We saw the return. Now let's see the revenge.

If I said, "Name a comic released in 1986 where a superhero loses his job, reputation, home, friends, and family due to the machinations of his brilliant, scheming arch-enemy, who knows the hero's secret identity," you'd probably say Daredevil: Born Again.

But a mere one month before the first issue of DD:BA was released, DC published Batman Annual #10, featuring a story which completely matches the description above. Because they were published so close together, I can only assume this was a coincidence. Both stories reflect something dark in the mid-80's atmosphere that could cause Frank Miller and Doug Moench to write two different stories with very similar themes.

While DD:BA is one of my all-time favorite comics, Moench's is starting to work its way up my list of favorite Batman tales. There are a couple notable differences between the two. One is that Bruce doesn't get driven to a mental breakdown, although Hugo certainly got close in his previous attempt, published three years earlier.

In that respect, this also feels like a story that Grant Morrison had in mind when he created Dr. Hurt and wrote Batman: R.I.P., comparisons to which become even more explicit in the story itself...






( This cut goes down to the bone )

Coming up next: Batman: Prey.

And in actual Two-Face-related news...

I'm planning on talking about the stories in last week's Batman 80-Page Giant, but I'm curious to know how many of you actually read the stories yourselves, or plan to in the near future.

Either way, it'll inform how I approach my review, which I'll hope will lend itself to something we can discuss. It certainly raises some... troubling questions about Harvey, stuff that lends itself to debate. The comic is worth buying, I think, particularly if you're a fan of the rogues. It's not perfect, but it's certainly more interesting pound for pound than most 80-Page Giants of late.

Until then, I thought it might interest the more wealthy among you to know that you can now purchase Tim Sale's Two-Face cover from Dark Victory:





Sale info is here. The price isn't listed anymore, but last I checked, it was something like $1,500. So yeah, there's that. Any takers? How about you, surrealname? I know you LURVE Sale's artwork.

Why yes, I am mainly just posting this to get your reaction. Also because I actually do like Sale's Harvey, and just in general, I like seeing Two-Face in black and white. It suits the character, and isn't awash in garish, distracting colors that so often accompany him.