Last week, I wished for Two-Face to join the latest party in Gotham, and, boy, did I get my wish this week in the latest issue of 'Tec.
Not only did Two-Face come back, but he did so in full gangster style, Twins, rare coins, double-shots, flipping to make a decision, bimodal personality; the works. But that was just in the first page or two. After some actual forensic work by the World's Greatest Detective (with, like, bullets casings and blood analysis 'n' everything), the Two-Face story takes a great leap toward the unknown:
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| Any similarity to Catholicism's dualistic dogma is entirely intentional. |
Two-Face has formed a cult based on his unique philosophy and I am THERE for it. Of all Batman's classic rogues gallery of non-powered villains, Two-Face has always been the most non-powered. Catwoman has her cat-gear, the Riddler spits out death-traps, Penguin is armed to the teeth with umbrella-weapons, and the Joker, like some kind of toon, can pull whatever Acme device out of his clown-pants the writer wants. Two-Face has always had, um... guns. Like any gangster would. So for him to WEAPONIZE his weird worldview? Aces.
Meanwhile, in Shazam, there's lots of fake-outs and deceptions revealed BUT the real thing is: Mr. Mind has released the Monster Society of Evil.
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| And they CLOTHES SHOP together. |
I can't see this without imagining pounding drag-queen runway music blaring from King Kull's boomstick. That made me happy.
Elsewhere in her eponymous comic, Wonder Woman is doing that usual thing she does where she fights someone while telling them they shouldn't be fighting. She's judge-y like that. But she's fighting VALDA, the warrioress from Arak Son of Thunder.
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| Luornu Durgo and Reep Daggle do this co-splay all the time. |
Why? I have no idea and I don't care. Just as happened with all the magic characters in Justice League Dark, someone realized that Wonder Woman is the perfect dumping ground, er, showcase for any old sword & sorcery characters they have lying around. That made me happy. I like when comic characters are, well, organized in a sensible way, just like they are in DCUOnline. Dynasty building!
The final issue of the H Dial maxi-series came out and it was a superb summation of the story and its lessons (as well as completely -- yet coherently -- insane).
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| I think they held this 'til DiDio was gone. |
If you haven't been following this maxi-series, then pick in up in trade the second you can, because you deserve it.
Honestly, it's surprising that DC doesn't have an entire genre following the evolution and exploitation of various cults. Well, not surprising, because that way lies protests and boycotts, but odd in that they set up so many blatant cult leaders but almost never follow through except in extremely the occasional unmotivated Krypton-cult or something bizarrely lame, such as the "Crime Bible." Even the New Gods don't pick up more than the rare worshiper; sure, they're goofy and dressed like Mexican wrestlers, but they're still supposed to be gods. And not even actual gods that the DCU should know exist (Ares, for example) don't get a lot of play.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely looking forward to Dial H, though. It should be on DC Universe, next month, which isn't a great reading experience, but very convenient for sampling titles. Also, the Doom Patrol series is almost exactly what it should be.
Creating and spreading a cult at least gives Two-Face something approaching a mission statement, more than most Batman villains (more than many villains of any kind) have.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, aren't most of the big league Batman villains independently wealthy by now due to their long criminal careers? Isn't getting rich the main purpose of crime in the first place? Why exactly aren't they just relaxing and enjoying the good life inasmuch as being able to do that is in turn the main purpose of GETTING RICH?* Sure, obviously, if they did that, there'd be no stories about them, but couldn't we delve deep enough into the psyches to get a hint as to WHY they're not doing that? Is "revenge" against Batman really THAT important to so many of them? What is it going to take for each and every one of them to finally metaphorically declare "Mission...Accomplished"?
Then again, as was said about Wile E. Coyote, "A fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts when he has forgotten his aim." So I dunno.
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*It's different for the Joker, of course, because the Joker's mission statement is to have as much fun as possible by killing as many people as possible (nice mission statement, dude) and that's a job that never gets done. In the real world, the Joker would have been executed a LONG time ago because the Joker does not meet the real world's legal definition of "insanity," which is to have genuinely not understood, at the time of committing the crime, that one's actions were illegal. The Joker knows perfectly well that his actions are illegal, he just doesn't care, that's all.
"Why exactly aren't they just relaxing "
ReplyDeleteOccasionally, they get caught, which is a VERY serious setback to their wealth acquisition, I assume.