I ironically just picked up these two issues at a used book store 3 days ago. My thoughts were pretty much the same as yours. I'm really sitting on edge waiting for the first real Two-Face story in the new 52, and I hope Gilda is still in it after Daniel's run returning her. I've been really depressed for Harvey lately. Nobody in the industry seems to care about him any more. Snubbed in Arkham City, killed off in TDK, and his last comic appearance had him turn into the frickin' hulk?! "One Face" had me face palming for a straight hour. I pray Scott Snyder will use him in an arc. He seems the kind of author who could FINALLY breath some life back into the character.
Hey, you're back! It's been so long, I thought you were another follower to just drop off out of nowhere and never return! Welcome!
Without going too much into spoilers for those who haven't read it, what did you think about Daniel's story? I wanna review it, but I keep putting it off because 1.) I need to review TLH first, and there's been some discussion about the best way to do that, and 2.) because I find it so mediocre and middling that I have a damn hard time trying to muster up any interest or enthusiasm in trying to formulate a review.
.I pray Scott Snyder will use him in an arc. He seems the kind of author who could FINALLY breath some life back into the character.Snyder, like Morrison, seems far more interested in the established Bat-Family, new villains, and secret society subplots than anything related to the classic villains. Still, I'd be damn interested to see what he'd do with Harvey. He's a fantastic writer, even if he doesn't understand mental illness, like, at ALL. Every single thing about James Jr.'s diagnoses
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I've actually been keeping up to date with your posts, but I apologize for not responding to any in quite some time. But yes, I'm "back".
As for Daniel's run, I quite liked it... until it ended so damn abruptly. No resolution, explanation or even a good climax. If they're going to bring Gilda back, they need to properly explain where the hell she's been. I did like Harvey's characterization enough, but it just didn't go anywhere. I wonder if things got cut off because of the impending new 52?
"If so, that just raises further questions about Batman's own history, and how Gotham evolved, which could itself door to Grant Morrison's "everything is canon" bullshit, so it's best not to dwell too hard on these questions."
I love those questions, and the attempts to answer them. Funny that you hate this idea so much since it's what hooked me on the Batman comics again five years ago, and the death of it has depressed me so much that I stopped reading new DC Comics this month.
'Course, it could be because I'm a balding old man. Great post and keep up the good work!
I love those questions, and the attempts to answer them. Funny that you hate this idea so much since it's what hooked me on the Batman comics again five years ago, and the death of it has depressed me so much that I stopped reading new DC Comics this month.
Don't get me wrong, I like these attempts too. I just hate the way Morrison does it. I far prefer Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which manages to combine so many different continuities and tones seamlessly, far more successfully and more inclusively than Morrison, who pretty much just stays focused on the 50's, the 70's, and bits and pieces here that no one else writes about, without bothering to really try writing about the rest. When was the last time that any of the rogues really were a part of his stories, for example? Just in a flashback here or there, and that's it. Gimme the cartoon any day.
Thanks for expanding on that-I can understand your viewpoint now.
I do agree that he clearly has no interest in the rogues, and when he does use them he makes them as monstrous as possible (seems like most of the European Batwriters do this-not sure if that means anything.) I think it has to do with the age difference we've talked about. I doubt he's ever seen an episode of the Animated Series, for instance. When it was on, I doubt he was sitting in front of the TV with a big tub of buttery popcorn and saying, "Oh boy, here comes another one of those great Batman cartoons!" He was dropping E in a club and dancing badly to cruddy house music.
I guess I didn't mind so much because at the same time he was doing his stuff in BATMAN Dini was doing (at least what I thought were) pretty decent stories with the rogues in DETECTIVE.
But those days are gone and I am not so self-assured.
I mean, I can entirely understand Morrison not using classic villains for the short-lived DickBats era (new Batman, new villains, I got that) or for Batman Inc (global threats, not Gotham-based villains), but his entire run up till then was largely populated by pompous no-names who we were supposed to treat as Bat-ending threats.
Morrison only uses the trappings of obscure Batman stories, but he's ultimately more interesting in telling Grant Morrison stories with Batman, not Batman stories. And that's fine if people WANT that, but I just wish they'd stop pretending like he's telling the ultimate Batman stories. Compare Morrison's Joe Chill update with The Brave and the Bold's utterly brilliant episode, "Chill of the Night!", and tell me which one is more in keeping with classic Batman of various eras, not to mention which is the more fun
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Okay, now I want to get this. The second part doesn't look so great, and I'm not too fond of stories where Two-Face is portrayed as trying to destroy the lives of the people he once cared about, but I'm a sucker for Mike Barr's Batman. His run with Alan Davis might just be my favorite. "Retro" is the key word. There were so many great bits; the Bowie-esque Joker,Jason actually being a likeable character, one of the very best Scarecrow stories, a fun Mad Hatter story, the team-up with all stars past and present of Detective Comics, and of course, "My beginning and my probable end". Those stories deserved to have been collected yesterday
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"I'm a sucker for Mike Barr's Batman. His run with Alan Davis might just be my favorite. "Retro" is the key word. There were so many great bits; the Bowie-esque Joker,Jason actually being a likeable character, one of the very best Scarecrow stories, a fun Mad Hatter story, the team-up with all stars past and present of Detective Comics, and of course, "My beginning and my probable end". Those stories deserved to have been collected yesterday."
Glad to hear someone else loves that run! I think it might be my favorite as well. A friend of mine asked the other day if there was a trade of it and I had to sadly reply no. And good call on the Joker, that was the right way to do a Bowie/Joker synthesis (and it makes sense since they were trying to get him to do the movie at the time.)
... but I'm a sucker for Mike Barr's Batman. His run with Alan Davis might just be my favorite. "Retro" is the key word.
It really is a classic run, the kind which you'd think would be collected and celebrated ala Englehart and Rogers. The Catwoman story with Dr. Moon was my first exposure thanks to the Stacked Deck collection, but I always found the ending so sad that it was hard to enjoy it fully. Still a great story from a great run.
On the other hand, then there's Batman: Year Two. God, I hate that story. First off, it screws with the great Moxon/Chill Golden Age story, which I've come to really love after reading it condensed in The Untold Legend of Batman (which I'm tempted to post here in its entirety, all three parts), but I'm now especially fond of it after The Brave and the Bold adapted it so well. Secondly, it complete undercuts any tension of Bruce being tempted to kill Chill by having the choice ripped out of him at the last minute by the Reaper. And third, ugh, the Reaper. Do Not Care
( ... )
"Dastardly Dual-faced Desperado", perhaps? Given the comments about "Daddy king", "the possibility of a war" and "returning to Europe", I would imagine the couple are meant to be part of the royal family of some minor European country, albeit one with snooty British affectations for some reason (although I suppose that could be explained by her being a genuine upper-crust Brit and him having gone to a fancy-schmancy British finishing school somewhere). What else was Dr. Moon in? He seems vaguely familiar, but I can't think of any other stories that feature him. Also - "double-sided disks"? They HAD those? I used floppies for years, and I can't recall them ever being more than ONE-sided.
He was in Barr and Davis' Joker/Catwoman two-parter. The one where Joker brainwashes Catwoman back into being evil.
There's an awesome scene where Joker gives him an exploding cigar (a normal, non-lethal one), and he gives a completely a deadpan reaction. Seconds later, he offers Mistah J one back.
What other novels do you think are on Golden Age Two-Face's bookshelf? The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, naturally, but what else? My votes are for The Double by Dostoevsky and The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino. Any other suggestions?
I'm much more interested in his porn DVD library. We've already discussed his likely proclivity for BI-sexual stuff (both female AND male), but I also see there being a lot of interracial material on his shelf (the stark contrast of black-on-white fucking would be especially compelling to him), plus ... do I even need to say it? DOUBLE-penetration ahoy! Indeed, I could actually imagine an adult-rated version of a crazy Sprang-era scheme in which he takes over a porn production and tries to get the actresses to achieve the mythical DVDA (as a South Park fan, you shouldn't need to look that one up). Just IMAGINE what the oversized props would be!
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Without going too much into spoilers for those who haven't read it, what did you think about Daniel's story? I wanna review it, but I keep putting it off because 1.) I need to review TLH first, and there's been some discussion about the best way to do that, and 2.) because I find it so mediocre and middling that I have a damn hard time trying to muster up any interest or enthusiasm in trying to formulate a review.
.I pray Scott Snyder will use him in an arc. He seems the kind of author who could FINALLY breath some life back into the character.Snyder, like Morrison, seems far more interested in the established Bat-Family, new villains, and secret society subplots than anything related to the classic villains. Still, I'd be damn interested to see what he'd do with Harvey. He's a fantastic writer, even if he doesn't understand mental illness, like, at ALL. Every single thing about James Jr.'s diagnoses ( ... )
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As for Daniel's run, I quite liked it... until it ended so damn abruptly. No resolution, explanation or even a good climax. If they're going to bring Gilda back, they need to properly explain where the hell she's been. I did like Harvey's characterization enough, but it just didn't go anywhere. I wonder if things got cut off because of the impending new 52?
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"If so, that just raises further questions about Batman's own history, and how Gotham evolved, which could itself door to Grant Morrison's "everything is canon" bullshit, so it's best not to dwell too hard on these questions."
I love those questions, and the attempts to answer them. Funny that you hate this idea so much since it's what hooked me on the Batman comics again five years ago, and the death of it has depressed me so much that I stopped reading new DC Comics this month.
'Course, it could be because I'm a balding old man. Great post and keep up the good work!
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Don't get me wrong, I like these attempts too. I just hate the way Morrison does it. I far prefer Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which manages to combine so many different continuities and tones seamlessly, far more successfully and more inclusively than Morrison, who pretty much just stays focused on the 50's, the 70's, and bits and pieces here that no one else writes about, without bothering to really try writing about the rest. When was the last time that any of the rogues really were a part of his stories, for example? Just in a flashback here or there, and that's it. Gimme the cartoon any day.
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I do agree that he clearly has no interest in the rogues, and when he does use them he makes them as monstrous as possible (seems like most of the European Batwriters do this-not sure if that means anything.) I think it has to do with the age difference we've talked about. I doubt he's ever seen an episode of the Animated Series, for instance. When it was on, I doubt he was sitting in front of the TV with a big tub of buttery popcorn and saying, "Oh boy, here comes another one of those great Batman cartoons!" He was dropping E in a club and dancing badly to cruddy house music.
I guess I didn't mind so much because at the same time he was doing his stuff in BATMAN Dini was doing (at least what I thought were) pretty decent stories with the rogues in DETECTIVE.
But those days are gone and I am not so self-assured.
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I mean, I can entirely understand Morrison not using classic villains for the short-lived DickBats era (new Batman, new villains, I got that) or for Batman Inc (global threats, not Gotham-based villains), but his entire run up till then was largely populated by pompous no-names who we were supposed to treat as Bat-ending threats.
Morrison only uses the trappings of obscure Batman stories, but he's ultimately more interesting in telling Grant Morrison stories with Batman, not Batman stories. And that's fine if people WANT that, but I just wish they'd stop pretending like he's telling the ultimate Batman stories. Compare Morrison's Joe Chill update with The Brave and the Bold's utterly brilliant episode, "Chill of the Night!", and tell me which one is more in keeping with classic Batman of various eras, not to mention which is the more fun ( ... )
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Glad to hear someone else loves that run! I think it might be my favorite as well. A friend of mine asked the other day if there was a trade of it and I had to sadly reply no. And good call on the Joker, that was the right way to do a Bowie/Joker synthesis (and it makes sense since they were trying to get him to do the movie at the time.)
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It really is a classic run, the kind which you'd think would be collected and celebrated ala Englehart and Rogers. The Catwoman story with Dr. Moon was my first exposure thanks to the Stacked Deck collection, but I always found the ending so sad that it was hard to enjoy it fully. Still a great story from a great run.
On the other hand, then there's Batman: Year Two. God, I hate that story. First off, it screws with the great Moxon/Chill Golden Age story, which I've come to really love after reading it condensed in The Untold Legend of Batman (which I'm tempted to post here in its entirety, all three parts), but I'm now especially fond of it after The Brave and the Bold adapted it so well. Secondly, it complete undercuts any tension of Bruce being tempted to kill Chill by having the choice ripped out of him at the last minute by the Reaper. And third, ugh, the Reaper. Do Not Care ( ... )
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Given the comments about "Daddy king", "the possibility of a war" and "returning to Europe", I would imagine the couple are meant to be part of the royal family of some minor European country, albeit one with snooty British affectations for some reason (although I suppose that could be explained by her being a genuine upper-crust Brit and him having gone to a fancy-schmancy British finishing school somewhere).
What else was Dr. Moon in? He seems vaguely familiar, but I can't think of any other stories that feature him.
Also - "double-sided disks"? They HAD those? I used floppies for years, and I can't recall them ever being more than ONE-sided.
Reply
There's an awesome scene where Joker gives him an exploding cigar (a normal, non-lethal one), and he gives a completely a deadpan reaction. Seconds later, he offers Mistah J one back.
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I'm much more interested in his porn DVD library. We've already discussed his likely proclivity for BI-sexual stuff (both female AND male), but I also see there being a lot of interracial material on his shelf (the stark contrast of black-on-white fucking would be especially compelling to him), plus ... do I even need to say it? DOUBLE-penetration ahoy! Indeed, I could actually imagine an adult-rated version of a crazy Sprang-era scheme in which he takes over a porn production and tries to get the actresses to achieve the mythical DVDA (as a South Park fan, you shouldn't need to look that one up). Just IMAGINE what the oversized props would be!
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