Just in case you have NO idea who this "Harvey Dent" guy I rant about all the time... uh... is

Today's issue of COUNTDOWN features a two-page origin of Two-Face, beautifully illustrated by Mark Chiarello (the guy who painted this icon, which is one of my favorite images of Harvey ever!).

( Behold, a two-page version of the thing I'm essentially taking 80,000 words to tell! )

Nah, seriously though, that's a pretty great quick-and-dirty summary of Harvey, all things considered. I mean, I wish it wouldn't sound like he's default evil, "forced" to do good when the coin comes up clean, but otherwise, I approve.

Hey bloo_mountain, did you check that out? I think Mark Chiarello might be another serious contender for the Harvey Dent novel. Y'know, just talking about dream fantasy artists. Number one, of course, is brining David Mazzucchelli out of semi-retirement. But you'd probably have to see more of Chiarello's painted work to see what I have in mind. The guy could very, very easily work with blacks, whites, grays, and reds. Like I said, look at that icon.

Also, what do you think about that idea that his childhood schizophrenia manifested as his obsession with the number two? I should explore that a bit as well; the little collage Harvey has there as a child is rather interesting.

Of course, this opens up a whole new mess when it comes to actually diagnosing what Harvey's mental disorder as an adult is. I think it'd make perfect sense for him to be schizophrenic as a child, but by the time Two-Face rolls around, he's something else entirely. And I don't think it's quite Dissociative Identity Disorder either, not exactly.

Maybe I should just stay away from that bees' nest entirely, and just write it as I feel it. Still, that childhood schizophrenia bears consideration. If only because I'm still not entirely certain what his obsession with the number two is otherwise.

In complete other news, I'm now obsessed with the song "Umbrella," and the fifteen bazillion covers of it out there. How the hell does a song accrue so many covers when it's just a bloody year old?! Clearly, it's an evil viral song.

they said my mother was insane.

The awesome batcookies has posted scans of my very favorite Spider-Man story, "Kraven's Last Hunt." Here's Part 1 and Part 2.

It's not the complete story, but rather a skimmed over version, as you (rightly) cannot post more than half of a full story on scans_daily. But for those who are interested but want to save money on the expensive and out-of-print collection, by all means, read those two parts.

I'm not certain if it's fair to call it my favorite Spider-Man story. After all, it's decidedly darker and more screwed-up and than your average Spidey tale, a product of the "grim 'n gritty" era of comics. It's by no means true to the general heart of Spider-Man stories, but maybe that's not really true either. Really, at the end of the day, it's not Spider-Man's story, it's Kraven's. And poor Peter is sucked along for the ride.

Regardless, if Sam Raimi (or whoever takes over the movies) had balls, THIS would be SPIDER-MAN 4. I mean, at this point, it's either this or the Clone Saga.


Things I Will Do When I'm A Professional Comic Writer #47: do for Doctor Octopus what James Robinson did for The Shade in STARMAN.