Review: "Two-Face, Part I" from BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

[about_faces]

This is probably the single most overdue review I've written for this blog

Comments

[kiffie]

Having just re-watched this two-parter recently, I'm all giddy at having you recap it here.

I have more to say, but that will likely have to wait until my homework is totally out of the way. I will say now that Big Bad Harv going ballistic on Thorne and his men is still one of the most genuinely scary parts of the first season. Just look at that -- holy crap. I'm going to go back to my math book, where violent alternate personalities can't beat me to a quivering pulp.

[about_faces]

The episode really is genuinely creepy, especially in psychological ways that we never saw in a kids' show before that point. Before then, I think the most disturbing episodes of animated shows were these, which still beat out Two-Face:

Watch GI_Joe.S1E54.There's No Place Like Springfield (1).avi in Animation | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

[about_faces]

Stupid failed embed. As the link says, it's the GI Joe episode There's No Place Like Springfield. Written by the great Steve "Howard the Duck" Gerber, that episode's last five minutes freaked the shit out kids my age who watched it in first run.

[deadwalrus]

About the music, you're dead-on. I was 15 when "Begins" came out, and throughout the entire thing I was going, "Yes! Good! But...when's the, y'know, Batman music gonna start? Now? Now? Maybe now?"

[about_faces]

Yeah, while I do admit to an affection for the bombast of Zimmer's score (and I think the entire opening track to the soundtrack works as an epic standalone piece of music, much more than how it was chopped up for the film), it's largely just so flat and bland. It's great for the purpose it serves, but it lacks the operatic dimension of Elfman and especially Walker.

[ext_262094]

My Favorited episode

[deadwalrus]

When I wrote my last 19th-Century Lit. essay (ironically enough, the second one), I analysed the problem with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde being that Jekyll believes the separation of his 'Evil' side will allow his 'Good' side to flourish unhindered. This of course is a mistake because Hyde is responsible for Jekyll's animal instincts - violent, lustful, uninhibited. In a post-Darwin age when "The Descent of Man" had been on shelves for 11 years, Stevenson's story juxtaposed the intellectual, upper-class doctor against his neolithic ancestry; Hyde is described as "ape-like", with a "swart growth of hair" on his wrists. The more time they spend apart, the further opposite they grow until the one is feeding parasitically on the other. The book's last line, "I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end" is an acknowledgment not only from Jekyll that Hyde is now dominant, but also from Stevenson, simultaneously offing the character and the story

[mothy_van_cleer]

As a writer, that's how I'd possibly approach Two-Face in a DCU reboot. Not by making him a devout Christian, but simply add to his childhood that he'd been an avid student of Bible studies who sees (but doesn't obsess over) Biblical analogues in his tragedy.

Unfortunately, the DCnU doesn't do "subtlety" very well (or at all), so we might just be treated to a re-imagined version of Denny O'Neil's Calvinist!Harv. *shudder*

On an unrelated note: Hey, I'm back or something.

[about_faces]

Is that you, KillerMoth? If so, then I've barely been here myself over the past few weeks, so you didn't miss much! Just a couple very long posts! :)

[mothy_van_cleer]

What? No, that other person's completely unaffliated. I'm the guy who showed up to make fun of the Penny Plunderer months ago, then disappeared without so much as an offer of breakfast. That guy.

[mothy_van_cleer]

Ah, it's such a pleasure to see a good Harvey Dent story in these troubled times. You know, Mr. Hef, they're putting out a one-shot this year called "Batman: Bad", featuring a troubled child-abuse victim named "Jordy" with a split personality that begins committing crimes. I won't say who's writing it, but his name rhymes with "Shmoug Shmoench".

...Yeah, if you can guess who makes a cameo, and what he advocates as a fitting punishment, take a pre-emptive shot. I'd say more, but the book hasn't gotten much press, and the majority of search engine results for "batman: bad doug moench" tend to link to this very blog. (Quelle surprise!) On the plus side, it's got a pretty awesome-looking cover, which I'm sure was done by Eric Powell. Maybe it's worth checking out for the "cheesiness" factor.

[lego_joker]

HE'S ALIVE!

Ahem.

So... I haven't even started on the third part of my Scarelaugh collages. But once I've gotten them out of the way, would you like some help with that "Complete Two-Face Appearances" list?

[about_faces]

Sure, if you'd like to help, I won't turn you down! I wrote up a list sometime last year, so I imagine it's 98% comprehensive up to that point, but I need to find where the hell I've stashed it. Hopefully it's not on my old computer or something. I also tried organizing them according to featured roles, cameos, appearances in group shots, etc. At that point, I might be better off organizing them as a printable spreadsheet or table or something.

[lego_joker]

Worse comes to worst, you could always ask LoveDatJoker what program she used to make HER spreadsheet for the Joker. ;)

Also, does this list include movies, TV episodes, and video games? And children's picture books?

And are the comics listed individually, or by storyline?