As far as sheer "wow" factor is concerned, few Bowen statues have hit the market with as much anticipation as the Moon Knight statue (sculpted by the red hot Kucharek brothers). Being the right character choice with the right concept at the perfect time, the buzz even at my local comic shops have been amazing. Add in an even more wanted variant (the white version, soon to ship at time of this writing) and combine with no direct competition on the full size market (something Hawkeye and Namor do NOT have the luxury of ) and it seems the statue is as can't miss as can be. But can the statue live up to the hype?
Statue Concept:
Concept wise, it fits the character as perfectly as possible. Often said to be Marvel's Batman, Moon Knight's character exudes mysteriousness drapped in shadows. The concept captures this extremely well. Standing on building corner, complete with gothic gargolye, Moon Knight stands ready to pounce on whatever criminals he is spying on. His flowing cape also is designed well, flowing around him. In one hand he carried a baton-like weapon of some sort, and in the other the edge of his cape to slightly mask his face. Simply Awesome.
The Sculpt:
Does the sculpt, however, deliver on the goods? The answer is for the most part, yes! Like Dr. Strange, the amazing cape of this piece absolutely makes the statue that much better. The Kuchareks do another fantastic job making the cape a selling point to the statue instead of an afterthought. Like the Strange statue, the cape almost seems alive, cloaking the character in darkness and mystery. The hood and mask of Moon Knight is also done extremely well, looking exactly as he should from the comic. Moon Knight's costume is also sculpted adequatley, with his signature crescent mooon's appearing on his chest emblem and belt. His musculature is also adequate, looking exactly as it should.
But, therein lies the main problem with the sculpt. The body and costume itself doesn't seem to do the statue justice. While so much effort and design went into the flowing cape, not nearly enough was given to the costume to make it stand out more. Its entirely too simple! Even the baton-like weapon in his hand comes off more as a perfunctory than inspired. It would have been a better addition to add his spiked gloves from his first appearance or perhaps his moon-shaped throwing knives to add something more to a character who did use various weapons other than a plain stick. More importantly, his belt's not sculpted very well, resembling a bunch of pacmans more than crescent moons.
Finally, the base itself is hit and miss. Along the same lines as Cleary's Spiderman statue, the base is a corner of a building that seems to be eroding away. The gargoyle, however, makes the base stand out very well, and is nicely sculpted. The rest of the building, including its 1/3 arch, is non-descript and not very detailed beyond some erosion effects. However, that's actually a good thing, as the base does not overwhelm or detract attention away from the statue as some current Bowen Design's releases do.
The Paint Job
My biggest problem with the sculpt lies in its paint job. This is very obviously the SILVER Moon Knight, and BD delivers on that. Yes, it sure is silver. And not entirely the exact shade, it is shaded a bit as you can tell. But, honestly, the color scheme does not really make the statue look any less plain than it already is. There simply isn't any real contrast from the cape to the costume. Just one dull-ish shade of silver. The base is painted ok, if not a bit too light blue. Over-all, a bit more color to this would have really made it stand out. Thus, that's why I think the white version will be the superior one, as the white costume will have crescent moons painted silver for some contrast.
Overall Value
As far as overall value, there are several factors that must be considered. First off, you have to decide which version of this statue you want. The Silver will be more readily available and less expensive, but many will think the White Version is the more accurate one anyway. Its scarcity, and from promo pics, superior paint job will make that one version the one to own and the definitive version of this statue.
The other major factor is the height of the sculpt itself. While Moon Knight is in scale with your average bowen sculpt, the really tall base makes the statue tower above all others, including Galactus (see attached group pics). This may or may not affect you. For those wanting a consistent looking line, this one presents a bit of a problem scale wise. However, that could be masked by putting this statue more in the back of the collection, which isn't a bad idea given the simple nature of the base. Just be warned, this statue is tall!
Conclusion:
So just where does the Silver Moon Knight rate? Its an awesome sculpt, especially cape wise. However, it does have its problems. First I feel this one won't be considered the definitive version of the statue. Due to the scarcity of the white version, many may just settle for this one. But, on top of that, a simple design, a mono-chromatic color scheme, and an unusually tall base caues me to rate it
3.5 out of 5 stars. The White will score higher in my book, and therefore makes this one rate a little lower.
