So let's look at the first part of Tony Daniel's Two-Face story in BATMAN #710
Big thanks to superfan1 for providing four scans from the issue which came out today, as I have no scanner access at present. I was planning on just doing a text review, but actual images help a lot. While most of my thoughts are spoilery, I want to at least talk about what'd going on early in the issue:
So hey, I don't hate the way Harvey himself is depicted in this issue! Yay! He's written a bit too generic-mobster for my tastes, but I like how he's not just desperate and out of control. More importantly, he's aware of how desperate and out-of-control he is, and doing everything in his limited power to reign himself in. In the next page, he actually gets himself under control, then proceeds to shoot a cop through the head, just 'cause.
I was surprised to see that Daniel isn't drawing this story, leaving the art chores instead to Steve Scott and Ryan Winn, who are quite good. I also like the coloring a lot, even if Harvey's later colored with blue eyes (a common, petty mistake) and his coin is gold, not silver. Why the hell do several Two-Face stories lately give him a gold coin? I mean, seriously? But whatever, those are cosmetic complaints, hardly the meat of this story.
Which, again, must go behind the cut.
Again: gold coin. What the hell? This is just getting annoying now.
Harvey's voice really is generic, isn't it? You don't really get any impression that this is Harvey Dent, or that there even is another side. Daniel seems to be coming from the very old school of thought that Harvey's got good and evil sides, but isn't really all that split in two, which is a nebulous concept that I'm not sure anybody has tried exploring. Even Loeb gave Harvey an "evil" voice, so I'm wondering what Daniel's going for here.
Oh man, no...
Much to my surprise, I could only sigh and sink at this revelation. Honestly, I saw it coming from way back, and I think I used up all my geekrage over the past couple months. I was hoping like hell that it'd be Janice Porter or someone else, but no, it had to be Gilda. Daniel is far too much for a Loeb fanboy for it not to be Gilda, and hell, she even looks the way Gilda did in her uncredited cameo as "Grace" in Daredevil: Yellow. It had to be her. Fuck fuck fuck.
Now, I'm guessing that it's all misdirection, and that she's playing Mario Falcone while still being on Harvey's side, even if he doesn't realize it. There may also be another element of misdirection from the fact that we don't see her full face under that wide-brimmed hat of hers, not to mention the final teaser: "NEXT: HAS GILDA DENT RETURNED?" As if, y'know, it's a question considering that she's supposedly right there. I'm guessing that it actually is her, based on Harvey's stunned reaction.
I mean, no way Gilda would ever really betray Harvey. Not even The Long Halloween version, which is undoubtedly the ONLY version of the character who exists for Tony Daniel, not to mention most of fandom. It's such a shame that the mousy killer and/or psychopath has eclipsed the character who had proven herself to be the single most important supporting character for Harvey Dent in three key stories: the original Harvey Kent trilogy, her Bronze Age return after her next husband was murdered by Maroni, and best of all, the "Grace" story from Secret Origins Special. She's a character that dearly needed fleshing out, but nonetheless, was vital to keeping Two-Face from being anything other than a full-on villain. She's his one great tether to humanity, the only person who can truly reach into the man inside the monster.
But then, we live in an era where Curt Connors EATS his own one great tether to humanity, so I suppose it was better that she vanished after Loeb and Sale ruined her wonderful potential beyond repair in The Long Halloween. Which makes me especially nervous about where Daniel's going with this. Will he be completely continuing the Gilda of The Long Halloween without any of her previous appearances, or will he actually try to bring in other canon and try to reconcile continuity like a good acolyte of Grant Morrison's? Like, whatever happened to her husband, Paul Janus, and the twin sons she had from Harvey's frozen sperm? Because that happened, you know. I'm guessing from this that we won't see Two-Face Strikes Twice references, because why the fuck would we?
So yeah, my fears were sadly all true, and now I just have to wait and see where Tony Daniel's going with all this. Maybe he'll surprise me. I'll try to keep an open mind.
Finally, I'm interested by the fact that the cover outright advertised: "TWO-FACE RETURNS!" Is he finally that big of a deal to warrant a full announcement? If so, maybe people should buy this issue just to issue support for the character.
That about sums up my thoughts. At least, best as I'm able to in my brain-fried state after a full day in the Orlando sun. What do you guys make of this development, and where do you think Daniel's going with it?
Oh, and in an extra special bit of news, do you know what the latest collection of Tony Daniel's Batman run is going to be titled? "Eye of the Beholder." Seriously. That's just bloody super, especially considering that the Two-Face EotB is STILL not in print. I think I need to write to DC about that. Maybe they'll appreciate an actual letter.
So hey, I don't hate the way Harvey himself is depicted in this issue! Yay! He's written a bit too generic-mobster for my tastes, but I like how he's not just desperate and out of control. More importantly, he's aware of how desperate and out-of-control he is, and doing everything in his limited power to reign himself in. In the next page, he actually gets himself under control, then proceeds to shoot a cop through the head, just 'cause.
I was surprised to see that Daniel isn't drawing this story, leaving the art chores instead to Steve Scott and Ryan Winn, who are quite good. I also like the coloring a lot, even if Harvey's later colored with blue eyes (a common, petty mistake) and his coin is gold, not silver. Why the hell do several Two-Face stories lately give him a gold coin? I mean, seriously? But whatever, those are cosmetic complaints, hardly the meat of this story.
Which, again, must go behind the cut.
Again: gold coin. What the hell? This is just getting annoying now.
Harvey's voice really is generic, isn't it? You don't really get any impression that this is Harvey Dent, or that there even is another side. Daniel seems to be coming from the very old school of thought that Harvey's got good and evil sides, but isn't really all that split in two, which is a nebulous concept that I'm not sure anybody has tried exploring. Even Loeb gave Harvey an "evil" voice, so I'm wondering what Daniel's going for here.
Oh man, no...
Much to my surprise, I could only sigh and sink at this revelation. Honestly, I saw it coming from way back, and I think I used up all my geekrage over the past couple months. I was hoping like hell that it'd be Janice Porter or someone else, but no, it had to be Gilda. Daniel is far too much for a Loeb fanboy for it not to be Gilda, and hell, she even looks the way Gilda did in her uncredited cameo as "Grace" in Daredevil: Yellow. It had to be her. Fuck fuck fuck.
Now, I'm guessing that it's all misdirection, and that she's playing Mario Falcone while still being on Harvey's side, even if he doesn't realize it. There may also be another element of misdirection from the fact that we don't see her full face under that wide-brimmed hat of hers, not to mention the final teaser: "NEXT: HAS GILDA DENT RETURNED?" As if, y'know, it's a question considering that she's supposedly right there. I'm guessing that it actually is her, based on Harvey's stunned reaction.
I mean, no way Gilda would ever really betray Harvey. Not even The Long Halloween version, which is undoubtedly the ONLY version of the character who exists for Tony Daniel, not to mention most of fandom. It's such a shame that the mousy killer and/or psychopath has eclipsed the character who had proven herself to be the single most important supporting character for Harvey Dent in three key stories: the original Harvey Kent trilogy, her Bronze Age return after her next husband was murdered by Maroni, and best of all, the "Grace" story from Secret Origins Special. She's a character that dearly needed fleshing out, but nonetheless, was vital to keeping Two-Face from being anything other than a full-on villain. She's his one great tether to humanity, the only person who can truly reach into the man inside the monster.
But then, we live in an era where Curt Connors EATS his own one great tether to humanity, so I suppose it was better that she vanished after Loeb and Sale ruined her wonderful potential beyond repair in The Long Halloween. Which makes me especially nervous about where Daniel's going with this. Will he be completely continuing the Gilda of The Long Halloween without any of her previous appearances, or will he actually try to bring in other canon and try to reconcile continuity like a good acolyte of Grant Morrison's? Like, whatever happened to her husband, Paul Janus, and the twin sons she had from Harvey's frozen sperm? Because that happened, you know. I'm guessing from this that we won't see Two-Face Strikes Twice references, because why the fuck would we?
So yeah, my fears were sadly all true, and now I just have to wait and see where Tony Daniel's going with all this. Maybe he'll surprise me. I'll try to keep an open mind.
Finally, I'm interested by the fact that the cover outright advertised: "TWO-FACE RETURNS!" Is he finally that big of a deal to warrant a full announcement? If so, maybe people should buy this issue just to issue support for the character.
That about sums up my thoughts. At least, best as I'm able to in my brain-fried state after a full day in the Orlando sun. What do you guys make of this development, and where do you think Daniel's going with it?
Oh, and in an extra special bit of news, do you know what the latest collection of Tony Daniel's Batman run is going to be titled? "Eye of the Beholder." Seriously. That's just bloody super, especially considering that the Two-Face EotB is STILL not in print. I think I need to write to DC about that. Maybe they'll appreciate an actual letter.