I picked up the Riddler and Catwoman figures on the cheap last weekend at a small comic convention I attended. I am trying to focus on only collecting Joker and Harley Quinn figures with the occassional Poison Ivy or Batman thrown in (plus whatever random figures they throw in giftsets with Joker) but I am currently in the process of reading Gotham City Sirens. Catwoman is one of three main characters of Gotham City Sirens and Riddler has been in a couple of issues (plus I always kind of had a soft spot for him) including the most recent issue 9 which I had literally just read plus they were both pretty damn cheap.
Riddler is in his old jumpsuit, whenever I see Riddler in the jumpsuit all I can think of is 1960’s campy Batman Frank Gorshin’s Riddler. Speaking of which campy Batman needs to be put on dvd, I would prefer Blu-ray but I would settle for dvd but the rights battle continues on and I doubt it is going to happen anytime soon. I kind of like the newer version of Riddler better, the jumpsuit just does not seem to suit him and his intelligence. From what I understand Gorshin despised the jumpsuit as well and suggested an alternate costume of a green question mark suit and a bowler cap that eventually made it’s way into the comics. Gorshin is actually responsible for a lot of Riddler’s popularity, before the campy tv show Riddler had only been a minor villain appearing in only a handful of comics but because of the tv show his popularity really caught on.
While the outfit is not as horror inducing as Jim Carrey’s outfit in Batman Forever, it is still kind of too tight for my taste. As retro as the costume is, I can’t really remember him wearing the bowler cap with it before so I think it is a nice touch to bring something from the newer costume as well as referencing the old costume.
I always kind of thought of the Riddler being fairly thin, while he is thin he is also fairly muscular here. I like the included stand/backdrop it’s a nice little touch.
Catwoman is one of her older outfits as well, she has actually gone through a great number of outfits through the years this one has always been one of my favorites though. Unlike with the Riddler figure, tight is actually a good thing in this case. Catwoman is my least favorite of the Gotham City Sirens, when I was a little kid I was a big Catwoman fan but my love for her has cooled over the years. I think it may be her inability to commit one way or the other do I want to be a good guy or a bad guy today? I’m not a big fan of the gray area, I do find myself warming up a bit slightly to her but she is still not a favorite.
I wish the mold seams were a little cleaner, I also wish there wasn’t a gap in the arm I think that may be a design flaw with all of the Kia Asamiya’s Batman figures though as both my Joker and Harley Quinn have popped an arm at different times. The sculpt on her is pretty nice, she has a lot of assets but they are not enhanced to point of vulgarity it always amuses me how much bust size can fluctuate from comic to comic.
I love her cityscape background.
Pullips and Junk 