Batman Annual #14: The Eye of the Beholder

[The Laughing Fish]

I finished reading The Eye of The Beholder a week ago. It's an origin story about Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face. *Spoilers* below.

Throughout the book, Harvey Dent suffers from recurring nightmares of his cruel alcoholic father, who used to set his son up by flipping a double-headed coin as an excuse to punish Harvey for being "a bad boy". The nightmares of the coin-flipping remind me a little bit of the opening sequence of the Two-Face part one episode in BTAS.

Meanwhile, Batman and Captain Gordon track down and arrest Dr. Klemper, a surgeon-turned-serial killer who targets elderly people all over Gotham. Six months later, the case is taken to court but Dent is unable to convince the jury without evidence and Dr Klemper is acquitted of all charges. As the courtroom erupts in a riot following the verdict, Dent finds himself locked in the judge's chambers with Dr. Klemper, who explains to Harvey that he has was able to trick the jury by using split personalities. Klemper notices Dent is unstable and encourages him to give to cave into his insanity. Next morning, Dent follows Dr. Klemper's advice and has him murdered by setting off a bomb inside his house.

The stress over the recent case has forced the mayor to give Dent some time off as DA. Later, Gordon and Dent meet Batman on a rooftop and Dent proposes to Batman that the two should co-operate together to get criminals off the streets more effectively. They both agree.

Four weeks later, the arrangement is successful as Gotham Police's average conviction rate has drastically improved, which included the arrest of Boss Maroni. But Dent begins to show signs of instability; behaving erratically during an argument with Batman over a criminal suspect who had successfully granted bail. Dent is unaware that his secretly corrupt Assistant DA called Fields has been trying to get rid of Harvey in the hopes of taking over his place.  After an attempt on Harvey's life had backfired once Harvey violently defended himself, Fields sneaks in a bottle of acid so a suicidal Maroni could use it to disfigure Dent's face in court.

Once injured, Dent's state of mind becomes further traumatized and adopts the persona Two-Face while recuperating at a hospital. Batman reveals to Two-Face that Fields was responsible for supplying the acid to Maroni, and was behind the earlier attempt on Two-Face's life as well. Two-Face agrees to find a way to indict Fields legally, but later changes his mind and escapes the hospital. He tracks down Fields at his office, who in turn tries to bribe Two-Face with damning evidence that incriminates hundreds of crooks in Gotham. Two-Face tries to decide Fields' fate but Batman intervenes. As Batman and Two-Face fight, Fields knocks Batman with a lamp but is immediately shot dead by Two-Face, who leaves the scene and takes the evidence with him. Batman and Gordon investigate Two-Face's psychological history and realize that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Batman learns from Two-Face's wife Grace that Harvey's father recently gave the trick coin to his son as a "gift" and immediately realizes that Two-Face is about to decide his father's fate.

Two-Face confronts his father at a hotel and explains that the abuse that he suffered had manifested into conflicting thoughts. One side of him wants to kill his father, the other side of him wants to forgive him. One side wants to release the evil out, other wants to use his own goodness to overcome his emotions and so forth. Hence, Two-Face relies on his coin to determine the outcome. As Batman arrives at the hotel in time, the coin lands on heads. Two-Face spares his father and surrenders.

I haven't heard too many people talk about this book until recently. I thought it was excellent. It's just as good as the two-part Two-Face episode in BTAS, as both versions show an innocent man who became insane over a period of time. Both are tragic takes on the character, and very successful at that. But whereas the BTAS focuses on a "Beauty and the Beast" narrative sometimes with Dent and his fiancé Grace, The Eye of the Beholder completely focuses on Dent's personal history with his child abuse, the injustice surrounding a psychopathic murderer going unpunished (the media coverage of the Dr. Klemper case feels like a commentary on real life cases being reported in a similar manner) and corruption within the system. Dent grows up to believe that he was as bad as father said he was, but tried his best to fight off his demons by working hard in the legal system. Needless to say, his conflicting personalities manifested into Two-Face once he was disfigured.

I especially like how as the book progresses, Dent becomes more unstable over time e.g. trying to persuade Batman to plant a gun in a crook's apartment to get him back to jail, beating up his assailant with a rod that was meant for him, and how he daydreamed gunning down Maroni and the entire jury moments before Maroni melted half his face with the acid.

It's a sad tale about how a good man falls victim to insanity thanks to the cruel nature of his upbringing and the system he works in.

One thing that strikes me is that it feels like it's a continuation of Frank Miller's Year One storyline, since Batman's costume is identical, Gordon ranking is still a captain and he is living with his wife Barbara with their toddler son (or daughter?). Whether this is a direct continuation or not is another subject for debate.

I recommend this comic.

[Catwoman]

My "father" is lucky I don't use a coin to decide his fate.

Two Face is becoming my fave male villain so I will have to check it out.

[The Laughing Fish]

For anyone who is interested, I found a blog which analyses the comic and its underappreciated impact on Two-Face as a character. And you can actually read almost the whole thing.

http://about-faces.livejournal.com/1580.html

Bear in mind though that it's missing a few scenes i.e. Klemper cleaning himself up after taking another life and the whole court case fiasco where Klemper is found not guilty. But otherwise, you can get the full picture. It also contains a deleted alternative scene of Harvey getting Klemper killed by a bomb in house.

[thecolorsblend]

Indeed, in a lot of ways this is the Two Face origin that time forgot. I suspect it's precisely because of how much ended up getting incorporated into the Long Halloween. That covers more or less the same ground from a narrative standpoint so my guess is DC was content to let Eye of the Beholder fade into obscurity.

It's probably the same reason nobody ever mentions Year Three anymore. We already have a storyline that shows how Dick Grayson become Robin. Making a trade out of Year Three would only confuse the issue.

As to Eye of the Beholder though, I love it. I've loved it ever since it first came out. When Two Face first showed up on BTAS, I felt primed for it because I'd loved this comic for so long. And it's not exactly the same but in a weird kind of way I still put the BTAS Two Face story on the same level as EOTB.

[thecolorsblend]

Just reread this and want to reiterate how powerful this story is. You truly feel for Harvey but not to the point where you really identify with him. Ridiculously well done story! It can't cost much as a back issue. Definitely worth picking up!