If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 40+ years of reading comic books, it’s that Death is nothing at all. Any time someone is reported dead, they’ll find a way to come back to life. Either the death was faked, or cloned or it wasn’t them who died, or they’ve been resurrected through mystical or advanced scientific means. So I trust I’m not giving anything away when I say that reports of Harvey Dent’s death are greatly exaggerated.

Kobra is plotting to infect Gotham’s water supply with a toxin (really? In a BATMAN book?), and Dent and Batman are united in preventing it. But something goes awry and Dent is killed. Or is he? Only Batman knows for sure, confident that the criminal side of Dent’s personality will dominate his motivations.

This story arc has been predictable from the get-go. Keeping Two face in the shadows while dropping not-subtle hints he’s involved with the goings on in Gotham’s underworld. Now the whole dead/not really plot device, coupled with the infect-Gotham’s-water-supply strategy blatantly stolen from Batman Begins.

What saved this story from being a complete and total disaster has been the artwork of Carmine Di Giandomenico. Highly stylized, intricately detailed and consistent from one chapter to the next, in an era where most artists on a title for two, maybe three issues before stepping away. Hopefully, his work here is recognized, narrative notwithstanding.

Rating: 2 for writing, 8 for artwork