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about_facesSo BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #14 came out today. Here's the cover. Guess which part I care about?
Don't let the cover fool you. The so-called "Second Feature," which usually takes up eight pages as a back-up to the main story, takes up a full eighteen pages! That's more than half of the issue! The main feature that dominates the cover is only a paltry twelve pages!
Normally, I'd rejoice at the thought of a lot of Harvey and very little Hush, but the sad truth is that the respective stories should have swapped lenghts. The Hush story felt too short, like a preview for a grander story. The Two-Face story, on the other hand...
Well. Since I lack a scanner, time for a brief synopsis!
With the Black Mask captured and his crime empire dismantled, Two-Face and his men are ready to retake the Gotham underworld. But their celebrations are short-lived, as the FBI has already seized his assets, businesses, and properties. The reason is clear: someone ratted out Two-Face.
His club raided by Batman and the FBI, Two-Face and a handful of his surviving henchmen escape. They hide out in an abandoned warehouse provided to them by Mario Falcone, who arrives in person with hired goons to betray and kill Two-Face. In the gunfight, Harvey flips his coin for some reason, and a bullet deflects off the coin, defacing the good side. "For the very first time... the coin doesn't answer."
Harvey freezes. Then he hardens into calm fury, killing several of Falcone's men and shooting his own henchman, Chester, for being in the way. Cursing Two-Face's lack of loyalty, a gut-shot Chester crawls outside, pulling out his cellphone and calling to identify himself as Special Agent MacDonald. He gives his location, but Two-Face overheard him.
Harvey flips the coin, and it comes up good side, but the good side's scuffed by gunfire. He orders his men to take Chester inside and help his wound. "He's not getting off that easy." TO BE CONTINUED.
... okay. So I was actively bored writing that synopsis halfway through. I don't think that's a good sign.
I'm just not sure why this story had to be pumped up to twenty pages when, frankly, not bloody much happens in it. Dialogue is standard crime-genre fare, the two(!) gunfight scenes aren't that exciting, and worst of all, characterization is bland throughout. No character stands out as distinct or interesting in any particular way, not even Two-Face.
I'm reminded of one of the biggest criticisms I kept hearing about Brian Azzarello's graphic novel, JOKER. Time and again, I heard people bemoaning how the story could have been written with any other criminal in the Joker's role, and it wouldn't have changed the story. Because the Joker was written more like any other violent psychopath making a power play, and less like... well... the Joker.
Same deal here. Two-Face is in no way distinctive as Harvey Dent nor Two-Face here. Of course, that's somewhat in canon. Too many lazy writers depict Two-Face as nothing more than a more horrific-looking mob boss stereotype. And so it is here. There's nothing to distinguish the character here as a character. He flips the coin throughout, but the answers always seem like forgone conclusions to the story. The results never seem to have any bearing on the story's direction. In fact, we sometimes don't even see the coin flip results. They're superfluous.
Which brings me to the one big "Ooo!" moment I had while reading this story: the coin's good side getting defaced by a bullet. For the first time in this story, I was genuinely intrigued! Does this mean the coin has, in effect, been neutered? What now? Will Harvey now have to escape and function without the crutch, leading to some awesome internal conflict and character moments?
Nope. Instead, after a promising moment where Two-Face freezes in the middle of a gunfight, he goes right back to normal as if nothing had happened. Except, something has happened. As we see with the final scene with Chester, both sides are scarred now. Are we to take this to mean that his bad side is always going to win in this story, that evil!Harvey now has free reign to take revenge against his betrayer and fight Falcone?
Oh goody. So now he really is just like every other bland criminal warlord character. Only with less humor and charisma.
Eh, but maybe I'm being too harsh. Honestly, I didn't hate the story. For example, it could have been a multi-part version of JOKER'S ASYLUM: TWO-FACE. So, yeah, this could have been wayyyyy worse.
And of course, this is just the first chapter, and I still have faith (born solely out of hope for a good story) that writer Ivan Brandon is going somewhere with this. Lord knows I'd love to see a lot more stories of Harvey as the protagonist, but so far, I can't imagine anyone reading this and desperately wanting to see more.
Short spoiler-free review: bland, forgettable start for a crime story with little momentum but nothing offensive. I give it a "meh-plus."
Did anyone else read this? What did you guys think? Is there potential? Any guesses as to where the story could be going? Would you like to read more?
Don't let the cover fool you. The so-called "Second Feature," which usually takes up eight pages as a back-up to the main story, takes up a full eighteen pages! That's more than half of the issue! The main feature that dominates the cover is only a paltry twelve pages!
Normally, I'd rejoice at the thought of a lot of Harvey and very little Hush, but the sad truth is that the respective stories should have swapped lenghts. The Hush story felt too short, like a preview for a grander story. The Two-Face story, on the other hand...
Well. Since I lack a scanner, time for a brief synopsis!
With the Black Mask captured and his crime empire dismantled, Two-Face and his men are ready to retake the Gotham underworld. But their celebrations are short-lived, as the FBI has already seized his assets, businesses, and properties. The reason is clear: someone ratted out Two-Face.
His club raided by Batman and the FBI, Two-Face and a handful of his surviving henchmen escape. They hide out in an abandoned warehouse provided to them by Mario Falcone, who arrives in person with hired goons to betray and kill Two-Face. In the gunfight, Harvey flips his coin for some reason, and a bullet deflects off the coin, defacing the good side. "For the very first time... the coin doesn't answer."
Harvey freezes. Then he hardens into calm fury, killing several of Falcone's men and shooting his own henchman, Chester, for being in the way. Cursing Two-Face's lack of loyalty, a gut-shot Chester crawls outside, pulling out his cellphone and calling to identify himself as Special Agent MacDonald. He gives his location, but Two-Face overheard him.
Harvey flips the coin, and it comes up good side, but the good side's scuffed by gunfire. He orders his men to take Chester inside and help his wound. "He's not getting off that easy." TO BE CONTINUED.
... okay. So I was actively bored writing that synopsis halfway through. I don't think that's a good sign.
I'm just not sure why this story had to be pumped up to twenty pages when, frankly, not bloody much happens in it. Dialogue is standard crime-genre fare, the two(!) gunfight scenes aren't that exciting, and worst of all, characterization is bland throughout. No character stands out as distinct or interesting in any particular way, not even Two-Face.
I'm reminded of one of the biggest criticisms I kept hearing about Brian Azzarello's graphic novel, JOKER. Time and again, I heard people bemoaning how the story could have been written with any other criminal in the Joker's role, and it wouldn't have changed the story. Because the Joker was written more like any other violent psychopath making a power play, and less like... well... the Joker.
Same deal here. Two-Face is in no way distinctive as Harvey Dent nor Two-Face here. Of course, that's somewhat in canon. Too many lazy writers depict Two-Face as nothing more than a more horrific-looking mob boss stereotype. And so it is here. There's nothing to distinguish the character here as a character. He flips the coin throughout, but the answers always seem like forgone conclusions to the story. The results never seem to have any bearing on the story's direction. In fact, we sometimes don't even see the coin flip results. They're superfluous.
Which brings me to the one big "Ooo!" moment I had while reading this story: the coin's good side getting defaced by a bullet. For the first time in this story, I was genuinely intrigued! Does this mean the coin has, in effect, been neutered? What now? Will Harvey now have to escape and function without the crutch, leading to some awesome internal conflict and character moments?
Nope. Instead, after a promising moment where Two-Face freezes in the middle of a gunfight, he goes right back to normal as if nothing had happened. Except, something has happened. As we see with the final scene with Chester, both sides are scarred now. Are we to take this to mean that his bad side is always going to win in this story, that evil!Harvey now has free reign to take revenge against his betrayer and fight Falcone?
Oh goody. So now he really is just like every other bland criminal warlord character. Only with less humor and charisma.
Eh, but maybe I'm being too harsh. Honestly, I didn't hate the story. For example, it could have been a multi-part version of JOKER'S ASYLUM: TWO-FACE. So, yeah, this could have been wayyyyy worse.
And of course, this is just the first chapter, and I still have faith (born solely out of hope for a good story) that writer Ivan Brandon is going somewhere with this. Lord knows I'd love to see a lot more stories of Harvey as the protagonist, but so far, I can't imagine anyone reading this and desperately wanting to see more.
Short spoiler-free review: bland, forgettable start for a crime story with little momentum but nothing offensive. I give it a "meh-plus."
Did anyone else read this? What did you guys think? Is there potential? Any guesses as to where the story could be going? Would you like to read more?
