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REVIEW: DC Collectibles DC Comics Icons Green Arrow Statue
New 52 Oliver Queen As You’ve Never Seen Him Before...
DC Collectibles has a ton of awesome figures, statues, and more celebrating the characters of the DC Universe, whether they’re from the comics, television shows, movies, animation, or beyond. For statue collectors who have been enjoying the New 52 era of DC Comics (which started in 2011 and draws to a close with this summer’s Convergence event), there’s nothing quite like the current DC Comics Icons 1:6 Scale series. With arguably the highest quality representations of popular heroes from today’s books, the Icons statues have wowed fans with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and more. The latest release in the lineup is the first non-Justice League member (though he’s expressed a lot of interest in joining), Green Arrow! The timing couldn’t be more perfect for this debut as the Emerald Archer is breaking through to all new audiences and fans with the Arrow TV show in addition to the character’s comic book appearances. Keep reading for an in-depth look at this impressive new statue hitting stores this month.
For those haven’t read the books or seen the show (and if so you’re missing out on both counts) Green Arrow is Oliver Queen, a billionaire playboy from Star(ling) City. Stranded on an uninhabited island, Ollie was forced to learn discipline, survival techniques, and the use of a bow and arrow. Upon returning home he would take those skills and use them to clean up his city, rooting out corruption, secret plots, street crime, supervillains, and more. One of the top archers in the DC Comics universe, Green Arrow has in the past used a wide array of trick arrows as well as standard lethal and non-lethal varieties depending on the writer and the seriousness of the situation.
If you’ve purchased any DC Collectibles items in the past couple years (or even been to a comic book store), you’re likely familiar with their current packaging style. Well, the Green Arrow Icons statue continues the trend with a slick white box and streamlined graphics and text. The front panel of the 13 inch tall box utilizes the DC “peel back” logo (in green, of course) to reveal an image of the top part of the Green Arrow statue, and in the bottom left corner is its name. One side panel has a close up of the statue’s profile and tells you that’s made from hand-sculpted cold-cast porcelain, while the other features a full body shot along with info on its height and who sculpted it. On a personal note, I love that DC Collectibles includes shout outs to its sculptors on these packages! The back panel of the box shows off two other currently available Icons statues: Aquaman and the Flash. Lastly, the top panel has a comic book Green Arrow “arrow” logo. Inside the box you’ll find a typical two-part styrofoam “coffin” securely holding the statue (one piece) and base.
Looking at the entirety of the Icons lineup you can see that they share certain aesthetics and that extends to the general posing of the statues. Rather than go for exaggerated action scenes, these characters are all in classic, battle-ready superhero poses befitting their status as unbeatable heroes. Green Arrow then continues this trend, standing ready for anything with his bow held in one hand while the other pulls an arrow out of the quiver on his back. Perhaps more than his fellows in the Icons line Oliver here captures a great mix of calm and intensity; at first glance he seems relaxed but look closer to notice the tension in his muscles, the focus on his face and in his eyes, and the way he retrieves his arrow without ever looking away from his potential target. This Green Arrow presentation is uniquely New 52 with his modern costume and look. Ollie wears an outfit that’s decidedly more utilitarian than some of those from his past, though it definitely still looks cool. Everything is streamlined and designed not to get in his way with tight-fitting pants and sleeveless jacket and slim line armored boots and forearm guards. Zippers, straps, and buckles all give the impression of everything in its perfect place and not moving accidentally, with the only exceptions of Oliver’s tousled hair and the hood that rests around his neck like a collar.
The Icons Green Arrow statue was sculpted by Paul Harding, a mainstay at DC Collectibles and notable for his work on the Superman Man of Steel line, Justice League War, New 52 action figure line, upcoming Icons action figures, and more. His work here is top notch, and Oliver has a fantastic sculpt that’s impressively detailed and looks great from every angle. Even with a non-action pose there’s a lot of attention to the character’s musculature and physique that tells the story, especially in the angles of the legs and the aforementioned tension in his arms. There’s even a great three-fingered grip as Ollie draws his arrow. The armor is all neat lines, overlapping sections, and smooth plating with cool designs like the segmented backs of the knees and open heels for movement. Green Arrow’s jacket is really impressive with regards to both all of the little fine details like zippers, buckles (including the arrow logo on his belt), and piping as well as the way it twists with the character’s torso. Of course, statues like these are often made or broken by their head sculpts... so thankfully Oliver Queen here has a great one with a young-looking but focused face (that even includes sculpted stubble!), a domino mask that looks like you could peel it off (you can’t), and ever so slightly wild hair (you can’t blame Oliver; it’s usually under his hood).
Hand in hand with an overview of a statue’s sculpt is always a look at the paint work and details, and once again Green Arrow doesn’t disappoint. As it should be, your first color impression upon seeing this guy is “green,” though again there’s a lot more going on than with some of the simpler Green Arrow costumes from yesteryear. The color palette mixes a forest green on the jacket, mask, and armored components with gray on the rest of the clothing and black straps and leather elements. Brighter green is used for highlighting on the jacket piping along with silver and gold on zippers and buckles respectively. Ollie has a tanned flesh tone with blonde hair, and his face is accented with subtly shaded lips and painted stubble. Hiding his identity, Green Arrow’s mask has solid white eyes rimmed in black.
Like the other Icons statues, Green Arrow stands on a cool geometric display base with pegs in the bottom of his feet. On mine they plugged in extremely snugly, so I have no worries about him toppling over. The bottom of the base will have your edition number, limited to 5200 units (as opposed to mine with a sample code). Oliver stands approximately 10 ½ inches tall and is constructed of cold-cast porcelain. And as a special little detail Green Arrow’s bow has a real string!
If you’re a Green Arrow fan or collector you definitely want to check out this statue, and if you’re also a New 52 reader then it’s perfect for you. Other than the action figure that DC Collectibles put out this is the definitive version of the modern costume and look and will look great on your shelf. And it should be noted that while this is the comic book version of the character it will also appeal to fans of the Arrow TV show and Stephen Amell’s portrayal there. Of course it goes without saying that Oliver pairs great with other DC Icons statues. Green Arrow won’t break the bank at $125 MSRP, and he should be arriving in stores in the next couple weeks so make sure your local comic book store has one on order for you!
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
Review Sample Courtesy of DC Collectibles
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