Creators Christian Ward and Fabio Veras continue exploring Two-Face’s justice for the underworld of Gotham City. While it seems the White Church brings some light to the city’s grim and grimy dark side, what is the Shadow Hand’s end goal to undermine these workings? Readers know Two-Face is dealing with two battles, one in the real world of criminal justice and one inside his mind as Harvey Dent tries to keep Bad Harvey locked up, but with this issue, these situations cross over. Get ready to see how love and order are dealt with as Baby Doll decides to crash the party.
DC
Lately, there has been a trend in DC to have items from their various animation activities cross their way into the DC Universe. In the Green Lantern comic series, writer Jeremy Adams has had some elements creep in from Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and this is not an uncommon practice to see. Of course, we have seen Renee Montoya and Harley Quinn make their debuts in Batman: The Animated Series, and now we get Baby Doll making her way into the DCU. She is looking for love, but it is definitely in the wrong place. I am glad I wasn’t the only one feeling that way, as even the characters pointed out in the issue.
DC
Baby Doll and the Ventriloquist with Scarface are perfect characters that guest star in this series as they also deal with mental illness and a physical side effect. I know most of Batman’s Rogues Gallery can be in that description, but writer Christian Ward does an excellent job of showing why Baby Doll’s actions get under Harvey’s skin. We have seen Ward play Harvey Dent and Bad Harvey differently for most of this series. In this confrontation with Baby Doll, Harvey Dent seems to be letting some anger wash over him. This moment of rage is excellent; as you can probably guess, this is where Harvey Dent will now have some issues with keeping Bad Harvey locked up.
DC
There isn’t much physical confrontation involved, but there is quite a bit of emotional play. Artist Fabio Veras gets two big scenes in this issue that make for fantastic eye candy with excellent payoff. Veras gets his characters to emote superbly, significantly enhancing Ward’s script and how this series plays out. Colorist Ivan Plascencia does wonders with his colors in both worlds to keep them separate and exciting as you read the issue. I wonder if some of Batman Forever influenced him regarding Two Face’s mental prison. The issue does a great job of dropping a bomb on the reader, the leader of the Shadow Hand, and now we just have to wait for the next issue as we see Harvey Dent’s reaction to this news; I can’t wait!
Seeing Harvey Dent tired shows how draining the events are on him. Leading the White Church to clean up Gotham’s darker elements, keeping Bad Harvey locked up and out of control, and solving cases are wearing him out. Watching a tormented man pushed to his limits gives us a peek into how far one can go before being pushed over the edge. Sadly, that’s where Dent needs to go to find answers, and when he does, what will these results do to him?
You must be logged in to post a comment.