Last month saw the first part of Convergence: The Question become one of the surprise hits of this whole two-month event. Bringing in popular and enigmatic characters, a compelling story, and a complex dynamic between Two-Face and Renee Montoya that rivaled anything else that Convergence has given us. To recap, a depressed and increasingly unstable Two-Face finds himself the champion of his particular timeline and is sent to face off with his doppelganger from an alternate world. He knocks out Montoya, one of the few people in Gotham who seems to want to help him, and has taken off.
“Just One More Thing…” opens up with Montoya, Batwoman, and Huntress searching Gotham City for Two-Face. We get a look at the history between Montoya and Kane, as well as the not-too-subtle jealousy that Batwoman holds for Helena. With Greg Rucka penning the story, we jump from the trio to Two-Face’s recruitment of the remaining members of Gotham’s D-Cell gang. When we reach the site of the battle between Dents it is, of course, at the Gotham City Courthouse. What I was not expecting was Two-Face’s counterpart, a facially-intact Harvey Dent, free of acid burns. Most of what follows next is exceptional story-telling on Rucka’s part, but it certainly is not perfect.
If this issue has one glaring flaw in its story it would have to lie in the ultimate resolution of the Convergence conflict. While Two-Face has amassed a gang squad to fight, Harvey is pretty much all alone at the Courthouse. The two end up having a jargon-laced discussion about the idea of justifiable homicide and what an “innocent” really is. Seeing the two attorneys battle over how responsible it would be to kill the definitely-suicidal Two-Face was a cool twist to the normal “battle royale” theme that Convergence has cultivated. While Harvey is decidedly against killing Two-Face, the latter convinces him to pull the trigger with a simple – code for total cop out – argument. Meanwhile, the three heroines have arrived to intervene amid an intrusion and takedown sequence reminiscent of an Arkham City level. Once all five are in the same room, the inanity begins.
So Two-Face asks Harvey “does this face look innocent to you?” which I guess is good enough to throw out all that legalese they were just debating over. Harvey pulls the trigger but Montoya throws herself in front of the bullet. We are led to believe that Renee is dead, while in reality she had a Kevlar vest on the whole time. It’s also a cheap mechanic to get Batwoman to give her mouth-to-mouth, thus resolving that “jealous ex” subplot. Now, instead of having Two-Face and Harvey duke it out, Harvey gets sucked through this green…portal…thing….that I’ve never seen before. And that’s it. Fight’s over. No explanation. Okay.
The conclusion of the story is committed to Renee’s reconnection with her estranged father, who is dying of cancer. It deals with a very difficult issue that impacts homes around the world, the coming out of a family member and how the rest of the family takes the news. In Renee’s case, she was disowned by her father after coming out, leading to a self-described “hatred” between the two. While their reunion and reconciliation is given the Hollywood treatment (man on his deathbed asks for forgiveness from the slighted son/daughter and accepts the person they are moments before dying), it is touching and adds further emotional weight to a book that showed surprising heart and character.
There is also a Starfire preview, but aside from a few nice cameos it is very skippable.
For this issue, the artwork is entrusted to Cully Hamner, who contributes some above-average work to this issue. There were only two things that I could pick out as being detrimental to the reading experience. The first would be to make the sky green, which is a weird choice in and of itself. But as the story went on I found it actually blended in well with the rest of Hamner’s color palette. What I couldn’t get used to was seeing the weird Rorschach design of Renee’s mask. Sometimes it seemed to conform to her face to the point where you could see details like her mouth being open, while at other times it just seemed like a random pattern. I had always seen Question’s mask as being a blank surface, so it was a little distracting when I was imagining Renee with some kind of latex just stuck to her face. Other than that, this was a great-looking book.
Favorite Quote: “Okay, number one, roommates. Number two, your ex. Number three, jealous much?” “Well, I’m embarrassed.” – Huntress and Batwoman.
Recommended If…
- You’re a fan of the Harvey Dent/Two-Face duality.
- You want to see limited but fun iterations of Batwoman, Huntress, and Question.
- You want the good Convergence
Overall:
This book does a lot for both Two-Face’s character and Renee Montoya’s. Anyone who’s into this whole Convergence event should absolutely go out and pick up this two-parter. It introduces new readers to a very cool and fan-favorite hero in The Question and offers a compelling story even though it’s limited to two issues. This is a definite pick-up
SCORE: 8/10
