DETECTIVE COMICS #66 - "The Crimes of Two-Face!"
[In Two-Face's earliest appearances he was known as Harvey Kent, but that was later changed, apparently to avoid confusion with a well-known denizen of Metropolis. Also, his girlfriend Gilda repeatedly calls him "Kent" as if it's his first name. For the purposes of this discussion I will refer to him consistantly as "Harvey Dent" throughout.]
Good-looking district attorney Harvey "Apollo" Dent was prosecuting a case against ganster "Boss" Moroni for the murder of "Bookie" Benson. Batman was called to the stand to testify. Then Dent produced his conclusive [iece of evidence: Moroni's two-headed silver dollar, found at the scene with Moroni's fingerprints on it. In a rage, Moroni threw a vial of acid at the D.A. Batman was able to deflect the throw, but some of the acid splashed across the left side of Dent's face. A month later, the bandages came off, but the left side of his face was left scarred and hideous. Only one plastic surgeon is skilled enough to repair the damage: Dr. Ekhart, the European specialist. Unfortunately, he was visiting his brother in Germany when the war broke out and Nazis threw him in a concentration camp.
Dent heads over to his girlfriend Gilda's place to tell her the bad news. She is a scultress and has a bust of him in her studio. He snaps after he tells her, and destroys the left side of his likeness's face with a pair of tools. Back at his own place, he mars one side of Moroni's double-headed coin coin. then he sort of talks himself into becoming a criminal. "wouldn't take much to make me one now... a trick of fate perhaps... a flip of a coin... And why not... and with the very coin responsible for my trouble! If the good side wins, I'll wait till Dr. Ekhart is free! The scarred side, and I enter a life of crime... [flips the coin] CRIME WINS! From now on I decide everything on the flip of a coin... on its two faces that symbolize mine... beautiful and ugly... good and bad... hee hee!"
When the scarred side comes up, he robs a bank (for example); the good side and he "snatches a rival gangster's loot... and gives it to a charity home!" Consequently, some see him as a criminal, others as a philanthopist. One day the "bad" side comes up and he conspires to rob a bond company messenger aboard a double-decker bus he takes every day. Batman and Robin happen to witness this crime from a rooftop nearby and leap to the rescue. In the fight that follows, one of Two Face's men accidentally shoots and kills amemebr of his gang who was driving the bus. The bus lurches and Batman is knocked unconscious, but Robin manages to pull the emergency brake before the bus crashes. Later, Two Face flips a coin to determine the fate of the man who killed the driver. The coin lands scarred side up, and Two Face shoots him in cold blood, reasoning that "were I still D.A., I would have seen to it that you went to the chair!"
By now, his pattern of "two" is established. after the robbery on the double-decker bus, the next plan is to rob the patrons of a double feature movie. But Batman finds a map of the theater suck to the dead man's shoe and knows where and when the next crime is going to take place. By the time he and Robin arrive, Two Face has already substituted the regular feature (a Max Fleisher "Superman" cartoon, BTW) for a film of himself delivering instructions to the patrons. Batman swings into the theater and onto the stage. Two Face panics, then rushes out into the street and steals a car, but he heads down a one-way street the wrong way. A cop signals him to stop, but Two Face speeds up instead. Then the cop shoots out one of the car's tires, forcing him to flee on foot.
ASIDE: Bill Finger described it as "ironical" that the man "who planned [his] crime career on the number two, should be tripped up by a one way street!" I was nine years old when I read this story for the first time and I'm pretty sure it was the first time I encountered the term, but it's not "ironical" at all.
This delay allows Batman to catch up to him at his hideout. Batman urges him to give himself up, offering to speak on his behalf and pointing out that the court would take his record as a D.A. into consideration and likely find that he suffered from temporary insanity. He further suggests that he'll likely get a light sentence, and perhaps Dr. Ekhart will have been freed by the time he's free. Then Harvey will be able to get his face fixed an he can start his life over. but Two Face allows the coin to decide. He flips it, and rolls across the floor only to stand upright on its edge in a crack.
DETECTIVE COMICS #68 - "The Man Who Led a Double Life"
Part two picks up right where part one left off: "A flipped silver dollar ironically stands on its edge in a crack between the room's floorboards as two men peer at it!" (Again, that's not irony.) Two Face never flips twice. Now it's up to Fate to decide. "Fate" enters the room in the form of a policeman who shoots first and asks questions later. the bullet hit Two Face in the chest, yet he recovers, pistol-whips both Batmanman and the cop, and leaps out the window. Later he discovers that the bullet hit the silver dollar in his breast pocket on the scarred side, so destiny decides on a life of crime!
A week passes. He flips the coin and it comes up "good," so the crime he commits must be in the daytime, robbing the spectators at a doubles tennis match. this money he gives to charity, but the next time he flips the coin it comes up "evil," so the crime he commits is at night. He kidnaps weatlhy "Match King" Henry Logan. Batman and Robin are summoned to police headquarters, and Commissioner Gordaon reveals that it was not Henry Logan that was kidnapped, but rather his double. Logan dislike attending stuffy dinners and the like, so he sends a secret double in his place (whom Two Face learned about when he was D.A.). When Logan and the double's wife go to pay the ransom, it it really Batman and Robin in disguise.
Two Face gets away on a motorcycle and comments, "How appropriate that Two Face shold make his getaway on a two-wheeled vehicle." Yes! "Appropriate," not "ironic." Batman catches up to him, but Two Face gest away by throwing his silver dollar, which "thuds heavily against Batman's temple." [ASIDE: This was the first time I encountered the word "temple" in this context.]
The next night, Two Face sees a young couple strolling arm-in-arm and gets horny for Gilda. the night after that, he appears at her house... with his face completely normal! she invites him in but he won't let her touch his face, claiming that he "just took the bandages off today." They sit down to a candle-lit dinner, when suddenly the left dise of his face begins to melt! Just then, Batman arrives! Two Face pushes Gilda at Batman and jumps out of the window, landing on Robin. Two face thinks that Gilda betrayed him, but actually Batman was just playing a hunch and had been keeping her house under surviellance. Two Face had been wearing wax make-up applied by a mask-maker. Later that same night, Two Face returns the the Mask-maker's house vowing revenge (for not warning him not to get to close to an open flame) and burns down his house. The mask-maker's son vows revenge.
Still later that night, Bruce Wayne contemplate whether or not he should try using a disguise again to infiltrate Two Face's gang. The next night, "Getaway" George enters "a notorious criminal haunt" and introduces himself to Al, one of Two Face's me. All takes him to Two Face for a job. Two Face seems to consider the possibility that George may be Batman in disguise, but the flip of a coin convinces him otherwise. Their next job is a "good" crime during the day, robbing a double-header between the police and fire departments of $50,000 in paid admissions. Because the Dynamic Duo are honorary members of the police department, Batman is pitching and Robin is catching. In the 14th inning, the score is tied until Batman hits a home run, winning the game.
Two Face grabs the reciepts and holds the mayor hostage. Robin and the rest of the police capture all of Two Face's gang except "Getaway" George, and back at the hideout, Two Face becomes suspicious. He grabs "George's" face and discovers that he is wearing make-up. But it's not the Batman, it's the mask-maker's son! Suddenly, Batman, who had been hiding in the trunk of Two Face's car, bursts in and captures Two Face. (The mask-maker's son had been able to slip away and warn Batman of Two Face's plan.) As Batman carts him off to jail, Two Face says, "Ha! what irony! I based all my crime on the number two and end up finally being double-crossed by one of my own mob!" Yes, THAT's irony! At last you've got it!
DETECTIVE COMICS #80 - "The End of Two Face!"
The sequel to the Two Face two-parter begins with Two Face breaking jail. He quickly assembled a new "crime combine" and begins commit crimes based on the flip of a coin. The "Good" side comes up: they rob the two-story house of a rich banker during the day and donate the money to charity. The "Bad" side come: they rob the occupants of a two-wheeled hansom cab at night and keeps the money.
Batman puts on a disguise and goes out in search of clues to Two Face's whereabouts. In a seedy bar he overhears a rough patron pay his tab in two dollar bills (because that's how his boss pays him), and make a joke about giving "double-trouble" to anyone who asks too many questions. Batman follows the man, who stops in from of Tarnegie Hall and chuckles at the poster advertising a performance of Brahms' Double Concerto. He and Robin attend the concert, and no sooner does it begin than Two Face steps out onto the stage while his men curculate among the wealthy patrons.
Two Face escapes, but Batman discovers a clue in the rope used to tie up the watchman. It is oakum rope, the type used on old wooden schooners, and there is a two-masted schooner moored in Gotham Harbor. A cloaked figure observes them from the wings and follows in a a separate car. they do indeed find Two Face briefing his men on their next crime aboard the ship. Two Face gets the drop on Batman and fires his gun at point blank range. Suddenly, though, the cloaked figure steps between the two and takes the bullet meant for Batman. It is Gilda! She is not dead but she is very seriously wounded. Remorseful, Two Face gives up and accompanies her to the hospital. The surgeons are able to save her life, but she has lost the will to live because she feels Harvey doesn't love her anymore.
He assures her that he does, but as the police escort him to the station, his men drive up, throw smoke bombs, and take him away. Back at their hideout, an old warehouse, Shiv expects Two Face to continue his briefing about their next job, but Two Face refuses, explainig that he is going straight. Shiv knocks him around and threatens to kill Gilda unless he complies, so Two Face complies. the job is to steal a shipment of Double-O chewing gum, which will fetch a "fancy price" on the black market. They head out to pull the job, leaving Two Face tied in the warehouse. His is tied up but can still reach his wallet, which is filled with two dollar bills. He begins shoving them through a knothole in the boards over the windows, which eventually attracts the attention of the police.
Two face tells Batman of his former gang's plans and they head out to stop them. At one point, Batman is stunned by a thrown gun and falls in front of an oncoming locomotive. It would be certain death but, at the risk of his own life, Two Face shoves him out of the way. By this time the police have arrived and round up the gang. Later, thanks largely to Batman's testimony, Harvey Dent is sentenced to just one year in the state pen for his crimes. Also, Dr. Ekhart escaped from the Nazi concentration camp and will soon be able to perform the plastic surgery restoring Harvey's face. Two months later, his face is back to normal, and he and Gilda plan to get married. Back in the Batcave, Batman adds Two Face's double-headed coin to his trophy collection.
100-PAGE SUPER-SPECTACULAR DC-20:
This "100-Page Super-Spectacular" featuring Batman was my 18th comic book overall by my count. It reprints all three chapters of the "Two Face Saga," its beginning, its middle, and its (surprisingly happy) ending. I was nine years old in 1973, and I don't care if someone is reading this for the first time in 1942 or 1973 or 2025, if he or she is nine years old, it doesn't make any difference. The back cover reproduced the original covers, and the only thing I couldn't figure out then (or now, for that matter), is why the conclusion of the initial story didn't appear in Detective Comics #67. Why skip an issue? It doesn't appear to be deadline related, as the blurb in #66 read: "The answer to this amazing riddle of Two-Face will be found in the October issue of Detective Comics," and that's #68, so who knows? Could it be that the second part of the Two Face story was specifically intended to appear two issues later?
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Oh, right. I should read before asking!
SHOWCASE '94 #3-4:
With Arkham Asylum being rebuilt after its destruction during 'Knightfall,' the only place to keep Batman's enemies is Blackgate Prison. Now Two-Face, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, Mad Hatter and Poison Ivy are among the newcomers to enter Blackgate...and the prison's permanent residents aren't happy to have visitors.
I am just about to the point at which I dropped all of the "Batman" titles (save one). For a hint why, see the covers.
ROBIN #11 - "Two in Every Crowd"
Two Face has been released from Arkham Asylum due to a computer error. It seems a man named Harvey Kent was supposed to be released, but a bit of binary code was responsible for the error. That doesn't seem likey to me, but even less liekly is that the error wouldn't have been noticed and corrected. Something else unlikely about the premise is that the doctors at Arkham helped him transfer his rage against Batman to Robin. The computer error inspires him to cause more chaos by hacking the computers used by lawyers, but also killing the lawyers themselves. First,he kills a whole group of them at a party of some sort. Then he attacks the computers at the gotham city courthouse... with a chainsaw. But one of the technicians sends a distress call which is intercepted by Batman and Robin.
BATMAN #513 - "Double Deuce"
But this Batman and Robin are not the ones one might expect. Bruce Wayne's back has been broken and Dick Grayson has taken Batman's place; Tim Drake is now Robin. Because of his insecurity stemming from the first time he encountered Two Face as Robin, Batman plays it cautious, allowing Two Face to escape. Back in his hideout, Two Face weighs the concepts of "punishment" and "rehabilitation", the "paradoxically opposed forces of the two-faced system [he] once served." It is now in his power to scramble the entire judicial and correctional system. Will he destroy it or repair it? Vengeance or rehabilitation? He flips a coin and the choice is meade: "vengeance." Police, judicial and correctional records are all destroyed with two keystokes: command and enter.
The result: not only are accused criminals are being sent to prison without bebefit of a trial, but the prison bus is overloaded to the extent that some of them are forced to stand in the aisle. A traffic mishap sends the bus crashing into a movie theater and a hostage situation develops. Batman and Robin deal with the situation, but Two face is still at large. In order to take revengs on Robin, Two Face decides to destroy Batman (who is actually the the former Robin he has a grudge against, but Two Face doesn't kbnow that).
SHADOW OF THE BAT #33 - "Double Jeopardy"
This issue is mainly about the overcrowding of blackgate Penitentiary, which was already over capacity. Two face captures Harvey Kent (who was also released when he was) for some as-yet-undisclosed reason.
DETECTIVE COMICS #680 - "A Twice Told Tale"
Robin figures out that Two Face's next target is the gotham Hall of Records, where much physical evidence is still stored. Two Face is keeping Harvey Kent handy because he figures their fates are somehow linked. Robin gets word to Batman where Two Face is headed, then falls into a...
Deathtrap: Robin and Harvey Kent are tied beneath a ton of paperwork (two thousand lbs. each), theit fate to be decided by the flip of a coin. (To his credit, Two face realizes that this is not the "Robin" he first met.) Batman arrives and uses lessons he learned from the first time he encountered Two Face to defeat him this time.
As to the reason I was soon to drop all of the "Bat" titles except one: crossover fatigue. You will notice that Robin #11, Batman #513, Shadow of the Bat #33 and Detetive Comics #680 comprise parts four through seven of "Prodigal." After "Knightfall," "Knightquest" and "Knightsend" (not to mention "Zero Hour"... and I did read them), I was pretty much done with crossovers. But "Prodigal" told the story of Dick Grayson assuming the "Mantle of the Bat" which was a direction I had been hoping for for some time; I would have felt like a hypocrite if I hadn't read it. [ASIDE: The meaning of the word "prodigal" is "1) spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant, 2) having or giving something on a lavish scale," so it's unclear what the title refers to.]
1995 brought Batman Forever, and with the movie came a pair of one-shots (with diptych covers) featuring the cinematic villains: Riddler: The Riddle Factory and...
"CRIME AND PUNISHMENT":
The story opens with Two Face attempting to commit suicide by jumping off a building. The flashback takes his madness back a generation, to Christopher Dent, Harvey's father. the flashback returns full circle to the opening scene. Two Face jumps, Batman saves him, Harvey lives, Two Face "dies." This would make a pretty decent "last Two Face" story, but we all know that's not going to happen. It's a pretty good story but raises the question, if Christopher Dent was such an important figure in Harvey's development, why haven't we heard anything about him until now?
BATMAN #527-528:
In 1995 I dropped all of the "Bat-titles" except one, Batman, for reasons expounded upon in the "Joker" thread. I will say that, if Steve Englehart & Marshall Rogers were the "definitive" Batman team of the '70s, then Doug Moench & Kelley Jones were of the '90s. In this two-parter, Two Face escapes Arkham and uses Harvey Dent's old "ghost files" to bring to justice the criminals he didn't have the evidence to convict legally when he was D.A., starting with the owner of a circus with a freak show featuring a Siamese twin. With this post, I bring this discussion to a close (or at least put it on indefinite hiatus).
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