I just finished “The Long Halloween,” and it was pretty good. Well, actually it was really, really good, cause I finished it in one sitting. I am about a quarter ways into “Dark Victory.” I didn’t care for the art to much in “The Long Halloween” though. Specifically the way the faces were drawn. They just seemed a bit to crow like. Definitely liked the story though.
Quick question, do you know of any good two face (Harvey dent) centric stories you would recommend?
Hm, I’m sorry you were disappointed by the artwork in Long Halloween. From what I remember, it was actually pretty non-outlandish and very much “regular” or “standard” - I don’t know if these are good words to describe it, but when you look at Tim Sale’s other works, the faces look like this all the time:
So, yeah, if you finished it in a single sitting (which must have been a long one, considering it’s quite long book), the art can’t have diminished your reading experience too much 
Now, for Harvey Dent stories: there is considerably more stuff about the Joker, especially in terms of actual 150 pages or more graphic novels instead of single comic books.
One Two-Face story comes immediately to mind, though: FACE THE FACE
It’s a partial continuation of the Infinite Crisis story arc, in which I think there was a subplot about TwoFace actually being healed and being left behind to take care of Gotham while Batman went away for a year.
Face the Face now starts with the return of Batman to Gotham and centers completely around Dent’s fate and his relationship with Batman, the problems he’s facing with his new/old personality and the nightmares from his past that are haunting and ultimately, it’s a story about unjust prejudices and how society and/or close relations can drive you into a corner and actually make you do the things that everybody thought you were doing in the first place, a very tragic tale of the self-fulfilling prophesy.
Now, you’ll see on the Amazon page that the story has received rather mixed reviews and to be honest, it’s not Long-Halloween-like quality, but from what I see, what puts most people off is that the story is easy to see through and you’ll just get this unsettling hunch of where all this is leading to in the end rather early in the story. But if you don’t expect an Agatha-Christie-style murder-and-mystery-tale with lots of unexpected turns and twists but rather a Macbeth-like epic tale where it’s not about not knowing the eventual outcome, but about enjoying being taken on a character’s teleological journey through hell (in his own mind and also with the people sourrounding him), then this is a great story. Certainly, in Face the Face, Batman is much more a bad guy and Harvey Dent is the innocent victim, the tragical hero in the pure Aristotelian way.
As for the artwork, it might be more to your liking since it’s a far more life-mimicking and realistic approach than what Sale does. But beware, apart from Arkham Asylum, this is by far the most gritty, dark, gloomy and just ultimately BLACK Batman novel I’ve read.
Here’s an image of Harvey from the book and the cover:
I hope all this was helpful.
Yup, it was helpful, thanks for the recommendation. The Joker is an interesting villain, but for some reason Two Face seems more entertaining.
Yeah, I did enjoy “The Long Halloween” and I didn’t mind the art, it was just the way the faces were drawn. If they were in the light, they seemed fine, but in the shadows they looked very crow-like. Small complaint when the book was so awesome, but it was a very minute detail that took me out of the story at first.
By the way, I am thinking of checking out Daredevil, with the frank miller omnibus, so it looks like you have gotten me back into comics again. I was into them when I was a kid, but it seems I missed out on the renaissance of darker themed graphic novels of the late 80’s. I am fixing that now. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the lighter themed stuff when I was a kid, but it’s not the kind of stuff I want from a comic nowadays.
I haven’t read a single one, he’s the catholic lawyer guy, right? Which ones are you gonna read?
I stopped reading Miller’s (currently ongoing) Batman & Robin series at #3; felt like I’d received absolutely nothing for my $3.95 or whatever it cost. Is anyone following it? Did it pick up?
Another great suggestion from my Batman archives would be BLIND JUSTICE [COLOR=Silver]- a very original Batman tale that also introduces us to the Ducard character, a mentor for Batman.
What is so outstanding about Blind Justice is that it really deeply explores Bruce Wayne instead of Batman and what makes Bruce tick. And the justice theme will, in the end, sweep you off your feet.
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“studying the greatest boners of all time”
[Chuck] Oh My [/Chuck]
Now I know what Wertham meant:
Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent, concerned with what he perceived to be sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror and in superhero comics, respectively, raised anxieties about comics.
G-Ranger, have you seen the “JLA: Earth 2” graphic novel by Grant Morrison? It’s not one of his more visionary works, but it’s pretty cool.
It’s fairly standard opposite-universe stuff: The JLA crosses over into a parallel universe, where they meet their parallel-universe opposite selves, who are similar but different, and all evil. Instead of the Justice League, in the other world, the characters are the International Crime Syndicate, something like that. The Superman character is called Ultraman. The Batman character is Owl Man. The Flash character is a speed freak. Some of the characters are the same people, and some have slightly altered stories/alter-egos. And Lex Luthor is the world’s lone good guy.
There’s a pretty nice Batman moment in it.
And, yes, the close of Tower of Babel is pretty nice.
Haven’t read it, sounds interesting a pretty nice Batman moments always entice me. Thanks for the recommendation, this will sure end up on my reading list.
I just finished it between posting that and reading your response. Definite thumbs-up on the book. Batman plotline is very strong.
Morrison’s a good name to watch for. He came along when Alan Moore was big, so he doesn’t always get the credit/recognition he deserves. He wrote a particularly nice time travel arc for Animal Man.
Really? But he brought us “Arkham Asylum”, which has definitely become one of my favorite Batmann graphic novels, albeit one that I only very seldomly have the guts to read. Oh, and I hear he’s also working on “Batman R.I.P.” - a story I’m not sure I’ll ever have the heart to pick up. I heard on io9 that they were going to do terrible things to Batman.
Doing terrible things to Batman again? Now that you mention it, I haven’t really thought about Morrison in some time. And since I don’t actively follow comix lately, it’s very possible his stock has risen over the years. In fact, I’d forgotten that he wrote Arkham. I really didn’t like Arkham, but I may break it out, give it another chance.
I can totally see why someone would not like Arkham, there are certainly a number of reasons could be brought forth. But still, as I said, I treasure it, I got a lot from it and it never hurts to re-read.
Nice Batmobile pic. I was just going to post, actually… I bought two Batman graphic novels (mini-series compilations) this week. Just finished the first, Batman and the Monster Men:
And also bought Batman and the Mad Monk.
Monster Men is quite decent if not super. Pretty cool gothic art. They’re both written by Matt Wagner, one of my favorite comic writers (and artists). He also wrote the upcoming Two-Face Faces book. And he’s the guy behind the Grendel and Mage series, which are some of the pinnacles of the comic art form. Both of those are better than his Batman books. He also wrote two brief Batman/Grendel crossover short graphic novels, which probably won’t resonate with you much if you’re not already familiar with the Grendel mythos.
What I really like is his realistic approach to Bruce Wayne/Batman. Like, in one of the Batman/Grendel books, we see Bruce Wayne talking to a girl on the speaker phone. And as he’s talking, he’s vertical, upside-down, doing hand-stand pushups.
I can complain about the pre-Batman Begins movies all day, for many reasons. But my chief one is that none of the actors looked like they could really be Batman. Batman – in addition to being a brilliant detective – is this obsessively trained martial artist who’s worked out until he’s the size of a house. Keaton, Clooney, and Kilmer didn’t look like they spent much time in the gym. The way Wagner presents Bruce Wayne’s life, you can believe it.
And a couple weeks after reading that Grant Morrison JLA Earth 2 book, the Batman parts have really stuck with me. Even though it’s an alternate-Earth story, it’s definitely worth reading.
I think Keaton looked okay in the costume, for the very least. He didn’t look as silly as Clooney in the costume. Out of the costume, Keaton too looked a little like he belonged in a romantic comedy and not a Batman movie.
Remind me to put Earth 2 on my reading list, I’m really interested. Gotta read Hush first, though.
Oh and tell us more about the upcoming Two-Face comic! I’m thinking that Lucky will be especially interested in that.
Is Hush decent?
I really enjoyed Hush. What I didn’t like was the price. You can buy the two separate parts or the one single volume but it’s the same price for essentially one graphic novel. I think you will like it GR, as there is some friction between Batman and Superman in this one.
I am definitely on the lookout for any good two face stories. I think he is an interesting villain, but I don’t like that the theme of where he gets his face healed, goes crazy, re-disfigures his face again. I have read three stories where this has happened…
Superman - Batman tension is always good. One of my favorite dramatic moments from any medium is the semi-speech Batman gives Superman toward the end of Dark Knight Returns, when he’s beating up Supes the Boy Scout. Basically, “Clark, always saying yes to anyone with a badge or flag. Did your parents teach you that? I learned a different lesson from my parents, lying crumpled in a bloody heap on the sidewalk…”
