Batman: Second Chances (Batman (1940-2011))

Product Information

Boyd Kirkland has listed this episode among his favorite to have worked on during Batman: The Animated Series, due to its great action scenes and exploration of Two-Face. [1] One volume collecting both Young Avengers Presents and Dark Reign: Young Avengers – the two miniseries that come between the Heinberg and Gillen runs, and aren't event tie-ins. is probably the best yarn in this book. It is a very simple story about Batman pursuing a serial killer who targets young women. No supervillains, no kooky schemes, no Robin. It is a somber and subtle affair that you might not expect from Jim Starlin, the creator of Marvel's Thanos. This collection might be worth it for this story alone. The issues are interrupted by Year One which makes things a bit funny in regard to Jason’s timeline.

The new origin of Todd that comes with the New Adventures is great. It's nice having the possibility of a new Robin who's more angry and less noble than Grayson, even if this fact is used somewhat erratically in this particular volume. I don't really understand why the readers of the time didn't appreciate it. That's another thing I liked about these stories. Batman wasn't written so deeply in darkness that there weren't a few moments of levity, of humanity. Of course, some of those moments were a little cheesy, but that honestly just felt nostalgic, so I can't really complain. Some of the narration also crossed that line from dramatic to cheesy, but again... nostalgia. And, for the most part, the writers delivered perfectly pitched stories and character interactions. Chekhov's Gun: The location of the final showdown is dropped early on, but seems to be inconsequential chatter at the time. I'm proud of you," Bruce tells him, unsure whether or not he is saying the right thing. "It's okay."Did Jason Todd really deserve all that hatred? Based on the stories in this book: no. Max Allan Collins and Jim Starlin do a decent job making him an agreeable sort of fellow. I'm guessing it's the Jason Todd from 1983-86 that got on reader's nerves and sent the lad into an early grave. In my excitement for James Gunn's upcoming DCU, I've decided to become more involved in my reading of DC Comics. And what a better place to start than the original jumping on point, Post-Crisis? He doesn't know what brought him to this point, but he found himself by a window with a razor to his wrist.

Take a Third Option: Two-Face has to choose between letting Batman save him, but letting his coin drop in the progress, or falling to his death. He drops the coin and refuses Batman's help, causing him to fall, but Batman saves him at the last second. Finally we have Annual #11, or half of it. It's fine. It's a Penguin story, a good Penguin story, and how many of those exist? It has a lot of humor and heart, and makes Batman relatable which almost no other story in this volume does. But to me, it can't help but be overshadowed by the Clayface Allen Moore story which is also advertised on the issue's cover and, for reasons unknown to me, not contained in this volume. I'm really sore over that. Moments later in the Batmobile, Batman and Robin discuss their own pursuits and they realize that something is wrong. The sedan where Harvey was placed, was heading towards Stonegate Penitentiary, where Penguin, who hates Harvey, is located; and the van that Batman wasted is owned by Rupert Thorne, who also has a personal grudge against Dent. They decide to look into both criminals just to be sure. As they part ways, Batman looks at the abandoned place that is now the Half Moon Club and he remembers Harvey's words. I dislike 402 and 403 pretty heavily. This two-parter follows an insane Batman impersonator who kills criminals. This is an okay premise, but I don't like what it brings out in our hero. Bruce and Jason (Robin) both voice a desire to see petty criminals die for their transgressions and Batman comes off as a violent thug as opposed to an idealistic crusader. While I can appreciate that there are many approaches to depicting the Dark Knight, this isn't "my Batman." Also, at one point Jason references a previous instance where Batman kills somebody. Where did this happen in Post-Crisis continuity, especially this early on? I could have used a footnote on this one.

Tropes in this episode include:

When Two-Face is carried out of the hospital, his left leg is shown to be damaged. Although, in "Two-Face, Part I", when he walked out of the hospital room, his left leg wasn't affected in any way. Jason raised a hand to his mouth to muffle the sob, but it still rang out through the cave. His vision was blurring from tears. Beyond that, the comics offer an interesting combination of classic silliness and more modern seriousness. On the one hand we have Two-Face, still committing numbered crimes and flipping coins; on the other hand we have stories like Starlin's "Victims" which could have come straight out of O'Neil's dark-and-gritty Question series. Overall, the stories are surprisingly well written and mature for the time period (and still good today). The once companions do share an intense moment as well. You could really feel the emotions in that scene. This is the second episode depicting a failed attempt to reform one of Batman's enemies. The first is " Birds of a Feather" and is then followed by " Harley's Holiday".

But of course, the one and only Dark Knight easily defeated the delusional man before stating he’ll get Carma some help. Just before he is to undergo the operation that will restore his face, Harvey Dent is kidnapped by a mysterious villain. Batman and Robin split up to nab the criminal behind the scheme to abduct the Dark Knight's old friend. They suspect that either the Penguin or Rupert Thorne may be behind the kidnapping, but after doing their investigation, they come to realize there is an unsuspected third enemy in the scheme.Before the operation can begin, gunmen burst into the room and kidnap Harvey. Batman and Robin pursue the thugs, who take separate vehicles, but neither of them manage to save Harvey. (Batman reacts to Robin's failure rather coolly, to which Robin is a bit resentful.) Later they consider where the vehicles were going and who they were registered to, and conclude that either Rupert Thorne or the Penguin was behind the kidnapping. Robin goes after Thorne while Batman goes after Penguin. Though "White, Gold and Truth" segues perfectly into Batman: A Death in the Family, Second Chances is nonetheless capped with a short Penguin story from 1987's Batman Annual that doesn't belong here, but is worth inclusion for no other reason than it features the artwork of the amazing Norm Breyfogle, who became my favorite Batman artist of the nineties. "Love Bird" is a slight story, but it features a moderately clever twist at the end, and at least it's short. The elder man shut down after the two youngest Waynes' death. He didn't talk, he didn't eat, and he didn't even try to take care of himself. Hypocritical Humour: In-universe, Frankie "disposing" of Robin remarks how people have no respect for the environment, throwing garbage into the river so often.