"Face the Face: Part 3 of 8"
Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Leonard Kirk (layouts), Andy Clarke and Wayne Faucher (finishes)
Publisher: DC Comics
Plot: Batman and Robin are called in on the murder of the villain known as Magpie. Bullock informs Batman that this is the second murder of this type in twenty-four hours. The first was the KGBeast. Later in the Batcave, Batman's investigations leads him to Harvey Dent, though he doubts this because Dent is Two-Face no more. The next evening Batman and Robin take to the street, defeating the Mad Hatter. Afterwards, Batman goes on a personal errand leaving Robin to do the clean up. Elsewhere in Gotham, another of Batman's rogues, The Ventriloquist and Scarface, are gunned down in "their" apartment.
Commentary: While the story is somewhat limps along, James Robinson is still doing a terrific job of launching Batman into the One Year Later landscape. Comparisons to Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's
"Hush" storyline could be made but only on a superficial level. Even though both "Hush" and "Face the Face" went through (or are going through) Batman's rogues gallery at a staggering pace, the purpose of both stories differ. To me "Hush" was meant to be a kick ass Batman story to give the fans what they want from the Dark Knight while James Robinson's story is meant to lay the ground work for Batman and his world for the near future.
Not that I didn't like "Hush." I did. It's just the two stories have a different raison d'etre. (Say it with me now: raison d'etre. Just rolls off the tongue doesn't it?)
As someone who has read the Batman titles (on and off) for years and as a reader who is a big fan of the Tim Drake Robin, I found this issue a real treat. While I enjoyed the break-up of the Bat Family, on a dramatic level there is something really neat about seeing Batman and Robin working together again. Robinson is exploring how Batman treats Tim and their relationship in the aftermath of Infinite Crisis. It's apparent that this is a new world and that Batman has learned from some of his mistakes. I especially liked Harvey Dent's commentary on how Batman and Robin's fighting styles have changed. This is especially interesting because as much as Tim was an important part of the Bat Family, there was always, to me at least, a sense that he was kind of an outsider among outsiders. The year that Bruce, Tim and Dick spent together obviously did a lot to bring Tim more into the fold, like the youngest child who is finally accepted into the family business.
Magpie was an interesting choice for Robinson to knock off, but I am starting to notice something of a trend here. Magpie appeared in both Man of Steel #3 and Batman #401, both of which came out the same month, though Man of Steel was earlier in continuity so you make the call on which was her true first appearance. Despite the fact that Man of Steel had no actual cover date on the book, it was released during cover date November 1986, which means that it probably came out in July of 1986 as the books were four months ahead of the time of publication. (There is an explanation why, but I don't feel like getting into it now.) KGBeast first appeared with an awesome Mike Zeck cover in Batman #417 cover date March 1989, so that would mean it came out around November of 1988. Ventriloquist and Scarface made their first appearance in Detective Comics #583, cover date February 1988 or around October of 1987. All of the characters were created after Crisis on Infinite Earths and were important figures, in their own way, of the "new" Batman, as edited by Denny O'Neil. Batman #401 always felt like the new start since there was such a clean cut off from the previous writer and the fact that it tied into the rather good Legends crossover. It seems interesting (not to mention a little fishy) to me that these would be the characters killed during Batman's "new" new era. It could be coincidental or it could be that Robinson gave himself a self-imposed edict not to kill any characters created before the original Crisis. No matter the reason, I believe something is up here and it is possible this could play into the overall story.
Either that or I'm paranoid. Discuss.
In The End: Jason Bard is the PIMP. Man, what he did was cold but so awesome, like old school James Bond and stuff. What a great way to end this issue and bring Jason into the story. While I think things could pick up a bit as far as the tempo of the story goes, I also believe that I should trust in Robinson's storytelling. If this is the Batman that is going to be around for the next few years then I am definitely interested in sticking around. This isn't the Batman I remember from times past, but it is absolutely the Batman I want to read right now.
What did you think of this book?
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