LEGO DC Super Heroes Collectable Minifigures 71026 Review Part 1

The first Batman themed sets were released in 2006. In 2012, LEGO expanded to create the larger DC Super Heroes Theme, but Batman continued to be the central character in these sets. LEGO books, movies and video games frequently focus on Batman as the main character. The LEGO Batman Movie even got 2 CMF series dedicated to it. In 2020, LEGO gave us the DC Super Heroes CMF series. This series included Batman but focused more on the larger DC comic book world. It includes a lot of characters never released as minifigures before.

Dynamic Stand

The DC Super Heroes CMF series was the first Collectable Minifigure Series to use the dynamic stand. The standard black 3X4 tile with 4 center studs typically used to display minifigures now had a black 1X2 jumper plate and a translucent clear 1L bar with angled hollow stud on top of it. This simple build allows minifigures to be posed as if they were jumping into action or flying in the air.

Mister Miracle 71026-1

Mister Miracle was created by Jack Kirby and first appeared in the 1971 comic book Mister Miracle #1. Scott Free was born on the Planet New Genesis. As the son of it’s ruler, he was exchanged with Darkseid’s son Orion in order to stop the war with Apokolips. As hard as Darkseid tried, he could never diminish Scott’s innocence and hope. With a natural talent for escaping seemingly impossible traps, he was eventually able to flee to Earth. On his new planet he met Thaddeus Brown, a circus escape artist who went by the stage name Mister Miracle. Scott became his protégé. When Brown was murdered, Scott took the identity of Mister Miracle.

The attention to detail on this original red leg piece is amazing. The bright green boots show us just how careful LEGO was with their design. The yellow trim and circle are something we can expect from boot printing but adding the two lines on the side of the yellow circle creates the texture needed for his gadget infused footwear. I love that the green on the hips is not just on the side but slightly in front and then ends before it reaches the back of the leg. It adds so much dimension to the costume. Even the yellow patch in front was given lines to help make it look like fabric being worn.

The red torso piece is even more impressive than the legs. The only simplistic printing on this piece is red and yellow arms with bright green hands. While a couple circles and lines might be missing from the gloves, LEGO didn’t miss anything on the rest of the body. The large red belt has two yellow circles on the front and four on the back. I love how LEGO used shadowing to make these circles look like three dimensional indentations. It helps sell the illusion that his suit is filled with electronic equipment. The splotches of white over the yellow part of the costume under the belt gives it a shiny metallic appearance. As is typical with the minifigure superhero physique, we can see the muscles on the back and front protruding from under the costume. My favorite part of this torso piece is the cape clasps. The paper cape can’t attach to Mister Miracle like the costume he wears in the comics, so LEGO printed the intricate pattern onto the plastic. The zigzag lines are between the two large yellow buttons. We can then see the end of the green cape coming out from behind the top of these large circles.

Two pieces were used to create Mister Miracle’s high collared cape. A traditional starched fabric 3.9cm cloth cape was used for the larger section and a high rounded collar cloth cape was used for the top. While I have never liked the delicate, paper-like feel of this material, they do a great job of holding the shape of a cape. This is particularly true for the high collared capes. While neither of these cuts of cloth are unique, Mister Miracle is the only minifigure to have them come in a bright green color.

The red minifigure head did a wonderful job not only recreating Mister Miracle's costume but also giving personality to the character. The yellow pattern on the face is a great match to his mask. It’s the smile and eyes that bring the character to life. The smile is not perfectly symmetrical but slightly raised on one side. The eyes are not plain circles or ovals but are shaped as if they are smiling with the mouth. When a character wears a mask, we often lose the emotions facial expressions provide. However, this mask can’t hide our character's personality.

With so many of Mister Miracle’s comic book covers having him chained to some object, LEGO gave this minifigure a chain and handcuffs for his accessories. Neither of these pieces is unique, but they make sense since Mister Miracle is an escape artist. The light bluish grey handcuffs have appeared in over 200 sets. Personally I loved getting the 21 link chain with this character. This long chain is even more common than the handcuffs, although it comes in a larger variety of colors. To have this obscenely long chain for a single minifigure is great. It’s not being used to hold a large item but to wrap itself around a minifigure multiple times so there is no hope for escape. Or is there?

Wonder Woman 71026-2

This minifigure is based on the original Wonder Woman that first appeared as a back-up story of the 1941 issue of All Star Comics #8 and then given the main storyline in the 1942 Sensation Comics #1. Her Golden age appearance had a more patriotic look, since she was created during World War 2 and many stories had her fighting Nazis. Her powers were also more limited than our modern day heroine. She had her standard super powers of strength, speed and durability, but she also had the ability to control the electricity in her body.

The leg piece looks great. Her red boots have a white outline. To make sure they matched her comic book appearance, a white line also goes down the center of her boots. The blue bottoms with white stars are more of a booty short style, as opposed to the bikini swimsuit print used for her original minifigure. I’m glad LEGO took the time to create all these small details, even though most of it would be hidden by the large plastic dress piece. The shorts make the leg piece usable without the dress piece attached.

The hard plastic dress piece has been seen a lot, but the blue with white stars helps it stand out. This piece not only does a great job matching the more flowing skirt of the Golden Age Wonder Woman, but can also be used for a lot of custom minifigure work.

The torso piece did a great job capturing Wonder Woman’s original costume. The red bodice has the large gold eagle beautifully printed on the front. Due to the limitations in mass printing technology back in the 1940’s, LEGO does an even better job creating the eagle symbol on her chest. I love this eagle, because that American Eagle in the comics slowly transformed into a W for Wonder Woman as she moved more toward super hero than war hero. The back of the torso is equally well designed. We can see the tight fabric cinching around her back. Even though her long hair will cover the upper part of the torso piece, LEGO still took the time to add her shoulder blades. Of course, the arms include her indestructible bracelets.

The two facial expressions on the head piece do a nice job giving builders a range of emotions. The first is the slightly crooked smile of our confident hero as she takes in her surroundings. The other is the angry scowl of a fierce warrior enraged in battle.

The hair piece looks very similar to many past Wonder Woman minifigures, but a subtle difference can be found on her tiara. This tiara with a red star in the center is usually colored in a metallic gold or silver color, but this time LEGO used a plain yellow color. This subtle change does a great job matching the more simple colors used in the classic comic books of the 1940s. The tiara shape and hairstyle remain the same as we have seen in many of Wonder Woman’s older minifigures.

Her Lasso of Truth Accessory is a standard accessory for almost every Wonder Woman minifigure. This iconic weapon of our Amazon Princess is represented by a pearl gold lasso piece.

Aquaman 71026-3

While many of the classic DC heroes were based on their original comic book appearances, Aquaman was based on his Modern Age appearance back in the 1990s. Arthur Curry lost his left hand when Charybdis stole his ability to communicate with sea life and stuck Aquaman’s hand in a pool of piranha. After this incident, Aquaman became more aggressive and possibly mentally unbalanced. He replaced his missing hand with a harpoon, ditched his classic orange shirt and dressed more like a gladiator with silver armor over the right side of his body. He still had all his super powers, including his marine telepathy but he had S.T.A.R. Labs turned the harpoon into a versatile technological weapon and eventually had it crafted with an indestructible liquid smart metal. This would be the first Aquaman minifigure to have his harpoon hand.

Aquaman was given a black leg piece with an intricate green scale pattern put on the side. I love how LEGO put these green scales all along the side of the leg and only half way on the front of each leg. To help make this piece match the comic book appearance even more, the bottom of the green scales do not form a perfect square but instead curve to a point.

The torso piece is filled with amazing details to match Aquaman’s appearance in the mid 1990s. At the bottom you can see the rest of his pants and his gold belt. I’m glad LEGO made sure to include the Atlantean symbol for the buckle. With no shirt on, we can see all of Aquaman’s rippling muscles on the front and back. The silver armor covering the right side of his body is equally well detailed. Rather than just a solid piece of metal, you can see the plates fused together. You can see the straps wrapping around his body to hold it in place. I’m glad LEGO kept this intricate work on the back, even though Arthur’s long hair covers most of it.

Unlike the leg and torso, the head was not an original piece. This exact head could be found on the Aquaman minifigure from Batman Batsub and the Underwater Clash set 76116. The bearded faces fit our more brutal hero, so I see why they reused it. The small smirk with slightly raised left eyebrow shows the kind but confident side of Aquaman. The other shows this warrior releasing his rage in battle. The nougat beard with yellow highlights helps show us the scruffiness of Arthur’s beard. The small lines under his eyes show the stress this ruler and protector is constantly under.

The long yellow hair piece was also previously used in the same set as the head piece. The hair mold itself can also be found on fellow heroes Thor and Lobo, but in different colors. The hair piece works for the character, but it didn’t blow me away. Perhaps a more disheveled look would have been a funner look for this particular time in Arthur Curry’s life.

For his accessory, he was given a yellowish green fish creature piece. This was a complete fail for me. With the power of marine telepathy, this was LEGO’s opportunity to give us something exciting. An earlier Batman CMF came with a dolphin, so I think including a larger sea creature would have been preferable. The fish isn’t even an original color. You can get this exact same piece in 4 other sets.

Stargirl 71026-4

Courtney Whitmore stumbled across the original Star Spangled Kids gear amongst her Stepfather’s things. She donned the costume to annoy her new stepfather and took on the role of the new Star Spangled Kid. She was later given the Cosmic Staff by Jack Knight. She changed her name to Stargirl and carried on the Starman legacy. While Courtney is an expert gymnast and kick boxer, she has no superpowers. However, her Cosmic Converter Belt gives her enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina and the ability to project shooting stars. The Cosmic Staff allows her to fly and manipulate cosmic energy. Compared to the other characters in this series, Stargirl is a relatively new character. She first appeared in the 1999 issue of Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. issue #0. While it’s hard not to notice a similarity to Captain America, this is a constraint of the comic book source material and not unoriginality by LEGO. She is also popular enough to deserve a spot among the other characters chosen for this series.

The leg piece has Stargirl's black boots. While some red laces or borders would have been nice, it isn’t necessary. I’m glad to see that they did include the white line down the side and around the bottom of her blue spandex shorts.

The torso piece made sure to include all the important details of her costume. When you call yourself Stargirl, the large star in the center of your chest is a must. I’m glad LEGO took the time to put the stars running down her arms. The red Cosmic Converter Belt was printed on with extraordinary detail. You not only see the layers of the buckle, but also the individual pouches on the front and back. Since the belt is part of her powers, LEGO had to pay attention to this article of clothing. The blue crop top worn by Stargirl exposes her midriff. LEGO could have simply painted this part nougat and been done with it, but instead they included lines to show off her strong abdominal muscles. These muscle lines can also be seen on her back. Both on the lower back where her skin is showing and underneath her skin tight costume.

The head piece comes with 2 facial expressions. One side has her giving us a large toothy smile. If you look closely at the teeth, you will see silver running across her teeth. That’s right, they gave her braces. I LOVE that they included this detail. Unlike Supergirl, Batgirl and many other “girl” superheroines, Stargirl is actually a teenage girl and not a young adult. For this reason, the comics often have her facing many of the challenges associated with teenage girls. Including getting braces. Her other face shows a teenage smirk. Her blue mask is printed on both faces. While it doesn’t look great on its own, when the hair piece is on it looks fantastic.

The hair piece is a bright, light yellow, with a part over the right shoulder. The hair is a great match for the character, but is extremely common. For the DC Super Heroes alone, she shares this hair piece with Supergirl, Black Canary and Vicki Vale.

The Cosmic Staff or Rod was created by the original Starman, Ted Knight. This powerful weapon absorbs stellar energy and grants its user a wide range of abilities. Over time the staff will attune itself to its user and receive mental commands from its owner over longer distances. Stargirl has currently formed that bond, making this the perfect accessory for the minifigure. A common pearl gold 4L bar is used for the staff. The head piece is the real draw. This glittery, translucent orange harpoon head is a completely original piece. Its shape is a great match to the real staff and the color gives the illusion of Stargirl powering up her weapon and getting ready to unleash its power.

Sinesetro 71026-5

Sinestro first appeared in the 1961 issue of Green Lantern #7. According to the comic book artist Gil Kane, he modeled the character’s appearance after actor David Niven. Sinestro was an experienced and respected Lantern when Hal Jordan joined the Green Lantern Corps. As his student, Hal was horrified by Sinestro’s methods. His true personality eventually emerged and he was dishonorably discharged from the Corps for using his ring to instill fear rather than combat it. The Guardians also banished him to the Anitmatter Universe. There he met the Qward who hated the Guardians and the Green Lanterns with a passion. Sinestro persuaded them to create a yellow power ring so he could completely destroy the Corps. Traveling back to his original universe, Sinestro would become one of the Lantern's greatest enemies.

Before forming the Yellow Lantern Corps or the Sinestro Corps, he did not wear a yellow costume. The leg piece shows us that he is wearing his original blue costume. To create the shorts, LEGO used a blue hip piece and then printed the top of the black legs in a matching blue. The boots are also blue, but to give them more texture a chevron pattern was printed on the top. It’s a simple but effective design to match the less detailed art style of older comics.

LEGO did an amazing job having the printing on the front and back of the black torso piece match his comic book costume. Around the waist we can see a silver belt. This belt doesn’t match the coloring exactly but the shape is spot on. The blue scalloped collar could have been a simple design, but LEGO took the time in adding a few extra details. They put wrinkles just below the silver lined collar and have a little of his dark pink skin exposed at the neck. The sleeves have three blue stripes to create his forearm guards. Since Sinestro doesn’t wear gloves, the hands are a dark pink plastic.

The dual sided, dark pink headpiece did a great job capturing Sinestro’s evil personality. Magenta lines were used to create his cheeks, chin and brow above his eyes. I love how his villainous thin eyebrows and pencil mustache change with the shape of his smile. The first smile looks anything but friendly. This is the smile of a man who takes pleasure in the pain of others. His raised right eyebrow is challenging you to fight him. The other side shows us a combination of a smile and scowl. We can now see the madman who will murder anyone who stands in his way and is completely content with doing anything to achieve his goal. His eyes are now filled with the yellow energy of the ring as he brings its full power to bear.

The swept back hair with a widow’s peak brings us to our first non-original piece. This hair style has been around since 2009 and was used on the first Sinestro minifigure back in 2015. The piece is perfect for Sinestro and vampires, so there is no need for LEGO to create a new piece for this CMF character.

I love Sinestro’s original accessories. While we have gotten a few Green Lantern characters over the years, this series is the first time we have gotten rings for them to use. We also got a brand new lantern piece for them to charge their rings. To create the power ring, LEGO attached a round 1X1 translucent yellow tile to a translucent clear 1X1 round plate with a bar handle on a short stem. The translucent yellow tile piece was printed with the Yellow Lantern logo inside a black circle. The piece looks great and you can remove the tile, to then attach some power pieces or other builds to look like the ring is releasing its power. We did get a brick built lantern back in the 2015 Green Lantern vs Sinestro set 76025, but now we have a new mold to create the lantern with a single piece. The piece does a great job replicating the comic book lantern. The round handle lets the minifigure easily hold the accessory. The stud sticking out the sides are great for the opening used to insert the ring. The base looks accurate and was able to connect to LEGO studs so it can be secured to your LEGO creation.

Cheetah 71026-6

This minifigure is based on the very first woman to take on the role of Cheetah, Priscilla Rich. While current versions of Cheetah have superhuman powers to make her a stronger adversary against her nemesis Wonder Woman, Priscilla had no super powers. She had an inferiority complex and suffered from a split personality disorder. Rather than being part cheetah, she simply wore a cat costume to commit her crimes. This Golden Age Cheetah would make her comic book debut in the 1943 issue of Wonder Woman #6.

The leg piece looks amazing. The yellow plastic covered in dark orange leopard spots look great. Not only are the spots different shapes and sizes, to more accurately represent the spots on a cheetah, LEGO also shadowed them in a brown color to help give more texture. For even more detail, 4 sharp claws were put on each foot. This amazing detail is on the front and side of the legs.

The rubbery plastic tail piece, also has these variety of spots printed onto the side. These minifigure costume tail pieces are used a lot in the CMF series, but I love getting all the different colors and patterns.

The torso piece is packed with more great detail. The detailed cheetah spot work continues on the front, side and back of the minifigure. The use of curved lines is fantastic. Little waves on the stomach create her abdominal muscles and I love that the neckline is not a perfect V shape. The curves not only better define the chest, but are a closer match to the comic book costume. The line down center and shoulder blade pattern help give her human form on the square minifigure piece. The two lines curing near the bottom highlight this is a costume, where the fabric is being pulled toward where the tail is sewn on.

The dual face printing on the head piece not only gives us some great expressions, but also does a nice job matching the comic book artwork. The long thin eyebrows are a perfect match for that classic evil villain look.

Priscilla’s Cheetah costume had a cap that completely hid her long blond hair. For the hat piece we get a nice smooth cheetah head. LEGO did a great job matching the look of the comic book. The spot pattern continues all over the smooth domed surface, the ears are perfectly positioned and they even remembered to have the front curve down to cover part of her forehead.

For her accessory, Cheetah comes with a green money bag. The sack piece mold has been around for a long time, but this is the first time we would get it in green with a money symbol printed on it. This classic money bag look is a great accessory for our golden age cheetah burglar.

Superman 71026-7

Superman is the most iconic superhero of all time and the main character for DC Comics. There was no world LEGO was going to make a DC Super Heroes CMF series and not include a Superman minifigure. For this version, we get Superman Rebirth. The events of Superman Rebirth follow the New 52 Superman. While the New 52 had a young man finding his place in the world, Rebirth shows us what that young man grew into. He is now the most respected hero in the world and a family man with a son.

The blue leg piece is what most clearly shows us this is the Superman Rebirth costume. The red chevrons on his shins reveal that we are looking at the older Rebirth Superman. With this being an identifying feature and the only printing on the leg, I’m glad LEGO took the time to add a shadow underneath the chevron pattern.

The torso piece shows us yet another small detail that gets changed in our Superman design. His red belt is not a solid band around the waist. Instead it wraps around the back and comes to a point at the side of his ab muscles. A diamond shape for the buckle appears to be separate from the belt itself. Dark blue was used to create the muscle pattern bulging from underneath his skin tight blue costume. It appears as if LEGO captured every overdeveloped muscle on his front, but just used simple lines on the back. Since Superman is always wearing his red cape, this simple design does not distract from the character's appearance at all. I love that LEGO is now using these cloth capes. They look and feel so much better than the older paper capes.

Just like his leg and torso, Superman’s dual printed head is an original piece. The one side shows us that confident smirk. The other side shows us Superman about to use his heat vision. Most Kryptonian minifigures come with a heat vision side on their head piece, but this may be my favorite. Usually the head vision has this angry expression of pure fury, but Superman should rarely be filled with rage. As a godlike being, keeping his emotions in check is important. I like that this face shows us a stern look but is not overwhelmed with emotion. I also love the shadowing technique used around the eyes as an intense light is about to be released.

The hair piece is the same one used for almost every past Superman minifigure. The classic hair with a front curl is as much a part of Superman’s look as the large S logo on the front of his costume. It would be hard to replace this hair style with another piece.

For his accessory, Superman was given a 2X2 tile piece with a printing of the Daily Planet newspaper on it. I love these original printed pieces of different newspapers. Print might be dying, but in the LEGO universe it’s thriving. Besides getting a new piece, I also like how these cover pages tell us a story themselves. With the daily publication of newspapers, the possibilities are endless. This particular issue of the Daily Planet has Superman catching a plane in the air. Since Superman has done this many times in comics and movies, I’m not sure if LEGO was going for a specific reference or just a general image people have of The Man of Steel. “The Caped Wonder Stuns City” headline makes me believe this is early in his superhero career and he has not established himself as a hero yet.

Green Lantern 71026-8

Simon Baz would be the 7th human to take on the responsibility of being a Green Lantern and was the first of Middle-Eastern descent. He was part of the DC Comics New 52 relaunch. Technically, he made his comic book debut in June of 2012, where he appeared in The New 52: Free Comic Book Day Special Edition. This free comic was a way to tease readers with the upcoming Trinity War storyline. His first full storyline was Green Lantern volume 5, issue 0. Simon became the Green Lantern of sector 2814 after Hal Jordan and Sinestro were pulled into a pocket dimension. Baz would prove himself time and time again in the New 52 world. However, during DC Comics' next reboot DC Rebirth, Baz and Jessica Cruz failed a training exercise devised by Hal Jordan. They had their power batteries fused into one, so they had to be together in order to access their powers. They would now defend Sector 2814 as a team.

I’m excited that the legs used for Simon Baz are an original piece. With a black and green color scheme for the lantern corp, LEGO could have taken a shortcut on this piece. I’m glad they didn’t. The majority of the piece is his black spandex outfit, but extra time was put into printing his boots. The green shoes go all around the leg piece, but the yellow line on top of the boots, showing us the lantern’s power flowing through the costume, is only on the front and sides.

As one of the few Green Lanterns to wear a short sleeve uniform, we also got a uniquely printed torso piece. The majority of the piece is the black plastic used for the base of his clothing. Once again yellow lines were used to outline the green section of his costume. This not only symbolizes the power surrounding him but also adds nice contrast for the colors. These yellow energy lines are also be found on the back. Dark green lines were put on the back and front of the torso to show the muscles bulging under his skin tight outfit. Of course, the Green Lantern logo is put in the center of his chest. The green section of his costume is supposed to go up and onto his shoulders. Since this type of minifigure arm printing is not possible at the moment there is a black space separating the green patch on his shoulder. Medium nougat was used for his bare forearms and black hands were attached for his gloves.

Simon Baz is not bald, but he does have short hair under his hood. For this reason, the minifigure head is printed to be his costume head covering. While I’ve always had a hard time with a domino mask hiding a superheroe’s secret identity, having your head fully covered helps a lot more with the suspension of disbelief. The only parts of his face we do see are the whites of his eyes and the serious looking mouth. I love that LEGO put the green lines on the front and had them running down the back of the head piece. With only one facial expression, completing the back of the costume is important. We can see that LEGO continued with the yellow outline of the green on the head piece too.

I love the accessories for Simon Baz, because they fix an issue with all the previous Green Lantern minifigures that have been released so far…they don’t have rings. The ring is the key to the Lanterns’ power and its absence has always been an issue for me. To create the power ring for this set, LEGO attached a round 1X1 translucent bright green tile to a translucent clear 1X1 round plate with a bar handle on a short stem. The translucent bright green tile piece was printed with the Green Lantern logo inside a black circle. The piece looks great and you can remove the tile, to then attach some power pieces or other builds to look like the ring is releasing its power. We did get a brick built lantern back in the 2015 Green Lantern vs Sinestro set 76025, but for this minifigure we have a new mold to create the lantern with a single piece. As the power source for the rings and the reason for their team name, the Lantern Power Battery deserves to be its own piece in the LEGO world. The piece did a great job replicating the classic lantern from the comics. The round handle lets the minifigure easily hold the accessory. The stud sticking out the sides are great for the opening used to insert the ring. The base looks accurate and was able to incorporate the piece connecting power that makes LEGO the best construction toy on the market.

Cyborg 71026-9

Cyborg first appeared in an insert preview from the 1980 comic DC Comics Presents #26. Victor Stone was used as a test subject for his parents' scientific experiments in creating enhanced intelligence. While this experiment was a success, another laboratory project on creating an interdimensional gateway went horribly wrong. A monster came through the portal killing Victor’s mother and critically injuring Victor. To save his son’s life, Victor’s father restored sections of his body with cybernetic parts. Victor Stone was now Cyborg and had to come to terms with the extreme medical procedure used to save his life, performed without his consent. The minifigure is based on this original version of Cyborg.

The leg piece is filled with a lot of amazing details. The solid metal lower part of his legs, attached with bands of metal to his thighs is a great match to his comic book design. The thin lines running across the knees and the small bolts put on the straps show the attention to detail LEGO took in creating the character. The detail I LOVE is the shiny silver lines running down the legs over the flat silver color of the metal. This simple trick makes it look like Cyborg’s shiny metal is reflecting the light. This attention to detail was not lost on the side of the figure. We see just as much care taken in recreating these intricate details.

The torso piece is even more impressive with its use of shadowing and light. I actually think LEGO did a better job of creating the body of Cyborg than the comics. I always thought the comics looked like he was wearing a silver unitard, the minifigure makes it look like a metal body. I love that the belt around his waist has different designs going across it and not just simple rectangle shapes. Even his center circle was given layers.

The right side of Victor’s face was relatively unharmed and his natural hair was still able to grow. However, minifigure heads are bald. For this reason, LEGO had the metal shell encase the left side of his face and the top of his head. While not a perfect match to the source material, it works well for the separate head piece. LEGO did remember to put a circular design in the center of his forehead for the solar power cell input/output socket. Of course his left side has the rectangular infrared eye.

The hair piece does include the short black curly hair on his right side. The hair pattern continues to the side and we can see the metal headband wrapping all the way around. In the center of this band is the red lens to his solar power cell. While the lines running down his red eye are not comic book accurate, they do help it look more like a light than a simple red lens. From the side you can see the jaw line and ear plate.

I was a bit confused by his purple chain accessory. After doing a bit of research, I realized that this chain is directly linked (yup, I did that) to the cover of the 1982 comic Tales of the New Teen Titans #1. This issue gave us Cyborg’s origin story, so it’s only fitting LEGO gives us the purple chain seen on the cover. As of now this is the only set you can find the purple chain.

Batman 71026-10

Superman debuted a year earlier than Batman, Detective Comics didn’t start out as a Batman title, but when the Dark Knight first appeared in the 1939 issue of Detective Comics #27 the future flagship character of DC Comics was born. Batman has enjoyed continuous success in comic books and almost every other media platform available. With an overwhelming number of successful movies, television shows and video games to pull source material from, LEGO based this minifigure on his original comic book costume.

Since this is based on his more simple art work of 1939, the leg piece reflects the basic outfit drawn. Light bluish grey legs are used for his tights and black was added for his boots and shorts. Yes, I am calling them shorts and not underwear.

The light bluish grey torso piece managed to add a lot of small details into the costume, without losing that old comic book art style vibe. Dark bluish gray lines were used to create the muscles on the front and back of the character. Golden Age comics didn’t have overly defined muscles, but this pattern is almost expected on LEGO superhero minifigures. Black near the top completes the cowl that is supposed to cover his head and neck. I love that the iconic batman utility belt has an actual buckle with a prong and punch hole. Most modern utility belts are drawn with elaborate buckle devices. This is just a good old fashioned yellow belt with utilities strapped on. The bat symbol on his chest is a perfect match to the comics. I think my favorite part of this piece are the medium lavender hands. While the cover doesn’t show it and a lot of reprints recolor Batman’s gloves, the pages inside the comics had him wearing regular purple gloves. The color was more commonly used in superhero comics back then and the style of gloves looks like something a detective might wear when picking up evidence from a crime scene. Once Batman added the fancy feather blades on the side he moved more from The World’s Greatest Detective to the Dark Knight. It’s the hands and that bat symbol that let us know this is his original costume.

The long, 5 points bottom scalloped cape with teardrop neck cut is the only non-original piece used to create this minifigure. This spongy stretchable fabric cape was used for many Batman minifigures between 2018 to 2021. Batwoman even wore her own version of this cape in red.

I am not sure if it was intentional, but having the light nougat face printed onto the black minifigure head mutes the color and makes it a better match to the duller ink we see on older comic books. For the one face printing, LEGO went with a neutral expression. It’s a nice representation for our stoic Caped Crusader. The goggles with round white lenses and gold frames have a great classic aviator feel about them. I always prefer the use of goggles to create the white eyes under Batman’s mask rather than the straight white line that looks like an 80s sweatband.

LEGO Batman minifigures have had a lot of different cowl designs since the character was introduced as a promotional minifigure in 2005 and then to the general public in Batman Themed sets the following year. While many of those changes have been subtle, this black Batman mask clearly stands out as unique. Those long bat ears might look ridiculous to modern readers but are perfect for the Defender of Gotham’s first costume.

Batman came with a blue batarang and a black 21L string with end studs and climbing grips. Batman’s batarang has been around since he first used one in the 1939 issue of Detective Comics #31. Over the years artists have had a lot of fun changing the design of this weapon inspired by the “Australian Bushman’s Boomerang”. The LEGO batarang with 2 bat wings and bar in the middle has been around since his first LEGO sets came out in 2006 and its design has remained the same. However, this is the first time it appears in blue. It might not match the original batarang in the comics, but the blue color is a nice reference to the blue color in many of Batman’s older costumes. The 21L string has been around since 1998 and black is the most common color. It might not be original but is perfect for this minifigure, since Batman’s first appearance in the comic cover had him swinging on a rope while holding a criminal. The piece itself is extremely useful. Having studs on both ends of the string allow for either or both sides to be attached to other LEGO pieces or have a minifigure hold onto the end. The 9 climbing grips let you position a minifigure anywhere along this very long string.

To Be Continued....

LEGO DC Super Heroes Collectable Minifigures 71026 Review Part 2 will talk review Huntress, Metamorpho, Joker, Bumblebee, Flash and Bat-Mite.