Scarecrow, as a character isn’t that original. But he works–in the comics, the animated series, and even live-action movies–because the idea behind him is so effective. If you told someone to imagine Scarecrow, they’d have a pretty accurate image in their head, and that’s pretty much what Diamond Select is giving us with the DC Gallery Scarecrow statue. The Scarecrow you’re imagining in your head.
Out Standing in His Field
Scarecrow measures in at about 10-inches tall. The statue is built from plastic, with a design by Caesar and sculpt by Alterton. It retails at site like Amazon and Entertainment Earth for around $49.99.
Some of our favorite DC statues in recent months have been Batman’s many villains. Bane and Penguin stick out as two particularly enjoyable examples. If you happened to pick either or both of them up, Scarecrow absolutely belongs in the lineup. From the sculpt to the paint down to the base that he stands on, there’s very little to complain about and a lot to (scare)crow about.
No matter who is writing Scarecrow, it’s rare that he can go hand-to-hand with Bats for more than a second. Dr. Crane is a lanky, frail character whose primary advantage is that he can incapacitate Batman and, well, just about anybody else just by messing with the air they breathe. The statue portrays a wiry character with knobby knees and spindly fingers.
His pants are baggy, fitting him badly and drooping in places, stitched messily together and held up by ropes. The material on his waist, ankles and sleeves hangs loosely. That’s not to say it moves, but rather the sculptor took deliberate effort to make these pieces pull away from the statue to emphasize the intentionally poor construction of Scarecrow’s costume. I’ve enjoyed some of the texture work done on these characters, and Scarecrow’s shirt has a light crisscross texture that calls burlap fabric to mind, while his mask and hat look distinctly more leathery in texture.
Down to Base-ics
The great work continues down into the base, where Scarecrow stands on a rocky base with a short barbed-wire fence behind him. Beneath him, a Batarang fizzes in an oozing mess of Scarecrow’s fear toxin. The detail on the barbed wire is awesome even on close inspection, where you can see that the barbs have been sculpted to look like they’re twisted around the wire.
About the only complaint we have is about his pitchfork. And the complaint is that it’s just fine, when everything else borders on great. It gets the job done, looking appropriately twisted, but without the kind of detail and definition we see elsewhere on the character.
He could work for UPS
That detail throughout, though, helps offset the fact that Scarecrow is almost entirely brown. Even then, there’s enough detail to make it interesting. The character has tons of shading on the pants and shirt, especially around the stitching, that adds to the three-dimensional appearance.
There are tons of little details here, too. Scarecrow’s eyes have visible whites and pupils behind the mask; the painters could’ve just painted his eyes black and it would’ve added to the spookiness of the character. Instead, he has eyes that give him life. Further, the eyes are really only visible if you intentionally look under his droopy hat. There’s no good reason for these to be as detailed as they are. Behind Scarecrow, the wooden posts of the barbed wire fence are painted only halfway down, as if they’ve been pulled partially out of the ground, and the paint on the upper half looks appropriately weathered. It’s really cool. The only real splash of color is the green fear toxin on the ground.
That’s not how pitchforks work
Again, the pitchfork is the least interesting part here, but it gets the job done. It just looks like Crane carved the pitchfork out of a single piece of wood. Even all-wood pitchforks tend to be built from multiple pieces. Compared to everything else, it just feels lazy. The overall brown color of the character doesn’t feel lazy, but it does feel unimaginative. A red plaid shirt, a lighter mask, or something like that could’ve made for a more interesting paint job.
My concerns about the paint job and pitchfork, though, are really minor in comparison to how cool the statue is overall. The comic book versions of Batman’s villains have been a standout part of Diamond’s DC line, and we love looking at them.
Disclaimer: Diamond Select provided us with a Scarecrow statue for the purposes of this review.
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