Preview: Harvey Dent hulks out in Jenkins and Finch's THE DARK KNIGHT #2
So DC has released preview pages for a whole bunch of their new releases tomorrow, including the opening pages of David Finch and Paul Jenkins' The Dark Knight #2. As you may recall, this is a comic that I've been dreading reading for months now, and the follow-up to a nonsensical cliffhanger in issue #1 that resulted in a collective facepalm across Batman fandom.
Hey look, guys! It's one of those things that have slowly been pushing me into apathy when it comes to anything surrounding new DC Comics lately! I just need a few more to fill out my "Get Out Of New Comics FREE" card! Eh, I snark because I care, and because if I didn't find amusement SOMEWHERE, I wouldn't care at all.
Putting aside the oh-my-god-it's-the-90's-ness of 'Roided/Venomed/Titan'd-up Two-Face (or whatever the hell did this to him), what really gets me is... why "One-Face?" I mean, his face is still the same. There are still two. Let's see... one, two... yep, still two. Was there a miscommunication between writer and artist here? Clearly I should be filled with explosive geek disdain, but since I already got that out of my system MONTHS ago, I'm just left with puzzlement. Maybe the opening few pages of TDK #2 would illuminate me?
You know, I could easily forget the fact that all of Batman's ribs should be jelly if the art weren't trying to be all BLOOD VIOLENCE PAIN LOOK HOW REALISTIC AND GRITTY THIS IS. This is the fundamental problem with so much graphic violence in superhero comics, because when it comes to trying to be more "realistic" and "edgy," you can't have it both ways.
Hey guys! You know what I love and never, ever get tired of seeing? Devoting a whole 10th of an issue's precious storytelling budget to pointless two-page spreads like this! Hell no, I live for this shit! Why not make comics fold out, and just do them all as posters, so we can spend an entire issue telling one fucking panel? How about that? Because that sounds SWELL to me!
... Oh goddammit, Scarecrow, what the hell have you done now?
Seriously, it's Scarecrow, right? He's doing some kind of variation of Never Fear's no-fear formula with either Venom, Titan, or Hugo Strange's Monster Men serum, isn't he? Well, considering that Hugo used fear toxin first, it'd only be fitting for Squishy to rip Hugo off a second time! I doubt that's exactly what happened, but if it were, then that'd pretty darn interesting, actually.
Nitpick complaint: Batman never calls Harvey "Dent." He's "Harvey." The first-name basis is how Batman shows that he's still trying to reach the man inside the monster.
Nitpick complement: hey, at least Harvey's good eye is blue! Good job, colorist!
Did Batman do anything, or did Harvey get shut down internally somehow? I don't suppose it matters either way, and I'm not exactly gonna rush to find out.
What really gets me is how Harvey in no way sounds like Harvey. Maybe that's the point, which is what "One-Face" was meant to indicate somehow, or something. But from what I can see here, this is supposed to be Harvey released of all inhibitions in a full-on Mister Hyde mode (and gee, Paul Jenkins, where have you written THAT story before?), so why does he sound like neither Harvey nor Two-Face? This could be ANY character talking. If you're going to use Harvey Dent, bloody well use the character!
But again, that kind of snap judgment isn't fair (or at least, not yet proven to be worth a damn) without reading the whole story. If you're picking up this issue, please chime in with your thoughts in the comments. If you're looking for it, here's the cover:
Y'know, as opposed to "The Unpleasant Disposition of Two-Face" that we usually get.
In possibly-related news, I haven't been able to play Arkham City yet, so NO SPOILERS. Bad enough I've already been spoiled about one character at the end. Until I can waste many hours of my life playing the game, I'm gonna devote the next couple weeks to composing some new reviews, including Paul Jenkins' Two-Face "epic" Batman: Jekyll & Hyde and a very special about_faces event.
Stay tuned: same insane scarred lawyer time, same insane scarred lawyer channel.
Hey look, guys! It's one of those things that have slowly been pushing me into apathy when it comes to anything surrounding new DC Comics lately! I just need a few more to fill out my "Get Out Of New Comics FREE" card! Eh, I snark because I care, and because if I didn't find amusement SOMEWHERE, I wouldn't care at all.
Putting aside the oh-my-god-it's-the-90's-ness of 'Roided/Venomed/Titan'd-up Two-Face (or whatever the hell did this to him), what really gets me is... why "One-Face?" I mean, his face is still the same. There are still two. Let's see... one, two... yep, still two. Was there a miscommunication between writer and artist here? Clearly I should be filled with explosive geek disdain, but since I already got that out of my system MONTHS ago, I'm just left with puzzlement. Maybe the opening few pages of TDK #2 would illuminate me?
You know, I could easily forget the fact that all of Batman's ribs should be jelly if the art weren't trying to be all BLOOD VIOLENCE PAIN LOOK HOW REALISTIC AND GRITTY THIS IS. This is the fundamental problem with so much graphic violence in superhero comics, because when it comes to trying to be more "realistic" and "edgy," you can't have it both ways.
Hey guys! You know what I love and never, ever get tired of seeing? Devoting a whole 10th of an issue's precious storytelling budget to pointless two-page spreads like this! Hell no, I live for this shit! Why not make comics fold out, and just do them all as posters, so we can spend an entire issue telling one fucking panel? How about that? Because that sounds SWELL to me!
... Oh goddammit, Scarecrow, what the hell have you done now?
Seriously, it's Scarecrow, right? He's doing some kind of variation of Never Fear's no-fear formula with either Venom, Titan, or Hugo Strange's Monster Men serum, isn't he? Well, considering that Hugo used fear toxin first, it'd only be fitting for Squishy to rip Hugo off a second time! I doubt that's exactly what happened, but if it were, then that'd pretty darn interesting, actually.
Nitpick complaint: Batman never calls Harvey "Dent." He's "Harvey." The first-name basis is how Batman shows that he's still trying to reach the man inside the monster.
Nitpick complement: hey, at least Harvey's good eye is blue! Good job, colorist!
Did Batman do anything, or did Harvey get shut down internally somehow? I don't suppose it matters either way, and I'm not exactly gonna rush to find out.
What really gets me is how Harvey in no way sounds like Harvey. Maybe that's the point, which is what "One-Face" was meant to indicate somehow, or something. But from what I can see here, this is supposed to be Harvey released of all inhibitions in a full-on Mister Hyde mode (and gee, Paul Jenkins, where have you written THAT story before?), so why does he sound like neither Harvey nor Two-Face? This could be ANY character talking. If you're going to use Harvey Dent, bloody well use the character!
But again, that kind of snap judgment isn't fair (or at least, not yet proven to be worth a damn) without reading the whole story. If you're picking up this issue, please chime in with your thoughts in the comments. If you're looking for it, here's the cover:
Y'know, as opposed to "The Unpleasant Disposition of Two-Face" that we usually get.
In possibly-related news, I haven't been able to play Arkham City yet, so NO SPOILERS. Bad enough I've already been spoiled about one character at the end. Until I can waste many hours of my life playing the game, I'm gonna devote the next couple weeks to composing some new reviews, including Paul Jenkins' Two-Face "epic" Batman: Jekyll & Hyde and a very special about_faces event.
Stay tuned: same insane scarred lawyer time, same insane scarred lawyer channel.