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Tim, since Valentines Day is well past us at this point, care to share how yours went, especially for those of us who live vicariously through you?

I’d be honored to oblige. As readers of my column know, the snow storm of two weeks or so ago derailed Janelle and I’s plan to do Valentine’s Day on Sunday (I typically don’t work on Sundays and she has class Monday nights and I have work Tuesday nights, so this seemed best). However, we did manage to exchange gifts on Sunday, do dinner at the awesome and awe-inspiring (same thing? You decide!) Blue Point Grill on Monday night before her class, and have brunch Tuesday morning before I went to work in the first place she and I ate up when we moved to New Jersey. So, it all ended up working out for the best.

Thanks for asking.

Links

IP Music is in the mood for love.

IP TV has recaps and American Idol stuff.

IP Games has the latest news!

IP Figures has the latest on lines and sculpts.

IP Movies is full of Oscar® buzz.

IP Culture has folklore and literature.

IP Sports has trade rumors and Olympic stuff.

IP Moodspins is perhaps the most opinionated place on the planet.

Oh and rumor has it there’s still time to nominate for The Nexus Year End Awards! Vote Human Target across the board!

Anything you want to link Tim?

Why yes, yes I do. Trailer parodies/mash-ups are all the rage these days, so I bring you three for your viewing pleasure.

The Shining: Redux allows us to imagine a kinder, gentler Jack.

Sleepless in Seattle meanwhile, is re-imagined as a horror flick.

And, last, but not least, and despite the Best Week Ever ban comes Brokeback to the Future.

Please note that while all three trailers are perfectly work safe, the sites mirroring them may not be.


What I Read Last Week

Action Comics #836 – This issue could have been clearer. In fact I’m still not quite sure I get it. But it appears to be how Kal L would have handled the same situations that Kal El handled, and how they would have turned out. Right?

Loveless #4 – Powerful issue. The characters in this book are so fully realized, it really slays me how well Azzarello writes. Frusin’s art is superb as always.

Manhunter #19 – It sucks that’s how Todd hears about Jade and that yet another minor villain has been killed off on these pages. Still it was cool to see the dangers of teleportation and get a happy ending.

Who died? Moon? He was already dead last issue. Or the dad?

Anyway, my feelings on this book are well known. I dig its groove, I do.

Firestorm #22 – Missed Jamal’s art, but it was cool to see the rebuilding of Firestorm. Moore slayed me with how indepth he thought about those powers and how they worked. I hope that old Firestorm fans are content to have Stein back in the saddle, but I doubt they are.

The Losers #32 – The art looked a bit rushed, but this was a good final issue. I really loved how Aisha went out. I’m going to miss the fallen, but there’s still sequel potential. And that final page is priceless.

Hellblazer #217 – Mina weaves a compelling story. It’s so good I almost want to read one of her books. Almost. She’s really done a great job of hitting the ground running, but John’s use of the sword struck me as odd.

Testament #3 – Maybe I’m not intelligent enough, but I don’t “love” this book. It’s cool, but it might get dropped for some OYL titles.

JSA Classified #9 – Does it bother anyone else that this Classified book is pretty much a concurrent JSA title? I shouldn’t be griping, but I really wish this had played out in the main book.

Eh, it does not bother me per se. I’m hoping it gets its own sense of identity soon though or it might disappear quick.

Justice #4 – Um, I’m siding with Lex and Black Manta? They’ve completely sold me on their way of life. It’s kind of disturbing the way the heroes are completely dismantled by the villains, though it was cool to see Supes take a beatdown.


No one placed the lyric at the close of last week’s column. Even though I’m disappointed, the column must go on.

Do they really want to hurt me, Mathan? Do they really want to make me cry?

Heh…I bet they wouldn’t even recognize that lyric. Jerks.


Charles H, who is not a jerk, is perhaps getting set to receive a Gentleman caller.

I have a question about the Gentleman Ghost. I remember reading stories with him in old Pre-Crisis Batman comics and it was never clear if he was a ghost or not. Batman thought he was a big con artist. But now, it seems like he is a ghost. What’s his deal? And why would a ghost steal things?

Well his deal is a pretty cool one, if you ask me.

Y’see James “Gentleman Jim” Craddock was a criminal, but of the distinguished English variety, who operated at the end of the 19th Century. For some reason he was slumming in St. Roch and bumped into Nighthawk and Cinnamon, two gun slinging law enforcers at the time. Needless to say the criminal and the lawmen didn’t part on good terms.

When they ran into each other again, it ended on even less favorable terms. James tried to steal Cinnamon’s badge. Unfortunately she kept it in her room. So, while she was sleeping he snuck in to lift it. She was awakened and they tussled.

It was at that moment that Nighthawk entered the room. He completely misunderstood the situation, just like in the sitcom when someone walks in on two male friends tangled up with each other and assumes that they’re gay. Except that Nighthawk thought Craddock was trying to rape Cinnamon. He dragged Craddock out and lynched him.

Cinnamon explained the situation, but it was too late for Craddock, who was dead.

End of story right? Wrong, see since Craddock died unjustly, his spirit couldn’t find real peace until his killer’s spirit passed on. The problem is that Nighthawk’s spirit is stuck in cycle of reincarnation. That’s right; Nighthawk was one of Hawkman’s previous lives, and Cinnamon was Hawkgirl.

Thus Craddock is stuck hanging around on this plane of existence and he commits crimes because it’s in his nature. He’s also kind of in “The Shade” area, where he’s a criminal at times and at others he can be a friend.

Tim, how do you feel about ghosts and/or gentlemen.

I have to say, I do enjoy a classy ghost now and again. It seems in this hustle and bustle world, we often forget our niceties, like a handkerchief in the pocket or taking the time to open a door for a fair maiden. I enjoy any ghoul who realizes that we can ill afford to let these lapses in decorum to continue lest we end up more ape than man.

Did any of that make sense?


Legion thinks that the clothes make the man and/or woman

What is your all time favorite DC Costume? Favorite Reimagined Costume? (As in AzBats, Electric Supes, or any Elseworlds really.) And who do you think needs a fashion makeover?

My favorite all time DC costume? I’m pretty sure that I’m on record saying that Rond Vidar sports my favorite look. I love the costume, it’s not only a cool design, but it also pretty basic, yet innovative. I love it.


Rond, at attention

I also dig Zoom/Reverse Flash’s look. The contrast slays me.


Zoom, in his natural state

In terms of Elseworlds, I really liked the vintage look of Batman in Gotham by Gaslight. I also dig Batman in both Red Son and Holy Terror (even if the latter is just slightly tweaked.) Brotherhood of the Bat featured a wide array of Batman costumes, but I recall only a few stood out as “good” in my opinion.


Gotham by Gaslight Batman (sorry, I could only find the statue version, but check that package!), Red Son Batman, Holy Terror Batman, and the Brotherhood, respectively

DC tweaks that I liked include Wally when he was sporting the “shiny suit”. I also enjoyed Kyle’s first and fourth looks, but not his second and third. (I’m kidding, they’re all tolerable, I’m just mocking the number of costumes he’s had in his relatively short time as a hero.) I did like what Chriscross did with Jason when he was on Firestorm.


Criss Cross warmed it up with Firestorm because that’s what he was born to do

Who needs a fashion makeover? I don’t really like Dr. Fate’s costume. It’s kind basic, in a bland sort of way. I think that Superboy (Connor, not Prime) could stand to get a visual revamp. He’s never looked good in my opinion. I guess that Green Arrow could probably try something new as well.

Tim, it’s time to get your “Queer Eye” on, talk fashion!

If you know me, you know I love to talk clothes. Seriously. I love it.

Anyway, I am sort of drawing a blank here so don’t expect any cool revelations but I still have a few that could use an upgrade.

Argus, though I love him so, has a…umm…lousy costume. And that even takes into account that uber artist extraordinaire Phil Hester created it.


His eyes aren’t normally bleeding. Although that might be an improvement.

No two ways about it. That’s just not a pretty outfit.

Beast Boy’s various white jumpsuit with colored piping are rather boring and drab, but since his changing into green animals all the time, they don’t bother me too much. Although, I do wonder where his costume goes? Does DC have unstable molecules too?

I also think the new Robin costume (coming One Year Later) is ugly. But, it might grow on me.

Finally, Superman’s costume is way outdate. But don’t worry, I have a solution.

Why bother with classic…


…when you can be new and blue?

Yeah, that’s better.


Freight Train always is mixing his mashed potatoes with his carrots, even though they are better apart.

My favorite issue of DC Comics Presents involved Supes ending up with Green Lantern’s ring. There’s a great panel where the GL costume merged with the usual Big Blue look, including both chest logos. Are there any other instances you know of in the DCU where a character ended up with another’s gimmick in a similar fashion? (Not including the many body switch/mind control stories out there)

Well Elseworlds offers a few instances of that. Speeding Bullets features a Superman/Batman motif. In Darkest Knight has a cool Batman/Green Lantern mixture. I’m also pretty sure that there’s a future version of either Flash or Green Lantern that is indeed both, and has a Green Lantern/Flash logo. (Of course I could be making that up since those are my two favorite characters.)


The titles on the covers kind of explain it all, eh?

Sadly that’s all that I can think off. My brains can’t seem to access the “merged costume” part of my memory.

(Obviously I’m excluding the Amalgam characters, which all featured merged costumes.)

I think that one of the problems is a logistic one; it’s difficult to design something like that and make it look cool.

Tim, can you think of any good mergers?

Good? Hmm…not really. There are a few you missed though, so I’ll just toss those out now.

Superman as GL, the Triangle Years

Superman as GL, Courtesy of the Key’s Mind Meddling

The Teen Titans merged with the Justice League in Titans Tomorrow (yes, that one is kind of cheating. Whatever)

In Darkest Knight also included mergers of Wonder Woman w/ GL and Superman w/ GL (again) and Sinestro with Joker. However, I was unable to find images of those, so please, just take my word for it.

Seems like GL is the popular guy to merge with, eh?


Blaine’s mouth is writing checks his body cannot cash.

What is with the all the love for Martian Manhunter?? He as always written as this noble “above reproach” character that everyone admires.

You don’t even hear the fanboys trash him! I can’t stand him for two reasons. First, he has possibly the worst costume in all of comics. He looks like a reject from the Blue Oyster. I can’t believe that after all the makeovers we’ve seen over the years (Electric Blue Superman, Anime Azrael Batman, etc.), we still get the same suspenders without a shirt look for Manhunter.

Second, the guy is not even human. Alright, technically Superman is an alien as well, but he looks human, was raised by humans, and acts human. There is nothing for a reader to relate to with Martian Manhunter.

What gives??

Ouch!

Let me just state that we here at WWITDCU do not condone or tolerate xenophobia of any kind. Unless it involves that blasted Planet of the Apes. Damn, dirty apes!

Wait a minute, it was Earth the whole time?

You finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up!

Goddamn you! Damn you all to Hell!!!

(I actually typed that from memory, which is either impressive or depressing, depending on your vantage point. But what can I say, I love apes and monkeys. I think the dream job would be working at the ape office from those Monster.com commercials. How cool would that job be? And anyone who doesn’t agree just isn’t American.)

I’m sorry where was I? Oh that’s right. Martian Manhunter.

I’m going to kind of agree with you on that first point. J’onn gets props for being in every incarnation of the Justice League, but isn’t that kind of like give Screech props for being in every version of Saved by the Bell? That could conceivably be viewed as a sign of a loser.

As for his outfit, I think you’re jealous. I think that you secretly pine for an emerald six-pack to show off with your fancy dancy suspenders. I honestly believe that you wish you had verdant nipples that you could flaunt freely in public.

Ok, you’ve got me, his costume is ridiculous. He’s got a belt for no reason. He’s got a huge collar on his cape. He’s got those big yellow buttons on his collar. And those pants-less bellbottom boots? How horrid.

And you know what, I’m going to try to make a case for relating to J’onn. J’onn through no fault of his own finds himself in a strange place that’s alien to him, kind of like my ancestors. J’onn feels the compelled to conform and alter his appearance to put folks at ease, just like many Blacks in this country do. Despite that J’onn still doesn’t feel quite comfortable or that he fits in, just how many token Blacks feel. J’onn has adopted different identities or masks, very similar to how Blacks adapt to enter white society and relax when back in the Black community, often on a daily basis. J’onn’s really got nothing left for him “back home”, just like many Blacks feel about Africa.

So, I can kind of relate to him on some level. Obviously that’s not what was intended when J’onn was created, but that’s certainly the approach I’d take if I wrote him.

Tim, J’onn J’onzz; bash him or defend him?

See this?

That’s beautiful. It’s like America. Love it or leave it! If you can’t deal with red suspenders holding up blue underwear, maybe comics just isn’t the hobby for you.

Ahh, I kid. Obviously. J’onn isn’t for everyone, I understand. I probably don’t get why you like one of the heroes that you like. (For instance, perhaps you like Power Girl…I don’t get that). For me though, J’onn will always be a consummate stranger in a strange land. He just has a vibe about him that even when he’s involved with stuff I don’t enjoy (Justice League Task Force, his solo title) I still enjoy him as a character. He’s very zen, he loves oreos, and he seems to be the one hero who always maintains a consistent level of respect from his fellow heroes. Superman may get called a pansy by Batman. Everyone might think Wonder Woman is a crazy murderer. Everyone might get sick of Batman’s holier than thou attitude. But, through it all, Martian Manhunter is still beloved.

So, I get where you are coming from, but I cannot agree.


Stone King has a pocketful of Spin Doctor CDs (which is tougher than you think)

I just read an interview with Busiek and Johns and they mentioned a “new” Kryptonite Man. Who’s the original and what’s he all about?

To which Admiral Snackbar retorted

My question is, didn’t we just see a new Kryptonite Man show up in Superman/Batman?

Questions like this are tough. Do you mean “original” or “first Post Crisis Version.” Eh, I suppose its semantics. I’ll just cover the bases.

The original Kryptonite Man started out as your standard teen-age criminal, just flying through space in his nifty space ship (with his trusty dog.) They just happened to fly through a Green K(ryptonite) Cloud and became imbued with the properties of kryptonite. Obviously Kryptonite Kid grew up to be Kryptonite Man.

Sadly, Kryptonite Man’s most memorable moment probably came in a confrontation with Krypto in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow.

What sadly? That moment was awesome. Krypto’s finest too, as far as I am concerned.

In the Post Crisis DCU we’re introduced to the Kryptonite Man in Superman #43. He happens to be a green-skinned clone of Superman grown in the Evil Factory by Simyan and Mokkari.

There is indeed a character hanging around in Superman/Batman who claims to the Kryptonite Man. There has been speculation among some fans that this Kryptonite Man is a Phantom Zone criminal, since he doesn’t really have a body. But we should have all of our answers to that riddle when the next issue hits the stands, on July 4th 2007.

Tim, don’t you think it’ll be One Year Later before we see the next issue of Superman/Batman?

Can I just say how impressed I am that you knew what day of the week July 4th would be on in the year 2007? Can I then add how disappointed I am in you thinking that comics would still come out on America’s birthday? They’d be out that Thursday, the 5th, because of the holiday. Come on Mathan, get your head in the game!

Anyway, I am sure Superman/Batman will be out eventually. Or not. Whatever.


Colin has never been a member of the Communist Party

I have to ask if I’m the only one who found Superman: Red Son truly disappointing? It was a story I was really excited to read, and it waaay let me down, and not in the it-just-can’t-live-up to-the-hype way. I was excited to read what would’ve happened if Clark had landed in the Soviet Union rather than the US; after all, it was presented and marketed as a “What If”; story. And I love What If?.

The fact that there were so many other variables completely ruined it for me. Why was Batman also Russian? Isn’t Russia too cold to even have bats? Ought he not have been Borscht-Man? Why did Superman have to end up being a descendant of Luthor? And why does Wonder Woman go retarded when her lasso breaks? (not that that’s one of my gripes; I’m just wondering)

So the question, quickly: Is there anyone else out there who was as let down by Red Son as I was, or is the praise of it I see everywhere unanimous? I swear I felt cheated by this book.

First let me say that my bias should be evident as last week I stated that Red Son contained one of my favorite reveals of all time. So I did enjoy the book.

Was it disappointing? To put it in context, the first that I heard about this book was in the fall of 1996. No, I don’t have a great memory, I just happened to recently read Aztek #4 (Nov, 96) which featured the promo “Watch This Space” which happened to contain the phrase “Mark Millar (who’s writing an upcoming Superman Elseworlds project that Dave Johnson is drawing).” So I’d been waiting about six and a half years for the story to be told. And even with the wait I loved the book. The only thing I found disappointing was that Johnson didn’t provide art for the entire saga.

In regards to Batman being Russian I think that it was for a few reasons. Firstly, it allowed for easy interaction with Superman. If Batman was from another nation, their clash would have been an international incident and possibly an act of war. Secondly, for the visual aspect. Seeing a Russian Superman begs for a glimpse of a Russian Batman. And thirdly it’s not too cold in Russia for bats. To quote Dirk Diggler; “it’s simple arithmetic; one, two three.”

I clearly dug the idea of a Luthor/Superman connection, if only because I’d never heard of anyone else making that connection. It’s really rather clever and borderline ingenious.

As for Wonder Woman’s transformation, she had eternal youth via magic. I’m guessing that the magic that gave her her youth was tied into the lasso, so breaking it broke a bond or a connection.

I did a small amount of searching for some folks who didn’t dig Red Son but it seems to have gotten a decent amount of praise. Of course this could be to the fact that Mark Millar was a huge star by the time it was published, and this was probably his most high profile DC work in years.

Tim, how about you, are you a fan of Red Son or hangin’ with Colin?

I’m on my own, a man without country (or something) on this. There was some things I liked about Red Son and some things that just bored me. And the Möbius strip ending was “eh” to me. I felt too clever for my tastes.

So I guess I am more Colin than Mathan, but neither side can truly lay claim to my heart.


Brendan dares to question us

On the “best reveals/biggest shocks” thing, I’m with you on most of them (especially the Hyperclan reveal), only I have no idea how Batman defeated the KGBeast. Little help?

Also, I’m surprised you guys didn’t include the end of Infinite Crisis #1 on the list. When Earth-2 Superman punched his, S-Boy-Prime, E2 Lois and Alex Luthor’s way out of the pocket dimension, I was speechless for about ten minutes.

Batman beats KGBeast by locking him in a room down in the sewer. It might not sound impressive as a sentence, but as the ending to a great (if horribly dated) story, it comes as quite a shocker.

As far as the ending to Infinite Crisis #1 goes; it wasn’t really a shock. The mini comes out 20 years after Crisis on Infinite Earths, we knew Power Girl’s origin was going to be involved, and we knew that Pariah and Lady Quark, two of the characters who not only made their debut in Crisis on Infinite Earths but survived it, were played a role in the build up.

And when you factor in that The Kingdom, as flawed as it was, showed that Kal-L was still around somewhere, it all really led up to a cool moment, but not really shocking or a great reveal. It was a great moment, don’t get me wrong, but I was kind of anticipating it as opposed to floored by it.

That said, I’m also a cynical guy who fancies himself as a writer and finds most movies and TV shows too formulaic and predictable to enjoy. I swear to you it takes a lot for me to enjoy a third (or fourth if we’re talking TV dramas) act. You really don’t want to watch anything with me. So maybe it’s just my personality that prevented me from enjoying the final page of Infinite Crisis #1

How about it Tim, was the end of that issue a great reveal or just a great moment?

It was a great moment. Too many people online had already guessed the return of Earth-2 Superman to make it a total surprise. So while the manner and timing of his arrival was cool, it fails to reach great reveal stature.


Shh, keep it quiet for Jag

What the hell happened to Hush? I haven’t read Gotham Knights in a while since Clayface 10 or 15 showed up. Tommy Elliot? That’s kind of lame. A new character is ok, but one who hates Bruce’s dad so he wants to destroy his son’s heroic career? Man, that Hush storyline sure does suck a couple years later…

I wasn’t too fond of it as it was running (check out the columns from that year and witness as I take subtle swipes at the story.)

Let’s face it; Hush was a book for fanboys. It featured an identifiable Bat Rogue every issue and had everything you could ask for in terms of fanboy moments (Batman vs Superman! Jason Todd alive!! A ferocious Croc!!! Batman and Catwoman hook up!!!!)

Much like what happened on Nip/Tuck I was hoping against hope that Hush wasn’t going to turn out to be Tommy Elliot, because it was so obvious that’s who he was.

Hush was actually seen just last week in the final issue of Gotham Knights. The Joker managed to implant a pacemaker (that he could control) in Hush as an act of revenge for the brutal beatdown he received when they first met. Batman promised to remove the pacemaker if Hush imprisoned himself. Hush gave himself up, but escaped after the surgery.

Hush and Bats met up on a rooftop where Batman revealed that Hush’s pacemaker didn’t get removed. Furthermore the Joker arrived to settle the score with Hush leaving Batman with the tough decision of deciding to intervene or let things play out. And the story ended with, ah how do you think it end?

No, seriously that book ended with Batman torn about what decision to make. The “next issue box” said, “so, what do you think Batman ended up doing?”

Tim, what do you think Batman ended up doing?

I think Batman crawled off the page and gave the writer a good dressing down for the worst/laziest ending ever. Twenty one pages about how Batman does not kill and will not let others kill either ends with Batman possibly leaving the life of Hush in Joker’s sociopathic hands? And worse, they cannot even give a definitive answer. Boooooooooo to all involved. Booooooooooo.


Ryan values silence too.

One subplot in “Hush” that really interested me was that Harvey Dent’s physical scars were repaired and he somehow managed to become an attorney again. I kept looking through the solicits after that, waiting for some Bat-writer to follow up on this, and if anyone ever did I must have missed it. I remember a Two-Face miniseries last year, but it looked like that took place sometime before “Hush”. Has Harvey been seen at all since “Hush”?

Sadly Harvey’s been laying low since Hush. He’s been tied up in the Gotham court system, because Two-Face had some outstanding warrants. He’s got a few parking tickets and some child support issues due to Duela Dent.

He’s made the occasional cameo (in Gotham Central for instance) but he’s had no appearance of importance to note.

But good news is that James Robinson will be featuring Harvey Dent in his upcoming stint on the Bat books, setting up the OYL status quo.

Tim are you excited about the upcoming storyline?

You know it! I love me some Harvey Dent/Two-Face. When he’s written well, he’s just excellent.


Jag has a future as an echo chamber.

What happened to Harvey Dent? It seemed at the end of the storyline, he was primed to be a big time player in Gotham. Now he’s gone. What’s the deal?

I’ve got a couple of theories about this one. First off, I seem to recall there being speculation about a Hush sequel of sorts, where Lee and Loeb would reunited someways down the line and tell another tale. It did seem that Loeb was setting Dent up for some type of evolution as a character, but sadly that tale never came to pass (or at least won’t for awhile as Loeb’s now Marvel exclusive.)

My other theory is Two-Face is just gone.

It’s really not that unrealistic if you think about it. Think about the aspects of the Bat mythos that are no longer around. Commissioner Gordon is gone. Harvey Bullock is gone. Poison Ivy is dead. Barbara Gordon abandoned the role of Batgirl. Even Leslie Thompkins is no longer on the scene.

These were all established aspects of the Bat community. And they’re all gone. The Bat books aren’t afraid to alter the supporting cast, to shake up the status quo. Perhaps Two-Face is “fixed” and will be an upstanding member of the Gotham community. Or maybe Harvey will team up with Batman in an attempt to atone for the crimes he committed against the people of Gotham. Personally I like that.

Actually the more I think about it the more I’d like to see Bruce Wayne set up and be a champion for Harvey Dent. It’d be nice to see some of the inherent optimism that Bruce does have (he’s trying to make Gotham a better place, what’s more optimistic than that?) by having him aide in Harvey’s reestablishment has an upstanding citizen in Gotham. It would also work as establishing “Bruce Wayne” as more than just a mask for Batman, but as a person who viewed Harvey as a fallen friend who needs helping.

Of course in order for a tale like that to be told, DC would have to allow a writer to stay on a Bat book for more than a year, thus I don’t really see it happening.

Tim, what do you think happened to Two-Face?

I think that, sadly, erasing Two-Face’s scars would fail to erase his disease. The scars gave him the excuse to lose his mind, but there was always something in him that he was trying to keep in check (especially in modern continuity). I honestly think that it just took the Bat books longer to get around to resolving that hanging plotline than they thought it would. That happens sometimes. I’m just glad that they are getting back to it at all.

I do like your “Bruce Wayne fighting for Harvey Dent” idea though.


Aaron has very high highs, but very low lows

I am NOT making this up. But, I read somewhere that Harvey “Two-Face” Dent’s personality disorder had been re-written (by Frank Miller?) to be attributed to bi-polar disorder. Come on, is this possibly true? And, if true, is this in continuity or was this all tied to Miller’s “Dark Knight” graphic novels? This can’t be true.

Ok, it is kind of true.

Y’see, in The Dark Knight Returns (set in the future) Harvey Dent has gotten treatment and been cured of his physical scars. However since he’s “Harvey Dent” on physically, he’s “Two-Face” mentally. He returns to his old ways.

Since this book came out in the mid 80’s, in an attempt to be realistic Harvey was diagnosed as bi-polar. After all, you can’t cure something that hasn’t been diagnosed.

It’s not quite true, despite how often it’s been reproduced on reproduced on the web (seriously, google “frank miller” “bipolar” and “Harvey Dent”, it’s crazy.) It’s not really in continuity, but it’s influenced fans and writers in some regard.

Harvey also had a tough childhood (as witnessed in a story not written by Miller) involving an alcoholic and abusive father. And in Batman: Year One Miller really did make Harvey a likeable honorable character, which makes his fall that much more tragic.

Tim, you’ve got a degree head things, how would you diagnose Harvey Dent?

I would say that it is pretty clear that those future doctors in Dark Knight misdiagnosed Mr. Dent. Bipolar disorder can provoke some pretty erratic and “crazy” behavior from its sufferers. People who are in a manic phase can spend money like crazy, be markedly more promiscuous than they usually are, attempt feats of strength as intense as pushing a car uphill by themselves, not sleep for days and so on. People in a depressive stage will often lose all interest in everything. They won’t get out of bed, won’t eat, won’t want to associate with close friends, can’t motivate themselves to do any work, etc. An intense illness (untreated) to be sure.

But none of Dent’s symptoms fit. He does not cycle. He never has problems (except for Batman’s interference) planning or executing those plans. His behavior, while bizarre by “normal” standards, is consistent. He makes all his decisions passed on the flip of a coin. Every day. All day. Be it a week from now, three months from now, a year from now, he can be counted on to follow that pattern. The same would not be said for a bipolar individual.

If there is any true diagnosis to give Dent, it is dissociative personality disorder (more commonly known as “multiple personalities) and anti-social personality disorder (sociopathy). This is especially the case if we are talking about his Animated Series incarnation. However, a lot of Two-Face’s behavior fits into the large expanse of comic book psychology. In other words, he’s crazy. No one in “real” life would ever exhibit the plethora of symptoms he has, nor to the extent he has. Therefore, there are no true diagnoses. Again though, the closest would be dissociative with a general helping of anti-social personality disorder.


Well that brings us to the close of another column. Next week we’ll delve into security in the DCU and Batman vs Hal Jordan! Be sure to send me your questions (multiple questions if you want) or post them on our thread

My question to you this week;How do you feel about the shipping delays of comic books lately?

“And when we said goodbye, oh the look in your eyes just left me beside myself without your heart.”