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scans_dailyWith original writer and creative mastermind Max Allan Collins forced off the Batman strip by dickwad editors, the new creative team of William Messner-Loebs (The Flash, The Maxx), Carmine Infantino (Silver Age legend, co-creator of Barry Allen and Elongated Man), and John Nyberg (The Flash, Doom 2099) took over for the rest of its run.
Here's where things start getting interesting when it comes to Harvey Dent, seen only briefly in Collins' first storyline as a stuffy bureaucratic who resents Batman and fears that the vigilante's actions could result in lawsuits against the city. Under Messner-Loebs, Harvey becomes a full-on supporting character, not just as District Attorney and antagonist for Batman, but also as Bruce Wayne's best friend... two years *before* BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Until that show, it seemed that no one had ever written Bruce and Harvey as being friends. Batman, yes, but not Bruce Wayne. But this strip did it first, and I can't help but think that Dini, Timm, and company read this strip as it came out.
What I love about this Harvey Dent is that he isn't a saint, but he isn't corrupt either. He isn't a guy with anger issues consumed by his obsession with the mob, nor is he the White Knight of Gotham. This actually may be the most human-sized take on the character before he becomes Two-Face, decidedly different from the festering ball of pain we usually see (my favorite version).
Note: Scans taken from Comics Revue magazine, issues #44-47, from 1990, the only places that these strips have yet been reprinted.
Man, Harvey, that's a harsh way to talk about your best friend, isn't it? But then, I'd have to imagine that Harvey's probably been increasingly frustrated with the apparent apathy of Bruce. You'd think that being a best friend would mean knowing the other person a bit better, but I suppose that could be a combination of Bruce being really good at playing the part, while Harvey himself is perhaps too narrow-minded and introspective to be too observant.
That introspection is what really gets to me. What really took the edge off of Harvey's dickishness here were those next two panels, the ones I used as the preview above. It's one thing for Harvey to be a dick, but his self-doubt and admission of possible jealousy immediately, for me, made up for Harvey being a jerk. More on this in a bit.
Also: Alice Dent? Why is Gilda/Grace now suddenly Alice? I suspected a possible reason would be revealed in the Mad Hatter storyline, which would have serves this continuity's more insular storytelling, but no such connection was ever made. So she's just arbitrarily named Alice. A shame, because man, this will be the most visibly active Mrs. Dent we've ever seen, and it would have been nice for her to have been properly Gilda.
You may be wondering what's up with Alfred's cunning disguise there, or why he's suddenly in the Batmobile, killing time like a patient mother waiting for her teenage license-deprived son to finish up his community theatre rehearsal (by which I mean, like my Mom). There was no explanation, and indeed, the panel there looks out of place. That's because it probably is.
The problem with the Sunday strips was that they often just repeated previous strips' events, making the Sunday versions feel longer and redundant. As such, the editor at Comics Revue chose to omit most of the Sunday strips entire, save for a choice panel here or there. As such, it can make reading it all in one go a bit awkward.
But even still, I'm amazed at how well these strips hold together as a narrative regardless. You wouldn't need to do much more than a nip and tuck edit to make this story work as a single volume.
Y'know, it'd be easy to just write Harvey as being a petty, jealous bureaucrat who hates Batman in a similar way to how and why J. Jonah Jameson hates Spider-Man. Sure, this Harvey has legitimate legal and ethical reasons to hate Batman, even if it also stems out of personal hatred.
However, unlike Jonah's fleeting moment of introspection, Harvey is well aware of his personal reasons for resenting Batman, and this leads to much questioning and self-doubt, which I think is key to making this version of the character work.
The waters of legality and morality are being muddied for strict lawman like himself, and he's partially turning the blame inward on his own failings. Even when he can boil down the conflict to a single, simple bottom line of "Any way you look at it... I must destroy this Batman!", the tension within is only growing tighter.
I love Alfred. I kind of wish would see more of Alfred as Batman's dashing, bowler-wearing butler sidekick. He'd be like Kato, but with dry sarcasm instead of martial arts.
Also, I love how Infantino draws smoke screen effects in black and white.
With no warning, this Penguin's story's abruptly become an international crisis! It had actually become strangely common in the 80's for the Penguin to be involved in espionage, nuclear ransoms, and the like. Here were the first signs that people plainly had no idea what to do with the character anymore, and that poor Ozzie was a refuge from the Golden and Silver Ages, with no place in the Bronze Age onward.
Look, I dearly love the Penguin, and I hate the fact that he's consistently spat upon and considered among the worst Batman villains. People who think so are fools who've never read stories like Penguin Triumphant or the Joker's Asylum one-shot by Jason Aaron.
But sadly, I don't care for Ozzie in this particular story. Unlike the strip's neat new takes on Two-Face, the Riddler, and the Mad Hatter, Ozzie here is given no depth of character. This Penguin features none of the character's dramatic flair, nor his aspirations of acceptance as a human being and/or a member of high society.
This Pengers, like so much classic Pengers, is a boorish, snickering thug with a bird gimmick. Perhaps the great Burgess Meredith could have breathed life into this version in live action, but here, it falls flat for me.
At this point, I'm afraid the following pages are water damaged to various degrees, so forgive the quality.
My initial reaction is "Wow, Harv, way to be an ungrateful dickwad to the guy who saved Alice's life!" Once again, Messner-Loebs pushes this Harvey to the limits of jerkdom, threatening to make the character thoroughly unlikeable, and thus robbing his eventual transformation of any tragedy.
But here's the thing: just when I start to get disappointed, Messner-Loebs renews my love for his Harvey with what happens below:
Aw, everybody's happy, and there's absolutely nothing horrible looming around the corner! But seriously, I think it's nice that even Harvey can find a way to be positive and happy about this outcome, while himself overcoming his own bitterness and feelings of inadequacy.
That said, I can't shake the feeling that this ending is missing a few panels. Also, I don't quite buy why Bruce would think that a (two-headed? It's never said either way) silver coin would somehow be a present that Harvey or anyone else would love. There's an element or two missing here as to why that'd work, beyond simply laying the foundation for Two-Face...
... who, by the way, still isn't coming as soon as you'd expect. The beauty of Harvey's story here is how slowly the events work away at him, and you'll soon find out just how much further he has to fall while Gotham itself slips into chaos. Heavy stuff for a newspaper strip!
Here's where things start getting interesting when it comes to Harvey Dent, seen only briefly in Collins' first storyline as a stuffy bureaucratic who resents Batman and fears that the vigilante's actions could result in lawsuits against the city. Under Messner-Loebs, Harvey becomes a full-on supporting character, not just as District Attorney and antagonist for Batman, but also as Bruce Wayne's best friend... two years *before* BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Until that show, it seemed that no one had ever written Bruce and Harvey as being friends. Batman, yes, but not Bruce Wayne. But this strip did it first, and I can't help but think that Dini, Timm, and company read this strip as it came out.
What I love about this Harvey Dent is that he isn't a saint, but he isn't corrupt either. He isn't a guy with anger issues consumed by his obsession with the mob, nor is he the White Knight of Gotham. This actually may be the most human-sized take on the character before he becomes Two-Face, decidedly different from the festering ball of pain we usually see (my favorite version).
Note: Scans taken from Comics Revue magazine, issues #44-47, from 1990, the only places that these strips have yet been reprinted.
Man, Harvey, that's a harsh way to talk about your best friend, isn't it? But then, I'd have to imagine that Harvey's probably been increasingly frustrated with the apparent apathy of Bruce. You'd think that being a best friend would mean knowing the other person a bit better, but I suppose that could be a combination of Bruce being really good at playing the part, while Harvey himself is perhaps too narrow-minded and introspective to be too observant.
That introspection is what really gets to me. What really took the edge off of Harvey's dickishness here were those next two panels, the ones I used as the preview above. It's one thing for Harvey to be a dick, but his self-doubt and admission of possible jealousy immediately, for me, made up for Harvey being a jerk. More on this in a bit.
Also: Alice Dent? Why is Gilda/Grace now suddenly Alice? I suspected a possible reason would be revealed in the Mad Hatter storyline, which would have serves this continuity's more insular storytelling, but no such connection was ever made. So she's just arbitrarily named Alice. A shame, because man, this will be the most visibly active Mrs. Dent we've ever seen, and it would have been nice for her to have been properly Gilda.
You may be wondering what's up with Alfred's cunning disguise there, or why he's suddenly in the Batmobile, killing time like a patient mother waiting for her teenage license-deprived son to finish up his community theatre rehearsal (by which I mean, like my Mom). There was no explanation, and indeed, the panel there looks out of place. That's because it probably is.
The problem with the Sunday strips was that they often just repeated previous strips' events, making the Sunday versions feel longer and redundant. As such, the editor at Comics Revue chose to omit most of the Sunday strips entire, save for a choice panel here or there. As such, it can make reading it all in one go a bit awkward.
But even still, I'm amazed at how well these strips hold together as a narrative regardless. You wouldn't need to do much more than a nip and tuck edit to make this story work as a single volume.
Y'know, it'd be easy to just write Harvey as being a petty, jealous bureaucrat who hates Batman in a similar way to how and why J. Jonah Jameson hates Spider-Man. Sure, this Harvey has legitimate legal and ethical reasons to hate Batman, even if it also stems out of personal hatred.
However, unlike Jonah's fleeting moment of introspection, Harvey is well aware of his personal reasons for resenting Batman, and this leads to much questioning and self-doubt, which I think is key to making this version of the character work.
The waters of legality and morality are being muddied for strict lawman like himself, and he's partially turning the blame inward on his own failings. Even when he can boil down the conflict to a single, simple bottom line of "Any way you look at it... I must destroy this Batman!", the tension within is only growing tighter.
I love Alfred. I kind of wish would see more of Alfred as Batman's dashing, bowler-wearing butler sidekick. He'd be like Kato, but with dry sarcasm instead of martial arts.
Also, I love how Infantino draws smoke screen effects in black and white.
With no warning, this Penguin's story's abruptly become an international crisis! It had actually become strangely common in the 80's for the Penguin to be involved in espionage, nuclear ransoms, and the like. Here were the first signs that people plainly had no idea what to do with the character anymore, and that poor Ozzie was a refuge from the Golden and Silver Ages, with no place in the Bronze Age onward.
Look, I dearly love the Penguin, and I hate the fact that he's consistently spat upon and considered among the worst Batman villains. People who think so are fools who've never read stories like Penguin Triumphant or the Joker's Asylum one-shot by Jason Aaron.
But sadly, I don't care for Ozzie in this particular story. Unlike the strip's neat new takes on Two-Face, the Riddler, and the Mad Hatter, Ozzie here is given no depth of character. This Penguin features none of the character's dramatic flair, nor his aspirations of acceptance as a human being and/or a member of high society.
This Pengers, like so much classic Pengers, is a boorish, snickering thug with a bird gimmick. Perhaps the great Burgess Meredith could have breathed life into this version in live action, but here, it falls flat for me.
At this point, I'm afraid the following pages are water damaged to various degrees, so forgive the quality.
My initial reaction is "Wow, Harv, way to be an ungrateful dickwad to the guy who saved Alice's life!" Once again, Messner-Loebs pushes this Harvey to the limits of jerkdom, threatening to make the character thoroughly unlikeable, and thus robbing his eventual transformation of any tragedy.
But here's the thing: just when I start to get disappointed, Messner-Loebs renews my love for his Harvey with what happens below:
Aw, everybody's happy, and there's absolutely nothing horrible looming around the corner! But seriously, I think it's nice that even Harvey can find a way to be positive and happy about this outcome, while himself overcoming his own bitterness and feelings of inadequacy.
That said, I can't shake the feeling that this ending is missing a few panels. Also, I don't quite buy why Bruce would think that a (two-headed? It's never said either way) silver coin would somehow be a present that Harvey or anyone else would love. There's an element or two missing here as to why that'd work, beyond simply laying the foundation for Two-Face...
... who, by the way, still isn't coming as soon as you'd expect. The beauty of Harvey's story here is how slowly the events work away at him, and you'll soon find out just how much further he has to fall while Gotham itself slips into chaos. Heavy stuff for a newspaper strip!
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 12:09 am (UTC)1. When The Penguin become someone who would use the word "gelt?"
2. Why would someone fence, as opposed to launder or just spend, cash?
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 04:12 am (UTC)The Penguin was often a rather classy fellow.
That's a good question. Either the money was not proper legal tender? I'm confused on that point, too.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 08:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 12:54 am (UTC)That, and the fact that I've been standing about two feet away for about four panels and no one seemed to notice me.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 01:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 01:59 am (UTC)Kind of reminds me of another Batman story, where Bruce Wayne literally bought the bad guy's minions out from under him by promising them better, safer, higher-paying jobs at Wayne Enterprises.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 08:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 09:05 am (UTC)You gotta love the crook being literally imprisoned by luxury. Talk about a gilded cage - sure, you could leave anytime you want, but you'd never find out what Alfred was making for lunch.
And speaking of Alfred, I'm guessing that his role has been expanded here because of the absence of Robin - the laws of narrative convenience demand SOMEONE to be available to pull Batman's fat out of the fire, so we get Alfred playing Kato (a role, mind you, he would play magnificently. In fact, one of the main draws of a Batman/Green Hornet team-up would be the interplay between the two characters.
Kato: I built the Black Beauty!
Alfred: Impressive. However, I have helped Master Bruce maintain the Batmobile enough over the years that I am confident I could reassemble it from scrap if need be.
Kato: Fine, but you stay home and wash the dishes. I'm out putting my neck on the line every night.
Alfred: Our situations are somewhat different. Your employer is primarily a man of brains who needs someone to watch his back during combat while he takes care of the details. Mine needs no backup in the field - at least, none that I can provide - but he does require details taken care of back home. Without either of us, our respective employers would not last long.
Kato: Well, OK, but you're just a servant. I'm his PARTNER.
Alfred: Let us not mince words - you're a valet, I'm a butler. Besides, I have been of assistance to him in the field often enough.
Kato: Well, I know Kung-Fu!
Alfred: That I confess to an ignorance of, but I AM well-versed in several forms of unarmed combat. In my position, I have had numerous opportunities to keep in training.
Kato: Oh, yeah? I could kick your ass right now! Name one - just ONE thing I can't do better than you!
Alfred: Can you bake cookies as good as these?
Kato: Well, I... dammit. No.
Alfred: We all have our limitations, sir. More tea?
Needless to say, this is the classic Green Hornet I'm referencing here, not the recent doofus version.)
Also, while I doubt this was intentional, I liked the detail of Alfred, an ex-member of the British secret service, reading a James Bond novel.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 02:40 pm (UTC)Considering that movie!Kato made a magnificent cup of morning coffee, I can actually imagine that he and Alfred would eventually bond over breakfast.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 10:02 pm (UTC)I do agree, though, that movie-Kato was a pretty mellow guy in most respects, so yeah, he probably would get on pretty well with Alfred. I was just thinking in terms of a crossover, for which I would not want the movie version of things involved. I liked the movie well enough, but I don't consider it even close to the 'official' version of things - I'm no obsessive Green Hornet fan or anything, but I'm pretty sure he's NOT supposed to be a bumbling doofus.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 11:40 am (UTC)I love him as a sidekick in a mask in the Batmobile, too, but it seems a little Adam West. (Remember the AlfCycle?) especially when you have him serving meals in a luxury suite in the Batcave (what's up with that?).
Actually, I have all sorts of confused feelings about that Batcave setup. Why does Bruce have that down there? Why is he hiding this guy in the Cave? Why is it so easy for this guy to escape his cell in the Cave, so that he can go tell everyone who Batman is? Then again, it's kind of awesome that the guy, seeing escape possible, is stopped by the dinner bell and the promise of more of Alfred's cooking.
I'm with you on Harvey; they've done a great job with him. Showing that he has a dark side without constantly showing his face in shadow or something. And, even if it doesn't make much sense for a silver coin to be given as a special gift from his wife, my first thought was how cool it was that the coin came from Bruce (and from Harvey's wife).
I also like that Alice played a part in her own rescue. But I have to side a bit with Harvey here. Bats took a big risk with her life, moving closer when a very nervous Penguin had her at gunpoint.
By the way, is it just me, or does the messenger pigeon carrying a message from a disguised Batman look to be in sort of a bat-symbol position? Nice touch there.
On the other hand, when Penguin has Batman tied up, there are a few panels clearly showing something running down Batman's cheek. I'm guessing he's not crying. Did one of Penguin's birds anoint him during a flyover? Or is that supposed to be blood? It's there before Penguin threatens to cut his mask off, and I don't see any signs of damage (for all that he has been gassed, punched, and tied up).
In general, this continues to have beautiful art, cool stories, and a nice balance between costumed adventure and Bruce and Harvey's civilian lives.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 06:46 pm (UTC)Yeah, the fact that Alice partially rescued herself was awesome. So much better than just turning her into the Female Hostage.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 06:44 pm (UTC)I look forward to hearing what you think about the subsequent strips, and what's done with Harvey there.