Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment

Short Review: Cheap psychoanalysis, rip-off art. Go see the movie.

So, you've got the Batman, and Two-face, and you need an angle. So, you go for the simple parental abuse story, and you make the parallels between a father that alternately loves and hates his son, and a son that loves and hates the world. Then, y'see you can draw parallels between a kid whose life is changed by his father, and a kid whose life is changed by his father's killer, and bingo! you've got an empathy, a tragedy. Or not, as the case may be. Trouble is, J.M DeMatties has never been fond of the subtle approach, and by the time he's hammered home the message long enough to force the final showdown, it's nearly a relief to see Batman beat up 20 armed thugs at close range. The art is a shade lower, though. While the theme of the story is original, if lazily enacted, it's not plagiaristic. The first page of art, on the other hand, looks ripped straight out of The Dark Night Returns. And it doesn't stop there: Much of the rest of the book is of sufficient similarity to cause Frank Miller to reach for his lawyer. Bad idea, Mr. McDaniels.