We Believe in Harvey Dent

Back in the awful days of the 1990's--the era which DC, Marvel, and Image now seem hellbent on reliving in their own ways--superhero trading cards were prevalent, fitting in with the "EVERYTHING WILL BE A COLLECTIBLE INVESTMENT GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL" mentality that nearly sank comics as a whole. As with all things, most of these were crap, but there are a couple sets for which I still have affection, largely for how they introduced me to the greater world of comics. Yeah, I have nostalgic love for my gateway drugs.



For example, Skybox's Batman: Saga of the Dark Knight single-handedly introduced me to Batman's Post-Crisis mythos from Year One through Knightsend. It was a great idea to focus on Batman's history, big storylines, key moments, and major characters, and while it's largely dominated in the whole Knightfall mythos, it still holds up as a great overview of an entire era of Batman comics.

( To give an idea of what I mean, let's take a look at the Harvey-related cards! )

Of course, those are just the Two-Face cards. I've found scans of the whole set over here, but be warned, they're of varying quality. More than any of the others, I really wish I had high quality scans of Rick Burchett's Year One cards, as well as the villain profiles. Thankfully, I've managed to find some great scans across the internet, including the original artwork for a few!



I'd hate Ponytail!Joker as an awful remnant of 90's-ness, except that his one story by Dixon and Nolan is fantastic. It is the ONLY good story to come out of Knightsquest. I defy you to name a better story, or even a decent one. But even if I didn't like that story, I'd still like this piece. He's just got flair, damn it.


( MOAR VILLAIN PORTRAIT CARDS BEHIND THE CUT, INCLUDING AWESOMENESS FROM MIKE MIGNOLA AND MATT WAGNER! )


Since we're on the subject of villains (and when are we not?), this brings me to my other favorite cards: DC Villains: The Dark Judgement, a tie-in for the subpar Underworld Unleashed crossover event.



These cards were decidedly more grotesque, and much of the art is not to my tastes, but I still love any celebration of villainy for comics. Once again, you can find the entire set scanned here, which can give you a fascinating who's who of characters from the mid-90's, including forgotten villains from Fate and Guy Gardner: Warrior, as well as an astonishing number of heroes turned evil. Like Raven from Teen Titans. That's her up there between Mongul and Bane. What in the name of god is she wearing? I mean, she's nearly naked, so must clearly be evil now, because sex is bad, but still.


( But of course, what interests me most are the Batman villains, whose own portraits run the gamut from awesome to WTF. )


That wraps up the Batman villains, but as always 'round here, it always comes back to Harvey Dent. If you read that promo sheet above carefully, you may have noticed something about a very rare "Two-Face Skymotion Card" which featured "cutting-edge technology" to show Harvey turning and shooting... AT YOU!



( So what the hell IS this card? Quite simply, it's one of the coolest bits of Two-Face merch in existence... )


These images can't quite give the same effect as seeing it in person, but you get the idea. It's pretty damn cool all-around, and by far the most detailed lenticular effect that I've ever seen. I wish I knew who drew it so I could them proper credit, but information about these cards is scarce enough as it is. And that's a damn shame. Maybe it's just my nostalgia talking, but I love these cards, every last one: good, bad, and ugly alike.

Just like Who's Who, they were a wonderful sampler platter for the world of comics, and sometimes, the way I ended up imagining the characters and stories turned out to be better than the comics themselves! I do miss when everything was new and awesome, when possibilities felt limitless, and there was a wealth of stories out there for me to discover. At least with back issues, I know the last part is still true when it comes to superhero comics. Maybe someday I'll be able to feel that way about new comics again too.

I'm not sure why, but there was a very brief period around 2000 when it seemed like DC was all about Batman graphic novels by Bob Hall, the former Avengers/Squadron Supreme artist whose creative decisions--according to Jim Shooter--were inadvertantly responsible for turning Hank Pym into a wife-beater. Oh, and Hall also illustrated the Marvel graphic novel Emperor Doom, where Doom takes over the world, a magnificently badass story that deserved to be reprinted. But Hall just drew those stories, whereas at DC, he became the writer/artist of a handful of Batman prestige format stories.

For whatever reason during 98-00, DC was all about Hall, and Hall was all about the Joker. First, there was the I, Joker, a particularly weird Elseworlds. Then there was It's Joker Time, an instantly-dated satire of Jerry Springer style TV. Man, between that, 2003's Jerry Springer: The Opera, and Peter Gabriel's 2002 single "The Barry Williams Show," what the hell is up with everybody deciding to skewer Springer several years AFTER that show's relevancy period? If It's Joker Time came out a couple years later, it would have been about reality TV, and really, there's way more potential for fun if you had Survivor with the Joker.

Between both of these, there was Batman: D.O.A. Much like the classic film noir D.O.A., Batman has been poisoned and has to find out who did it and why before time runs out. Unfortunately for the Batman, the story... hell, the actual cover itself... kind of spoils the would-be-killers right away:





Despite being right there, their appearances in the story itself don't amount to more than a pair of extended cameos, but it's certainly notable enough to look at right here! Because frankly, we just don't see enough of the rogues hanging out, y'know?

Oh, just a warning, though: be prepared to ignore the stupidity of the Penguin being in Arkham Asylum. I hate it when writers put him there, ignoring the fact that he's perfectly sane in favor of "Bat-Villains go in here!" But it's okay, because Hall at least uses Ozzie to great purpose, as he and the Gruesome Twosome undergo a different kind of group therapy at Arkham.


( How the 'Unholy Three' hatched their brilliantly evil scheme... over ping-pong )

You know what? I don't care. I want more leisure and scheming time with Harvey, Ozzie, and Mr. J! There's untapped potential here like... well, like crazy! Well, except in Ozzie's case, but that group needs the sane would to ground the others. Wait, would that make them a perfect team of Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, and Chaotic Evil? What the hell would Harvey's D&D alignment be, anyway?

I've decided to create about_faces.dreamwidth.com as a back-up. I'm not planning on fleeing LJ anytime soon, and even if I eventually do, I'm not sure I'd want to set up shop at Dreamwidth. Having something of my own site would be ideal (ala similar fan sites such as the Aquaman Shrine), but who knows how many people would find it? Hopefully, y'all will be able to follow me no matter what happens.



So, because YOU demanded it(!!!), here's a look at the second half of Doug Moench's Two-Face story from Knightfall.

Unfortunately, we have to skip entirely past the real point of the story, which the tension between Robin and a burnt-out Batman. What is it about Two-Face stories that really brings out the tension between Batman and any give Robin? Anyhoo, fast-forward, Batman decides to try taking on Harvey alone, and gets his ass ambushed. He wakes up in the ruins of the old courthouse where D.A. Harvey Dent once presided, with a "judge and jury" comprised of the late Mr. Lyman's enforcers. Oh yeah, we know where this is going...





( Two-Face puts Batman on trial for the murder of Harvey Dent (coo-coo!) behind the cut )


Seriously, WHY does Harvey do anything other than become a violent vigilante in the style of the Punisher or Jason!Red Hood, or simply spend the rest of his days in Arkham just flipping his coin? There's no real leap from D.A. to mob boss, yet writers are just so used to that role from Pre-Crisis that no one's trying to reconcile it with the way the character's grown otherwise!

Once again when it comes to Moench and Two-Face, I don't love the story, but it's still a better attempt than many writers would make. Although I fear even that won't carry through to his next story, The Face Schism.