We Believe in Harvey Dent

Up until today, I couldn't bring myself bring myself to summon up any feelings stronger than mild anxiousness mingled with dull apathy. As far as I was (and still am, generally) concerned, maybe it'll be awesome, maybe it'll be crap, maybe it'll be a shambling monster fiasco of a film, but I can't bring myself to care.

Even years later, I still feel burned out from both the hype for and fallout from The Dark Knight, especially with my conflicted feelings about how Harvey was handled. I really need to update those thoughts, since some of those critiques have changed with time, but they're more or less the same as how I still feel Nolan's take on Harvey. As such, I'm really not sure how to feel about the fact that not even death is going to keep Harvey entirely out of TDKRises, as evidenced by this new bit of viral marketing.



HARVEY DENT DAY! And there's a parade, too! Wait, is this a solemn occasion, or a celebration? Wait, why can't we have it both ways? That's the true meaning of Harvey Dent Day! You can read the rest of the fake newspaper over at Comics Alliance, where you'll find more possible clues about TDKRises along with a couple very unsubtle product placements for Mountain Dew products, since they're the ones handling the viral marketing now. I hate that, honestly. And while there are no more references to Harvey, I can't help but feel like some of those horoscopes sound a wee bit like Two-Face in theme, although that's almost certainly just me reading too much into things.

So as the end of TDK indicated, Harvey is now a martyr, and Batman has taken the blame for his crimes. Not too long ago, I read about Nolan saying how Commissioner Gordon actually created something called the "Dent Act," which he used to successfully clean up Gotham City over the eight years between TDK and TDKRises. Of course, Gordon and Batman have suppressed the full truth of Harvey's actions, a lie which it appears that Bane might expose based on this photo of Bane holding a smaller photo. I understand that he actually tears up this image, meaning that either Bane knows the truth about Harvey, or else he's just symbolically destroying the image of Gotham's martyr because he's evil and crap. Either way, he's using Harvey's legacy to his own ends.

But it turns out, Bane isn't the only one. Another piece of viral marketing revealed a fake press release from Gotham Mayor Alpert Eyeliner Bat-Manuel, which actually explains what the "Dent Act" does, and thus sheds new light about how Gordon and Batman have used the dead Harvey to further their own agendas:



It sounds an awful lot like Gordon--with the Mayor's endorsement--has used Harvey's memory to turn Gotham into something of a police state. If so, this is a troubling prospect indeed.

While Harvey was willing to bend the rules, he was never the type to outright support the removal of rights such as parole. It makes you wonder just what else has been taken away in the name of enforcing law and order, especially unrest and protests similar to the Occupy movement seem to be a central part of TDKRises' conflict. If the government and the heroes have "saved" the city through extreme order, then it's no wonder that Bane seems to be rallying together his own army of citizens in response. At least, that's what I'm getting from this image.



If the people in that poster as well as this one indeed are angry Gotham citizens rather than Bane's (or perhaps Ra's, maybe possibly?) own private army, then it looks like the reckoning that Bane represents is the response to the oppressive war on crime that Gordon and Batman have waged in Harvey's name.

And that's when I thought of something which actually gave me chills. If my deductions are correct, then maybe, just maybe, Nolan still has something to say about Harvey after all. If all this is true, then the real legacy of Harvey Dent is a city at war with itself, on the verge of being torn in two.

Holy. Crap.

Now, I don't think that idea honestly would have occurred to Nolan, since he had no interest in exploring any of Harvey's internal conflict or any of his psychological duality or anything like that. Hell, I don't even know if the Dent Act really does result in a police state, or if there's any social class unrest as a result. This is the main reason why I haven't been playing the speculation game with TDKRises, simply because this could all be empty wanking on my part, and I will have worked myself up to be excited about something which won't actually be there in the final product.

Ultimately, there's only one thing I can do with certainty, and that's make fun of how ridiculous Bane looks. Hey, did I ever mention how much I thought he looked like a certain crazy alien lobster doctor? Well, good news, everyone! My brilliant thinking actually inspired someone to start up an entire Tumblr of "ZoidBane!"



Yes, this blog shall do well to tide me over until the Dent Day celebrations.

So as I was waiting with trepidation for the new issue of Tony Daniel's Detective Comics to hit DC's Comixology app for download and subsequent review, I thought to myself, "John, you haven't caught up with the Arkham City tie-in comics, have you? Do you think that maybe Harvey's made a new appearance there yet?"

Um... yes. Yes there was. And it's... interesting. No, you get no context. You don't need any.

( SPOILERS for the new 'Arkham Unhinged,' out today for digital purchase only! )

I should mention that I've really been enjoying the comics, entitled Batman: Arkham Unhinged. It's not super-brilliant, but it's generally the best depiction of the Rogues in any format nowadays, and the Two-Face/Catwoman story in particular was far, far superior to the Two-Face of the game itself. I would have reviewed that story by now, but I was planning on holding off until I reviewed Hugo's roles in the game and comics in-depth, and I can't do THAT until I get to ALL THE OTHER HUGO STRANGE STORIES FIRST AND I NO WANNA DO THOSE FEH so maybe I should just get to it anyway. I'd also like to review the Killer Croc story, which is literally the first to look at his origins in depth since... what, his first appearances in the early 80's? Geez, that's inexcusable.

If you want to read this or any of the other Arkham Unhinged digital comics, they can be purchased here at Comixology for 99¢ each!

Whew, made it! And just in time for Twelfth Night, too!

Doing this series of posts has been one of the most exhausting, draining, frustrating, and goddamned fun projects I've ever done on this blog. It's a shame that it has to end this way, with an assortment that largely covers some of my least favorite Batman eras and characters.

That's not to say there isn't anything I love about Batman from 1997 to 2006. Sure, the days of the great Bat-trio of Moench/Grant/Dixon were starting to wind down, with many good stories hindered by one big crossover after another after another. The fact that they were all fired to make way for the next big crossover would haven been bitterly misguided if that crossover hadn't been No Man's Land. Far as I'm concerned, NML the highest achievement for Batman since Batman: Year One, since it was an event that was mostly focused on character rather than... well, events. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than any other major Batman crossover I have ever read, and thus I was greatly excited with the prospect of NML mastermind Greg Rucka continuing to write the ongoing Detective Comics.

While I loved Rucka's run, as well as Brubaker's Batman and Devin Grayon's Gotham Knights, the changes they made to Batman's character and supporting cast led the series down a path that I didn't necessarily like, but stuck with because I trusted the creative teams involved. And then they were all gone, with Loeb and Lee giving us Hush. After that, new writers followed the threads left by Rucka, Brubaker, and Grayson, and it all went to hell. The stories that followed left me cold, and much as I rag on Grant Morrison's run, I think I might honestly prefer it to the era of Black Mask. Don't force me to choose, please.

So now, at the end of a project that I started to celebrate the characters I love, I shall see if I can muster any of the same kind of enthusiasm for some of my favorite and least favorite eras alike.


( Rassum frassum get off my lawn behind the cut )


So here's to another year for about_faces. The output will be infrequent, but I'm not going anywhere. There are too many stories left to look at, too many stupid things to rant about, too many comics and characters and ideas worth celebrating. Hope you'll stick around, and as always, keep the comments coming. You're the smartest damn bunch of fans I know, and that's no lie, no flattery, it's the damn truth. So thank you, and be seeing you.