The latest
Batman focuses on an interesting premise regarding someone that hasn’t been seen around the DCU lately: Two-Face. In issue #710, writer Tony Daniel
decides to take away that which makes the rogue tick... his coin. Throughout
the character’s career of tormenting Gotham, Two-Face’s coin has made most if not all of his decisions for him. It's sometimes rocky and its focus may wander, but the return of Two Face is not without some great moments.
The idea of
Dent without his coin was explored once before by writer Grant Morrison, when
Arkham wards took away his coin and replaced it with a deck of cards. Without
the coin, he couldn’t even decide whether or not to go to the bathroom. Now
he’s out of Arkham and the coin is lost entirely. It goes without saying that
Two-Face is displeased and his murderous rampage across Gotham is evidence of
his psychotic need for the coin. Though this has happened before, it’s really
only present as a starting point, as the comic takes a few more turns before
the hit-you-in-the-face final page.
What’s
interesting with this take on Two-Face is the lack of sympathy for the
character. There has always been a slight empathy factor behind the actions of
the former DA, a man who was on top but fell prey to the system he swore to
defend. Here, Daniel has him killing cops without mercy. There’s no coin to
flip meaining no 50-50 chance of survival. I would have liked to see a little
more sympathetic desperation as opposed to blatant rampaging, but the
entertainment factor is certainly present. Daniel also brings back Dent’s wife,
Gilda, as well as the Falcone crime family made famous for their role in Jeph
Loeb’s Batman: Long Halloween. As
Harvey held such a pivotal role with these characters in the past, it made
sense that they would make the return with him as well.
Artist
Steve Scott takes over on pencils for Daniel this issue and if his name wasn’t on
the front cover it would be relatively hard to even tell a difference. That isn’t to say
Scott’s art is derivative, it actually makes for a less jarring transition to
the new arc. The character’s both pop off the page and fade into the dark
shadows of Gotham, an important pattern found in Batman comics.
Daniel has started off this arc with a couple of literal bangs and has crafted a decent return for the famous coin flipper. If the unoriginal story doesn’t grab you, the last page should make picking up issue #711 a no brainer. I look forward to see where Daniel takes the story and I hope it does such an iconic villain as Two-Face justice.
Overall Score - 7.0/10
*It's not perfect, but Harvey Dent is back. Who cares? It’s a good start to what will hopefully be a great arc overall*