REVIEW: Diamond Select Marvel Milestones Statue: Wolverine Special Edition

The newest statue from the Diamond Select Marvel Milestones line features fan-favorite Wolverine from the cover of Wolverine #4 (1982) by Frank Miller. Long before the films of Sin City and 300, Frank Miller was already massively popular in the comic book world with his striking art and dramatic stories. After successes with Daredevil and Batman, Miller teamed up with Chris Claremont for the Wolverine mini-series. In the four part series the hero travels to Japan in an epic story dealing with love, honor, and, of course, brutal combat.

The Frank Miller’s Wolverine statue comes in a large (11 × 9) box with the front and sides using the statue to mimic the cover of Wolverine #4. The back shows both versions of the statue and includes a brief description of the character, followed by an information box containing sculptor, edition sizes, etc. The bottom of the box has a Diamond Select Toys authentication box with individual number. This pre-release Special Edition statue is 0 of 2500.

The cover of Wolverine #4 depicts the mutant crouched and ready for combat, his left hand holding a loaded crossbow and his right a lit match up to his cigarette. The cover is famous for its light and shadow, and the lit match lights up half of Wolverine’s face and tinges his hair blue. The regular version of Frank Miller’s Wolverine statue depicts the mutant hero in the garb and pose of the comic book cover. The Special Edition version is the same, but with the addition of a paint scheme representing the famous light and shadow effect.

Wolverine is a fighter, born with the mutant power of massively increased healing and heightened senses. But that was only the beginning. In an experiment by the Weapons Plus program Wolverine was given adamantium claws “to make him the ultimate killing machine.” Noticeably absent on this version of Wolverine are his claws, sheathed but ready. Instead the “Canadian berserker” holds a telescopic sight-crossbow with quarrel at the ready. A relatively simple weapon, the crossbow consists mainly of a solid wooden block on which the quarrel rests. The bolt itself is silver with red fletching. The telescopic scope is the most detailed part of the weapon, with ridges and lines sculpted beneath the uniform silver paint.

The Wolverine statue is 8 inches tall, though if the mutant stood up he’d be a bit taller than that. He is crouched and hunched over, resting on a Japanese ceramic-styled base with his right foot and left foot and knee. The base is a burnished red circular piece itself standing on four feet. On the bottom of the base is another mark of authenticity and number, in this case 0 of 500. Wolverine is quite heavy for his size.

This Wolverine wears his classic brown, yellow, and black costume, complete with large knee flairs, boots, belt, gloves, and hood (pushed back behind his head). As noted the signature claws are retracted into the three gray opening on each hand. Wolverine’s clothing is mostly skin-tight, and does little to disrupt the sculpted musculature.

The sculpting is dead on, representing exactly the comic book cover. This early version of Wolverine is muscled and strong, but not ridiculously so. The statue too is well-muscled, but not overly, and so the muscles are large and rounded. The painted creases and shadows emphasize the definition. The arms, back, and chest feature the most sculpted musculature, enough to make a body-builder proud.

Wolverine’s head is intricately sculpted with an intent and focused look on his face full of wrinkles and furrows. The hair is greatly detailed, including the muttonchops, eyebrows, and signature “wolverine” hairdo.

The only “motion” in this scene is the flickering flame of the lit match, a counterpoint to the taught and ready hero. On the Special Edition version the flame serves to light up the right side of Wolverine’s face, offsetting the heavy shadow everywhere else. Thus the right side of the face is in flesh-tone, and the left in shadow and light. The stark light also creates a blue cast on Wolverine’s hair that matches his eye color.

The paint work is very clean on the body, and flows naturally into the muscle and costume creases. The light from the match creates all sorts of interesting paint effects on the Special Edition, as best can represent Miller’s creative use of light and darkness in 3D. Because of this, colors seem to bleed and contrast if examined too closely. Altogether the effect is quite striking, as though in a darkened room Wolverine’s match would be the only illumination.

I could detect no imperfections in the statue in sculpt or paint. The statue is heavy, but well-supported by the flat-bottomed base. Both versions are limited, the regular to 2500 pieces and the Special Edition to 500. Considering the popularity of both Wolverine and Frank Miller, these statues should sell quickly. Either one would make a fine addition to a collection. And remember kids, smoking is hazardous to your health.

Review and Images Scott Rubin