DC Direct Brings BEFORE WATCHMEN, DARK KNIGHT RISES To New York Toy Fair

DC Entertainment announced today that their collectible toys imprint, DC Direct, will bring the first wave of Before Watchmen and The Dark Knight Rises collectibles to the upcoming New York Toy Fair.At their blog, The Source, DC confirmed the first collectibles linked to the upcoming Before Watchmen summer publishing event as well as providing the first official look at a number of The Dark Knight Rises collectibles, images of which had already turned up at European toy fairs and been making rounds on the Internet.The Comedian and Rorschach, arguably the two most popular and toy-friendly characters from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen, get the resin statue treatment, with The Comedian looking suspiciously similar to a J.G. Jones image, leaked on Christmas Day, which was taken at the time as confirmation of long-standing rumors that DC was in fact working on a Watchmen follow-up. Notably, The Comedian’s trademark badge, which was drawn as the continuity-appropriate smiley face, has been replaced by a blank yellow field and a splash of blood on the statue, probably as a result of nagging trademark issues surrounding the yellow smiley.While the publisher had not previously announced a Before Watchmen line of licensed products, the story at The source says that these statues are the first in a whole line that DC Direct will be selling later in 2012.”The DC Direct team has put together an amazing line-up for 2012,” Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer for DC Entertainment, told The Source.  “The Dark Knight Rises and Before Watchmen lines are especially exciting, and the team has set the bar high as far as creative execution. We’re proud and psyched to share these collectibles with the world at Toy Fair. This is the tip of the iceberg with what we’ve got planned for DC Direct this year and beyond.”