Doll Collector: DC Direct Batman Incorporated Series 1 Man-of-Bats Action Figure

My Man-of-Bats still safely sealed in his tomb box.

To commemorate the publication this past New Comic Book Wednesday of the final issue of Grant Morrison's Batman Inc. series, it seems like a good time to dig into the toy box and share a recent acquisition. based upon a character that I had not had an appreciation of prior to reading the DC Comics series Batman Inc.:  the Native American Batman, Man-of-Bats.

Photo from
actionfigurepics.com.

Once I got on board with the title, just prior to the soft-reboot/non-reboot that was DC's New 52 initiative, I quickly gained a respect for Morrison's take on the character and his partner/son Little/Red Raven. Originally created wa-a-ay back in 1954 by Ed Herron and Sheldon Moldoff, Man-of-bats continued to demonstrate Morrison's ability to take old throwaway concepts and give them new life and weight. It was this added dimension that prompted me to seek out a the only figure my research showed had been molded for the character, the DC Direct Batman Incorporated Series 1 Man-of-Bats Action Figure.

Getting my hands on one proved a little more challenging than I had thought it would, as I first went to my local comic store hoping they may have one among there vast collecting of action figures and collectibles. Once I quickly learned that not only did they not have one, but that they could no longer be ordered, I went the traditional collector's route and found one very reasonably priced ($7.99, significantly lower than the original $16.99-$23.99 list prices) online.

As an action figure, the DC Direct Man-of-Bats is a fairly standard issue toy; standing 6.75" tall and with minimal articulation, it appears clearly designed for one of two functions: either to be played or marvelled at through the plastic packaging. The design is very consistent with the character's recent rendering in the pages of Batman Incorporated, which for me (as well as they low cost) was the carrot.

Let's face it, it is not as though I am going to remove it from the box and set up battle scenarios with my Jonah Hex figures... but, then again, you never know.