Batman has no shortage of compelling villains in his packed rogues gallery, and aside from the usual Clown Prince of Crime, Two-Face easily ranks among his most iconic adversaries. As with villains like Mr. Freeze, part of what makes Two-Face such a fascinating antagonist is his angle as a tragic character.
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His rise and fall from grace are at the core of his characterization, and that's been reflected in several great comics over the decades. From Dennis O'Neil's revitalization of the villain in the '70s to revered classics like Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's The Long Halloween, Two-Face has had vital roles in several of Batman's greatest comics.
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10 One Bad Day: Two-Face
One of the most recent Batman DC installments, One Bad Day is an anthology of one-shots spotlighting some of the Dark Knight's most memorable villains. Two-Face is a prime candidate for this format, with Mariko Tamaki and Javier Fernandez telling a tale of Harvey Dent's psychological mettle being tested when his father's life is threatened.
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One Bad Day: Two-Face isn't the strongest of the anthology series and doesn't necessarily break new ground for the character, but the tension of Harvey's father being threatened on his 88th birthday makes for an entertaining story of his conflicting duality. Likewise, it's an interesting and tragic look into Batman's pained, continued efforts to reform him over their history.
9 Faces
The Legends of the Dark Knight's Batman arcs were some of the best of the '80s and '90s, with Faces being a creative showcase for Two-Face. Written and illustrated by Matt Wagner, this arc sees the villain involved in a bizarre string of serial killings, blackmail, and an attempt to steal ownership of an island.
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The plot certainly sounds like a baffling assortment of crimes, but Two-Face's role in Faces proves to be a more nuanced exploration of his character than it initially seems. Through clever use of a supporting cast comprised of former circus performers, this storyline subverts tropes of "the outcasts" to touch on Harvey's warped worldview.
8 Two Of A Kind
Batman: The Animated Series is praised as one of the hero's greatest continuities, with co-creator Bruce Timm delving into Two-Face's psyche in the Black and White short story Two of a Kind. Harvey falls in love with the plastic surgeon who worked on the scarred side of his face, while the latter's devious twin sister kills her in jealousy.
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Two of a Kind explores admittedly familiar ground thematically in terms of Harvey's duality. However, the way Harvey's teetering between reforming and relapsing into his Two-Face persona is portrayed, as well as his reaction to this tragic turn of events, is inventive storytelling in a short-story format.
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7 Half An Evil
Dennis O'Neil revived Batman's comic book reputation along with some of his now-iconic rogues gallery members. Half an Evil is one of O'Neil's greatest works in Batman comics, seeing Two-Face's grand return through a series of robberies to make his mark on Gotham's criminal underworld.
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While it might not be the most complex character-driven story by today's standards, Half an Evil is an engaging one-off tale flexing Two-Face's capabilities as a grim antagonist. The comic was an excitingly dark Batman venture that holds up as a gem of the '70s, and for good measure, it also paid it forward by setting the tone for how Two-Face can be taken seriously.
6 Gotham Nocturne: Overture
The debut story arc in Ram V and Rafael Albuquerque's ongoing Detective Comics run, Gotham Nocturne: Overture gives a supernatural edge to Batman's dark adventures. Two-Face plays a surprising role in this gothic-horror fantasy, where the Dark Knight finds himself plagued with an overwhelming sense of dread that he can't identify.
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Gotham Nocturne: Overture is dripping with an eerie, operatic atmosphere, and it lends itself well to this redeemed iteration of Two-Face with a Phantom of the Opera motif. It's more than just an aesthetic, though, as Harvey's image here is an intriguing reflection and manifestation of the personalities at odds with each other.
5 The Eye Of The Beholder
Another of Two-Face's strongest appearances came in one of the most critically-praised Batman annual comics. Created by Andrew Helfer, Chris Sprouse, Steve Mitchell, Adrienne Roy, and John Costanza, The Eye of the Beholder was the definitive origin story for Two-Face before The Long Halloween.
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The Eye of the Beholder poses a gripping problem for the trio of Batman, Gordon, and Harvey, with the group failing to convict a serial killer claiming to be innocent and guilty simultaneously, which catalyzes commentary on Dent's turmoil. Even as an annual one-off comic, Eye of the Beholder was a landmark story in making Two-Face a well-rounded and sympathetic villain.
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4 Half A Life
In Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and Greg Rucka's Gotham Central series, fans were given a look at Two-Face from the perspective of the GCPD. Half a Life sees Detective Renee Montoya's life thrown into chaos when she's outed as a lesbian at the GCPD, news which is cruelly met with scorn in a delicate period of her life.
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Several Batman comics depicting Two-Face have done a great job of portraying his villainous and redemptive qualities, but Half a Life is ideal for those wanting to see him at his most sinister. The storyline is simultaneously fantastic at making Two-Face a convincing antagonist and making a case for Montoya being a compelling police-procedural protagonist.
3 Face The Face
James Robinson and a revolving team of talented artists penned an excellent Two-Face-focused arc in the flagship Batman series. Set a year after the crossover Infinite Crisis event, the Dynamic Duo return to Gotham after placing its protection in the surprisingly capable hands of a reformed Two-Face.
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While it's crushing to see an antagonist arguably as deserving of redemption as Two-Face fall again, Face the Face makes an emotionally investing story out of a case of mysterious serial killings putting undue suspicion on Harvey. It's, admittedly, a creative way to introduce a conflict that explores Harvey's struggles with DID from a fresh angle.
2 Dark Victory
One of the finest examples of marrying the superhero and crime-noir genres, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Dark Victory is also one of Batman's greatest comics available. This sequel doubles down on what made its predecessor successful, following the World's Greatest Detective and James Gordon as they hunt down a copycat killer targeting GCDP officers.
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In addition to being another tantalizing detective thriller bursting with atmosphere, Dark Victory offers a harrowing insight into the mind of the newly-christened Two-Face. The villain's role in the mystery adds to the tension and air of uncertainty among the story's heroes, and his presence emphasizes the emotional undertone of his falling out with Batman and Gordon.
1 The Long Halloween
Loeb and Sale's The Long Halloween arguably still stands as the benchmark for Batman detective thrillers, comics or otherwise. Following an early-career Dark Detective, Batman, Gordon, and Harvey struggle to catch the elusive Holiday Killer as a brutal gang war ravages Gotham's streets.
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The echoes of The Long Halloween's impact can be felt in the likes of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, as the comic is equal parts riveting crime-noir epic and thorough character profile of Harvey as a tragic hero/villain. The series' pacing matches the dire straits of this crisis, with Batman, Harvey, and Gordon's friendship satisfyingly built up to be all the more emotional when it's torn apart.