Review
In Dark Nights: Metal, our heroes learn that everything you dread splits off into its own dark universe where the fear you imagined becomes fact. And when Bruce Wayne first pondered how a Green Lantern Corps ring would have corrupted his soul if it had appeared before him on the night of his parents’ murder… The Dawnbreaker’s world was breathed into existence.
No, it’s not a very good origin story for an evil Green Lantern Batman. I mean, if he became a Green Lantern and started blasting every criminal in the world starting from the age of 10, the idea that he would circle back to a bat motif in adulthood is quite a stretch, no? No… If we’re going this route for a sinister GL Batman, the origin should’ve been that the ring came to him immediately after Jason Todd was killed. Then he would’ve been an evil Batman and not an evil Bruce Wayne who grows up a green lantern (somehow being ignored by the Corps for a decade) and eventually decides he wants to wear a cowl with pointy ears– ANYWAY. My thoughts on the character (a red lantern ring makes more sense, too) are irrelevant here. And Dawnbreaker’s backstory is irrelevant to his role in Dark Nights: Metal, in which he’s….. Well, he’s in a couple of panels here and there, then gets brought down pretty quick– THE POINT IS, he’s there to look cool as a malevolent Batman who has Green Lantern’s powers. And this statue captures the villain’s appearance perfectly.
This is the part of the review that’s 100% worth skipping: Dawnbreaker comes in a box, ya’ll. A nice looking box with multiple photos, a character bio, and credits for the creative folks responsible for bringing this baddie to life in painted polyresin. Polyresin would break in shipping, so the folks at DC Collectibles wrapped every individual component in plastic and fit it snugly in two-piece Styrofoam so everything arrives to the store and to your home safely. Solid packaging.
Dawnbreaker is a statue, alright, but he’s not one solid piece from base to bat ears, and that’s a good thing. Statues that give you options are terrific, giving you multiple options for how you wish to display the figure. In the case of Dawnbreaker, you can appreciate his perversion of the Green Lantern uniform first and foremost, or you can swap in an accessory that directs the admirer’s attention toward the villain’s diabolical use of the Green Lantern’s light.
The Dark Green Dark Knight looks terrific with either right hand #1 or right hand #2 swapped into place, but I’m partial to the one that boasts an octopus tentacle construct made of translucent green plastic. Why an octopus tentacle? Who cares! What are the pipes and goggles for when the outfit is supposed to be crafted of sheer willpower? Tentacles are slimy and gross, and combining that with the (useless when you think about it) gaskets and valves of a quasi-steampunk aesthetic, makes this baddie look all the more strange and diseased. Capullo’s artwork makes you think this is a Batman who has forgotten his physical self almost entirely and let his body waste away, so it’s a shame that the one-shot backstory we got did nothing to play off of the intriguing details of Capullo’s original design, which has been rendered beautifully here by sculptor Adrienne Smith.
The sculpt is exactly what it should be. As I said before, Capullo didn’t get a chance to draw much of this monster in Dark Nights: Metal, and yet Smith was able to take what few images exist and turn them into a piece of polyresin that rings 100% true. The matte paint on the uniform and the sickly gray skin tone is all pitch perfect to my eyes, too. There’s even some shading painted here and there that adds some nice depth to the figure. Quite simply: this character doesn’t deserve a statue that’s this good.
But I can’t be all positive. It’s just not my nature. So here are the two things I didn’t like about the overall craftsmanship, and it’s ironic when you think about it: it’s the metal. I dig the etched, octagonal base, but the metal rod that creates the illusion of a levitating Dawnbreaker is still a little too distracting. I would have preferred some clear plastic, I think, and it seems doable since the scrawny body of Dawnbreaker is so lightweight.
Where’s the other metal, you ask? It’s the pins in the hands. In order to swap out one right hand for another, you’ll need to insert/remove the metal pin that extends from the base of that hand’s wrist. I’ve said words like “sick” and “scrawny” a few times here, so I think you know where I’m going with this: the arms of this emaciated creep are thin, and pushing and pulling against polyresin could be risky business. Magnets would have been a more preferable way to swap out these hands, in my opinion.
Overall
DC Collectibles’ line of Dark Nights: Metal statues is off to a great start with the exceptionally well-made Dawnbreaker, but nevertheless I would still suggest exercising a little patience for now. That is, of course, if you are the type that’s buying Dawnbreaker with the primary goal of collecting the entire lineup of evil Batmen in mind– and I think that’s the majority. Sure, there are only 5,000 Dawnbreakers available, but I think you can hold off a month or two to see how The Merciless, The Drowned, and Murder Machine look first before you throw down over $80 for this Emerald Knight.
What if you were stuck with a really cool Dawnbreaker but then the other members of the Dark Multiverse crew come out looking sub-par? You don’t want that! You wouldn’t want to continue collecting the series begrudgingly because you felt pot committed. I advise you to wait for two or three more figures from the line to get equally good reviews first, then make your investment.
On the other hand, if you’re here to display Dawnbreaker all by his lonesome, go right ahead. You will be completely satisfied with this statue.
DISCLAIMER: Batman News received this collectible from the manufacturer for the purpose of review.
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