One month after Harvey’s fateful trial against himself, the team is finally able to restart the White Church. Albeit, this time Harvey uses his assistant, Lake Cantwell, to stand as the face of the court in his stead. Primarily, due to his inability to trust his own actions. Nonetheless, despite getting the court in order, an agent of chaos arrives in this new issue to remind Two-Face that nothing will ever go as planned. Let’s discuss this further below!
Half-Good
Lake Cantwell is a promising addition to the Two-Face supporting cast. While the exact details of her past remain a mystery, Lake showcases more of her positive attributes every issue. With Two-Face out of commission, she is able to fearlessly take charge of his cases. Albeit, with the caveat of Harvey watching from his control room. What’s more important is how indispensable she has become to his operation and his general health. Christian Ward imbues the character with likability and bluntness. A lot of this positive characterization overshadows the prevailing mystery surrounding her obscure motivations and father’s identity. Even still, Lake proves her unflinching loyalty and admiration for “Two-Face” over and over.
As for Harvey, after taking over a casino, Two-Face barricades himself inside a hotel room for safety. Justifiably, Harvey uses his detainment to monitor his darker half and figure out a long term solution. According to Ward, Two-Face has tried everything from therapy to the occult to suppress his alternate personality, finally landing on the ineffective mental prison. In the process, he grows a somewhat hilarious half-beard. Anyway, Ward finally uses this crucible to ask the character big questions about his identity. If Harvey is supposedly the “good side,” then why has Two-Face mostly done bad things. In seeking accountability, Harvey hallucinates conversations with his “good side” as well. In a progressive twist, he recognizes his own hypocrisy and inability to make those choices, hinting that there is no “good side” after all.
Why Won’t You Die?
Once again, Two-Face reveals himself to be the only personality capable of making a move. Namely, after accurately predicting Harvey’s inaction, Two-Face’s contingency plan comes into play in the form of a young villain named “Die.” Like her name suggests, Die uses two six-sided dice to influence various chaotic choices. For instance, the rolls she makes in this issue correspond to various weapons and traps she brings into the White Church. However, not dissimilar to Two-Face’s illness, she is seemingly dependent on those specific dice. In any case, Die only arrives to pick at Harvey’s insecurity like a scab. Specifically, Die challenges the order of the White Church with the kind of chaos the “real Tw0-Face” supposedly enjoys. Which is a problem, because no one else knows that Harvey has been pretending this entire time.
Regardless, much of the issue becomes an engaging head to head between Die and Cantwell. Frankly, their dichotomy as successors to Two-Face and Harvey respectfully is a fascinating concept. In many ways, the genius of both personalities putting their faith in dual envoys is a clever touch. Visually, even their outfits, hair, and personalities deeply contrast one another. Yet, Die’s chaos is a bit too random to realistically accomplish anything. In fact, if the White Church is neutral grounds, then violating that neutrality with violence ideally should come at a cost. To the character’s overall point, the real Two-Face should be willing to enforce the rules in kind. Ultimately, Lake bravely faces Harvey’s enemies, but the Shadow Hand is Dent’s responsibility to solve.
Recommended If…
- Christian Ward’s Two-Face has been an enjoyable title to pull thus far.
- You have mixed feelings about characters like Duela Dent.
- You can’t get enough of Fábio Veras’ pulp comic style.
Overall
If one thing is clear from the first five issues of Two-Face, it is that the plans of the Shadow Hand run deep. Whether those plans make much sense in the long game is yet unknown. So far, Lake has been a standout supporting character and their evolution has been a joy to read. In contrast, I think Die and the implications of her origins aren’t that appealing and disappointingly derivative. However, the character is an excellent foil for Lake at this current time, so I’m entertaining things for now. Admittedly, Dent dabbling in the occult does explain away the more fantastical choices with the character’s mind prison. Lastly, Veras and team are killing the art and cameos like Great White Shark. So, tearing through this book is pleasing enough to recommend another week.
Score: 8/10
DC Comics have provided advance copies of books for review.
English (US) · 