Batman: Face the Face
Encyclopedia
"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
.
and Robin return to Gotham City
a 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; KGBeast
, 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 KGBeast, 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 a private investigator Jason Bard
on a retainer to assist him. Jason was asked to dig into Orca and found that before she became a villain, she was married to Terry Capshaw. Terry confirmed that Orca was associating herself with KGBeast, 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 Dent 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 back to Two-Face.
Two-Face then takes over the Gotham Zoo, killing 4 cops and crippling one other before releasing all the animals, except for a male and female of each species in the zoo. Batman and Robin then confronted, and defeated, Two-Face, with Robin then successfully defused a bomb Harvey planted at the zoo.
Batman figured out that it was Warren White, 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.
At the end of the series, Bruce Wayne decides to adopt Tim Drake as his son.
book form and released on 6 September 2006 (ISBN 978-1-4012-0910-0).
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
written by James Robinson with art by Leonard Kirk
Leonard Kirk
Leonard Kirk is an American-born comic book artist living in Canada. He has worked on such properties as Supergirl, JSA, Star Trek, Batman, and Witchblade...
, Andy Clarke, Don Kramer
Don Kramer
Don Kramer is a Korean-American comics artist. He has worked for both Marvel and DC, as well as independent projects. Titles at DC include a Doctor Fate miniseries with Chris Golden, JSA with Geoff Johns and a recent run on Detective Comics with Paul Dini. He was also the artist for Nightwing with...
, Keith Champagne
Keith Champagne
Keith Champagne is an American comic artist, who has also moved into writing, and is known for his work at DC Comics.-Biography:Keith graduated from Montville High School, Oakdale Connecticut in 1988. He is a 1994 graduate of The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic art...
, Michael Bair
Michael Bair
Michael A. Hernandez is an American comic book artist , best known for his work as an inker. His work includes Marvel Comics' Alpha Flight, and DC Comics' Hawkman...
, and Wayne Faucher. It was originally published in Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
#817-820 and Batman
Batman (comic book)
Batman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in May 1939. Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication in the spring of 1940...
#651-654 by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
from May through August 2006
2006 in comics
-January:*January 1, 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons. *January 2, 2006: The Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman starts a blog to detail his creative process...
. This particular story is significant because it marks Batman's return to active duty one year
One Year Later
"One Year Later" was a 2006 storyline event running through the DC Universe. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Comics Universe following the events of the Infinite Crisis event, to explore major changes within the continuities of the many...
after the events of DC's universe spanning event, Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
.
Plot synopsis
BatmanBatman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and Robin return to Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
a 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
Two-Face
Two-Face is a fictional comic book supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. and is an enemy of Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #66 , and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger....
, who has undergone plastic surgery and overcome his split personality.
Upon returning, a string of mysterious killings involving some of Batman's rogues gallery; KGBeast
KGBeast
KGBeast is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in DC Comics publications primarily as an opponent of Batman.- Back story :Anatoli Knyazev, code-named "The Beast", and known to the C.I.A. as the "KGBeast" was trained as an assassin by "The Hammer," a top secret cell of the KGB...
, Magpie
Magpie (comics)
Magpie is a fictional super-villainess created by John Byrne, who first appeared in the miniseries, The Man of Steel.She is notable for her outlandish 1980s style including a unique tri-hawk/mullet hairstyle as well as an exotic, red and silver costume consisting of...
, 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 KGBeast, Magpie and The Ventriloquist. A fourth villain, Orca
Orca (comics)
Orca is a fictional DC Comics supervillain, who first appeared in Batman #579.-Fictional character biography:Grace Balin attends Gotham Gate college and quickly becomes fascinated with the ocean. She receives a Ph. D in Marine Biology and Bio-Medicine and takes a job at the Gotham Aquarium...
was also detected in the surveillance footage.
Meanwhile, Batman, realising that his nocturnal activities prevented him from conducting investigations during the day, put a private investigator Jason Bard
Jason Bard
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.-Pre-Crisis:...
on a retainer to assist him. Jason was asked to dig into Orca and found that before she became a villain, she was married to Terry Capshaw. Terry confirmed that Orca was associating herself with KGBeast, 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
Tally Man
For the Batman villain who carves tally marks into his body to mark his murders, see Victor Zsasz.The Tally Man is the name of two fictional characters in the DC Universe. Both characters are supervillains.-Original Tally Man:...
before he could reveal anything more to Jason.
Batman confronted Harvey Dent 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 back to Two-Face.
Two-Face then takes over the Gotham Zoo, killing 4 cops and crippling one other before releasing all the animals, except for a male and female of each species in the zoo. Batman and Robin then confronted, and defeated, Two-Face, with Robin then successfully defused a bomb Harvey planted at the zoo.
Batman figured out that it was Warren White, 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
Harvey Bullock (comics)
Harvey Bullock is a fictional character from DC Comics' Batman titles.-Fictional character biography:Prior to the 1984-85 DC maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bullock is a crooked police detective under instructions from Gotham City's Mayor Hamilton Hill to sabotage Commissioner Gordon's career...
agree on a new, working relationship, indicating that there is a "clean slate" between them.
At the end of the series, Bruce Wayne decides to adopt Tim Drake as his son.
Publication history
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:- Detective ComicsDetective ComicsDetective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
#817-820 - BatmanBatman (comic book)Batman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in May 1939. Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication in the spring of 1940...
#651-654
Collected editions
The entire series was collected in a trade paperbackTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
book form and released on 6 September 2006 (ISBN 978-1-4012-0910-0).
Reception
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.External links
- Batman: Face the Face at DC Comics.