Batman #653

Issue Details

Synopsis

FACE THE FACE PART 6 In the wreckage of his apartment Harvey Dent struggles with the Two-Face persona that is still deep within him. He sees the scarred villain staring back at him from shards of broken mirror, and they question him as to why he is on the point of giving up his happy existence. He responds that for the past year he has acted as a guardian to Gotham, not to the same extent as when he was District Attorney, but enough to give him a sense of purpose. He recalls how Batman told him that he would be leaving the city for a while and asked him to watch over it while he was gone. Harvey was surprised by this until he learned that Robin and Nightwing would be absent too. And he admits that he loved it, but now that Batman has returned he feels he is no longer needed. Worse, he appears to be suspected for the murders of several criminals, like the Ventriloquist and KGBeast. He wonders if his Two-Face personality was somehow responsible, taking control and leaving him with no memory of the acts. The Two-Face in the mirror tells him that he can only take over if Harvey wants it, and admits that isn't answering the question. He asks Harvey to think of his past--not with his former wife but his recent activities as Gotham's protector, and to compare it with the past they shared as one of greatest foes. Harvey insists that they were the very best, better than the Joker, Catwoman or the Penguin. Mirror-Two-Face agrees and reminds him how if felt--better than sex or drugs. Finally Harvey tosses a coin and decides to revert to Two-Face. He pours nitric acid down the left side of his face then performs some 'fine tuning' with a scalpel. Once more showing his half-scarred visage, Harvey admits he is in two minds as to how he feels about it. But that isn't a bad thing, he concludes: two heads are better than one.