Two-Face: Crime and Punishment

Gotham City's Most Tortured Villain Takes a Turn in the Spotlight

May 3, 2009

One of Batman's most complicated foes, Harvey "Two-Face" Dent is often reduced to nothing but a villain-of-the-week gimmick. Not so this time.

In Two-Face: Crime and Punishment we get to take a look inside that scrambled mind and explore what makes Harvey Dent one of the most enduring characters in the Batman universe.

What’s the Scoop?

Two-Face: Crime and Punishment opens on a dark and stormy evening. Harvey Dent stands high above the city, prepared to jump to his death. Two-Face, his secondary personality, dares him, taunts him, teases that he’s too much of a coward to take the plunge. Harvey flips his coin, letting chance decide his fate, and as it lands scarred side up, he leaps into the inky darkness of a Gotham night…

It would seem that this is the end of the story, but it isn’t. Immediately, we’re slammed into a flashback. A look at Harvey Dent as a child with an abusive, alcoholic father whose inconsistent and violent behavior emotionally damaged his young son and started unraveling his sanity at an early age.

Brought back to the present day, a similar child with a similar father and a similar outlook on life is being interviewed on a talk show. This is where the real story begins.

Bursting into the studio, Two-Face takes the place hostage, angrily ranting on national television about the media spectacle surrounding the walking wounded. All the while, Harvey Dent, a passive observer of Two-Face’s violent deeds, begs to be heard. Begs for mercy on behalf of the child.

This encounter sets a tone for the rest of the book as Harvey Dent and Two-Face bitterly clash over the meaning of right and wrong, fair and unfair. As the story progresses, Harvey tracks down his long estranged father, the man who helped warp his mind and inadvertently set Two-Face on his path to villainy, and confronts him in front of all of Gotham, prepared to murder him before the eyes of millions on television.

What follows is an emotionally potent one-two punch that forces the audience to sympathize with Harvey’s plight and understand Two-Face’s deepest motivations.

Technical Specs

J.M. DeMatteis offers a very strong script that’s both exciting and compelling. It’s never forgotten that there’s more to Two-Face than just what’s on the surface and Harvey Dent is given equal ‘screen time’, not just a footnote in Two-Face’s story, a bit player or an extra, but a co-star with equal billing, just as it should be. The character’s two voices are distinct and separate, but neither is reduced to being nothing more than a plot device. They’re complimentary to each other, playing off each other and moving the plot forward in tandem.

The angst of Harvey Dent’s past is handled well and doesn’t set off a single cliché alarm. Harvey’s childhood of abuse is portrayed gracefully and never treated as an easy way to give the character depth. It’s obvious that there’s great respect for the Batman universe behind this story, and even greater respect for Harvey himself as a valid, important part of it.

Scott McDaniel’s artwork is stylish and attention grabbing. Blocky characters, silhouettes and interesting lighting schemes give it the feeling of having more in common with film noir than the Technicolor Gotham of Batman Forever, and though not particularly big on details, it gets the point across. It’s jarring and adds to the effectiveness of the script, giving it even more emotional power.

Final Verdict

Too often, Two-Face is reduced to nothing more than a gimmick, his more interesting aspects lost in favor of a quick, action packed storyline that robs him of his intricacy as a character. He shows up in Batman’s universe, pulls a crime with a theme revolving around the number two and then disappears again, only to show up later to do the same thing all over again. People--the DC Comics writers in charge of him included--seem to forget that Two-Face is only one part of Harvey Dent and neglect to address the war being waged inside his own head.

Two-Face: Crime and Punishment is one of the few one-shots dedicated to the character that dares explore the parts of Harvey that aren’t so obviously damaged. We’re given the opportunity to look at his internal scars, not just those that are scattered across the surface of his skin. While there are undoubtedly parts of the book that could have been improved upon, on the whole, it’s a story with depth, drama and an undeniable sense of tragedy laced with underlying optimism.

The copyright of the article Two-Face: Crime and Punishment in Graphic Novels/Comics is owned by Lydia Ballard. Permission to republish Two-Face: Crime and Punishment in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.