The cosmic threats that Batman faces alongside the Justice League, or battling through altering realities can help fans forget that in Gotham, some of the scariest threats are entirely human. Like Two-Face, who seems to be getting his revenge on Batman on the cover of Detective Comics #989.
Our preview of the next issue of Detective shows that there's more to this scene than some might think (the attack which cost Harvey Dent half of his face, and all of his sanity happened rather quickly). It isn't acid that Two-Face uses to make Batman into his "twin," but good old fashioned fire, projected from the weapon of not one, but two Fireflies. Is the damage as bad as Dent thinks? And most importantly, what does it have to do with the relatively pedestrian detective story that leads to such a violent finale?
Those questions will be coming soon enough, but for now, the way in which DC Comics adapts the Gotham version of Firefly into canon will have to wait. It was the first surprise arson job by the Fireflies that put Batman on the case of a mysterious murder. Well, technically, he was already on the case when it seemed to be a simple murder. One that took an odd turn when Batman discovered a secret room in the victim's apartment... and Fireflies showed up to torch it to the ground.
In the first pages of Issue #989, the case takes yet another unexpected turn towards a villain whose entire hook is based on changing faces... check out our preview below:
It's been some time since Batman has dealt with a standard, run of the mill murder case, so fans shouldn't be surprised to find such intrigue and connections to a classic rogue (in hindsight, the fact that the murder victim was shot by two different guns was a clue towards Two-Face). But the mystery itself is enough of a hook to wonder just what writer James Robinson has in mind. Assuming the image of Harvey Dent laughing as Batman's face is marred like his own isn't enough of a hook, of course.
Check out a full synopsis for the issue below:
- DETECTIVE COMICS (2018) #989
- Published: September 26, 2018
- Writer: James Robinson
- Art: Stephen Segovia
- Cover Artist: Stephen Segovia
- Variant Cover Artist: Mark Brooks
- Fighting off Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum and two versions of the pyro-maniac Firefly shouldn’t be too difficult for Batman...but the real threat comes from the fact that they’re pairs! For some reason, Two-Face doesn’t want Batman to discover the truth behind the murder he’s investigating...but what’s his angle?
Detective Comics #989 will be available September 26th, 2018 from DC Comics.