Alan Rapp

• Title: Batman and Robin #23.1
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
• Artist: Patrick Gleason

Another Forever Evil .1 tie-in issue offers us a look at Two-Face accepting the role of Gotham’s protector (and dispenser of his own brutal form of justice) all at the flip of a coin. True to the character, Batman and Robin #23.1 certainly doesn’t skimp on the bloodshed as the villain becomes judge, jury, and executioner for all who get in his way.

Although the comic gets the character right, there is obviously something missing (besides anything resembling fun). The absence of Batman (or really any member of the Bat-Family) to oppose him, really hurts Two-Face as a character who only flourishes when he has a rival to go up against. The choice to make some of the lesser villains angry at his vigilante rampage to try and force that kind of conflict doesn’t really work.

By the end of the episode the luck of Gotham City (which is far less covered in vegetation that the Poison Ivy comic would suggest) has finally run out as the flip of the coin leads Two-Face back to his more destructive ways. For fans.

[DC, $2.99]