DCAU #297: Never an Option

IN THIS ONE... Two-Face's coin keeps coming up "good" and turns him into a vigilante.

CREDITS: Written by Ty Templeton; art by Rick Burchett and Terry Beatty.

REVIEW: A certainly appreciate the comics following up on the episode where Two-Face develops a personality known as the Judge and its condemnation of his evil half is turned into a death wish here. Harvey is simultaneously slipped a trick coin by his therapist, one that always falls on the unscarred side, and over time, that's made him a deadly vigilante instead of a villain. This is hardly original, in that the Riddler just turned to "good" in the previous issue, and that the animated series has used the trick coin idea to confuse Two-Face.

That's not to say there aren't some perfectly good moments in this story, like Two-Face's rationalizations about luck, essentially justifying his suicide by any means necessary, and Harvey saving a woman from armed gunmen. Batman is fixated (still) on saving Harvey's soul, and that's quite correct. If he can't, he can at least save him physically, which leads to a crazy parachute stunt.

Burchett's art is a bit wonky this time around - some scenes just don't work as well as we would like (the cape tangle, how Batman gets to the plane, and did Batman actually impersonate a prison guard while keeping his cowl on? - and I have to wonder if he plays the action beats as best to render the script and characters. Case in point, Batman seems inappropriately superhuman at times, throwing off the giant statue that fell on him, and getting a ride on the outside of a plane! Minor grievances, but they still jumped out at me.
REREADABILITY: Medium - A worthy idea, but story and art problems mean it's only mildly diverting.

Comments

Toby'c said…
Another one that I remember reading something like 14 years ago.