bones, as if Death were strolling through the site of some ancient battlefield. It adds a bit of a grotesque touch to her cheerful body language. The coloring on the base is pretty uniform – just varying shades of brown, but the level detail is impressive. Some of the skulls are normal, and some are wearing old battle helms. It's the type of base that complements the statue well. It's not too obtrusive, but it offers plenty of detail to admire if you want to examine it.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/5rtvzpu_zps144bcade.jpg

If I have a complaint, it's that Death's feet don't seem to interact with the base very well. She's sort of lightly perched atop the skulls, as if she were originally designed for a flatter base and her boots were never adjusted to reflect the uneven terrain.

Score – 8.0

[Kicksplode]

ACCURACY

It's a little hard to judge the accuracy of this piece since it seems to be the only Cover Girls statue not modeled after a particular artist's style. It definitely has shades of Hughes' work to it, but obviously the design changed quite a bit from his original drawing. And it's not taken from any cover or interior page from the Sandman series that I know of.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/lzgvicl_zps5a987071.jpg

But it's definitely recognizable as Neil Gaiman's character. Death appeared ion various forms through the Sandman saga, but this combination of a sleeveless shirt and black goth pants and boots is her most iconic look. Even the ankh necklace is there.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/arnkjvy_zpsed18de44.jpg

It could be argued that the statue deviates a bit from the source material in terms of sexing up Death's appearance slightly. She's a bit taller and more curvy than the various other Death statues. But this is the Cover Girls line, after all. The important thing is that the sculpt didn't go overboard on that front.

Score – 9.0

[Kicksplode]

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm a huge fan of Death, and I've owned every single one of the DC Direct/DC Collectibles statues at one point or another. And with this Cover Girls statue, I think I've finally found the keeper. What it lacks in originality it makes up for in a sleek, elegant look. It's easily the best of DC's second wave of Cover Girls, and hopefully her quality is a sign of what to expect from the upcoming Sandman Overture statue.

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/iu2rhyo_zps55727bbf.jpg

Final Score – 8.5

[Force of Nature]

Admire the statue and love the review... Thanks for posting this Kicksplode! :buttrock:

Rainer

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Nothing can stop The Juggernaut... NOTHING!

[JP Sarri]

Great review, Jesse. This piece is definitely beautiful and a pleasant surprise for this new DC Cover Girls collection. Although I still admire and consider AH's first round the best, you gotta give it to DC artistic team for creating a piece that matches well with the first releases. Too bad that the original AH's original art was never used:

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y319/Kicksplode/Cover%20Girls%20Death%20Statue/cover-girls-of-dc-death-statue-artwork_zps743056bf.jpg

Congratulations on this beautiful piece. ;)

[Kicksplode]

Thanks, guys. I'm not sure how well they would have pulled off that Hughes art in 3D. I'm just happy the statue they did deliver turned out this nice.

[Macethy]

Got my GF this piece and she loves it while I'm quite indifferent towards it, nothing really special if you ask me.

Great review :thumbs2:

[CessnaDriver]

It's possible the AH might have been hard to do without it starting to lean like Supergirl. All that weight on one foot and a hot summer assures the lean if it is not perfectly balanced.

[JP Sarri]

It's possible the AH might have been hard to do without it starting to lean like Supergirl. All that weight on one foot and a hot summer assures the lean if it is not perfectly balanced.

Pretty much.