Welcome to the twenty-seventh edition of Adventure(s) Time, a look back on a beloved animated series and an issue of its tie-in comic with a similar theme. This week's entry comes from a Twitter suggestion by Gravity Falls Poland, who asks to see Two-Face's two separate attempts at stopping crime.

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Airing on October 31st, 1998, "Judgment Day" is the twenty-fourth (and final) episode of The New Batman Adventures. Written by Rich Fogel and DCAU founding father Alan Burnett, and directed by Curt Geda, the episode opens with the not-quite reformed Penguin giving Two-Face and Killer Croc the proceeds of their fenced items, chuckling to himself behind their backs over what he's skimming off the top. Penguin isn't laughing for long, however...he finds himself the victim of Gotham's newest vigilante, a mystery figure garbed in a long black robe and ceremonial wig. This is the Judge, and he has an appropriately operatic score to accompany his dramatic entrances.

Soon, both the Riddler and Killer Croc become victims of the Judge, who's far more brutal than Batman when doling out his brand of justice. The media becomes obsessed with the figure, and Councilman J. Carroll Corcoran soon declares the Judge his ally in the war on crime. The story briefly hints that Corcoran actually is the Judge, but soon enough we see the two figures in the same room simultaneously. As Corcoran points out -- if Lt. Gordon can have his own pet vigilante, why not me?

Corcoran announces to the public that Two-Face is his buddy the Judge's next target, placing Batman in the position of rescuing his former friend from the vigilante. The New Batman Adventures episodes were often criticized for focusing more on action than character when compared to the initial run, and it's true that this episode could've benefited from longer conversation scenes, but the brief moment between Batman and Two-Face is rich with subtext.

It's Kevin Conroy's conflicted tone as Batman that truly sells the scene -- he has to save Two-Face, not only because he doesn't believe in the Judge's harsh punishments, but because they were once friends. Even though he also knows that Gotham would be safer without Two-Face, and that Harvey Dent will possibly only find peace in death, he isn't going to allow the Judge to kill Two-Face. The story could've gotten an entire act's worth of material merely covering this moral quandary, but Conroy summarizes the emotions with only a few lines.

After rescuing Two-Face from the Judge's death trap (his reward a cheap shot to the back of the head), Batman returns to the Batcave, where he examines the Judge's gavel, retrieved from the police impound. And utilizing the Batcave's rather unbelievable archive of ceremonial Gotham trophies, he learns that Judge's gavel was once an award from the Gotham Bar Association. While Batman deduces the Judge's identity, Two-Face is extracting his revenge against Councilman Corcoran. Facing sure death at the feet of Gotham's Lady Justice statue, Corcoran offers Two-Face kickback money from his slush fund. Two-Face decides it's too late for bribes, and sends his men off to kill Corcoran.

Soon, the Judge arrives and deals with Two-Face's goons, but to Corcoran's shock, he's also slated for judgment, having revealed his own corruption. A batarang suddenly enters the shot, and the viewer knows it's time for the final action sequence. The Judge is able to delay the inevitable for a few moments, before he's knocked to the ground by Batman. Corcoran is terrified that his slush fund will become public; Batman tells him he actually has something else to worry about. The Judge's mask is removed, revealing his identity as Two-Face.

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The New Adventures of Gotham's Hero, Bat... err, Two-Face!

The next day, Batman explains to Alfred that the Judge was a third personality created by Two-Face, one so deeply rooted in his subconscious, Harvey wasn't even aware he existed. The story doesn't explicitly use a certain term, but the implication is clear -- Two-Face created the Judge persona as an expression of his own self-loathing, a means of continuing Harvey Dent's crusade against crime, but also, as a way of committing suicide. The closing of the episode has Two-Face, restrained in his cell, coldly repeating the word "guilty" again and again.

Just a few months after the debut of this episode, the Gotham Adventures tie-in comic offered its own take on Two-Face declaring a war on crime. In Gotham Adventures #12 (May 1999), Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett present "Never an Option!", a sequel to the show's final Two-Face adventure. Following his breakout from Arkham, Two-Face is making his presence known throughout Gotham, only this time, he's turning in members of his own gang, or donating the proceeds of his robberies to charity. Batman speaks to Two-Face's Arkham psychiatrist, and learns Harvey escaped with a weighted coin that will always land on its "good side." Dr. Sloane fears Harvey's attempts to act out his conscience are still a subconscious expression of his suicidal desires.

This leads Batman to chase down Two-Face's various henchmen, who are also currently Two-Face's targets. Both of them arrive at a museum in time to stop Min and Max, the twin goons who apparently didn't die back in the original "Two-Face" two-parter. When a massive statue pins Batman to the ground, Two-Face has a shot at killing Batman, but the coin won't allow him.

Later, Batman tracks Two-Face to the South American nation of Santa De La Rosa, where he was running drugs during the Batman Adventures: The Lost Years miniseries (set between the original series and the New Adventures episodes.) Two-Face hijacks an airplane piloted by two of his former associates, hoping that they'll send a message to their boss, General Torres, that he's the man responsible. Batman sneaks onto the plane, and when Two-Face accidentally shoots up the controls, he flips again to decide if Batman should receive the final parachute. Batman, perhaps suicidal himself, takes this opportunity to tell Harvey the truth about his coin.

Declaring that they both know "this is the right thing to do," Harvey leaps out of the plane. Batman, taking advantage of the perhaps questionable physics that allows heroes to always leap out of planes and catch up to someone else in the air, is able to grab Harvey and share the parachute. The story ends with Batman's promise to his former friend that "it's going to get better, Harvey."

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The Wrap-Up

Design-y

The all-black appearance of the Judge is a great use of shadow, which feels closer to the original run than the New Adventures episodes, which are typically brighter.

Continuity Notes

The Batman:The Animated Series episode "Second Chance" previously established that Two-Face could act out in ways he's not consciously aware, when he hired armed men to kidnap him away from his own plastic surgery. The Judge is an expression of the other side of his personality secretly taking control.

I Love the '90s

Councilman Corcoran hands the Judge police files, stored on gigantic floppy discs.

Over the Kiddies’ Heads

Both stories are a frank look at suicidal behavior, without ever using the term. It's very possible that the FOX Network would've allowed a more nuanced discussion of Harvey's mental anguish (while the WB seemed to demand more action per episode), but it's highly unlikely they would've allowed the word "suicide" to be used.

Battle of the Two-Faced Heroes

"Judgment Day" is the final episode of the Batman series, and it's fitting that Alan Burnett, the man responsible for defining so much of the show, co-wrote the script. Burnett was also the main writer behind Mask of the Phantasm, and just as Two-Face is dominated by subconscious desires in the episode, Burnett seems to be using his previous work as a subliminal influence.

An opening scene featuring villains terrorized by the mysterious, shadowy vigilante with a booming voice comes straight from Phantasm, as does the operatic choir that accompanies his appearances. (Michael McCuistion’s epic score for “Judgment Day” is possibly the best of the New Adventures run.) A few minutes into the episode, we're introduced to a corrupt city councilman who resents Batman on some level, an idea that also appeared in Phantasm. Finally, there's the confrontation between Batman and the vigilante, who turns out to be a loved one from Bruce Wayne's past. None of this means "Judgment Day" is a knockoff of Phantasm, the story stands on its own as an examination of Two-Face's fractured psyche, but it's interesting to see where Burnett's head goes whenever he conceives a big, important Batman story.

Although the producers knew this would be their final Batman, the story itself doesn't acknowledge this. (Consciously going out with a nod to the viewer doesn't occur until years later, during the Justice League days.) If the producers were treating the series more as a primetime drama, the story possibly could've benefitted from killing off the villains targeted by the Judge. After all, the audience is supposed to be horrified by the Judge's actions, and the producers probably didn't think they'd need the villains again, anyway. (Hey, maybe they were kept alive specifically for these tie-in comics.) As it stands, we're told the Judge's victims are in critical condition, but most likely, no one was really concerned over the Riddler's fate. The Riddler, by the way, was never the focus of a New Adventures episode, but he always seemed to pop up as cannon fodder or whenever the producers wanted a generic shot of Batman's rogues' gallery.

"Never an Option!" is a direct sequel to “Judgment Day”, postulating on what Harvey would do if he continued on his "good" streak. The heart of this story really comes out during Two-Face and Batman's confrontation in the doomed plane, with Harvey berating Batman for causing his gun to go off -- the thought of firing without asking the coin being pure sin to Harvey. His real anger at Batman, however, comes from Batman's continual interference in his suicide attempts. With Two-Face opening himself up to his true Harvey Dent persona, he's sees no other option for himself. Two-Face must die, but because a direct suicide would be murder, he has to perish while committing one of these good deeds. Templeton's revelation that Harvey knew all along his coin was a fake speaks volumes. It was always an excuse to do some good, before fate or bad luck did what had to be done and ended Harvey's life.

Both stories are equally brutal, and in a sense, thought provoking; not what most would expect from all-ages entertainment, and certainly not a typical plot for the allegedly "lighter" revamp episodes. The two stories play off each other well, and while they adhere to the edict of more action sequences than talky scenes, neither is simplistic children's entertainment.

That's all for now. Thanks to Gravity Falls Poland for this suggestion. If you have choices for cartoon/comics pairings, let me know in the comments or on Twitter. *