Batman and Two-Face #28

It seems like a mistake to completely surround three people with this much firepower. Just one person has to panic and start shooting for just about everybody to be killed or wounded.

I was getting bored with this comic book because Two-Face doesn't really interest me. But then Tomasi had Batman visit Noonan's and I got really excited because Hitman was a character I could understand! He liked to drink beers and earn money by killing people while also trying to get laid by a cop. Bullets and demons and misogyny and beers! That's the kind of thing I can understand! But all of this inner turmoil spurred on by a faulty ethical philosophy backed by severe narcissism and the belief that random chance is responsible for all of his actions and choices to avoid feeling the weight of mature, adult responsibility? That's all too far over my head. I'm not writing a comic book thesis like some people that I may or may not know! I just want to read funny books and make dick jokes! Stop trying to write literyture, Tomasi. All these characters driven by desires and motivations arising from their past choices is too much to keep track of! All I need is to know that Batman is sad that his parents died and now wants to prevent sadness. Two-Face is crazy because he listens to a coin. And Erin McKillabody blames everyone but herself for her own problems. See? Now I'm ready to find out how it all ends! Will Batman prevent sadness? Will Erin McKilljoy kill Two-Face and solve all of her problems? Will Two-Face finally flip his coin in just the right way to bring Gilda back? Let's find out now in the continuing saga of Batman and No Robin!

Two-Face has been captured by one of the Gotham Crime Families that I'll never force my brain to remember and is about to be executed live on the televisions. They want all of Gotham's Super Villains to know that a new day is dawning and that day is a day where Two-Face is dead. Also a day where they will probably soon be dead too. But Batman will save the super villains! Because Batman is crazy. His ethical philosophy is also fucked up. Maybe I was wrong when I said his goal was to prevent sadness because he's causing more sadness by saving Two-Face and whoever else these guys might kill. He's just out to prevent murder and crime. He doesn't care how much murder and crime he's allowing by saving certain people from murder and crime! He's a Bat-Jerko.

Batman figures out where Two-Face is being held because he's a genius detektif. He also doesn't need to protect Erin anymore so he ditches her with the Gotham Police and heads off to save Two-Face.

I wonder if Two-Face has ever seen a double rainbow? I bet he'd wonder what it meant! And half of his face would cry while the other half laughed!

Oh Batman. Why do you think everybody can be saved?

As Batman is trying to save Harvey's life while also scolding him for not turning his tragedy into an opportunity to prevent sadness, Two-Face screams, "Like you did, Bruce?" Right in front of everybody! Good thing the fire and the bullets drowned out the sound of Harvey's shouts.

This is Bruce's "I am disappoint" face when he discovers his secret identity isn't as ironclad as he believed.

Bruce tells Harvey to follow the edge of the coin where his good and bad selves meet. He needs to bring balance to his life. But Harvey tells Bruce to fuck off and tries to burn the shit out of everything.

Gordon and the Gotham Police arrive to escalate the situation. Two-Face shoots Gordon but that doesn't stop him from chastising Harvey as well! What is with these guys? So they thought they were a good law enforcement team before Dent went insane. But now he's fucking insane! Let him go! Stop trying to convince the guy with the mental breakdown that he's still a good guy. Or at least get him into some real rehabilitation and stop sending him to Arkham! Jesus. You want to him to deal with his problems, don't send him to the place that causes more.

Now Harvey decides to flip a coin for Gordon's life.

I guess that means Harvey must kill himself. Or Gordon must surrender.

Well shit. Um. I mean. I was just fucking joking, man.

Oh yeah. He pulls the trigger, all right. As his coin spins on its edge and he dies before seeing how it lands.

Fucking Tomasi. This is a genius reboot of the character of Two-Face! Kill off Harvey Dent and allow for Erin McKillemall to rise up as a replacement Two-Face. She is currently in prison amassing a gang of fresh blood to take over Gotham. She has Harvey Dent's handkerchief which she uses to wipe the blood from her face which is constantly dripping out of the scar under her eye. So she's not as drastic a Two-Face as Harvey but she's also a twin so there were literally two of this face at one time. Now she can go insane believing she's both halves.

Batman and Two-Face #28 Rating: +2 Ranking. What a spectacular finish to this story. I really like that it covers the basics of Harvey's rise and fall before finishing with him once and for all. And inextricably linked to that story is the fall and rise of his replacement, Erin McKillen. More of this kind of shit needs to go down for The New 52 to really separate itself from DC's old universe. Obviously DC can't change everything too dramatically. But small steps like this are really good for The New 52. While this seemed to be a story about Two-Face, it was really a story about Two-Face's successor and her rise to power. And since I'm not a fan of Two-Face, this story just became so much better! Maybe I'll reread it now! Once again, Tomasi is showing everybody else how to do comic books right.