Pandemic Comics #4 “Twice the Two-Face!”

Here’s the next batch of conics from the Mile High mystery boxes: the Batman edition!

Detective Comics #580
Did you know there was actually a second Two-Face? Literally the most appropriate development in comics history, right? (Not as fun: an issue, or two [ahhh!] of puns on the number two.) And even funnier: Paul Sloane was the second imposter. His origin is kind of like the criminal version of Wally West’s. An actor, Sloane is portraying Harvey Dent in a production that goes horribly wrong at exactly the worst, or best, possible moment when some mook throws acid in Sloane’s face...Eventually of course Sloane goes on a crime spree, just like Dent before him, having copied all of Two-Face’s quirks...Sloane doubles Dent in every regard, including a wife waiting for him to recover and return to a normal life, and the possibility of plastic surgery being able to do just the trick, which of course works twice...(I would absolutely keep the second Two-Face in continuity. Too perfect.)

Detective Comics #581
Naturally I got these in separate boxes, but it’s the complete story. Are you wondering if a story published in 1987 has anything to say about Jason Todd’s time as Robin? Of course it does! Jason’s dad was murdered by Two-Face, so he spends most of it recklessly trying to exact payback, and Batman keeps stopping him. It’s basically exactly Batman Forever (with, Jason rather than Dick Grayson). But Jason seems pretty redeemable, and the whole story seems like an early attempt to reconcile the character to how he had been modified post-Crisis (originally he was quite indistinguishable from Dick), before, y’know, giving readers the option of, oh, killing him off a few years later. What’s really bizarre is how these comics look like they came from the ‘70s rather than ‘80s. It’s proof that Batman’s continuity (other than Jason) remained mostly untouched after the Crisis reboot, just as it would for the New 52 (one of the many pointless fan complaints about the New 52, as far as Morrison’s Batman and Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern were concerned). Funny enough, the letters columns in these issues are full of praise for Mike Barr (who wrote them) and his “Year Two,” which some said was “better” than Miller’s “Year One,” calling Barr’s work “a lot more fun to read.” And...history doesn’t really care about that, now does it?

Batman #433
Batman #433
Yes, two copies, one from each box. I didn’t really mind. It’s the only time anything doubled up, and given the Two-Face story, seemed more than appropriate to have happen with a Batman comic.  This is a silent issue, the first chapter in “The Many Deaths of Batman,” and it’s a solid success. Anyway, speaking of Jason Todd, this was published in 1989, and his death was still fresh in the minds of readers. One fan in the letter column writes simply, “I am very, very sad that you made Robin die. I have been crying for a whole day. Why did you make him die?...You don’t kill heroes, you save them! Please change your comic book!” (Letter writer was 8 at the time.)

Batman: Gotham Nights #4 
A Batman comic from the point of view of ordinary citizens who seem on the edge of very bad decisions, eventually converging in a moment where Batman essentially saves them in an intervention he didn’t even know he was making. Anyway, the great irony here is a 1992 letter column being saved by an early version of an internet message board (I included “internet” as “message board” itself is now as archaic as regular letters columns). So there’s that! By the end of DC’s use of letters columns at the turn of the century, it had in fact switched from traditional letters to electronic ones, with physical addresses replaced by email addresses. And today, the internet basically complains about every comic made. Yay progress!

Batman #498
This is the issue in which Bruce Wayne formally taps Jean Paul Valley to replace him as Batman, or as he would become known by fans: Azbats. “Knightfall” concludes two issues later with Azbats using his fancy clawed gloves to defeat Bane.

Batman #505 
Azbats is in the midst of deciding which of his predecessor’s methods are still useful (the letters columns are savvy enough to conclude that the whole point of Azbats is to prove that those methods are as relevant as ever, as is the man who employed them). He uses detective work to track down Abattoir, who becomes famous later by inadvertently dying at the hands (claws?) of Azbats.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #26
I never really read Shadow of the Bat unless it was relevant to a crossover, which, like and since I followed the same policy with Legends of the Dark Knight, was probably my loss. This is a good issue, focusing on this era’s version of Clayface (which I had only read about previously, and Lady Clayface, and, apparently, Baby Clayface...! Tangled up in it somewhere is Abattoir, and a neat citizens-reaction to the events of the above issue.

Batman: Odyssey #2
One of the out-of-continuity mini-series Neal Adams has done in recent years (this one’s from a decade ago, and I believe marked his comeback). I had a chance to meet him at one of the area cons, but foolishly passed it up. But he’s as likely to be at another one, which if people are able to do mass events by the fall would make for an even more memorable occasion. This issue’s great. Adams has a casual, conversational familiarity with Batman that breezes through the issue, and his art, with modern coloring, has never looked better. I’ve seen some fans complaining that his sensibilities don’t belong in today’s comics, which is absurd. If you have a master of the medium still capable of delivering at this level, you cherish him. Period.