We Believe in Harvey Dent

At the risk of invalidating my opinion right off the bat, I want to briefly discuss the use of the Bat-Rogues--especially Harvey--in Scott Snyder's current Joker event, Death of the Family.



( SPOILERS and ranting ahoy! )

Since real life has once again become far too real to allow free time for the usual in-depth bloggery, I think it'd be neat to post a gallery of Batman villains as drawn by a single artist of note, someone who has an amazing style of their own who also brings something unique to the Rogues. Today, I'd like to dedicate this post to Chris Samnee.



Before he became the artist of such celebrated titles as the late, lamented Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Mark Waid's current Daredevil run, and The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom (which I haven't read but obviously must), Samnee first caught my attention with the above Two-Face piece, which instantly became one of my very favorite portraits of Harvey. It doesn't hurt that Two-Face is Samnee's favorite Batman villain, something I learned from over at his blog. From there, I scoured through his archives, and quickly fell in love with his artwork.

Like Alex Toth, David Mazzucchelli, and Michael Lark, Samnee's style is elegantly minimalistic, able to say a lot with a little. As I've said many times in the past, I'm a sucker for artists who can pull that off, especially when it comes to characters. Samnee's portraits shine with personality, and combined with his clear affection for the Bat-Family and Rogues alike, I would dearly love to see him take on a character-driven Gotham Underworld maxi-series.



To get a taste of what that might look like, I've assembled every single villain portrait of Samnee's that I could find over at his blog and Comic Art Fans, an invaluable resource for rare original art. Thanks to those sites, I could easily have also included another thirty portraits of the heroes as well, but eh, maybe I'll just put my favorites in the comments or something. Here, it's evil ahoy!

( Over thirty more portraits of the bad, the worse, and the ugly behind the cut! )

A great assortment all, but definitely a few notable absences, especially the Riddler and the Mad Hatter. I'd also love to see how Samnee would tackle Killer Moth.

Note: one Two-Face portrait by Samnee that I cannot include is the one which might just be the best of them all, but as you can see there, the image is teeny tiny and won't enlarge. Blast! I left a comment on Samnee's blog asking about it, but no reply has come yet. If one does and I can find a better version, rest assured that I shall post it!

Welcome to the next installment of my three-part review series which I have dubbed "Harvey and pals!" Why? Because calling it "Harvfield and Friends" probably wouldn't have flown with anybody. That said, now the theme song is stuck in my head...

The first uniting of the Unholy Three ended, unsurprisingly, with defeat and arrest, but this doesn't prove to be the only time that Harvey, the Joker, and the Penguin decided to hang out in their downtime away from schemes and deathtraps. Maybe the events of the previous episode taught these rogues to enjoy (or at least tolerate) one another's company? To paraphrase a character from the wacky cannibal movie Ravenous, "It's lonely being a supervillain. Tough making friends." Perhaps that's what led to the scene of villainous socializing that occurred in one of B:TAS' best-ever episodes:



Wherein several of the rogues play cards and trade stories about how they each almost killed Batman, but there's more going on than meets the eye. Watch it here!

( I threw a r... well, you know the rest. )

As a bonus, I am delighted to present to you something which I found whilst scouring for rare B:TAS/Two-Face memorabilia, especially limited edition collectibles from the late, lamented Warner Brothers Studio Store chain of shops. That store would often carry animation cels, lithographs, and other cool works of Batman art, and it's so hard to find good-quality scans of them anywhere online. Thankfully, I found a fantastic scan of this, one of my very favorites:



Man, forget dogs playing poker, I want this hanging in my den whenever I play cards and smoke cigars with the boys. Not that I play cards nor smoke cigars, nor do I even have boys anymore. Whatever, I still want it anyway. That and the other WB Studio Store sericels of the Rogues:



There is not a single one of these that I don't love. There were at least two others in this particular series of character line-ups, including one of the heroes (like Robin, Commissioner Gordon, Renee Montoya, and even Harvey Dent!) and a second one for the villains! Sadly, I haven’t been able to find the first one at all, and the only scan I’ve found for the second is this grainy, teeny one here:



So yeah, if you know where I can find better quality images of these awesome works of art, let me know.

Sometimes, I like to wonder about the stories which were never told, or the ones that could have easily gone in a different direction but for a small twist of fate. I think about this with stories in general, but of course, my biggest interest is in the Harvey Dent stories that never were.

As I've been a fan of the character for a long time, I've always had my eye out for news about the character in Wizard and sites like Newsarama and Comic Book Resources, and there have been times when I've learned about an upcoming Two-Face story that never actually ends up getting released, or else it gets replaced at the last minute without explanation. As you might imagine, this is always disappointing, but there are some instances where it's actually painful, since many of these stories might have drastically changed the direction of the character, and perhaps may have even altered the status of Harvey in the esteem of fandom. As such, when I look back at those untold stories, I can't help but wonder what might have been.

But thanks to you fine followers of this blog, I no longer need wonder alone! So over the next few weeks, let's examine these abandoned Two-Face appearances from comics, TV, and film, so that we can speculate what they might have been like and what impact they might have had, for good or ill. I'm also going to need your help verifying the veracity of these projects, since many of those articles and news sites are now defunct, and I'm solely going by my own faulty memory of stuff I'd once heard about years ago. As such, any information anyone has to prove or disprove the almost-existence of these stories would be greatly appreciated.

Seeing as how we're on the precipice of The Dark Knight Rises, I think it's best to start with the unproduced projects for TV and film which would have given the character mass exposure outside the ever-shrinking realm of comics fandom. With that in mind, let's begin with one of the more famous examples:


CLINT EASTWOOD AS TWO-FACE ON THE 60'S BATMAN TV SHOW (1968)



What was it supposed to be?
Two years after the release of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Clint Eastwood had supposedly been cast to be Two-Face in the Batman TV show. This would not only have brought the character into the show, but it also would have been his first appearance since he vanished from the comics in 1954. For the show, Two-Face's origin would be changed so that he would be a TV anchorman who got scarred when a klieg light exploded, following (the Silver Age revision of) the origin of Paul Sloane, the second Impostor Two-Face.



What did we get instead?
Nothing, because the show was cancelled before the episode was made!

LOL, u Bat-mad?


Do I have any proof that this almost existed?
Only wiki entries such as Wikipedia and DC Wiki, but their sources aren't as solid as I'd prefer. I'm fairly certain that one of you folks linked me to a more reputable source, but I can't remember what that was. If anyone can point it my way, I'll add it to this post. According to this link, it looks verified! And there was apparently a script by Harlan Frickin' Ellison, no less! Egad!


Can I come up with any speculation, baseless or otherwise, as to what it might have been like?
Since the show often faithfully adapted actual comics stories from the era, I imagine that any Two-Face episode of the Batman show would have been based around the more outlandish, late-period Golden Age Two-Face stories by Dick Sprang, such as the George Blake impostor story (maybe complete with the floating balloon decoy twin brother head?). Even more likely, it could have drawn inspiration from Two-Face Strikes Again! There would be bad puns galore, lots of outlandish crimes based around the number two, attacks on people who have "two faces," and maybe even the giant-coin deathtrap, if they could have found a low-budget way to pull it off.




Could we be better off that it never happened?
Possibly, possibly not. On one hand, it's likely that Two-Face's appearance in the show would have given the character added exposure to pop culture at large, so that he wouldn't be an obscure character to non-comics readers until his appearances in TV and film decades down the line. On the other hand, the show's take on Two-Face might have solidified the view of the character as a pun-spewing, weird-looking joke character even worse than the comics did!

Bear in mind, it took the Riddler decades to shake the stigma of being associated with that show, a stigma which the Penguin still seems to carry to some extent. Consider how Denny O'Neil, the man who helped revitalize the status of Two-Face in the Bronze Age, treated the Riddler in a 1989 issue of The Question:


Maybe O'Neil was just lashing out on behalf of every frustrated writer who struggled and failed to write Eddie well.

Perhaps it's mainly the fact that Harvey was excluded from the show that his triumphant return to comics in the O'Neil/Adams classic Half an Evil packed such a punch, simply because it brought in a refreshingly grotesque and tragic character to counteract the bright, colorful, silly camp of the show. After that issue, Two-Face became one of the main Batman villains throughout the 70's, whereas TV favorites like the Riddler and the Penguin started to languish in the comics. I don't think that's a coincidence. As such, I believe that Harvey became such a major character simply because he wasn't on the show.

But of course, that status comes with a trade-off. While he became a major character in the comics, Two-Face remained virtually unknown to the world at large until Batman: The Animated Series and especially (unfortunately) Batman Forever. Meanwhile, everyone knows who the Penguin is, and even if he's looked down upon and unappreciated by actual comics readers, Pengers (specifically the squawking Meredith version) still endures as a figure in pop culture. Two examples that come to mind are how Jon Stewart has gotten a lot of milage from comparing Dick Cheney to Penguin, and the character even made a quick cameo in a recent episode of The Simpsons.




Ultimately, I think it was better that the character remained obscure and known only to comics fans, because that retained the tragic aspect more than he probably would have gotten from the TV show. An anchorman is hardly the same kind of heroic paragon of justice that a District Attorney represents, after all. Still, I would have loved to have seen what Clint's Two-Face would have been like, and what they would have done with his makeup. I also wonder what (if any) impact that playing Two-Face would have had on his career. If it had continued largely unchanged, perhaps both he and Harvey would have found new meaning with the line, "Do you feel lucky?"

In 1996, trading card company Fleer decided that they wanted to release a different kind of card set for Batman. Inspired by the loose narrative of Topps' classic Mars Attacks! cards, the Batman Master Series set was the first series of cards to comprise a complete, original Batman storyline. The more cards you collect, the more parts of the story you'd have to piece together. And it was all written by none other than our old favorite, Doug Moench. Oh yes, we're in for a treat. :D


Source

The plot was simple: after the Joker once again escapes Arkham, Batman goes missing and is presumed dead, with the Joker being the likeliest suspect. Everyone posits their reactions and theories, including the Joker himself, who can't be sure whether or not he actually did it at all! This offered plenty of opportunities to hit all the big beats of the previous card series (major and minor characters, important events) plus create all-new settings for cards (scenes from the plotline, bizarre wacko takes on the rogues, the Joker popping up in classic Elseworlds). Along the way, we get TONS of cards dedicated to rogues, some of whom pop up several times. Visually, it's a feast of portraits, and that alone would warrant a master post here.

Except it gets even better, because apparently the cards had enough of a cult following amongst collectors that the entire deck was given its own coffee table art book:



Not only are all the cards lovingly reprinted along with Moench's text, but the book's editors actually included commentary from the artists, thus giving a rare insight into the creative process! The combination of characters, art, story, and commentary make Batman Masterpieces a must-have, and to show you what I mean, I'm going to post just the villain pages, almost all of which are by the painter Dermot Power (Batman/Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle, and concept artist for Batman Begins).

( Who's Who (could have possibly killed Batman?) behind the cut! )

So what did you guys make of the art? Were they indeed "museum quality" as the ads touted, or merely a dated and grotesque assortment of 90's-tacular artists? I lean more towards the latter, but I love the collection of the cards nonetheless, and I very much recommend checking out the whole of Batman Masterpieces if you can find a copy.

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!

So here's something that I forgot actually existed until I found it hidden in a comic box. The first issue of Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle's Shadow of the Bat was released in the full 90's "ZOMG COLLECTORS ITEM BUY TWELVE" treatment, sealed in a polybag along with other assorted goodies. These included two mini-posters, full blueprints to the then-new Arkham Asylum (wish I still had those), a bookmark, and this:



Huh. Well, that's... something. Okay. Here's what was on the other side of this thick, flat paper:



Oh! Okay, a list of the inmates. Well, that's nice. Heh, "Dishonor Roll," I see what you did there. Wait, whose heads are those supposed to be? Joker, Hatter, and Harvey? Wait, hold on, I think this thing folds out and OH MY GOD:



To thirteen-year-old me, this was one of the coolest goddamn things ever. And not just because my three very favorite rogues at the time were featured at the top!

I like how Penguin and Catwoman (in her gray Batman: Year One outfit!) are there, but on the outside of the building. It’s like, “Hi guys, we’re in this rogues gallery too, but we're not insane! Can we join in?” Also, I love you, Jervis, but honestly, what the heck are you doing up there alongside Joker and Harvey? Silly Jervis. I blame Grant Morrison. Finally, I love Croc peeking up over the roof. I’m not sure what the hell he’s supposed to be doing there, and I don't care. I approve of roof!Croc.

I was so glad to see that I still had this, even though I have no idea what I can do with it. I want to display it somewhere, but that's impossible. I guess it's just one of those little geek pleasures that must hide in a box until it's nearly forgotten, only to be rediscovered and dusted off every now and again.

So let this be a heads-up to Marvel, DC, and anybody else who is seemingly hellbent on reliving the dark 90's: if you're gonna seal up your comics in polybag, at least throw some cool swag inside. That would almost make the pathetic sales-desperate practice worthwhile. Because this? This is awesome.

So not long after I wrapped up my Twelve Days of Who's Who marathon series, the great Grantbridge Street posted scans from that issue of Detective Comics with the awesome Dick Giordano cover of the Rogues Gallery. You know, this one.

The issue itself was something of a filler, with Batman and Jason Todd going through all the rogue profiles with the purpose of catching readers up with the villains before the big blow-out anniversary issue, Batman #400. Both issues were less remarkable for their stories by Doug Moench and more for the showcase of several great artists, including main Detective Comics artist Gene Colan, who drew the pages below.

Colan, who recently passed away, has a devoted following from his decades of comics work. While I love his artwork as a whole, the way he draws characters has often felt lacking, and the below images give a nice sampler of his portraiture talents. The bios by Doug Moench also show

( Dare you prowl the dark knight's rogues gallery (by Gene Colan) behind the cut? )

The penultimate post in this series is also the last of the official Who's Who profiles. A couple of my favorites are in this one, so I hope you enjoy. As always, keep the comments a-comin'! Even though I'm too busy composing entries (and doing IRL stuff) to reply as quickly as I want, know that your responses are half of why I do all this in the first place!


( Read more... )


And that's that for Who's Who. After 1993, the interest in character profiles apparently tapered off, and frankly, I'm amazed it lasted in the first place. While there have been similar resources published since the late 90's, none were published under the Who's Who banner, nor were they nearly as comprehensive.

Last year, DC announced that there were plans for a new Who's Who volume to celebrate the company's anniversary, but that never happened and now almost certainly never will. At least, not for a while. The DCnU is too Nu for anyone to have established history, and if they made something up, you can bet most of it would be contradicted by later writers. Sure, there's all the PRE-DCnU stuff, but the last thing DC wants is to remind readers of what was, back when characters wore briefs on the outside of the outside of their costumes. God, how stupid is that? You'd think they were SUPERHEROES or something! A-duh!

As they stand, old Who's Who books are treasure troves of great, lousy, and lost characters, and if you can ever find copies in dollar bins, pick up a few. You never know who you might meet. If you want to find more Who's Who online, Grantbridge Street has posted complete collections of profiles from the Legion of Superheroes, Superman, New Gods drawn by Jack Kirby himself, and more in his archives. If you want to see more of these big looseleaf profiles, again, check out the DC Who's Who Tumblr, which is still being updated. Good stuff all around!

Tomorrow, the final post: Secret Files and Origins. Plus old man ranting.

By 1990, I suspect that DC was tired of the increasingly-crappy printing quality they were giving to their Who's Who books, and probably wanted to step things up for the collector's market. This is pure speculation on my part, just going by the fact that the new editions of Who's Who were a much higher quality, with better coloring and slick, glossy paper. The biggest change for these profiles was that they came in looseleaf tear-away binding with holes so you could organize them in a three-ring binder any way you wanted: by character name, by heroes and villains, by all Batman/Superman/cosmic characters, etc.

While we had snazzy new updated Who's Who profiles, very little actually happened to most of the characters since they were last written about in previous entries. Aside from the art, the written entries (many by Mark Waid!) were largely identical. Bear in mind, this is just before Batman: The Animated Series, Knightfall, and other stuff which would have greatly affects the biographies of the Batman villains. If DC had waited another year or three, the many profiles would have had more to say rather than pretty much rehashing everything we know already.

Nonetheless, the new art makes the lack of new information plenty worthwhile. Many of these portraits and stellar and timeless, perfect for use in your average wiki entry as a definitive take on these rogues.


( A spiffy new bunch of Who's Whos, plus a couple new Who's Thats, behind the cut )

Man, I didn't intend to begin and end this part with Grant/Breyfogle creations! Maybe it's a sign that I need to finally collect that entire run and read it through, as well as the early Shadow of the Bat stuff. Grant's work is rarely what I'd call stellar, but it's proving more interesting, remarkable, and entertaining than I used to believe. If you folks have some favorite Alan Grant stories, let me know if the comments!