Batman and Two-Face #24

I was hoping Damian would be back by now but I guess DC should let him stay dead for at least a year.

With Ra's al Ghul creating a bunch of Damians inside a bunch of test tubes, my guess is that when Robin returns to this title, it'll be Batman and Robins. With the "s"!

Last issue didn't make me cry at all, so I suspect this one won't either. I'm a tough guy!

The issue begins with Two-Face conducting his mo(u)rning ritual.

Wakey wakey! Russian Roulette and bacy!

Obviously the first thing Two-Face does when he wakes up is flip his coin. I say obviously because that's the most basic aspect of his character, after having two faces. If you know anything about Two-Face, you know that 1. He has two faces and 2. He flips a coin to make all of his decisions. And there you have it! That's all you need to know about him! Ever!

The interesting part of this morning's ritual was that his coin toss resulted in the non-scarred side of his coin. Which means this is the act of a sane and rational good man. He might be just trying to end his pain. But because Two-Face says, "Better luck next time," I believe this is Harvey's attempt to end the evil of his opposite. He uses the same bullet every day which sits on the dresser next to a picture of his ex-wife. Possibly. Probably. I'm not entirely sure since I only know two things about Two-Face (see last paragraph!). After Harvey Dent fails to kill Two-Face, they get dressed and go out for the day, probably to hang out with Batman.

Batman's day began two to three days earlier (probably!) and he's been using that time to practice his journalism skills.

He only knows two of the "W"s.

A woman named Erin McKillen is visiting Gotham for a short meeting before getting the fuck right out because she doesn't want to run into Harvey Dent or The Batman. That means she's probably up to no good! Also, she has "kill" in her name so she's obviously a big jerk. But Commissioner Gordon has a lead on her, so her visit probably isn't going to be as relaxing as she's hoping. She also has red hair, so Nightwing might show up just to flirt with her.

Alfred Pennyworth is busy doing everything wrong, as usual. It must be hard working for The Batman! Is that guy every happy?

I guess next issue will be Batman and Ra's al Ghul. Unless this Two-Face story is a two parter. Because, you know, Two-Face!

McKillen is in town as the head of her Crime Family because there's a big meeting so that the criminals with the normative brain chemistry can drive out the criminals with the abnormal brain chemistry. Also, she's apparently the person that threw the acid into Harvey Dent's face and turned him into Two-Face. Everybody wants her to take him out first but she's a bit reluctant because she doesn't want to die. I'm with her! Why be the head of a Crime Family if you have to put yourself in danger?! Why doesn't somebody else kill Two-Face and she can kill a threat to someone else! That's the way it's done in all the murder mysteries where people think they can get away with it because they have no relation to the victim.

McKillen lets herself be talked into going after Two-Face herself. Apparently she has to show some faith or shed some blood or ante up some skin or something. And because Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham Police make a raid on her place, all of her men are busy making their one phone call. So it's all up to her to kill Harvey Dent and not lose her teeth to The Batman.

Whoops. Looks like she failed on both of those counts.

Sure, that's mostly spit. But I think there's probably at least one tooth and some chips in that mess. And calling her loss of teeth earns me enough Experience Points to move up from Master Comic Book Reader Level 1 to Master Comic Book Reader Level 2! I'm well on my way to earning Grandmaster Comic Book Reader status! Plus Batman's capture of Erin ends this issue which means Batman and Two-Face will be heading into a second issue. So I gained some Experience Points for that too!

Batman and Two-Face #24 Rating: No change. I didn't mention it in the commentary but I thought Two-Face's origin scene was done really well. And I love that the place where it happened (and his wife was killed) is the same room he wakes up in day after day and tries to end his life. Now the "Better luck next time" may simply have been Two-Face's consolatory remarks on another day in which Harvey has failed to join his wife. Simply more good shit by Tomasi.