A Diamond Select Spider-Woman! Once in a while I find myself shocked that a Spider-Woman Jessica Drew merchandise comes out of nowhere. She's never been the most popular of the Marvel Heroines so she doesn't get the attention from mainstream that I give her. Still, it's nice to know that Diamond Select decided to supply us with this neat statue. So let's check her out!
I have a few of Diamond Select things; mostly just Selects. I have to say that this is my first "Gallery" figure. Despite being the first, it feels pretty familiar with this kind of box. I do love the red color with the webbing and of course the classic Spider-Woman title logo brings the character homage home.
Window panels, promo shot of the figure on the back, and of course a lovely character description are elements of a statue I am all too familiar with. It's a pretty lengthy and well written character description too!
Now let's talk about this beauty! I love the posture. It's very action based with a little hint of sexiness to it. It might look like a forced fan service pose, but it can be functional because she is trying to be as nimble as she can while she is firing back her venom blasts against her opponents. One thing to note is that she isn't as voluptuous as some of the figures I have of her. She is actually lithe, all things considered. But at least she still has the right curves in the right places.
Paint wise, she isn't as vibrant or as extravagant as I would like (Bishoujo and Bowen spoiled me), but she isn't entirely flat. She does have a nice red with some shading to her. And her boots, gloves, and emblem also receive the same treatment; the yellow has some addition of a darker shade giving it the shadowing effects it need. The web-pits has a nice transluscent white coloring to it, which I like. Have to point it out now, there is that glaring split with her 'emblem' on her body. I hate it when they do that.
The hair isn't badly sculpted but it is just a flat black paint. It's not terrible, nor is it amazing by any means.
Now it can't be Spider-Woman if she ain't curved and round on the right places!
The face isn't bad either. The emotions falls a little flat for the motion she is in, but the mask's eyes gives enough illusion of anger and/or sense of danger. Wish they bridged the gap between her hair and the top of her mask; there was no need for that gap, honestly. The venom blasts are yellow, which I am used to it being neon green. There are some instances in the comics which it is yellow, so it works. Though the problem with making it yellow is that her gloves are also the same color. Diamond Select didn't do anything grand with the color effect of her venom blasts to make it more dynamic so there are some angles where it looks like some weird design for her gloves; like she took some inspiration from some weird MTV Diva, or something.
As far as the base goes, it isn't too bad. Her symbol (or a variation of it; I've seen this version in the comics too) is sculpted on top of the translucent webbing which makes it look unique on its own. It's not plain and it does its job of helping Spider-Woman stand.
Obviously there is no comparison, but just to show this Gallery Spider-Woman next to the Bowen Spider-Woman statue.
Here she is next to the SDCC 2014 Bishoujo Exclusive.
And lastly, here she is next to the Marvel Legends equipped with the Bandai Effect. Again, if Gallery used some inspiration from Bandai, the venom blasts would look a LOT better.
So the verdict? Well, this statue does have its issues. Factor in the fact that I lean on some expensive statues of Spider-Woman, she may seem like she's a lost cause. But all in all, I honestly recommend her. For any fans of Spider-Woman who wants to have a statue of her without having to cough up an extra arm, the Diamond Select Gallery is a good choice and it's available now. If one can look past some of the lackluster areas (painting on her blasts and hair, the plain face, and the not so dynamic hair), then any Jessica Drew fan can have a good statue in their hand. For any Marvel fans who are just okay with Ms. Drew, then she is an easy pass. But how can you not adore the FIRST and the BEST Spider-Woman? Well, that's about it.
Until Next Time!
