Christian Ward's Two-Face has been amazing so far, but what is it all about? When the series began, Harvey Dent became an impromptu mediator for Gotham's criminal underworld. Although the White Church is a manifestation of Harvey's guilt, it seemingly serves as somewhat rehabilitation. Yet, a ominous Shadow Hand is intentionally sabotaging his venture with each new issue. Until the last issue, the organization's existence initially seemed like paranoia. Now, Two-Face may come face to face with an uncomfortable confirmation of his darkest suspicions. Let's break it down below!

A Disability

Harvey Two-Face has been living with mental illness for a very long time. Over time, he has reined his condition into hard fought submission. I mean, what's Harvey Dent without a craving for order? However complex his mind palace has become, his darker impulses consistently find their way out eventually. The first sign of trouble comes in the form of increasingly hallucinogenic dreams and mysterious losses of time. This condition may be especially suspicious to keen-eyed readers of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club and his graphic novel sequel: "Fight Club 2." Secondly, the "Two-Face" personality is intentionally toying with the mental prison for signs of instability. Still, it is important to remember that Two-Face and Harvey are opposing personalities of one character, and not actually separate entities as he would like to believe.

I'd like to believe that issue #3 formulates a theme of "living with disability." For one, Lake Cantwell continues  to use her disability like a superpower in this story. Even though each circumstance is convenient in independent ways, the character never feels handicapped by their condition. Likewise, Harvey barges around using the intimidating attributes of Two-Face to accomplish his goals as well. Personally, the way Harvey struggles with his dark side, particularly in Nonans, feels right out of the bar sequences in Fable/Wolf Among Us. Unlike Lake, maintaining his condition takes far more effort. Harvey's mindscape is an almost supernaturally sound prison like something out of Inception (2010) or Naruto of all things, complete with mental guards and a freakish hooded cyclops. Even still, Two-Face is internal conflict incarnate, and actively self-sabotages whenever possible.

Not A Victim

Then, there's issue #3's guest character, Baby Doll. Baby Doll is one of Paul Dini's original creations from Batman: The Animated Series. Although the character has made small appearances over the years, Christian Ward's story is her first significant adaptation. Following the canon of her tv origin, Mary Loise Dahl suffers from hypoplasia, but mentally remains in her bratty "Darla Dimple" style character. Her attendant Miriam, also from the show, is her fierce body guard enabling her delusional fantasies. In fact, Miriam is the inverse of the Ventriloquist and Scarface. Psychologically, she represents everything Two-Face doesn't want to be: a perpetual victim. While Fábio Veras depicts her with reasonable proportions in the interiors, the awesome cover by Baldemar Rivas pays tribute to her original cartoon look.

The main plotline involves the White Church investigating Scarface's kidnapping. Initially, it seems like a possible unrequited love story between two very similar characters, but it's another chess move by the unseen Shadow Hand to destabilize Harvey. While I won't reveal the member of the Shadow Hand behind this issue's dilemma, I will say I've grown to find this fairly new villain intriguing. At the same time, readers can track Harvey's seeds of doubt in his newfound paranoid and irrational behavior. For example, Two-Face surprisingly threatens and even shoots people while claiming he's still in control. Meanwhile, Ward seems to be developing Ms. Cantwell alongside him by slowly giving readers more of her backstory and sense of morality.

Recommended If...

• You like old school noir storytelling.
• Two-Face is one of your favorite characters.
• You've always hoped to see Baby Doll in a comic book.

Overall

Firstly, the Shadow Hand plot is engrossing, but it undercut the potential of Baby Doll's kidnapping plot. There is a lot to mine from the parallels between Two-Face, Baby Doll, and The Ventriloquist that Christian Ward doesn't explore here. I'm not even sure what the urgency of Scarface being missing is really doing to the criminal underworld. Secondly, while I deeply enjoy the creative liberties done with Harvey's mind, at some point Two-Face begins to read like a poltergeist rather than an alternate personality. It helps to sell the character's disability as an exciting quirk for a supervillain, but it is out of hand. Still, Fábio Veras and Ivan Plascencia are killing these often trippy, but overall noir style panels. Overall, this issue and the series as a whole is a joy to read, despite the indulgences of silliness here and there.

Score: 9/10

DC Comics have provided advance copies of books for review.