The StatueForum review:
Sculpture: Coming out of the pages of DC’s new 52 World’s Finest comic comes Helena Rosa Bertinelli (Earth 2’s Helena Wayne), also known as Gotham City’s The Huntress. This character has long been denied the statue treatment so it was refreshing to see the character finally receive some well-deserved attention.
Jack Matthews is one of my favorite sculptors. He has done some amazing work with Adam Hughes’ original designs, i.e., Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Zatanna, Black Canary, and Catwoman, to name but a few. He is a consummate professional arguably on par with the works of Mark Newman and Tim Miller. The designer, Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, has also quickly moved up the ranks as Adam Hughes’ heir apparent to the Good-Girl-Art podium. On the surface, Mathews and Artgerm seemed like an ideal partnership. Alas, fans eagerly waiting for another stellar release by DC’s remarkable line of cover girls statues may find this latest production a bit of a disappointment.
Unlike the majority of the other delightful DC Cover Girl predecessors, the Huntress statue lacks the playfulness, the presence of strength, and the sex appeal normally associated with this line of statues. At the risk of sounding harsh and to the point, the pose looks stiff, awkward, and impractical. It also tilts to one side which makes the piece look somewhat bizarre, especially once it’s displayed alongside other DC pieces. I’m sorry to say, in my humble opinion, this may one of the weakest releases of the DC Cover Girls line, perhaps second only to the Hughes Batgirl.
Upon closer inspection of this piece, I found myself wondering how good a fit Mathews might be with Artgerm’s body types where heads sometimes look disproportionately small and legs looks disproportionately long. Then again, if those were the designs he had to work with, then perhaps the onus might fall upon Artgerm. Either that, or perhaps Artgerm’s artwork simply doesn’t lend itself as well to 3D as Adam Hughes. Whatever the case, respectfully, this piece fails to deliver in a big way. In the end, it’s just okay.
Rating: 6/10
Paint: Average for this line. On the positive side, no googly eyes and very little painting over the lines. However, you’ll only be setting yourself up for disappointment if you look too closely, especially around the eyes area. Most collectors will be paying under $75-$100 for this piece so there are discernable limits to what we can all expect for that kind of an investment.
Rating: 6/10
Design: I'm not sure whose published comic artwork this is based on. However, Artgerm’s execution of the character seems in line with how she is being drawn today, even if certain body parts seem disproportionately small or large.
Artgerm, like Hughes, is typically known for his curves. Make no mistake, it’s why he was hired to replace Hughes. They’re both exceptional artists. However, Artgerm’s patented curves simply aren’t prominent here. While this piece still looks decent when displayed, it doesn’t catch the eye as well as most of the others in this line.
Rating: 6/10
Production and build quality : The unusually light statue ships in one piece with no assembly required. If there’s a positive to be found in this statue, it’s in this aspect of it. However, the by-product of owning something this light means it’s quite fragile.
The uni-colored rectangular base falls in line with the other new 52 statues. There’s no real impressive design to it. It’s basically a simple base the designers chose to pose the statue. To be fair to DC, given the low price of this piece, there’s just so much we can expect in return. However, we did get more for our buck on earlier releases.
Rating: 7/10
Overall grade: 6.25/10 (C-)
