DC Direct's Christopher Reeve as Superman Statue: Keeping the Icon Alive in Society's Collective Consciousness

"Icons" are a part of pop culture that have been ingrained into society so fully that they are recognizable in nearly any form. It's been said that you can travel into some tribal forest somewhere in some remote location of the world, show these people a Superman S-shield, and they will recognize it instantly. This thought intrigues me to no end; is it then safe to assume that the world's people operate on one level of a social collective consciousness? To speak in Y: The Last Man terms, a morphic resonance that suggests if one member of a species learns something, the rest follows through simple genetic makeup?


This theory suggests a sort of hyper-evolution, that knowledge is part of our genetic makeup and thus, once learned, is spread - or resonates - throughout the universal plane to the rest of our species, even if it's an untapped knowledge; like knowing who Superman is in a land with no comic books or television.

Right now you are thinking: "This is a toy blog isn't it? Why is this asshole spewing metaphysical garbage at me?"

Firstly, it is not metaphysical garbage. Metaphysical, sure - garbage, absolutely not. Secondly, yes, this is a toy blog. So what does this have to do with toys? Well, everything. Let me propose this: If I asked you to picture Superman in your mind, 9 out of 10 of you would see this:

Right? But guess what? If I asked you to picture Batman, James Bond, or Zorro, almost all of us would come up with something different. It could range from animated versions, to the worst filmic portrayal, and even to stage versions. So why is it that these characters, icons in their own right, with just as many different portrayals as Superman, do not have a definitive version that so many of us seem to hold when it comes to Christopher Reeve?

Despite the decline of quality as the Superman films wore on, one thing was constant, and that was the grand portrayal of the character by Reeve. As such, we've seen our social collective consciousness reflect the awesomeness of the performance by inserting itself into our pop culture senses. Not only that, but we've also started to see the comics reflect the world established in the films. When Geoff Johns (partnered with Richard Donner) took over Action Comics back in 2006, they brought in elements from the original film, from the look of Krypton to the characterizations of Zod, Ursa, and Non. And then, when Gary Frank took over art duties for the book - even the look of the characters themselves reflected those of the films.

And yet, through all of this, we have never gotten a figure or statue that has reflected the true identity of Superman to the masses. At least, until DC Direct made it so. Announced a few months back, the DC Direct Christopher Reeve Superman statue is truly a site to behold (pictures courtesy of DC Direct):

And I'll tell you, I can't wait until I have that sitting next to my bed. Over 12" tall, standing atop an s-shield base, the statue is hand painted porcelain, sculpted by Karen Palinko, and a straight up spitting image of the most iconic superhero performance ever caught on film. Going on sale on May 27th, the MSRP is $195.00, and worth every penny. The only thing I can see as the downside to this amazing statue is the lack of a yellow s-shield on the cape, at least according to DC Direct's 360 View. For as long as I can remember, for one reason or another, that emblem on the cape has always been my favorite part of the costume, so for those less concerned about costume accuracy (as opposed to say, face sculpting) , this shouldn't be too big of a deal. After all, by all accounts, the rest of this statue is phenomenal.

This statue, combined with the continued teasing from Mattel that we could someday see Christopher Reeve Superman as a Movie Master figure, continues to push forth Christopher Reeve as the one and only Superman within the pop culture collective. Consider why Superman Returns failed as a box-office smash? The film itself is great - in fact, one of the best. But unfortunately, attempting to continue the continuity of the original films, while a great throwback, was also detrimental in the fact that nothing that could have been done would have held a candle to what was accomplished in Superman: The Movie.

Buy one of these statues. Let us continue to push Christopher Reeve as the Superman we all imagine.


UPDATE 5/2/09: Oh merciful Lord! It seems this piece will have the yellow s-shield after all!