Killer Croc

The Lego Batman toy line has been going strong for over a decade now, but with this week's release of the Lego Batman Movie, we've seen a truly unprecedented explosion of merchandise based around the Caped Crusader's blockiest incarnation. And with that many figures, going from the Dark Knight himself all the way down to super obscure deep cuts like the Mime and March Harriet, our course here at ComicsAlliance is clear. We need to rank them. So today, we've dug through every single Lego Batman Movie minifig (and eliminated simple variations like "Batman with a slightly different face") to rank them all, worst to best.

Growing up, my knowledge of Killer Croc came exclusively from Batman: The Animated Series. Even today, that version of the character, more human than monster, stands as the one true Croc in my head. He's gone through a number of revisions in the comics, some more reptilian than others, but none have ever struck the same chord of balance between Croc's humanity and his animalistic side. Sideshow Collectibles' latest premium format figure does just that. We got a tease of the Killer Croc statue at San Diego Comic-Con, but this finished prototype of Batman's sewer-dwelling rogue is a fantastic work of art. Not only does it capture the monstrous elements quite well, it also has a bit of that outcast quality that makes Croc a somewhat sympathetic character.

In honor of Suicide Squad's release, we've gathered some great fan art of the Suicide Squad characters in their recent incarnations, tattoos and all. No surprise, there's a lot of Harley Quinn (she's a beloved character with an amazing look in the new movie), but you'll see plenty of the other team members as well. This is the gallery you want to look at when you're feeling bad. This is the best Suicide Squad fan art.

I've heard it said there are few definitives in life beyond death and taxes, but you can probably throw Funko making Pops of something in there really soon, if you haven't already. The company's reach far exceeds what I'm sure anyone expected from Funko when the Pops first appeared as Funko Force 2.0 at San Diego Comic-Con 2010. In just six years, the Pop line has multiplied exponentially, and it seems that Funko can hardly even keep up with the demand. That doesn't stop 'em from trying though, as you can hardly make it through a day without Funko announcing at least one new property joining the fold. While we did know Suicide Squad collectibles were in the works, we didn't really have an idea of just how far Funko's rabbit hole went when it came to the upcoming Warner Bros. film based on the DC Comics characters. Needless to say, if you like Harley Quinn and the Joker, as portrayed by Margot Robbie and Jared Leto respectively, then you are going to have a lot of little deformed versions of those characters to buy this year.

The hype surrounding DC Rebirth is quickly heating up as we approach the big announcement at WonderCon this Saturday. All we know so far is the titles of the comics, but DC Comics’ Twitter account has been uploading video hints at what we can expect, with split-second looks at some of the characters involved in the relaunch. Ahead of the big reveal this weekend, we’ve slowed things right down to get a glimpse of what we can expect from Rebirth.

For the past few months, DC Collectibles has been hinting at a series of statues based on the Suicide Squad coming out later this summer. However, the solicitations from DC Comics' toy and statue department have been absent any actual pictures of the inmates from Belle Reve that sign up for a mission that may very well kill them. With the release of the new trailer however, the floodgates have opened, and DC's finally given the Suicide Squad their due. Six of the Suicide Squad's members will be getting high-end statues from DC Collectibles, all of which were revealed for the first time by USA Today. All feature actor likenesses and the costumes they don during what I'm assuming is the latter half of the film after all their origins are divulged, they have a big training sequence, and they band together to take on the massive, mysterious threat Amanda Waller throws them up against.

This past weekend at Comic-Con, fans attending the Batman vs. Superman panel were treated to an additional surprise: the entire cast of Suicide Squad appeared on stage (minus Jared Leto) and introduced our first ever look at footage from the upcoming supervillain film. Despite their pleas to not record any of the footage, someone of course did, and it leaked online shortly thereafter in a really crappy quality. Well, director David Ayer and Warner Bros. feel your pain and have decided to do the right thing and just release the whole trailer online.

Ever since the first issue of DC's Batman '66 comic climaxed with an honest-to-Gotham airplane chase scene that ended in a fiery explosion, it's been pretty obvious that one of the goals of that book is to do things that they never could have done on the TV show. As much as the comic has captured the tone of the series, it's also made it a point to go bigger, throwing in bigger set pieces for the action, exotic locations and stories that literally go to new places that we never saw on the show. But there's one other way that the comic has been expanding on the show that's even more interesting than just pitting Gotham City's arch-criminals against a giant crime-fighting robot. Over the past two years, writer Jeff Parker and a rotating cast of artists that includes Joe Quinones, Jonathan Case, Rubén Procopio, Sandy Jarrell and Giancarlo Caracuzzo have been introducing villains that never appeared on the show to the world of Batman '66, bringing pop-art takes of characters like Harley Quinn and Killer Croc to the comics. And they've been doing it in a way that's absolutely fascinating.

Q: Can Batman defeat a pro wrestler in his natural element? --@ykarps A: At first glance, this seems like one of the easiest questions I've ever tackled in this column. I mean, of course he could, right? He's Batman. While the rest of us were learning algebra in 8th grade, this dude was traveling across the world learning how to be the best possible expert at everything, just in case he needed it for his never-ending war on crime. Surely that would have to include professional wrestling, the King of Sports, if only because there's no other discipline that combines theatricality and combat in the way that would serve him so well back in Gotham City. And yet, the more I think about it, the more I realize that, as shocking as it might be for me to say this as the World's Foremost Batmanologist... I doubt even Batman could beat a pro wrestler in his natural element.

The Arkham Sessions, hosted by clinical psychologist Dr. Andrea Letamendi and Brian Ward, is a weekly podcast dedicated to the psychological analysis of Batman: The Animated Series. Nostalgic, humorous, and even a little educational, each episode promises to lend some insight into the heroes, villains, and classic stories of the Dark Knight. As a special exclusive for ComicsAlliance visitors, new episodes of The Arkham Sessions will stream on CA several days in advance of their syndication to iTunes. This week: One of the toughest, scariest and scaliest villains in Gotham City is on the loose, and the Dark Knight is on his tail! In this episode of The Arkham Sessions, the Psych Doc wrestles Killer Croc!