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It seems to be a bad-girl weekend, as this week’s Gotta Have It! Statue Edition follows our Dark Phoenix figure review with none other than the deliciously devilish Black Queen! Designed by comic book artist Adam Hughes, Black Queen is resplendently captured in polystone and is an impressive 16.5” tall.

Manufacturer: Sideshow Collectibles
Released: 2009 (limited to 1500)
Retail Price: US $149.99

The mutant known as Mastermind of the Hellfire Club secretly manipulates the X-Men’s Jean Grey, unaware that she is in possession of the Phoenix Force. When the X-Men attempt to infiltrate the super villain organization, Mastermind leads Jean to turn against her teammates, joining the very organization they were trying to fight and becoming the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.

Packaging: Black Queen comes in a light brown box with a black curvy script-like border dancing along the edge of the panels. On the top of the box, a large red circle houses a white “H” with a devil’s pitchfork dividing the circle in half, and bold black script proclaims “Black Queen Comiquette”. The front panel shows the Queen from the waist up, showing her sultry curves with a silhouette of the Adam Hughes print in the background. Side panels reveal most of the statue from a side angle with Black Queen staring uninterestedly to the left, where it seems she’s critiquing her own stylized logo, complete with a picture of a queen chess piece. As per usual with Sideshow, the back panel finally reveals the whole statue with a short biography of the character. This is particularly nice on this box because behind the statue is the full color picture of Adam Hughes’ beautiful rendering of BQ herself.

Assembly: As with a lot of statues of this size, Black Queen is packaged in pieces, requiring some assembly. A wedge on the bottom of BQ’s left foot fits into a hole in the base fairly easily. Her cape, however, is a little more cumbersome; it took quite a bit of maneuvering to position it around her legs and getting the corner in her left hand, all the while avoiding scraping the cape on her legs! The whip is held in place by a peg on the handle fitting into a hole on her right hand, but again, this was a little hard to maneuver. Be on your guard when putting Black Queen together as that little minx is slightly tricky.

The Statue: Oozing sexuality, Black Queen has her fiery red hair up in a messy bun with several loose tendrils slipping out. Her head is held high, her half-lidded blue eyes staring indifferently at you and luscious pink lips set in a line. Black Queen obviously doesn’t care about you or your feelings, so don’t go announcing your love for the leather-clad vixen; but you definitely can’t ignore her. I was impressed that her eyelashes were actually sculpted rather than just painted on, which makes up for the wrong eye color (they are supposed to be green).

A spiked collar encircles BQ’s neck and black opera gloves cover her hands and arms, a red rose bud on her left wrist. Only a black corset and matching knickers attempt to cover her curves, her breasts spilling over the top of the corset and her tush hardly concealed. The top third of the corset provides more of a look at her cleavage between the lacing. Long, creamy legs are bare until mid-calf, where black high-heeled boots with sculpted shoelaces make their appearance. A coiled black whip in her right hand and billowing black and red cape complete Black Queen’s dominatrix look. A corner of the cape is held behind her body in her left hand, while the rest of it circles her legs, looking as though she just whipped it off her shoulders a second earlier. The black circular base had a brown, segmented “floor”, attempting to invoke an image of hardwood flooring.

The overall quality of this statue is great. There is detail everywhere, from sculpted ribbing on the corset to painted blush on her cheeks. I absolutely love the fact that the whip was given just as much attention as Black Queen’s face. I also enjoy her pose: weight on her left leg, whip held out in front, shoulders back and head held high. She exudes confidence and sex, as well she should. She is evil, after all.

Black Queen also comes in a Sideshow Exclusive, limited to 850, which includes a print of the control art by Adam Hughes. (Retailed at US $164.99)

Rating: 4.25 out of 5; Black Queen is a little difficult to put together, and you really shouldn’t display her in a common area, especially if you have little children. Plus, I’m a little stickler for detail and would have liked green eyes. Still, she’s absolutely beautiful.

Kelly McNamara
contact@comicattack.net

Upcoming Releases: Punisher Comiquette
The latest to join Sideshow’s line of Marvel collectibles is the Punisher Comiquette. Each piece is individually painted and hand-finished, each with its own unique quality and detail that is the trademark of a handcrafted Sideshow Collectibles product. Towering 20 inches tall, the Punisher Comiquette captures the ruthless confidence of the crime-fighting vigilante in incredible detail, the perfect addition to any Marvel display.
-Sideshow Collectibles