Batman: Second Chances (Batman (1940-2011))

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Batman& Robin watch as an ambulance carrying Two-Face takes him to the hospital. Robin asks if the operation will make Harvey better again but Batman is unsure. When Two-Face is carried out of the hospital, his left leg is shown to be damaged. Although, in "Two-Face, Part I", when he walked out of the hospital room, his left leg wasn't affected in any way. I dislike 402 and 403 pretty heavily. This two-parter follows an insane Batman impersonator who kills criminals. This is an okay premise, but I don't like what it brings out in our hero. Bruce and Jason (Robin) both voice a desire to see petty criminals die for their transgressions and Batman comes off as a violent thug as opposed to an idealistic crusader. While I can appreciate that there are many approaches to depicting the Dark Knight, this isn't "my Batman." Also, at one point Jason references a previous instance where Batman kills somebody. Where did this happen in Post-Crisis continuity, especially this early on? I could have used a footnote on this one. During the wide shot of Two-Face hanging from the ledge before losing his grip, his left hand opens fully. Doing so, however, would mean dropping his coin. However, it is still in his hand the next time his left hand is shown.

The once companions do share an intense moment as well. You could really feel the emotions in that scene. The real Batman responds to the Bat-Signal and swings over to GCPD Headquarters. Deputy Commissioner Barnes is waiting to arrest him for the murders, and the GCPD shoot at him as he escapes. Batman goes to visit the home of Jim Gordon, who explains that Barnes is trying to take over the department. A news report reveals that the two muggers killed were both murderers, previously released on a technicality. Batman tells Gordon to pretend to help with the manhunt so he can keep an eye on Barnes. The issues are interrupted by Year One which makes things a bit funny in regard to Jason’s timeline.Batman goes to see Penguin at Stonegate Penitentiary. Penguin explains that while Harvey had stolen a jewel-encrusted statue of a two-headed roc from him, he isn't behind the kidnapping and would rather take on Two-Face directly. He then sets his birds on Batman and shoves him off the prison wall. Batman manages to escape but he too is unable to tell who kidnapped Harvey. New Job as the Plot Demands: The therapist Harvey sees for his other personality is now a nurse who's part of the operation that seeks to heal his scars and get rid of the Two-Face personality. Before the operation can begin, gunmen burst into the room and kidnap Harvey. Batman and Robin pursue the thugs, who take separate vehicles, but neither of them manage to save Harvey. (Batman reacts to Robin's failure rather coolly, to which Robin is a bit resentful.) Later they consider where the vehicles were going and who they were registered to, and conclude that either Rupert Thorne or the Penguin was behind the kidnapping. Robin goes after Thorne while Batman goes after Penguin.

Was it destiny that Batman and Jason met so the mentor could give this orphan a better path than he had? Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with Second Chances. I got what I paid for, which was early Post-Crisis Batman and Robin, but I'm still left wanting. I think any fan of Bronze Age Batman can have fun with this, but the only people who need this volume are completionists and like me they will disappointed by the glaring omissions. Beyond that, the comics offer an interesting combination of classic silliness and more modern seriousness. On the one hand we have Two-Face, still committing numbered crimes and flipping coins; on the other hand we have stories like Starlin's "Victims" which could have come straight out of O'Neil's dark-and-gritty Question series. Overall, the stories are surprisingly well written and mature for the time period (and still good today). This collected edition chronicles some of the key adventures in the short-lived career of Jason Todd, the second Robin, after his origin story was completely rebooted in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths. In some respects, Second Chances forms the first of a "Replacement Robin" trilogy that continues in Batman: Death In The Family and Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying. These comics were published at the same time Batman was going at it alone in Tim Burton's first feature-film adaptation, but stand as a testament to what an important place in the Batman mythos -- and superhero pantheon in general -- the Boy Wonder occupies. is probably the best yarn in this book. It is a very simple story about Batman pursuing a serial killer who targets young women. No supervillains, no kooky schemes, no Robin. It is a somber and subtle affair that you might not expect from Jim Starlin, the creator of Marvel's Thanos. This collection might be worth it for this story alone.The new origin of Todd that comes with the New Adventures is great. It's nice having the possibility of a new Robin who's more angry and less noble than Grayson, even if this fact is used somewhat erratically in this particular volume. I don't really understand why the readers of the time didn't appreciate it. Chekhov's Gun: The location of the final showdown is dropped early on, but seems to be inconsequential chatter at the time. The complete series of Red Robin. This would fit into two volumes too: one for issues #1-12 (plus "Batgirl" #8) and one for issues #13-26 (plus "Teen Titans" #92). Did Jason Todd really deserve all that hatred? Based on the stories in this book: no. Max Allan Collins and Jim Starlin do a decent job making him an agreeable sort of fellow. I'm guessing it's the Jason Todd from 1983-86 that got on reader's nerves and sent the lad into an early grave. That's another thing I liked about these stories. Batman wasn't written so deeply in darkness that there weren't a few moments of levity, of humanity. Of course, some of those moments were a little cheesy, but that honestly just felt nostalgic, so I can't really complain. Some of the narration also crossed that line from dramatic to cheesy, but again... nostalgia. And, for the most part, the writers delivered perfectly pitched stories and character interactions.

While not only about Jason Todd and his becoming the second Robin, this was a collection full of second chances. This is the second episode depicting a failed attempt to reform one of Batman's enemies. The first is " Birds of a Feather" and is then followed by " Harley's Holiday".Finally, Nightwing's return. Him and Robin interacting will always be sweet. His confrontation of Bruce was interesting, but not strong enough or expected enough to actually have an impact. He gets batman to say that he misses him, then he walks away. And once again we have the figure of Batman overlooking them at the end of this issue. I guess in a way this is the first itteration of Nightwing: Year One, and it's a solid base for what it is. I'm glad it got to be expanded later on, if anything. Second Chance is an episode of the second season of Batman: The Animated Series. It features Two-Face as the main villain and is also his last appearance on the series. More criminals are found dead the next night. This time it's an armed robber, who also previously escaped murder charges on a technicality. Batman poses as a reporter named Mr. Davis to ask Gordon questions about the murder right in front of Barnes. Gordon explains that all of the crooks who got off on technicality were arrested by a detective named Tommy Carma. Carma was once the youngest detective in the city, but his constant police brutality allowed many arrested criminals to go free. He snapped after his wife and daughter were killed by a hitman. The elder man shut down after the two youngest Waynes' death. He didn't talk, he didn't eat, and he didn't even try to take care of himself.