We Believe in Harvey Dent

Strange as it may seem, many people never even noticed Harvey Dent's first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series! I'm not just talking about people who'd never heard of the character before, but actual Batman fans who should have otherwise recognized the man who would become Two-Face! Seriously! How could this even happen?

Well, to be fair, Harvey's initial appearance was so brief, so blink-and-you'll-miss-it, that his debut feels less like a cameo and more like an easter egg. Also, never mind the fact that On Leather Wings isn't the most memorable episode either. While there's not much to discuss about this tiny appearance, it's worth noting not only as being one of the all-too-few appearances of Harvey pre-Two-Face, but also because his presence in this pilot gives Harvey the distinction of being one of the few characters whom we can say was in B:TAS from the very beginning.



( In which I find a way to analyze five seconds of screen time, behind the cut! )

Personally, I suspect that Dent there had no great personal interest in capturing Batman, so his casual line could easily be read as "Suuuuure, Bullock. I'll totally do that when you capture Batman, which I know you're TOTALLY capable of accomplishing, absolutely. Go have fun now!"

Of course, my reading of Harvey's words cannot be supported by these five seconds of screen time. For that, we have to go elsewhere for more insight about his feelings about both Bullock and Batman, to the story which is the single greatest appearance Harvey Dent in the DCAU. What may come as a surprise (or may be absolutely no surprise whatsoever), this appearance happened not in the TV show, but rather in the supposed "kid's comic" tie-in, The Batman Adventures.



I've said it before and I'll say it many more times: the TAS tie-in comics are brilliant, and collectively the best Batman comics published over the past twenty years. While TBA is my least favorite of the four TAS comic series, that's kind of like saying I have a least favorite kind of bacon: even when it's not as good as the others, it's still great. In later reviews, I'll elaborite further on the greatness of men like Kelley Puckett, Mike Parobeck, Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett, and more. For now, I'll just say that TBA was pretty damn great, on par with any average episode of the actual TV show, and sometimes it even surpassed the show in terms of dark subject matter.

For example, take issue #3 (which conveniently just so happens to be the issue we're reviewing today!), in which the Joker kidnaps Commissioner Gordon. In a scene that would have been too violent for the Fox Kids TV censors at the time, the Joker proceeds to savagely beat Gordon with a baseball bat on live TV. You can see it yourself here if you scroll down near the very end of the article. It's a shocking scene thanks largely to Ty "The Guy" Templeton's chilling depiction of the Joker in the thralls of orgasmically evil delight. And again, this is meant to be, you know, for kids!

So who can possibly thwart the Joker and save the day?



Why, none other than Harvey Dent and his Action Bathrobe! Okay, not really. But kinda! Sorta. Really, you just have to see it for yourself.

( Harvey and Batman hatch a plan behind the cut! )



If you'd like to read these issues of The Batman Adventures in full, the first twelve issues are 99¢ each up at DC's Comixology site, and you can even read the very first issue (with a fun but off-sounding Penguin) for free! Try out that issue to get some idea what digital comics are like. If you still prefer paper comics, then your course is going to be harder, since the first TBA trade paperback is long out of print. Why the hell doesn't DC keep these comics in print? Why have they NEVER reprinted the vast majority of the DCAU tie-in comics? Utter foolishness!

This is a big one. Grab a snack.

I've been putting off reviewing Batman: Face the Face for five years now. Every time I started, my criticisms melted down into curses and incoherent ranting, until my computer screen became obscured by rabid spittle. Okay, it wasn't THAT bad, but still.

In some ways, it's actually an ideal introductory trade paperback to get into Batman. Like Hush, it's a murder mystery that also serves as a tour of Gotham's inhabitants, and it was immediately followed by Grant Morrison and Paul Dini's runs. Unfortunately, it's also deeply frustrating, especially if you're a fan of Harvey Dent.

This was the first story to use the character in the three years since Hush, since Loeb supposedly had plans for Harvey hich kept him in limbo until those plans would reach fruition. They never did, and I think folks at DC wanted their precious status quo back in place. I also understand that Two-Face is Dan DiDio's favorite villain, which may have been a factor. In any case, Face the Face is one of the most significant Two-Face stories in canon, and also one of the most painfully frustrating. After five years, I finally have the words to explain just why.





( The lost year of Gotham's Unknown Protector, Harvey Dent )




Batman: Face the Face can be purchased here if you wish to read the story in full, including the Tim Drake subplot, several other Rogues doing their Rogue things, and the entire issue dedicated to Harvey and Two-Face's discussion. As mentioned above, it also serves as a gateway to the comics which are coming out today, leading directly to Dini's Detective Comics and Morrison's Batman.

So I've been seeing these die-cast lead figurines of DC and Marvel characters for the past couple of years, which are apparently imported from either the UK or New Zealand. Have you guys seen these as well? This is the Harvey figure:




Many more pictures of it and other DC figures can be found at this Flickr account. They're all rather neat, especially the Riddler and Scarecrow figures. What I like most about the Two-Face one is how it makes the interesting choice to put the tacky suit on the good side, letting the horrific scarring play off of a rather nice light gray suit. It's very much Two-Face as ganglord, the kind of guy who gives orders and passes judgment rather than getting his own hands dirty, if he can help it. So yeah, it's neat.

But what interested me way MORE is the booklet that came with the figurine, which included the origin and history of the character, three recommended stories, profiles on allies and enemies, and more.





I was hesitant at first, fearing that it would be nothing more than one great big Jeph Loeb wankfest. And while it was a lot of that, it was also surprisingly comprehensive when it came to a post-Crisis history of the character! This is the only time I've ever seen anybody (in a professional publication, no less!) go into detail about Harvey's abuse, plus include the "contribution" of serial killer Dr. Rudolph Klemper to the unleashing of Two-Face. It's quite well-written and compiled, thanks to Jim McLauchlin, whom I believe was the same Jim McLauchlin who helped make Wizard magazine halfway readable back in the 90's. I keep forgetting if it was McLauchlin or Pat McCallum who made that mag great when it great.

That said, there are flaws. I know that some of you suggested the idea that Eye of the Beholder and The Long Halloween didn't have to negate each other, and could both count as canon. That's exactly what this does, and it actually kinda works... until you get to the part where the twist ending absolutely makes NO FUCKING SENSE. Don't take my word for it! Read it for yourself, both in the origin and in the last scan, which provides a synopsis for TLH specifically.

Warning: SPOILERS for The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Hush, and Face the Face. Really, is there anyone reading this who HASN'T read those storylines? If not... well, you ain't missing much. There's a reason why I haven't reviewed them here yet, even though those are arguably the most high-profile Two-Face appearances to date.

( Ten HUGE scans behind the cut! )


The rest of the booklet looks at profiles of allies and enemies (with Harvey, sometimes they're both), which was an assortment of choices that were alternately basic (Batman, Gordon, Gilda, Renee), knowledgeable (Paul Sloan), acceptable (Penguin? I guess) and bizarre (the Suicide Squad? Oh, Salvation Run, yeah, I guess that kinda doesn't make any sense at all?). After that, we get a history of Gotham's organized crime, from Falcone up through to Black Mask, which of course completely goes for the skull-face Mask characterization. Whatever. Why do I care? I'm really wondering. Eh.

I know my tone was largely critical and exasperated, but in all honestly, this was a pretty great history of the character. I'd be very happy if this were somebody's first exposure to Two-Face, rather than just any one story. It's certainly a fair sight better than his pages on Wikipedia or ComicVine, although I'm certainly doing my part on that count.

There are no Christmas-themed Two-Face stories.

The closest we have is pre-scarred Harvey getting beaten up by the Joker in the Christmas issue of The Long Halloween. Harvey never has a happy holiday. There's not even a one-panel cameo of him wearing a Santa hat, one probably put there by the Joker, just to piss him off.

So instead, I'm going to take this opportunity to post one of the few light, fluffy, fun, and outright cracky Two-Face related stories of all time. In fact, it has to be the single oddest Harvey story I've ever read.

Why is it so odd, you might ask?







In Detective Comics #753, Harvey wrote and drew his own comic book. For *therapy.*

Smack-dab in the middle of Greg Rucka's run on 'Tec, right before the big Officer Down storyline, this issue was a tie-in to the theme running through all the Bat-Books: "This Issue... Batman Dies!" in which... Batman died every issue. Well, of course, not really. It basically had the villains fantasizing each issue about how they'd kill Batman. Whatever potential the theme had went mostly unfulfilled.

But it's safe to say that no one took the concept places the way Rucka did.

I met Mr. Rucka around mid 2000 at Wizard World Chicago, mainly to geek out about Two-Face with the guy, who was vocal in his love for the character (I remember when he suggested casting Chow Yun Fat for Harvey in his dream Batman movie... certainly a bold choice with potential, I'll say that!), and he told the little seventeen-year-old me that he was writing an issue for the "Batman Dies!" event which would take place from Harvey's POV... both of them. Half the page would be how Harvey sees the world, while the other half would be Two-Face's perspective.

A thrilling idea for a Two-Face fan. I'm still waiting to see that story.

The issue we actually got... well, look at that image above. Not at all what anyone was expecting, was it?

And if you think that's odd, you should read the issue itself...

( Harvey Dent: former D.A., current criminal... future comics creator? Judge for yourself behind the cut! )

Honestly, I'm not sure why the hell he still couldn't make comics. They're so cheap to produce, especially if you're not mass-producing them, that they couldn't be putting any strain on Arkham's budget! They're just being dicks! Then again, I don't know if it's a good idea to leave pencils or pens in Harvey's hands.

Still, if it was so effective, it makes you wonder what might have happened if he was able to do a second issue. Or better yet, what if some janitor at Arkham found the issue and decided to self-publish it, or sell it on eBay? Hell, what would the real Renee have made of it? Eh, she probably would have scowled and sighed. That's pretty much what she did where Harvey was concerned.

And once again, I'm saddened by Half a Life, and very much hope that Rucka (or somebody else with as much talent and respect for the characters) can continue their story someday. And who knows, maybe we'll even see the second issue of The Adventures of Copernicus Dent and His Best Girl and Plucky Assistant R'Nee! I kinda doubt it, though.

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it! No matter what you end up doing, I hope you have a better holiday season that Harvey ever will!

Here we are: he fourth and final part of this epic NML comic/novel post! Thanks to everyone who's been reading and commenting. These posts haven't exactly been skimmable, so I appreciate everyone who took the time to read and chime in! For those who haven't, here are the links to Part One, Part Two, and Part Three!

In this all-Rucka finale, we compare the comic and novelization versions of the climactic mock-trial of Jim Gordon at Two-Face's hands, with Renee Montoya in the middle. But while these two versions are largely similar, they've gotten to this same point from rather different roads around the stuff in Part 2.

By this point, one version of the story is a thriller about two innocent people forced to play the games of a madman, while the other version is a more character-focused piece surrounding the trial of one man's soul.





( Order in the court behind the cut! )

Last week's Two-Face Tuesday--focusing on the early days of NO MAN'S LAND, the epic story where Gotham was reduced to a lawless wasteland following a massive earthquake--featured just barely a cameo by ol' Harv himself.

Over the course of these posts, it should be clear that the true focus is Jim Gordon. He's the one who makes the hard decisions here, and it's his soul ultimately on the line. But with today's Part 2, he pulls Renee Montoya into his drama, taking her as his partner as they deal with the devil: Two-Face.

But just how much of a devil is Harvey? After all, Renee saw a very different side of Harvey when they first met, which was the last we'd actively seen of Harvey since NO MAN'S LAND actually began. Renee Montoya was around, but no mention was made about what happened after she extended her hand and offered to help Harvey, who trusted her so much that he even let her keep his coin.

So what did happen? The actual comics offered little by way of explanation, but Greg Rucka's own novelization of BATMAN: NML offered a unique "director's cut" version of their saga. By and large, I vastly prefer the novelization, but it's hard to explain why without comparing to the comics.

So for those who don't mind a bit of reading, I've made scans of both as my own personal super-edit of the NML saga, including what really was going on in poor Harvey's head when it came to Renee Montoya:





( The sweeter side of Mad Love behind the cut )


Next week, Part Three: two sides of the same story, a girl named Cassandra Cain ruins Harvey's day, and things REALLY start to go downhill for everybody involved.

Crime novelist Greg Rucka's first two DC comic stories kicked off a journey that he'd follow all the way up to his recent, lamented departure from the company. Everything from NO MAN'S LAND, HUNTRESS: CRY FOR BLOOD, 52, CHECKMATE, THE QUESTION, and BATWOMAN, it all stems from these two stories where a pair of Gotham's toughest heroines reluctantly team up with face-related men: one with no face at all, and the other with two too many.

"Two Down," which appeared in Spring 1999's BATMAN CHRONICLES #16, is credited by the first-page blurb as the story where "Rucka first proved his mettle in comics," although the previous issue--Winter 98's BATMAN CRONICLES#15--published Rucka's "An Answer in the Rubble." Maybe the second one was published first, but either way, they make a fascinating pairing. Particularly now, twelve years later, as we know how these pairings fell apart... and how the remnants of the two became one themselves.





( Kick-ass women and the face-themed men who love them, behind the cut )

I'm considering doing a series of NO MAN'S LAND posts focusing on Renee and Harvey, interspersed with pages from Rucka's own novelization of NML, which I think is largely an improvement over the comics themselves. I dunno how interested anyone would be in scans of just words, but I personally find the comparisons damn fascinating, nerd that I am. Hopefully some of you will too.