POP! Heroes – Catwoman (Legion of Collectors Exclusive)

The world of superhero comics has traditionally been one of black-and-white morality – paragons of virtue contrasting sharply with hand-wringing villains. But their pulp fiction predecessors tended to play it a little more grey; you only need to flick through a handful of Robert E. Howard’s stories to see that. 

But some do harken back to these pulp roots, and few characters exemplify this as well as Catwoman. Once an out-and-out villain, she’s been bordering on hero status for decades now, and even a periodic lover for Batman. She generally acts for the right reasons, even if she’s not always on the right side of the law.  

This costume is her first true Catwoman outfit (though technically the second the character wore), 

harkening all the way back to the 1940s. It’s been revived from time to time, but it’s a stark contrast to her modern catsuit-style outfits. But of all of Catwoman’s costumes, this is actually one of my favourites. though it’s ludicrously impractical for her chosen line of work. The colours are garish and the design would be ludicrously impractical for actual catburgling, but I’ve liked it since I was a kid. We’ll probably get other comic-based Catwoman POPs in the future, but I never would have picked this costume as getting made.    

Paint is adequate, if unspectacular. Obviously you don’t get any choice in picking the one you’d like, but Funko seem to be holding these exclusives to a slightly higher standard than many of their regular releases. The more annoying thing is the glue mark on the back of her head, where the hair has been attached the back of the mask.   

Overall, it’s a solid and distinctive POP. But four boxes into the Legion of Collectors program, and I have to say that I have very mixed feelings about the whole enterprise. The POPs themselves have been quite good, but the supplementary materials have ranged from adequate to garbage, but overall I’ve just found myself with even more unnecessary crap taking up room in my house. So I’ve opted out of the last two (DC Legacy and Superman) …and I’m umming and ahhing about whether I want to opt in for the next one, solely because it’s Wonder Woman and I’m a big fan. This is a great figure for Catwoman fans, but if you decide to track her down then make sure you don’t pay an arm and a leg.