"Face the Face" | |
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![]() Cover to Detective Comics #817, art by Simone Bianchi. | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Publication date | May – August 2006 |
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Writer(s) | James Robinson |
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Face the Face | ISBN 978-1-4012-0910-0 |
"Face the Face" is an eight-issue Batman story arc written by James Robinson with art by Leonard Kirk, Andy Clarke, Don Kramer, Keith Champagne, Michael Bair, and Wayne Faucher. It was originally published in Detective Comics #817-820 and Batman #651-654 by DC Comics from May through August 2006. This particular story is significant because it marks Batman's return to active duty one year after the events of DC's universe spanning event, Infinite Crisis .
Batman and Robin return to Gotham City one year following the events of Infinite Crisis. It is revealed that Batman, in his absence, entrusted the safety of Gotham City to former district attorney Harvey Dent, better known as Two-Face, who has undergone plastic surgery and overcome his split personality.
Upon returning, a string of mysterious killings involving some of Batman's rogues gallery; the KGBeast, the Magpie, the Ventriloquist occurred. They were all killed with a double-barrelled gun once used by Harvey Dent. The gun was subsequently found with Harvey Dent's fingerprints on the gun. Surveillance footage also showed Harvey talking to the KGBeast, the Magpie and the Ventriloquist. A fourth villain, Orca, was also detected in the surveillance footage.
Meanwhile, Batman, realising that his nocturnal activities prevented him from conducting investigations during the day, put private investigator Jason Bard on a retainer to assist him. Jason was asked to dig into Orca and found that before she became a supervillain, she was married to Terry Capshaw. Terry confirmed that Orca was associating herself with the KGBeast, the Magpie and the Ventriloquist and revealed they were all working for the Penguin, but were convinced by Harvey to switch sides and act as Dent's spies. Terry was killed by the Tally Man before he could reveal anything more to Jason.
Batman confronted Harvey with the murders of his spies and his prints on the murder weapon with the intention of wanting Harvey to clear up the misunderstandings. Harvey refused and blew up his apartment instead. He struggles with the Two-Face persona that is still deep within him, leading Harvey to toss a coin, and ultimately decides to revert to Two-Face.
Two-Face then takes over the Gotham Zoo, killing four cops and crippling one other before releasing all the animals, except for a male and a female of each species in the zoo. Batman and Robin confront and defeat Two-Face, and Robin successfully defuses a bomb Harvey planted at the zoo.
Batman figured out that it was Warren White, a.k.a. the Great White Shark, who had framed Harvey Dent for the murders and was the secret crime boss of Gotham City.
Also in this story, Batman and Harvey Bullock agree on a new, working relationship, indicating that there is a "clean slate" between them. [1]
At the end of the series, Bruce Wayne decides to adopt Tim Drake as his son.
The story was featured in publication across the two main Batman-centric titles, and ran from May to August 2006. The titles and issue numbers include:
The entire series was collected in a trade paperback book form and released on 6 September 2006 ( ISBN 978-1-4012-0910-0).
Hilary Goldstein gave Detective Comics #817 a positive review, calling it an ideal jumping on point for readers who have not read Batman in a while, and for longer term fans the effect of "One Year Later" was not too unsettling. [2]
Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #66. As one of Batman's most enduring enemies, Two-Face belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery.
Batman: The Long Halloween is a 13-issue American comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. It was originally published by DC Comics in 1996 and 1997. It was the follow-up to three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials by the same creative team. The series' success led to Loeb and Sale to reteam for two sequels, Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome, which are set concurrently.
Harvey Bullock is a fictional detective appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #441 and was created by Archie Goodwin and Howard Chaykin. In animation, he appeared throughout the DC Animated Universe, voiced by Robert Costanzo. He debuted in live-action in 2014 on Fox's television series Gotham, portrayed by Donal Logue.
Batman: Dark Victory is a 14-part American comic book limited series published by DC Comics, featuring the superhero Batman. The series, which ran from 1999 until 2000, was written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale, and it serves as a sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween. Batman: Dark Victory takes place primarily four to five years into Batman's career as a vigilante crimefighter. The plot centers on a series of murders involving Gotham City police officers by a mysterious serial killer only known as the Hangman. Central to the storyline is a territory war between Two-Face and the remnants of the Falcone mob, led by Sofia Falcone.
Hush is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, the character first appeared in Batman #609 in January 2003 as part of the twelve-issue storyline Batman: Hush. Hush serves as a criminal foil to the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
KGBeast is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo, the character first appeared as an adversary of Batman.
The Tally Man is the name of two fictional supervillains in the DC Universe.
The Great White Shark, or simply Great White, is a supervillain owned by DC Comics who exists in that company's DC Universe.
Orca is the name of two fictional anti-hero characters who appear in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly known as one of the adversaries to the superhero Batman.
Batman: Nine Lives is an Elseworlds graphic novel published by DC Comics in 2002, written by Dean Motter, with art by Michael Lark.
"One Year Later" is a 2006 comic book storyline running through the books published by DC Comics. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Universe following the events of the “Infinite Crisis” storyline, to explore major changes within the continuities of the many different comic books within the DC Comics range.
Jason Bard is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He first appeared in Detective Comics #392, which was published in 1969. He appeared in several back-up stories throughout the 1970s and 1980s in Detective Comics.
Firebug is the name of three DC Comics supervillains.
Gilda Dent, occasionally referred to as Grace, is a fictional character who has appeared in Batman comic books since Detective Comics #66. Associated with her fiancé Harvey Dent, who becomes the criminal mastermind Two-Face, she has since been a recurring character throughout various Batman stories involving him. Her largest role is in the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale collaboration Batman: The Long Halloween and she was voiced by Julie Nathanson in the animated adaptation. Her role as Dent's fiancé in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight was instead filled by the original character of Rachel Dawes, portrayed by Katie Holmes and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Salvatore Vincent Maroni is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The substantial character is portrayed as a powerful mob boss and gangster of Italian descent in Gotham City and an enemy of Batman. Maroni is most famous for disfiguring Harvey Dent, setting the stage for the young district attorney's transformation into the supervillain Two-Face.
Magpie is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by John Byrne, and first appeared in The Man of Steel #3.
Hamilton Hill is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a known Mayor of Gotham City and an adversary of Batman.
The character Two-Face was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #66. However, he did not appear outside comics until half a century later in Batman: The Animated Series. Two-Face has since been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, such as feature films, television series and video games. Two-Face has been voiced by Richard Moll in the DC Animated Universe, Troy Baker in the Batman: Arkham series, Billy Dee Williams in The Lego Batman Movie, and William Shatner in Batman vs. Two-Face. His live-action portrayals include Billy Dee Williams in Batman (1989), Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever, Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight, and Nicholas D'Agosto in the television series Gotham. In 2009, Two-Face was ranked #12 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.