DC Comics is readying a powerful one-two punch that will explode into the marketplace on December 5.  The first 80-page installment of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Strikes Again (see 'Dark Knight Strikes Again in December'), one of the most highly anticipated comic releases in years, will be accompanied to market by a second monster product capable of generating huge sales, the Dark Knight Strikes Again Statue.  Typically, statues would follow the debut of a successful series by six months to a year, but the Dark Knight Strikes Again Statue should make it onto store shelves the very same day that the first issue of the comic book appears.

 

DKSB Statue

This exemplary timing is not the result of just issuing some kind of generic Batman sculpture and calling it the Dark Knight Strikes Again.  Perched on the Dark Knight's shoulder is Catgirl, who plays an important role in this new Dark Knight saga.  The fact that DC Direct can be so 'on top' of the publisher's editorial trends speaks volumes about the increasing sophistication and expertise of this in-house collectible-generating arm of DC Comics. 
 
Catgirl has a big role
in the series
Those of us that were around when the first Dark Knight series was released can remember how a p.o.p. item--a '3-D' formed plastic counter stand-up--became a $30 collectible as fans scrounged for anything with a connection to the coolest comics they'd ever seen.  DC remembers, and they're not going to miss the opportunity to take advantage of that frenzy this time.