The straw and disfiguring acid fly in these two villain origin stories.
BATMAN: SCARECROW AND TWO-FACE YEAR ONE
Publisher: DC
Writers: Bruce Jones and Mark Sable
Artists: Jesus Saiz, Sean Murphy and Jimmy Palmiotti
Covers: Zach Howard
Summary: Two of Batman’s greatest foes star in this new title collecting YEAR ONE: BATMAN/SCARECROW #1-2 and TWO-FACE YEAR ONE #1-2.
Review: Retelling a character’s origins often ends up sounding like an overplayed song, but once and awhile the composition flows beautifully. Scarecrow and Two-Face fit in among the most popular and well-known of Batman’s rogues, which makes doing them justice a tricky and complicated affair. Thankfully, both Bruce Jones and Mark Sable seem to grasp the idea.
Bruce Jones transports us to the beginning of Jonathan Crane’s terror on Gotham in BATMAN/SCARECROW, a story devoted to childhood trauma and good ol’ detective work—and, of course, a “little pinch” of humor. Batman vows to stop the newest madman to debut on Gotham’s most wanted list, who succeeds in cutting off most of the surviving branches of his mangled family tree. The character moments and depth, as well as the panels (by Sean Murphy), are handled so well you almost forget about all the dead, Alfred Hitchcock-killer birds goring up the pages. What? His name is the Scarecrow, after all—who could pass up all the potential bird puns?
Mark Sable’s TWO-FACE takes a different approach. Instead of starting from scratch, he and artist Jesus Saiz run with the Harvey Dent/Two-Face focus of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s famous THE LONG HALLOWEEN classic—reshaping the famous detective tale into a new comic, topped off with flashbacks and post-Two-Face events that offer fresh insight into the ex-District Attorney’s origins. This YEAR ONE comic might not be taking home points for originality, but Sable and Saiz earn their keep with an intriguing spin on one of the best Batman stories out there. Not an easy feat, and it works well as an extension for fans of LONG HALLOWEEN.
Either way, BATMAN: SCARECROW AND TWO-FACE YEAR ONE forms one solid character-centric book. Prepare to look at both characters and the psychology behind them from a twisted angle—and enjoy the wonderful art with it. The trade releases tomorrow, May 13.
Rating: 5/5
May 13th, 2009 at 4:29 am
The Scarecrow story is actually one of my all time favorite Batman stories. The best part was that I found it in a bargain bin at a con. It was appropriately creepy in every way! I haven’t read the Two-Face one yet.