Two-Face: A Celebration of 75 Years

DC Anniversary Celebrations

by Neal Adams (Penciller), Dennis O'Neil, Greg Rucka (Contributor)

Part man and part monster, Two-Face has been one of Batman’s greatest and most fearsome villains for more than 75 years! He’s an essential part of the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery, but unlike the Joker, Scarecrow or Bane, Two-Face alone has some good left inside his soul fighting his evil persona—half the time, anyway. Chaos or order. Life or death. Tragic fallen attorney or scar-faced fiend. It all depends on how the coin falls…

 Featuring stories from industry legends Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Neal Adams, Dennis O’Neil, Greg Rucka, Bruce Timm and more, TWO-FACE: A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS brings you more than a dozen stories of one of Batman’s most enduring foes!

 Collects DETECTIVE COMICS #66, #68, #80, #739; BATMAN #50, #81, #234, #410-411, #572; BATMAN ANNUAL #14; THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #106; JOKER #1; SECRET ORIGINS SPECIAL #1; BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE #1; GOTHAM CENTRAL #10; JOKER’S ASYLUM: TWO-FACE #1; and BATMAN AND ROBIN #23.1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Fiction, Crime, Superheroes

384 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2017

About the author

Neal Adams was an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Adams was inducted into the Eisner Award's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999.

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two-Face: A Celebration of 75 Years is a compilation of some of the most notable Two-Face stories over the years to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary debut of one of the most notable villains in Batman Rogue's Gallery (2017). Over the years, there were many incarnations and depictions of this part man, part monster villain and this collection explores them all rather well.

This anthology is divided into four sections – well more like three sections plus one story for the fourth section. The first section depicts the Two-Face in the Golden Age of Comics, the second section depicts stories for the Silver and Bronze Ages, and the third and fourth sections are dedicated to the Modern and Rebirth Ages.

It is very interesting to see how Two-Face evolves from his humble beginnings and his decent into madness. It was really interesting to see how Two-Face was with his first appearance in Detective Comics (Vol. 1) #66 and what he has become today.

As a whole, Two-Face: A Celebration of 75 Years is a rather balanced book, showing each section rather evenly and not placing any favoritism in any of the eras. It gives us a nice perception of the era in which these stories were produced – a reflection of the times.

With anthologies like these, story selection would be the most difficult task – Two-Face has been around for a long time and there are many stories with many having different favorites – in short it is impossible to please everyone. However, I think the editors picked a somewhat nice selection that shows the characteristic that is Two-Face. So on the whole, I was really happy of which stories were presented.

All in all, I think Two-Face: A Celebration of 75 Years is a wonderful selection of stories over the three-quarters of a century that this twisted villain has been around. It is a good reference anthology for both the avid and subdued fan alike.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Physically, this is a beautiful collection: hardcover, glossy, nice reproduction of the art. I was generally happy with the stories collected here- the classic Two-Face stories from "Secret Origins" and the Batman Annual 1990 are here, of course. These are undoubtedly the two greatest Two-Face stories ever published. You get the first Two-Face story from the 1940's, and several more from that era, which are fine for what they are. The 1970's stories are maybe not superb, but solid (very representative of the character from that era). Another significant development in Two-Face's history is his connection to Jason Todd/Robin, told in the story "Two of a Kind." Two-Face is more a supporting character in the story, but it's important to the Batman canon, and worthy of inclusion here. I found the more recent stories a mixed bag. The Bruce Timm story is a creative noir take on the character. The "Joker's Asylum" story was pretty good, and the art was lovely. The others didn't make much impression on me - they didn't really say anything new or interesting about the character.

[Robert Noll · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories and art get better as the book progresses. Harvey Dent (nee "Kent," likely changed to avoid any confusion or possible relation to Clark Kent), Two Face, former District Attorney and now a psychopath. However, it was amusing to read the issues from the 1950's where Two Face's crimes all hinged around the number two, as opposed to random murders and general mayhem.

[Scott Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the reasons I love Batman and his rogues gallery is that the stories allow for, what I find fascinating, explorations of psychological duality. Two-Face is literally the embodiment of this. This collection includes some of the most memorable Two-Face stories. I found it difficult to put down.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for Two-Face. Having said that I wasn't terrible impressed with this selection. Some were real gems, but most I thought were just okay. I've always felt that Two-Face could be explored more and judging from the this selection I think that's very true.

[Shawn Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good collection here. I was surprised at the amount of stories I had either forgotten or never read.