Double Feature: Harvey's final (and Two-Face's first) appearances in THE BATMAN ADVENTURES (#9,22)

[about_faces]

Harvey Dent's final appearance in the DCAU (and Two-Face's first appearance in The Batman Adventures comics) coincides with the brief, remarkable tenure of new series artist Mike Parobeck. Taking over from Ty Templeton and joined by original inker (and all-around all-star of Batman comics) Rick Burchett, Parobeck's pencils helped shape The Batman

Comments

[about_faces]

In short, both his good and bad sides are in agreement on this one.

Well, it's possible that he flipped for Thorne before the issue started, which is what gave him cause to escape in the first place. Nonetheless, it's entirely possible that both sides agreed on Thorne, since a later story by Ty Templeton showed that it is indeed possible for both sides to agree on certain things without the need to flip.

... and flipping it is the only way to either give him a chance to stop Two-Face, or sit back and absolve himself from guilt. (Hey, he didn't make the decision - it was the coin.)

Totally. That said, I find it interesting that no writers have ever tried going that route. If Harvey himself is ever addressed, he usually blames himself entirely and wants to kill himself. He's eager to take on all the blame, even for the things that--as a mentally ill person--he really has no true control over. Of course, in cases like DeMatteis' Crime and Punishment, that goes hand-in-hand with the mentality of an abused child, thinking that it was all his own fault. Both interpretations are interesting, and say different things about the character, as well as touching upon greater themes of action and responsibility.

Oh, and I love how his left side's built-in expression can go from 'yer gonna die, punk!' to 'EEP!' depending on what the rest of his face is doing.

Totally! Much as I stress the importance of expressiveness in the unscarred side, there's definitely something to be said for a bitt of subtle expressiveness in the other side too, limited in mobility as it is.

[psychopathicus]

I suppose that if you interpret good and evil as 'responsibility' and 'irresponsibility' (which is a little oversimplified, I know, but it is one interpretation I've heard), Harvey's good side would have to hold himself responsible, since to him, that's what being good means. (This especially might be true if the roots of his madness go back to childhood, where 'evil' can be replaced with 'bad' - and 'bad', as it applies to children, is usually defined by adults as 'being irresponsible'.)
Incidentally, are you into European comics? I ask because there's another comics-related article I wrote over on MRFH which addresses the subject:

http://mutantreviewers.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/top-ten-european-comics-that-deserve-us-movie-adaptations/

Check it out, if you're interested.