When DC dropped the promotional shots for Flashpoint waaaay back in Winter of 2011, it reminded me a lot of the “oohs” and “ahhs” and overall feel of another landmark alternate comic Age, and I remember it being the first time probably since the 1990s a comic event got me jazzed.
In application, it was going to be tough to live up to something like Age of Apocalypse, but man, parts of it were really cool. Anybody else get all pumped finding the “world of” features in the back of the books, just like the old days? Overall, it was a solid series, and made for a pretty sweet animated movie- and that’s something AoA has yet to do (though I hope we get one someday.)
But without a doubt, the most intriguing part of that universe for me was it’s Batman. For years, before and since, DC has tried to sell us the ideas of oher people under the cowl. It’s had mixed results, at best, and it certainly isn’t a trend we’ve seen the last of. But this time, the idea of an older, angrier Batman that ISN’T Bruce Wayne worked. It connected for me in a way that concept really hasn’t in a lot of other attempts. Thomas Wayne is much more brutal, and in some ways more honest, than Bruce is. He’s still brilliant, but tragedy forced him to appropriately clinical solutions to his vengeance, rather than the lofty heroic ones our Batman strives for. Indeed, had I been much younger when Flashpoint came out, Flashpoint Batman might have been my Dark Knight Returns.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited when Drone and Milliworx announced they were going to build a conversion kit for Sovereign Knignt, to turn him into Batdad.
This kit consists of a suit, belt with holsters, shoulder pauldrons, head, pistols, wired cape, and a stand. For a little info on how to make this conversion work, check out my video:
Once assembled, you have a complete Flashpoint Batman that expertly straddles the look between comic and animation/game appearances. The costume is appropriately plain, with the armored shoulders matching up with the gloves and boots to give it some more plated elements. The belt is a clever mix of plastic and pleather, and it leaves the figure’s articulation unchanged. There is a catch in the back with a small eyelet cut in it, so once you get it fit like you want, you could potentially drift a pin in there to secure it.The headsculpt is fantastic of course, and the proportions and fit on the SK neck look perfect. The wired cape is a really cool pleather material, and it’s cut works nicely with the neckpiece and the shoulder spikes.
The pair of Milliworx Beretta M9 customs he carries are, no surprise, my favorite part. Both have some silver and red (for the safeties) touches, and carry very faithful lines right up to those wile custom compensators on the ends. These remind me a little of the pistols from Equilibrium, though I think those were Inoxes. They even have stepped magwell floors, and the mags are removeable. While I do like the comics’ notion of Thomas carrying Joe Chill’s 1911, I think the anime choice of some more tailored weapons feels right.
Other than the base body, the only thing I ended up sourcing were a pair of Punisher hands, just to make dual wielding easier. But really, the kit covers all the bases, requires no sewing, and just some basic disassembly to get it done.
Sadly, you needed to get in on this set last month to get one, and it sold through pretty quickly. But I do have a little good news on that front: Drone and Milliworx are looking at crafting a version 2, so if you’re interested, I strongly recommend following both these gentlemen @drone_custom_figures and @milliworx to stay up to date should that drop. And that opportunity is one I would very much encourage a purchase for, these guys did a fantastic job, and I can’t to see what they come up with next.
