CREDITS: Written by Paul Dini; art by Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett.
REVIEW: It can be hard to make Batman's villains interact and still come up with a story that's meaningful to them, but Two Timer succeeds extremely well at it. It may be a Two-Face story first and foremost, but the Joker as a corruptive agent of chaos plays an important role in keeping Harvey insane, and Harley shows up to play Mr. J's bidding with all sorts of crazy gadgets (and pets). No surprise when you have Paul Dini writing, I suppose (and he's supposed to write a fair few stories for the now rebranded "Batman & Robin Adventures". Ty Templeton is on art chores, and he's more dynamic and crams in more action per page than Parobeck used to. And I simply must mention Linda Medley's contribution as colorist; she uses bright color washes to make the action, emotion and atmosphere pop.
The story addresses the question of Harvey's fiancée Grace, who at this point still stands by him and prays for his full recovery (just as Bruce Wayne does, it must be said). As Harvey's only two friends, they act as a support system for each other, which the Joker uses to inflame his fellow inmate's jealousy. (Everything points to Arkham having little to no control over the Joker, who is so often out of his cell, we're pretty sure he could escape at any time.) Through his machinations, he makes Two-Face regress and seek out revenge against the people he sees as betrayers.
By the end, Batman will decide there's nothing left of Harvey to save, and Grace will likewise reject him. The advantage of having Dini on the book is that his stories take the bent of canon, since he's one of the showrunners. Surely, he wouldn't contradict what's to come on the show! One gets the feeling then that Grace will not appear again (she doesn't), and this is the conclusion the show could never afford her. It's a strong one, for all involved.<
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