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about_facesOkay, headline aside, I'm not going to try talking like a pirate for National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Sorry, Henchgirl, I just can't do it. But hey, I'll do the next best thing: finally post about Kenner's Pirate Batman VS. Pirate Two-Face action figure pack!
Kenner fanboy that I was from about ages five to fifteen, I always had a soft spot for this line of action figures. It was the first line since Toy Biz's DC Comics Superhero figures to do Batman characters from the comics, not movies or animated series. What's more, it took a Legends of the Dark Knight approach to figures from all sorts of different time periods and realities, thus making it logical to include all manner of accessories that you'd never normally see Batman use.
They released Buccaneer Batman, First Mate Robin, and Laughing Man Joker figures, presumably based upon (but in no way resembling) Chuck Dixon's Pirate Batman Elseworlds story from Detective Comics Annual #7. That story eventually got a sequel featuring Pirate Catwoman and Pirate Penguin (which can be read here), but they never got their own action figures. Conversely, Pirate Two-Face never made a comic appearance, but they gave him his own original figure complete with a trading card and bio:
Naturally, this is a story I'd like to see fleshed-out in full. I mean, a lot of the substitutions can be obvious: Gotham=High Seas, Pirates=Mobsters/Freaks, Killer Croc fits in naturally, and so on, but I want more from Elseworlds than "plug character X in here!" I have to wonder what kind of truly new things could be said about a seafaring Harvey Dent? I mean, other than his preference for stealing DOUBLE-oons? ... Maybe that pun works better said aloud. Or not at all. Sorry, just trying to channel my inner Chuck Dixon.
The paint work and sculpting on Harvey's unscarred side is very Kenner, reminding me a lot of the Peter and Ray from the Real Ghostbusters figures. His design is really my favorite part of this figure, as he looks both relatively handsome and not at all villainous, unlike the painting in his card up above. For action figure standards, you'd be hard-pressed to see him as a villain if that was the only side you saw, which is exactly right for any depiction of Two-Face.
The scarred side is classic green-face Two-Face, but the washed-out shade makes him look even more like a waterlogged reptile than usual. The sculpting is all right, but the coloring is bleech.
Back in my custom action figure phase during my misbegotten teenhood, I lopped off this action figure's head, repainted the scarring red and black ala Darkman (still my preferred design for scarring), and stuck it on a custom-painted body of Kay from Men in Black. I'm still pretty happy with how that one turned out, but I'm glad to finally own a proper, untouched Pirate Two-Face.
Man, whatever the "tragic accident" was, it was clearly more devastating than just acid to the face! Somewhere between getting caught in a cannonball blast and getting gnawed upon by "Tick-Tock" Croc? Whatever it was, it clearly made Harvey want to compensate for the loss of something, going by that weaponry which would make a Final Fantasy character jealous.
I mean, really: a giant-ass spinning sword AND scythe? Okay, there. I'm frankly amazed that he didn't rig a pistol in the peg leg. But I'm sure it sucks to be Pirate Harvey Dent as much as or even more than it sucks to be regular Harvey Dent, so I'll forgive his excesses.
Kenner fanboy that I was from about ages five to fifteen, I always had a soft spot for this line of action figures. It was the first line since Toy Biz's DC Comics Superhero figures to do Batman characters from the comics, not movies or animated series. What's more, it took a Legends of the Dark Knight approach to figures from all sorts of different time periods and realities, thus making it logical to include all manner of accessories that you'd never normally see Batman use.
They released Buccaneer Batman, First Mate Robin, and Laughing Man Joker figures, presumably based upon (but in no way resembling) Chuck Dixon's Pirate Batman Elseworlds story from Detective Comics Annual #7. That story eventually got a sequel featuring Pirate Catwoman and Pirate Penguin (which can be read here), but they never got their own action figures. Conversely, Pirate Two-Face never made a comic appearance, but they gave him his own original figure complete with a trading card and bio:
Naturally, this is a story I'd like to see fleshed-out in full. I mean, a lot of the substitutions can be obvious: Gotham=High Seas, Pirates=Mobsters/Freaks, Killer Croc fits in naturally, and so on, but I want more from Elseworlds than "plug character X in here!" I have to wonder what kind of truly new things could be said about a seafaring Harvey Dent? I mean, other than his preference for stealing DOUBLE-oons? ... Maybe that pun works better said aloud. Or not at all. Sorry, just trying to channel my inner Chuck Dixon.
The paint work and sculpting on Harvey's unscarred side is very Kenner, reminding me a lot of the Peter and Ray from the Real Ghostbusters figures. His design is really my favorite part of this figure, as he looks both relatively handsome and not at all villainous, unlike the painting in his card up above. For action figure standards, you'd be hard-pressed to see him as a villain if that was the only side you saw, which is exactly right for any depiction of Two-Face.
The scarred side is classic green-face Two-Face, but the washed-out shade makes him look even more like a waterlogged reptile than usual. The sculpting is all right, but the coloring is bleech.
Back in my custom action figure phase during my misbegotten teenhood, I lopped off this action figure's head, repainted the scarring red and black ala Darkman (still my preferred design for scarring), and stuck it on a custom-painted body of Kay from Men in Black. I'm still pretty happy with how that one turned out, but I'm glad to finally own a proper, untouched Pirate Two-Face.
Man, whatever the "tragic accident" was, it was clearly more devastating than just acid to the face! Somewhere between getting caught in a cannonball blast and getting gnawed upon by "Tick-Tock" Croc? Whatever it was, it clearly made Harvey want to compensate for the loss of something, going by that weaponry which would make a Final Fantasy character jealous.
I mean, really: a giant-ass spinning sword AND scythe? Okay, there. I'm frankly amazed that he didn't rig a pistol in the peg leg. But I'm sure it sucks to be Pirate Harvey Dent as much as or even more than it sucks to be regular Harvey Dent, so I'll forgive his excesses.
