As villains incessantly pour into Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s ongoing Absolute Batman run, designs have recently been shared of both Two-Face and Penguin on variant covers for Absolute Batman #21. Depending on how he is written and handled throughout the series, Two-Face may be unparalleled as one of the most tragic Batman villains, even in DC’s Absolute universe.
Bruce’s Friends Are All Becoming Villains in Absolute Batman
Waylon is unquestionably the childhood friend whom Bruce seems to have been closest to, or at least the one with whom he was shown interacting with the most. It was also Waylon who underwent a ‘transformation’ first, being kidnapped and experimented on at Absolute Batman’s Ark M, resulting in him becoming a giant crocodile creature.
In all Batman media, however, the two villains who have earned fans’ sympathies the most are Harvey Dent’s Two-Face and Dr. Victor Fries’ Mister Freeze. Mister Freeze has only been a flash in the pan in Absolute Batman’s story, though with an altogether rich and unique layer of tragedy in his reimagined backstory, and Two-Face is probably going to be around a lot longer as a significant, heartbreaking villain because he used to be friends with Bruce.
Harvey and Bruce being childhood friends is a common story beat, and was arguably best told in Camouflaj’s Meta Quest 3/3S-exclusive Batman: Arkham Shadow. Harvey traditionally suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID), and it will be fascinating to see the full extent of mental and psychological damage he was inflicted with when Bane hurt him.
Bane crushed Harvey’s skull, cracking it down the center, and pinned him in a puddle of gasoline that caught fire, giving him fourth-degree burns along the left side of his face and body. Harvey’s hair has now turned stark white, with his burnt flesh turned blue (similar to Batman: The Animated Series’ Two-Face), becoming incredibly anime-reminiscent in his new villain design with a chic black-and-white tailored suit.
In Nick Dragotta’s ‘Absolute 2Face’ concept art, it is explained that Harvey’s hair is long and parted to determine “fates,” depending on which half of his face is visible: “life,” represented by his normal, right-side half; “death,” represented by his burnt, left-side half; or “neutral,” represented by both halves shown, and his hair pulled back.
Two-Face Will Be Flipping a Coin Soon
Thanks to a couple of Absolute Batman #21 variant covers that were revealed, we now know what the designs will look like for Two-Face and Penguin. This suggests that their debuts as villains are imminent, regardless of what their intent as super-criminals is, and it will be fascinating to see how they are tackled relative to how, say, Bane or Scarecrow are being tackled.
For instance, Bruce presumably will not reduce Harvey to a brain and eyeballs like he did Bane, and seeing his friends descend into villainy will hopefully make for some of the most emotional moments in Absolute Batman yet. It is brilliant that villains as unnerving as Black Mask, Bane, Joker, and Scarecrow have been balanced with villains like Mister Freeze and Poison Ivy, too, since it has created a great delineation between villains who are evil incarnate and villains who are anguished, devastating characters.
Absolute Batman #21 is currently scheduled to be released on June 10, 2026.
- Created By
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Bob Kane, Bill Finger
- Alias
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Bruce Wayne
- Alliance
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Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family
- Race
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Human
- Franchise
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D.C.