DCAU #196: Fifty Fifty

IN THIS ONE... Two-Face struggles with using a quarter instead of a silver dollar.

CREDITS: Written by Ty Templeton; art by Brandon Kruse and Terry Beatty.

REVIEW: The take-away from this issue is that you can't work with Two-Face, you can only work FOR him. That's what a mobster finds out when he breaks Harvey out of jail to get his help with a rival Dent may have information on from his district attorney days. But coins must be tossed, and they don't always come up helpful.

The big twist of the story - I guess - is that Two-Face loses his trademark silver dollar in the opening scene and is handed a scarred quarter as a replacement, which apparently never falls on the right side to accommodate either Two-Face's partner or his own mood. Harvey grumbles about it all the way through, and smiles when it finally works. It's nice that the biggest smile is when he gets to warn once-fiancée Grace about the thugs coming for her, after his more evil half shrugged off the threats to her life. But really, is that the quarter's fault? Is it an indication that Two-Face can more or less control how the silver dollar lands, thanks to familiarity and muscle memory? That's never spelled out, but would have made the story meatier.

As for Batman and Robin, they're there, doing detective work and action, but they're not the focus. Batman has a somewhat amusing talk with a psychologist, but otherwise nothing memorable. Which is probably a good epithet for the entire issue.
REREADABILITY: Medium - An okay Two-Face story where he's not in charge of the villainy, but it doesn't pack the required punch.

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