About_Faces!

In honor of Neal Adams, here are samples of three different versions of the O’Neil/Adams/Giordano classic “Half an Evil” from Batman #234 (1971), the story which reintroduced Two-Face to the DCU after a seventeen-year absence.

The first is the original issue as it looked upon release, colorist name unknown. The second was recolored by Gene D’Angelo on high-quality Baxter stock paper for The Greatest Batman Stories of All Time (1988). The third was recolored and digitally enhanced/altered by penciler Neal Adams himself in 2003 for a series of dedicated collections of his work. It’s the only version currently available digitally and in collections.

I have a great deal of fondness for the original, non-monster, overly-dramatic, old-school Hollywood slasher version of Basil Karlo.

The original Dark Detective saga (AKA Batman: Strange Apparitions and Shadow of the Batman), from Detective Comics #469-479, by Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, and Terry Austin, with additional material by Walt Simonson, Al Milgrom, and Len Wein.

Scene we probably won't see on Fox's Gotham: Harvey Bullock giving Jim Gordon a heart attack with prank phone calls and spring snakes.

From Batman #364 (1983), written by Doug Moench, art by Don Newton and Alfredo Alcala.

--Gene Colan

The strange, tragic first appearance of Firebug, Gotham's first arson-themed villain, not to mention one of the only POC rogues. While he somehow survived the explosion, the character quietly gave up the life of crime and his M.O. was taken by Firefly, who before this had been a deranged lighting designer rather than arsonist.

From Batman #318 (1979), written by Len Wein, art by Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin. Color by Glynis Wein, lettering by Ben Oda, edited by Paul Levitz.

Hal, you smug asshole.

For comparison's sake, here's what happened when Katma teamed up with John Stewart about fifty issues later.

Ollie no

From Detective Comics #532 (1983), written by Joey Calveri, art by Jerome Moore, Adrian Gonzales, and Sal Trampani

The cliffhanger ending for "Laugh, Killer, Laugh!" a story regarded by some as a return to form for the Joker after a few years of being upstaged by the likes of Killer Croc. A shame that no one's ever gotten around to fixing the typo on "looked," as I'm pretty sure it should be "locked." 

From Detective Comics #532 (1983), written by Doug Moench with art by Gene Colan and Bob Smith

The finale of the greatest Hawk and Dove story of all time, "Time, See What's Become of Me," from The Brave and the Bold #181 (1981) by Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo. Previous parts can be read here, here, and here.

As said before, this story was quickly deemed out-of-continuity due to the fact that Hank and Don were irreconcilably older than their other teammates from the Teen Titans. As such, this story was erased from existence, and Hawk and Dove remained in limbo until Dove was ingloriously killed off for cheap shock value in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Oh well.

In related news, when the controversial writer J. Michael Straczynski (who worked with Brennert on the 80's Twilight Zone revival) took over The Brave and the Bold in 2008, he's originally planned to tell a Hawk and Dove story with Two-Face, but it never happened, either due to the series being cancelled or because JMS got bored and abandoned the series as he has a bad habit of doing. It's a damn shame, given how JMS--despite his flaws--wrote one of the best Two-Face stories I've ever read.

Part three of "Time, See What's Become of Me..." from The Brave and the Bold #181, by Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo.

Part two of the best Hawk and Dove story ever told, "Time, See What's Become of Me..." from The Brave and the Bold #181 (1981), by Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo. 

It amazes me how much pathos Brennert can cram into just one panel with that mob boss. Any other writer would have settled on just having him swear vengeance for his son's death, but Brennert actually allows this villain to have greater depth to his motivation.

In 1981, Alan Brennert--a writer who would later go on to helm the 80's Twilight Zone revival--wrote this tribute to Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates' teenage duo Hawk and Dove to examine the aging heroes' disparate personalities in a modern context. Due to the inconsistency with these characters being older than their Teen Titans counterparts, this tale was quickly deemed out-of-continuity, which is a shame because it's probably the best Hawk and Dove story ever.

From The Brave and the Bold #181, art by the incomparable Jim Aparo. Part 1 of 4.

The Untold Legend of the Batman, the ultimate Pre-Crisis, Pre-Year One Batman story. Part 9 of 9.

Written by Len Wein, with interior art by Jim Aparo and cover art by José Luis García-López.