FanComic: "Me and the Devil Blues" by Ming Doyle
I first learned of Ming Doyle (_ming) through her superhero costume redesigns on Project: Rooftop in general, and then specifically when she beat me out in the P:R costume contest with a great home-made Batgirl costume that, in retrospect, is what Cass Cain should probably be wearing instead of whatever it is she's in now.
I always liked her character designs and composition, but she really commanded my attention when she went on scans_daily back in the day and posted her short-but-sweet fan comic Lady Gotham, a rare story to actually focus on Martha Wayne. Very, very cool stuff. I went to check out her website some time ago to see what other Bat-character bits she's done, and found one that obviously took my attention:
Even if this weren't pretty much the only Harvey Dent fan comic (if there any others, especially any of note, please let me know), I'd still consider this the best. It's a bit abstract, like poetry of the mentally ill, and rather haunting.
The version I'm posting here has been taken from Ming's DeviantArt account, although it can also be found here at her LJ account. Oh in case you're wondering what's up with the henchgirl characters, they're called "the Miss Malones," and Ming gave the full run-down about who they are over here. I don't know if you'd prefer reading that before or after the actual story (it doesn't really spoil anything), so I guess just flip a coin and go ahead.
I love how this all seems to take place in the time between Two-Face being active, focusing on the quiet torment of Harvey in one of his more lucid moments, trapped within himself amidst the depressing hell that is Arkham. What gets me is how it emphasizes his feelings of powerlessness and inevitability, which for me is made most vivid by likening it to a heart attack. In a way, it really is.
What I love about that last line is that it gives me a conceptualization of Harvey Dent as one great big, walking, killing, utterly raw cry for help. Even when Two-Face opens his evil eye at the end, he doesn't look like the "Devil" that the title would indicate. He actually seems just as weary and sad as "good" Harvey, perhaps even more so.
We've seen Two-Face depicted as being reckless to the point of self-destruction before, but you could take that one step further and show him actively wanting someone to put him out of his misery before he takes more innocent lives. It'd be a slight twist on the Joker pushing Batman to kill him, and Batman's steadfast refusal (for reasons which change from writer to writer). How far could Two-Face push Batman, and how many horrible things could he do, until someone finally put him down like he so desperately desires? Man, that's a story with so much potential to be really great or really horrible.
Ming had one more rather interesting Harvey-related tidbit she posited a question: "who would you rather be entangled in some variety of hypothetical romantic interest with, harvey dent before his two-face transition, or "bruce wayne" at any point after his world wanderings with the catch that you'd never know about the other side of the proverbial coin?"
"i'm honestly stuck on which option would be the more perfect setup for a psychological horror movie."
I'll leave you guys to debate that one. :)
I wish Ms. Doyle would do more Batman comics, but I imagine she's distracted by being a professional artist who, y'know, actually likes to draw things for which she'll get paid. How dare she?! In that respect, DC simply must hire her for a short story or two in an upcoming Batman 80-Page Giant, or something to that effect. At the very least, once I have the money to blow on original artwork (which won't be for a long time, what with baby on the way very, very, very soon), I'd bloody love to commission a portrait of Christopher Dent from her. She'd capture him perfectly as I see him in the Dent novel.
I always liked her character designs and composition, but she really commanded my attention when she went on scans_daily back in the day and posted her short-but-sweet fan comic Lady Gotham, a rare story to actually focus on Martha Wayne. Very, very cool stuff. I went to check out her website some time ago to see what other Bat-character bits she's done, and found one that obviously took my attention:
Even if this weren't pretty much the only Harvey Dent fan comic (if there any others, especially any of note, please let me know), I'd still consider this the best. It's a bit abstract, like poetry of the mentally ill, and rather haunting.
The version I'm posting here has been taken from Ming's DeviantArt account, although it can also be found here at her LJ account. Oh in case you're wondering what's up with the henchgirl characters, they're called "the Miss Malones," and Ming gave the full run-down about who they are over here. I don't know if you'd prefer reading that before or after the actual story (it doesn't really spoil anything), so I guess just flip a coin and go ahead.
I love how this all seems to take place in the time between Two-Face being active, focusing on the quiet torment of Harvey in one of his more lucid moments, trapped within himself amidst the depressing hell that is Arkham. What gets me is how it emphasizes his feelings of powerlessness and inevitability, which for me is made most vivid by likening it to a heart attack. In a way, it really is.
What I love about that last line is that it gives me a conceptualization of Harvey Dent as one great big, walking, killing, utterly raw cry for help. Even when Two-Face opens his evil eye at the end, he doesn't look like the "Devil" that the title would indicate. He actually seems just as weary and sad as "good" Harvey, perhaps even more so.
We've seen Two-Face depicted as being reckless to the point of self-destruction before, but you could take that one step further and show him actively wanting someone to put him out of his misery before he takes more innocent lives. It'd be a slight twist on the Joker pushing Batman to kill him, and Batman's steadfast refusal (for reasons which change from writer to writer). How far could Two-Face push Batman, and how many horrible things could he do, until someone finally put him down like he so desperately desires? Man, that's a story with so much potential to be really great or really horrible.
Ming had one more rather interesting Harvey-related tidbit she posited a question: "who would you rather be entangled in some variety of hypothetical romantic interest with, harvey dent before his two-face transition, or "bruce wayne" at any point after his world wanderings with the catch that you'd never know about the other side of the proverbial coin?"
"i'm honestly stuck on which option would be the more perfect setup for a psychological horror movie."
I'll leave you guys to debate that one. :)
I wish Ms. Doyle would do more Batman comics, but I imagine she's distracted by being a professional artist who, y'know, actually likes to draw things for which she'll get paid. How dare she?! In that respect, DC simply must hire her for a short story or two in an upcoming Batman 80-Page Giant, or something to that effect. At the very least, once I have the money to blow on original artwork (which won't be for a long time, what with baby on the way very, very, very soon), I'd bloody love to commission a portrait of Christopher Dent from her. She'd capture him perfectly as I see him in the Dent novel.