New Comics: "The Beautiful Ugly" in LotDK #56 (2013)

[about_faces]

Once again, there's a new Two-Face story appearing in the "pages" of DC's digital-premiere Legends of the Dark Knight series! The first issue (read: the first part of three, the first 1/3rd of what will be a one-shot-length story) came out yesterday, and surprisingly, USA Today even ran a promotional article about the story! Why they did, I can't

Comments

[mothy_van_cleer]

Really, what creeps me out most about Zombie Harvey isn't his pond-slime face or his paint-daubed jacket - it's the hairline. Whenever you usually see Harvey post-acid, his bad side either terminates in a few little scraggly hairs or poofs out in a giant fright wig, but this looks like he was hacked apart at the scalp and sewn back together like the ghost of Delbert Grady. Even his widow's peak looks red and inflamed on the cover. Ewww.

(Incidentally, I got a chuckle out of your two-star review for Batman: Death by Design. When I first picked up a copy in the store and read it through, all I've been able to think of is "Batman by Ayn Rand", right down to the Dagny Taggart stand-in that Bruce schmoozes over.)

[about_faces]

Pond-slime... yes, that's it, it's like he fell into a filthy pond! As for that split, I wonder if that'll still be there in the next part. I can't tell if he even has hair on his bad side, or if there's just a little Butters-like tuft.

Thanks! Yeah, I didn't want to make the Rand comparisons because I wasn't sure how accurate they'd be, but I kept thinking of her all throughout the book, especially whenever Cyndia Syl (what a name!) popped up to be proselytize about architectural integrity.

[lego_joker]

This does sound slightly more intriguing, if only because I'm more familiar with Fridolfs' work than Mishkin's. If I recall correctly, Fridolfs began as naught but a humble inker on Dini and Nguyen's Detective. My, how far he's come...

That said, the "they don't see the other side" part just makes me roll my eyes in condescending frustration (which may or may not be Fridolfs' intention). Whatever an outsider's perspective on Gotham is, we know quite well that it's rotten to the core, and has been since the late 80s. Coupled with Alexander's gloomy art, and... yeah. I can't muster up any sympathy for the fool who comes to Gotham expecting a happy, safe vacation

[about_faces]

Yeah, Fridolfs and Nguyen seem to be great pals and regular collaborators. From all I've seen, they look like a team who will always produce a comic work checking out.

I can't muster up any sympathy for the fool who comes to Gotham expecting a happy, safe vacation.

I think that's the point. The narration is coming from a Gotham resident who is talking about other people.

Good luck! And that's another great collage, as usual!

[abqreviews]

I actually like this art. Reminds me of Jae Lee's Sub-Mariner run. Sure Harvey himself is ten kinds of ugly, but I really like the way the suit is depicted. Almost as if it isn't really supposed to be covered with those green splotches in story, but only through artistic effect to let us know he's evil (Like all those depictions you see of Bruce's shadow as Batman). I don't know if 'subtle' is the word I'd use to describe something obviously trying so hard to look gritty, but the effect is something along those lines

[mothy_van_cleer]

Well, sure, but all it takes to banish a C-list celebrity from your house is a circle of lamb's blood smeared on your front door. I discovered Joey Lawrence was lurking just outside of my field of vision every time I looked in a mirror, and a visit to my local kosher/halal butcher cleared that right up.

[abqreviews]

Ah, good advice.

Seriously, I just wanted to find some way to express my dislike of Tumblr without getting worked up. All the celeb worship, anti-Semitism from so-called social justice activists, pedophiles, made-up 'minority' groups (Asexual robot trans-fat pony otherkin, yeah, I'm really going to take you seriously, especially considering that so many of those people complain about "geeks feeling sorry for themselves"), people claiming they were 'triggered' by seeing meat in the meat aisle of a supermarket and entitled little kids claiming they know oppression because the evil white clerk at the game store wouldn't let them buy an M-rated game, really grinds my gears.

Obviously not everyone on Tumblr is like that, but just the mention gets me worked up.

Maybe I should declare that my 'trigger'.

[mothy_van_cleer]

Would it help if I mentioned Tumblr now has a feature where you can block other users from your dash? Because it does.

[akselavshalom]

While I can certainly see why people like this art, I would personally prefer something else. There's mood to it, but god dammit, I miss the colors of the eighties and nineties. Seriously, whenever I see art like this, my attention span withers away and dies. (For then to be resurrected three hours later. Must be tiresome for the poor creature.)
I'm bored by this. I don't have that problem with McKean or Seinkiewicz, but they have the courtesy to have a little more color in their works. This looks too dead-looking for my tastes.

Why am I not more excited about this? The mentioning of Chigurh alone is enough to get my attention, and mixing in Javert-like elements sounds intriguing, at the very least

[about_faces]

There's mood to it, but god dammit, I miss the colors of the eighties and nineties.

Agreed. I don't want my comics to look all one way or another, and I do think there's a place for art like this above (maybe even in this very story, but we'll have to see how it plays out as a whole), but man, we really lost something when we stopped coloring comics that way. Computer coloring and photoshop-type programs have made everything overproduced as hell.

The last BB eps are scheduled for late August! So basically, we who've been watching it will have waited an entire year for the last eight episodes. Argh!

[mothy_van_cleer]

Computer coloring and Photoshop-type programs have made everything overproduced as hell.

I just prefer comics on vinyl, y' know? The pages have a crisper feel to them that you don't get with digital.

[akselavshalom]

And acoustic pencils will always be better than the electric ones. Not as noisy.

[anonymous]

I have to agree that Harvey's got an... interesting design there. Especially that eye on the scarred side - it reminds me of a deep-sea fish, of all things. I'm all for moral ambiguity and shades of gray in fiction, so I may give this story a chance when the whole arc actually comes out, depending on the reviews I read, even with a Harvey Dent who looks like he's half human and half sea creature.

I know about TNBA and the Long Halloween, but I haven't actually heard of Half a Life. I'm quite busy with enjoying my shiny new copy of Eye of the Beholder, so my interest in Harvey as a character has gone up significantly. I'm much more of a BTAS fan than a TNBA fan, though, and only know that a lot of characters (like the Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter) got complete design overhauls

[about_faces]

... it reminds me of a deep-sea fish, of all things

I can totally see that. Normally, I would just see this kind of Two-Face as being more akin to a waterlogged zombie, but there's something unsettling about the comparison to one of those creepy-ass fish.

Half a Life is a major storyline that ran in Gotham Central (the Rucka/Brubaker series that focused on Gotham's cops, only without Gordon and Bullock), and it was the climax of a subplot between Harvey and Renee Montoya that Rucka started back in his very earliest Batman work in the No Man's Land lead-up issues on through NML itself. Have you had a chance to read those stories by chance? I've reviewed them all before. I love that subplot, but man oh man, I really did not at all like how Half a Life wrapped them up. Unfortunately for me, most people don't care, because it's more Renee's story than Harvey's, and in every way save for Harvey himself, it's a great story. I'm not surprised that it's beloved, critically-lauded, and award-winning, but man oh man, I still don't like what

[anonymous]

but there's something unsettling about the comparison to one of those creepy-ass fish.

It was the blank eye and sharp-looking teeth that did it. That depiction of Harvey is quite disturbing, just as I find those fish seriously creepy.

Have you had a chance to read those stories by chance?

The only bit of No Man's Land that I've gotten to read so far is the Scarecrow story, "Fear of Faith" - Henchgirl recommended it, and I liked it. I'll be sure to give your reviews a read-through, though.

Eee! So I take it you enjoyed it, then?

Yep, I enjoyed it, and I also have a new appreciation for Gilda Gold. I was mostly familiar with her from Dent and a collection of Golden Age Batman stories I own. Thank you very much for introducing me to such a great story - it's already one of my all-time favorites, along with Scarecrow: Year One. I also managed to get my hands on that Killer Croc story you recommended some time ago and a copy of The Batman of Arkham.

It is!Great! I'll have to start one up when I have the time. I'm quite fond

[lego_joker]

Does that "much better way" involve some variation on "Joker slipped some Poison Ivy pheromones into Harvey's meds because he's a dick"? That's the fan-theory I've been holding for a while now.