The notorious villain Two-faced Is getting a new lease on life by returning to the profession he once loved. It’s been years since Harvey Dent was a practicing attorney, but the infamous crime boss is heading back to court to defend those most in need: Gotham’s supervillains.
DC’s brand new All In initiative is just days away and the publisher has already promised big shakeups and new directions are on the horizon. The promise of going ‘all in’ continues with a brand new series that sees Harvey Dent make some major changes in his life and embark on his biggest adventure yet.
Two-Face is getting his own series for DC All In
Two-faced By Christian Ward and Fábio Veras
Two-Face (2024) |
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Release date: |
December 4, 2024 |
writer: |
Christian Ward |
Artist: |
Fábio Veras |
Cover artist: |
Baldemar Rivas |
Variant covers: |
Chris Samnee and Leonardo Romero |
After years of internal conflict, both halves of Harvey Dent have reached an uneasy peace. Now Harvey will use his skills as a lawyer to solve the conflicts of Gotham’s weirdest and most dangerous criminals, starting with Victor Zsasz. When Zsazh is accused of murdering a member of Gotham’s underworld contingent, who better to prove a criminal’s innocence than someone who has been on both sides of the law? |
A wave of excitement hit comic book fans earlier this year when DC Comics announced its plans for DC All In, a new initiative from the publisher’s summer event, Absolute Power. In the last few months, Readers have slowly discovered the plans DC has for its line-wide shakeup. Not only are major events planned for the titles set in the Prime Universe, but a new world known as the Absolute Universe is about to emerge, debuting radically different versions of heroes such as Batman and Wonder Woman.
But in the Gotham corner of the prime DC Universe, a classic Batman villain is stepping into the spotlight with his very first comic series. This December, Christian Ward and Fábio Veras teamed up Two-facedAn ongoing starring everyone’s favorite bifurcated bad guy. After years of feuding, Harvey Dent and his evil alter ego are at peace, allowing Dent to return to his previous life as a lawyer with a twist. This time, rather than making a name for himself in Gotham’s courts, Two-Face is solving affairs in Gotham’s criminal underworld!
…two-facedAn ongoing starring everyone’s favorite bifurcated bad guy.
The debut issue of the new series comes with a host of covers, including a standard one by Baldemar Rivas showing Two-Face flipping his iconic scratched-off coin. Leonardo Romero and Chris Samnee provide variants for the first issue, showing both halves of the two-phase. Series writer Christian Ward returns to drawing Harvey after working with the character in Batman: City of Madness And Ward’s variant is an incredibly cool reinterpretation of justice, With two faces blindfolded and weighing both halves of his soul on a scale.
Two-phase’s complex story with Batman
There are two sides to Harvey Dent’s story
Gotham is a city full of tragic figures, but few more harrowing than Harvey Dent and his fall from grace. Years ago, not too long after Batman started his crusade, Harvey had a good life. He had a wife, was good friends with Bruce Wayne, and was well on his way to cleaning up the city from within the legal system as Gotham’s district attorney. Unfortunately, a splash of acid to his face broke something inside Harvey, Paving the way for his violent and unhinged split personality bi-phase to emerge.
Don’t miss the tragic fate of Harvey Dent Batman: The Long Halloween (1996)!
After leaving his old life behind, Two-Face became one of Gotham’s most feared crime bosses. Not only was he cruel, but he was also incredibly unpredictable. Believing only in the fairness of chance, Two-Face used a coin to make almost all of his major decisions, including whether someone would live or not. Despite Two-Face taking over, Batman never stopped trying to reach out to save his friend. And though his evil age is mostly in check, Harvey is occasionally able to seize control of Two-Phase long enough to get help.
Rarely, if ever, do Harvey and Two-Phase see eye-to-eye, but they have been known to put their differences aside.
Unlike most of Batman’s villains, Harvey knows he is sick and has opened himself up to treatment several times. However, any attempts to fix him were short-lived. No medication to suppress two-phase never lasts long and no surgery to repair the scarred half of his body is inevitably undone. Rarely, if ever, do Harvey and Two-Phase see eye-to-eye, but they have been known to put their differences aside. That said, two-phase almost always gets its way, Keeping Harvey Dent from ever returning to the life he once knew.
What Two-Face’s return to law means for his future
Two-Face #1 Debuts on December 4, 2024
While it’s nice to hear that Two-Face and Harvey have reached a peace, it’s something fans have seen before. However, unlike past truces the two have established, this one might be a little more permanent since Harvey isn’t trying to leave the underworld completely. Instead, Harvey uses his talents as a lawyer to find a more appropriate place for him. Let’s face it, what city has a higher concentration of villains than Gotham? There is bound to be conflict between costumed criminals and No one is better at mediation than someone like Two-Phase.
…Two-Face is keeping the villains safe from even worse bad guys.
Harvey will start with one hell of a case by defending Victor Zsasz. If he manages to prove that a murderer like Zsash is innocent, every criminal in Gotham will likely come for his services (and probably willing to pay a pretty penny too). Granted, it’s not like Harvey’s acting in a professional capacity, but he brings law and order to Gotham’s criminal element and Two-Face could be helping to create a much-needed change to Batman’s streets.
Brush up on two-phase history with Two Face: A Celebration of 75 Years (2017)!
Harvey Dent may have spent his last ten years or so as a villain, but he’s never lost his amazing legal mind. By settling disputes between villains and making sure that justice is a constant in the criminal underworld, Two-Face can be a real good. Injustices are wrongs even among the Riddlers and Penguins of the world. While Batman is keeping the city safe from villains, Two-Face is keeping villains safe from even worse bad guys. It’s not the district attorney’s office, But there is a kind of law that Two-Face can bring to Gotham.
Two-Face is finally on the right track
Is it for good this time?
While this may be the first step in a path for Harvey to get his life back on track, fans may already be waiting for the inevitable backslide. That said, this may ultimately be a better path for him since it’s not too big of a change, but allows Harvey to reconnect with his love of justice and the law. As long as the peace between the two personalities lasts, it may even lead to Harvey finding true redemption. Of course, it all depends on what Two-faced had to say about this new adventure.
Two-faced is available on December 4th from DC Comics.