Grace Dent from SECRET ORIGINS SPECIAL
The wonderful, untitled Two-Face origin story from Secret Origins Special is noteworthy for two reasons:
1.) It's the first time a writer has hinted at Harvey's psychological problems before the acid even hit.
2.) It's the best depiction of Harvey's wife to date. In fact, one could argue that it's her only good appearance.
For some reason, Gilda Dent had been renamed "Grace," which you'll recall is what Harvey's fiancee was named on Batman: The Animated Series. Funny thing is, Grace on TAS acted much more like Gilda has in every other story but this one. Typically, she's been a crying, weak, self-pitying martyr, ever pining for her poor Harvey's return. While Grace is very much rooted in the same spirit as the character of Gilda, you can notice the differences right from the start:
This is one of the finest Two-Face stories ever printed, which is why I'm going over my normal page limit. If you want to read the whole thing, it can be found in the otherwise-disappointing trade paperback, Batman VS Two-Face. I'll be frank: it's a lousy assortment, worth owning solely to have the original Harvey Kent trilogy and this story. Really, having this one goes a long way.
In all honesty, just try to track down the back issue of Secret Origins Special, which also features a great Penguin origin and Neil Gaiman writing the framing sequence and the Riddler origin. Those two usually get more attention that the Two-Face story, which is a shame.
But enough from me. Let's let Grace continue telling her story.
Two-Face finds out through the grapevine that Perry was looking for him, and was going after Grace. Harvey flips the coin to decide what to do, but even then, he hesitates.
I was actually tempted to switch these two pages around, as I feel like that order would have served the flow of the story better. But I'm not the editor here.
If this story has one major weakness, it's the way it doesn't successfully juggle the various levels of origin flashback, Gilda's perspective, Harvey's perspective, Gilda with Dalton, and the interview stuff. But considering that list and how short this story is, I should probably credit Verheiden for pulling it off as well as he did.
Without hesitation, without going for the coin, Harvey actually listens to Grace and spares Dalton. That, right there, is why she's such a vital character for Two-Face, because she is the only person who can actually make Harvey choose for himself, even if he's just choosing to listen to her.
Grace is the living embodiment of hope--however slim--for Harvey's redemption. Perhaps the real tragedy is that it's almost certainly a false hope for one reason or another, that fate/DC will never let him have his happy ending. But then, even false hope can give way to great things, and as long as Harvey has that tether, he'll never be too far gone.
So why haven't we seen this character since? Why have the only Gilda appearances between then and now--Two-Face Strikes Twice! and The Long Halloween--rendered her as being the same ineffectual throwback she was in the Golden Age? Well, "ineffectual" is arguable when it comes to TLH, but that's up to how one interprets that story's nonsensical and perforated plot.
Either way, bringing her back would go a long way to giving Harvey more humanity. But not without risk. In a day and age where writers like Zeb Wells see fit to strip away the Lizard's humanity by having him eat his own kid (which many fans hail as a good thing! WTF), I would very much fear for Gilda/Grace's safety. It'd be too easy--and too fashionable--for someone to bring her back just to kill her off, and thus make Two-Face an even more dangerous enemy.
That's the twisted, short-sighted logic of writers today. They'd fridge her to make Harvey a better villain, but a weaker character. Maybe she's better off in limbo, waiting for Harvey's return. In the unending cycle of status quo that is superhero comics, perhaps that's the most poignant ending for which one could hope.
1.) It's the first time a writer has hinted at Harvey's psychological problems before the acid even hit.
2.) It's the best depiction of Harvey's wife to date. In fact, one could argue that it's her only good appearance.
For some reason, Gilda Dent had been renamed "Grace," which you'll recall is what Harvey's fiancee was named on Batman: The Animated Series. Funny thing is, Grace on TAS acted much more like Gilda has in every other story but this one. Typically, she's been a crying, weak, self-pitying martyr, ever pining for her poor Harvey's return. While Grace is very much rooted in the same spirit as the character of Gilda, you can notice the differences right from the start:
This is one of the finest Two-Face stories ever printed, which is why I'm going over my normal page limit. If you want to read the whole thing, it can be found in the otherwise-disappointing trade paperback, Batman VS Two-Face. I'll be frank: it's a lousy assortment, worth owning solely to have the original Harvey Kent trilogy and this story. Really, having this one goes a long way.
In all honesty, just try to track down the back issue of Secret Origins Special, which also features a great Penguin origin and Neil Gaiman writing the framing sequence and the Riddler origin. Those two usually get more attention that the Two-Face story, which is a shame.
But enough from me. Let's let Grace continue telling her story.
Two-Face finds out through the grapevine that Perry was looking for him, and was going after Grace. Harvey flips the coin to decide what to do, but even then, he hesitates.
I was actually tempted to switch these two pages around, as I feel like that order would have served the flow of the story better. But I'm not the editor here.
If this story has one major weakness, it's the way it doesn't successfully juggle the various levels of origin flashback, Gilda's perspective, Harvey's perspective, Gilda with Dalton, and the interview stuff. But considering that list and how short this story is, I should probably credit Verheiden for pulling it off as well as he did.
Without hesitation, without going for the coin, Harvey actually listens to Grace and spares Dalton. That, right there, is why she's such a vital character for Two-Face, because she is the only person who can actually make Harvey choose for himself, even if he's just choosing to listen to her.
Grace is the living embodiment of hope--however slim--for Harvey's redemption. Perhaps the real tragedy is that it's almost certainly a false hope for one reason or another, that fate/DC will never let him have his happy ending. But then, even false hope can give way to great things, and as long as Harvey has that tether, he'll never be too far gone.
So why haven't we seen this character since? Why have the only Gilda appearances between then and now--Two-Face Strikes Twice! and The Long Halloween--rendered her as being the same ineffectual throwback she was in the Golden Age? Well, "ineffectual" is arguable when it comes to TLH, but that's up to how one interprets that story's nonsensical and perforated plot.
Either way, bringing her back would go a long way to giving Harvey more humanity. But not without risk. In a day and age where writers like Zeb Wells see fit to strip away the Lizard's humanity by having him eat his own kid (which many fans hail as a good thing! WTF), I would very much fear for Gilda/Grace's safety. It'd be too easy--and too fashionable--for someone to bring her back just to kill her off, and thus make Two-Face an even more dangerous enemy.
That's the twisted, short-sighted logic of writers today. They'd fridge her to make Harvey a better villain, but a weaker character. Maybe she's better off in limbo, waiting for Harvey's return. In the unending cycle of status quo that is superhero comics, perhaps that's the most poignant ending for which one could hope.