Harvey Dent has a plan to put an end to his evil alter ego once and for all. It involves Batman taking Dent to an unknown location in order to exercise those demons of his. Two-Face has a counter plan to keep from being permanently erased by his good side. And the baddie's plan isn't secret like Harvey's. Instead, Two-Face has made a public decoration offering unknown riches if anyone can free the madman from the custody of the Caped Crusader.
As a result, villains and rogues creep out of the woodwork looking to make their fortune. Throw in the citizens of Gotham, Jim Gordon and even a sacred ally of the Batman and it's a mad mad mad world of trouble for the Dark Knight and Harvey Dent.
I thought the first half of this story was just awful. It had so many jumps in time and nothing revealed was ever truly explained. That was until the last third of the story. Plus, it's just so sad seeing the demise of John Romita Jr's artwork. You can tell the arthritis is getting to him as everything is gigantic. There's no tiny detail work which was indicative of his art in the 80s and 90s.
One thing I was pleasantly surprised with was the addition of Duke Thomas: The Signal. First seen as a youngster in Zero Year, Duke has evolved from being just the latest in the string of Robins to a Batman sidekick in his own right! I used to think Tim Drake was the quintessential Batman assistant. But Duke Thomas might be taking over that title. He's that good!
There's two sides to this volume. A rough, disjointed opening half. A rushed but adequate closure. Plus, Duke Thomas is highlighted in a short story that has him taking on Mr. Zsasz while dealing with the well-being of his jokerized parents.
All-Star Batman offers an interesting twist to the Bruce Wayne/Harvey Dent history. However, I think if it wasn't for Duke Thomas, this book would've been a complete was of time.
Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
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