In brightest day...

When you think DC, you usually think of Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman. After all, they are the biggest faces in that universe. However, I've always preferred the Green Lantern. There's just something I dig with the entire concept: a sci-fi hero wielding a ring that can create anything and is only limited by your willpower and imagination.

For their New 52 ArtFX+ line, Kotobukiya chose Hal Jordan, the original bearer of the ring. While I'm not necessarily a big fan of Jordan, I understand why they chose him. He's quite popular with the fans and has become more interesting over the years. Kotobukiya has honored that legacy with a fantastic figure that will surely please fans of both comics and toys. Hit the jump to find out why.

Figure Name: DC Comics Green Lantern New 52 ARTFX+
Figure Maker: Kotobukiya
Retail: $39.99
Available at: KotoUS 

Hal sits inside of a clear plastic container that shows him off rather well. Instead of going the cardboard route, Koto decided to let everybody see what they're getting. It's a bold choice and one that works quite well for these ARTFX+ figures. The plastic isn't as durable as a standard cardboard box, so be careful if you decide to keep the packaging. Popping Hal out of the box was an easy affair, with the figure and the base coming in separate pieces.

Although you can see Hal in the box, you have to take him out to really appreciate the details. For one, he's got a shiny coat of paint on the green portions of his costume. Combined with the matte black of the rest of the outfit and the white gloves, it gives the figure a sort of glow that I'd imagine a member of the Green Lantern Corps would have. It looks gorgeous in the light, especially in the sun.

From the back, we see more of the detailed musculature that the sculptor molded out. It might have something to with the skin-tight nature of the outfit, but I'm not entirely sure that's how lats should look. I can forgive it, as this is highly stylized and not an anatomy model. The one place that I'm going to have to call foul is here:

That's right, the butt. I refuse to believe that a guy that's as built as Hal would have a butt that flat. I'm saying he should have a bubble or even junk the trunk, but that is the butt of somebody who has never performed a squat. Believe me, with legs like that, Hal has DEFINITELY worked out enough to earn a muscle or two on his tush.

Moving further down, we can see some nice detailed work on the boots. They look suitably worn, though I think that has more to do with how Hal projects the costume. Either way, the guy has good taste. If you look closely, you'll see that Hal is standing pretty flush against his base, which is difficult to pull off with pegs. The reason he's so flat against the base is that he's attached via magnets.

See? The magnets aren't very strong, so it's pretty easy to get him on and off the base. However, this also means that he isn't as stable as he could be. It was windy while shooting this review and I saw that Hal would teeter depending on the strength and angle of the gust. While wind won't be a problem in a house, it probably wouldn't take much jostling to knock him over. Beware if you suffer from earthquakes or curious felines.

Hal's head is a mixed bag. The hair, paint and general sculpting is quite good, but I don't dig that expression. He looks disapproving at best and a bit irregular at worst. Considering Hal's incredible will and confidence, I would've liked to have seen him with at least a grin, if not a full-on cocky smile.

While I definitely like the paint job, there is one drawback. While it's a little difficult to see, some of the paint on Hal's shoulder chipped off. Whether it happened during packaging or while the figure was being shipped to me, I don't know. However, it does stick out when you see it in person. You'll have to be careful and treat him well.

Hal is a bit small. He comes in at seven inches, which is about 1/10 scale. When a figure is that size, details can get sacrificed. Luckily, Hal didn't get hit too bad by this. Perhaps it's something to do with the overall simple look to his costume. While I did take slight umbrage to Hal's lats and his lack of a muscular butt, the musculature is generally well realized. No ridiculous Rob Liefeld proportions here.

My favorite part of the figure is Hal's right. Besides managing to get a tiny ring sculpted with Hal's insignia on it, the fingers across his right fist are dusted with green paint, giving the illusion that his ring is glowing.When I first took him out, I had to look to be sure that it wasn't actually glowing. That's impressive.

Overall, this is a great figure. It's appropriately priced and looks fantastic. It isn't too big so it won't take up a lot of space, and it manages to look great despite the reduced size. Fans of the DC universe, particularly Green Lantern fans, will really dig Hal. This really makes me look forward to the future ARTFX+ Justice League releases.

Many thanks go out to Kotobukiya for providing Hal for review!