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It’s a shame that one of the most important things to ever happen to Harvey Dent as a character occurred in an overblown mess like Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s Batman: Hush.

It’s even more of a shame that no one developed Harvey from there on, instead leaving the character to gather cobwebs in limbo for THREE YEARS before utterly squandering all that potential in Face the Face. In an exercise of sheer masochism, I shall review both to examine all the great potential that DC pissed away in the name of mediocrity and the damned status quo. But before I can even analyze Harvey’s role, I need to go over his appearances in Hush as they actually played out. Be warned: this will result in a LOT of bitter, bitter sarcasm. I loathe Hush, both the story and the character, but I won’t be able to review the story as a whole for two reasons:

1.) I’m only interested in Harvey’s story, not in any of the seventeen other subplots happening at the same time in this poop-strewn labyrinth

2.) I like my blood pressure where it is, thank you very much.

So yeah, fair warning to those who love Batman: Hush. If you wish to defend it in the comments (or correct me on any details I might have missed), feel free. I won’t bite your head off, I promise! I know that this is a popular and beloved book to many, so I don’t want to step on any toes, but I simply cannot accept this story as anything other than crap... not even considering what he does with Harvey, which is admittedly pretty cool.

By which I mean, MY version of what Loeb does with Harvey. Because I'm not sure even Loeb knew what he actually did.





( The return of Harvey Dent (but not his hair) behind the cut, along with lots and lots of ranting on my part )

Does anyone know if it's true that Loeb planned to write a Hush follow-up with Harvey Dent, and thus that's why he didn't appear in comics for three years?

Best idea I've heard all week: someone should write a novelization of LOST.

Just do the entire series in a single book. Perhaps like THE STAND, but even better edited to incorporate all the good stuff, cut out the dead weight, and revise things so that it all works better as a whole.

Because that's the inherent difficulty of writing for long-form serialized format, be it in TV or comics: no matter how well you plan it out, so many things can go wrong that can create plot holes, dropped threads, inconsistent characterization, etc. Maybe it can be avoided if it's all done by a single (extremely talented) writer, but it's damn well impossible with multiple writers.

That's why Greg Rucka's novelization of NO MAN'S LAND is largely superior to the original comics, both of which I've been rereading for the first time in years for these posts. He's able to iron out the kinks from the comics, even the ones he himself had originally written, while cutting out pointless subplots and letting other story elements breathe.

By and large, the actual stories of both are the same, with one major exception: the shared arcs of Jim Gordon, Renee Montoya, and Harvey Dent. Last post, it was the same, but with some added scenes of Harvey and Renee's interaction.

But starting here, the actual chain of events alters and their motivations deepen, turning what originally was a better-than-average crime/adventure story into something rather more complex and soul-searching.





( Very little actual Batman behind the cut )

Next week, the grand finale: Jim Gordon('s soul) on trial, with Two-Face as the prosecutor, Harvey Dent as the defense, and Renee Montoya stuck in the middle.