This is "From a Different Point of View," a feature where I discuss a comic book series with other people. This time around, due to everyone having to self-isolate, I figured I'd do a special edition where I discuss some crossovers with whichever readers that wanted to chat about them! We started off with Marvel's original Secret Wars and now we're doing Knightfall!

When last we checked in Knightfall, we had just started Showcase '93 #7, Knightfall Chapter 13, "Double Cross," by Doug Moench, Klaus Janson and letterer Ken Bruzenak. Bane has now broken the bat, and his next step was to take the now-broken Batman and throw him off of a rooftop while declaring that Gotham City was now Bane's.

Gotham City Police Department responded to the scene. They let an ambulance that is somehow at the scene IMMEDIATELY take Batman away. Once the ambulance is gone, Commissioner Gordon was irate that the officers on the scene did not check to see that the ambulance was a real ambulance or not. Then Harvey Bullock pointed out that the fake ambulance was probably Batman's people and Gordon realized that that's probably true, so he goes along with it.

We saw how Joker and Scarecrow's partnership broke up and the Ventriloquist plotline (involving the rivalry between Scarface and Socko) ended. Finally, we saw Commissioner Gordon agree to help get some medicine to Batman that the Dark Knight needed to possibly survive his injuries. When the issue ended, Alfred, Robin and Jean-Paul Valley surrounded Batman in the Bat-Cave, with the unconscious Batman unclear whether he will ever wake up again.

Last time, we discussed just why Showcase '93 was part of this crossover and now we look at the events of the issue, as Two-Face gets involved.

Tom A. got us started with, "It is kind of weird how Two-Face was constantly mentioned throughout Knightfall as one of the most dangerous villains, but they have him dealt with in a what amounts to a side-story." Flavio Sette agreed, "Yeah, I think he gets brought up once, but it seemed almost like an afterthought. Like 'oh, who are Batman's most dangerous villains? Joker, ok, sure, but then... Two Face? Alright, then.'" Sean Whitmore asked, "So here’s the question that immediately springs to mind: why do a different story about Tim’s judgment possibly being wrong when they already set that up with the Riddler story?" I replied, "I guess since Dixon wrote that one, Sean, and this is a Moench joint. Moench and Janson worked together on Batman during Moench's original run. So this is a reunion for those two." Sean responded, "It’s the kind of thing that I’m really surprised didn’t get flagged during story discussions, or by the editor." I retorted, "Well, Neal Pozner was the editor here. With Denny O'Neil just consulting. So Pozner might not have even known the issue."

Tom replied, "The framing device doesn't even make sense. Why does Tim feel guilty about this one particular Two-Face encounter? There's plenty of other villain fights throughout this storyline for him to feel guilty about not helping more with or whatever." I responded, "Yeah, Tom, and honestly, one of the tricky things about this framing device is that their recriminations are kind of correct, right? They probably SHOULD have done better here. Batman's injury was entirely foreseeable."

I then asked Flavio, "I recall you had a theory about the odd timeline of this story." Flavio explained, "The only place I can see this flashback sequence fitting is if it's between Stirk's attack on the Commissioner and Joker and Scarecrow's kidnapping of the mayor, meaning the scenes would be set over two weeks apart. There's a few scenes with the Ventriloquist and his lawyer that you could argue could contradict that, but they could've been flashbacks or flashforwards. There's no 'Meanwhile...' caption. No reason why those scenes couldn't be set in the future or the past." Tom noted, "It is pretty weird how apparently Knightfall takes place over several weeks. You'd think it'd be a few days." I replied, "Yeah, it sure feels like just a few days." Tom joked, "Kind of makes Batman look like a whiner if all these fights had huge gaps in between. Why is he so tired?" Flavio agreed, "Yeah, I really would've thought the whole thing would've taken place over the course of a few days.

I wondered about Two-Face's introduction, "Is the first time we've seen someone get sick based on Two-Face's appearance?" Tom asked, "Did the cabbie not notice that his passenger's face?" I replied, "I guess not. I guess he just doesn't look at his passengers?" Sean noted, "Two Face adopting the pluralized pronouns here like he’s Venom."

Flavio pointed out, "This is the first issue we've read so far that wasn't colored by Adrienne Roy." I replied, "Good point, Flavio, as Janson takes over coloring duties for this issue. And he uses an unusual palette." Flavio continued, "Janson does a good job. I like his color palette here. Just look at the credits page: the first panel is all cool blues, the second one has these great tones of green and pink, and the red in Two Face's eye." I agreed, "Yeah, it's unusual, but in a good way."

The issue has some flashbacks to when Batman, Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent used to work together. Tom asked, "Was this the first time the Gordon/Dent/Batman team-up that was popularized in the Long Halloween and the Dark Knight movie was shown?" I replied, "No, it was established in the classic Andy Helfer and Chris Sprouse Batman Annual a few years before this. Man, that Annual was so influential. It was one of the rare Batman stories that took Miller's concepts and made them even better. So yes, Moench is almost certainly riffing off of that Annual here. Which would have only been three years old at this point. But, of course, it's possible that he was only thinking of Year One."

Flavio had some kind words for the letterer of the issue, "That whole thing where the letterer takes the first letter of every caption and draws it bigger and puts a circle around it. That's really neat, and it reminds me of another Batman story (here I go again): "Faces" by Matt Wagner." I noted, "Ken Bruzenak was the letterer on Howard Chaykin's American Flagg. Which had iconic lettering."

Two-Face threatens to blackmail a gangster and instead kills the gang head when they meet, just so that Two-Face takes control of his henchmen. Flavio noted, "That whole bit where Two Face puts together a crew is nicely handled an' all... but it's two 18-page stories, and it kinda feels like Moench and Janson didn't need to dedicate that much real estate to showing that. There's no reason Two Face couldn't have just hired some guys off the street or something like that."

Tom joked about a page where Batman is outsmarted on a dinosaur clue by a patrolman, "I guess that since none of Batman's villains have a dinosaur gimmick, he hasn't studied up on them. It's weird for Batman to not know a factoid and needing some random policeman to explain it to him." Flavio noted, "Sean mentioned he learned the meaning of 'pyromaniac' from that issue with Firefly, while I learned about the whole "brontosaurus/apatosaurus" thing from this issue." Flavio continued, "Man, remember the days when Batman didn't know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING?" Tom also noted, "Also, it seems to me that Batman is jumping to conclusions that Two-Face must be behind this." I joked, "'Someone stole a truck filled with tarts.' 'Those could be called pastries, too! It must be Two-Face!' 'No, Batman, everything that might have two names is not Two-Face.'" Sean joked, "Meanwhile, Batman is letting the Synonym Killer run free."

Flavio pointed out, "Batman's so tired he took one of his sedans instead of the Batmobile." I replied, "I guess they figured that they needed the Batmobile for the rest of the crossover? And it sure looks wrecked here. So he was using a back-up Batmobile?"

Tom wondered, "So these goons are willing to work for Two-Face in case he can take out Batman. But follow his orders to take Batman alive for a trial?" I replied, "I mean, I guess this isn't an awful cliffhanger. Batman trapped, about to go on trial? That's something."

Next time, see what happens when Batman is put on trial by Two-Face!