Comic Strip Review: (most of) the super-obscure Two-Face story from the 1970's Batman dailies!

[about_faces]

So hey, remember when I said that I'd discovered an even-more-obscure Batman newspaper comic strip, one which featured what may well be the single rarest Two-Face appearance ever?Well, good news, everyone! I have come into possession of several scans of the strips, including most of the Two-Face stuff! Not all of it, sadly, and I'm missing the

Comments

[abqreviews]

So, did you go to the Library of Congress, or fight off pygmies and nazis with a whip to get these?

These strips actually depress me, sort of. It's clear that whoever wrote them had direct access to all of the Golden Age comics (I mean, how else would you remember the Tweeds and Harvey's charity work? I know that 'Kralik' story referenced it, but still...), or at least the original artwork, probably from the same source. Nowadays, that isn't the case, what with DC not keeping files of anything before the 80s.

I agree about how the good side is drawn, damn that's creepy. For stories that play up the split personality angle, they should utilize it more often.

Also *heh*, Harvey looks like Rod Serling in the flashback. I'd make an "eye of the beholder" joke, but I'm not in clever mode.

[about_faces]

Actually, I was sent these from the collection of a source who wishes to remain anonymous, but since I still don't have the whole thing, I'll probably need to do the Library of Congress thing anyway at some point! Maybe when I do that, I'll also be able to find color Sunday scans of the 90's strip! That'd be awesome.

Either they had access to them, or the original comics were reprinted somewhere. I dunno, how prevalent were reprints of those stories by 1971?

[abqreviews]

Some of them had been reprinted in foreign countries, but I don't know how many.

The depressing part is that, at some unspecified time in the early 70s, in order to make room for inventory stories that were drawn in advance, DC burned a lot of the original artwork, printing film and comics that they had kept in files and cupboards. A whole history was lost. This story was clearly done before that, or maybe the writer just had a good collection.

Ever wondered why the linework and color reproduction in the Archives often looks so shitty? It's because they have to digitally redraw the old stories by tracing them from issues they buy from collectors. Ever tried recoloring a whole image in MSpaint after using the erase bar? That's pretty much how they do it.

[about_faces]

The depressing part is that, at some unspecified time in the early 70s, in order to make room for inventory stories that were drawn in advance, DC burned a lot of the original artwork, printing film and comics that they had kept in files and cupboards. A whole history was lost. This story was clearly done before that, or maybe the writer just had a good collection.

... JESUS CHRIST WHY. AUGH!!!! For god's sake, there was already a fan culture with collections and stuff, they couldn't have entrusted some fan or fans with that stuff instead of outright DESTROYING it all?! AUGHAUGHAHHH!!!

[psychopathicus]

That half-smile is genuinely unsettling, enough so that I would theorize it was the result of muscle damage caused by the acid (assuming that the artist put that much thought into it, which is dubious). It's the only way to explain some of these scenes - I mean, I can understand Harvey constantly smiling after he's become Two-Face (he is, after all, just a little bit crazy), but before? He's supposed to be all tortured and an the brink of insanity - why would he be smiling? Unless, of course, he's just taking it really philosophically. 'Well, gosh-darn, it appears that I'm now a bifurcated freak! Don't life just hand ya lemons sometimes? Better mosey on down to the corner store for some calamine lotion!'
Yeah, there's certainly no reason for them to be "the Wonderland Crimes" that I can think of, unless Harvey was just going to great lengths to come up with a theme that every crook at the table could connect to in some way, as that one "dope comes from poppies" panel would seem to indicate.

[mothy_van_cleer]

I thought he looked like J.R. Dobbs, sans the trademark pipe.

And I still don't know how the Joker fits into the group dynamic. Is he supposed to be the Cheshire Cat in their scheme, or did Catwoman's presence mean he had to pick up the slack as the March Hare? I'm certain the whole scheme was explained much more coherently in those "leftover" strips.

[psychopathicus]

I'm sure I should know who J.R Dobbs is - the name sounds vaguely familiar - but I'm drawing a blank.
I'm guessing that the idea was simply to get all of the 'main' Bat-villains in one place so they could get their collective ass whooped, and you can't have a gathering of those without including Mistah J. Maybe he was the Knave of Hearts, or the Jabberwock or something.

[mothy_van_cleer]

Even if the Joker stole something as insignificant as a plate of tarts, I doubt he could resist crowing about it at trial. After all, this is the criminal mastermind who stole a child's report card for purposes of forgery.

[surrealname]

handsome harvey indeed.

[barcavolio]

Ooh, I like how Harvey's drawn. He looks very charming on that side, the kind of man you'd want to be friends with... until the time when, y'know, he gets "bad heads" and tries to kill you.

I feel like someone should bring back the "donating to charities" thing - not only does it show his good side as being more concrete and a good person than the route of "oh, good sides means I won't kill you," but it also kinda harks back to Harvey's desire to clean up Gotham and do good in the community, so even though he made his choice to become a villain his good side still wins out occasionally and is still fighting to improve and save the city.

...That actually makes me feel really sad. Harvey, why are you so tragic?

[about_faces]

Totally! Smiling!Harvey here really is one of the only cases where Harvey genuinely looks like an unpredictable combination of good and evil, and the charity aspect further reinforces that through his actions. I'll never understand why writers thought it would be more interesting to abandon all that in favor of upping his obsession with twos.

[ext_262094]

Wow!! never saw this one, thanks

[about_faces]

You're welcome!