Batman: Two-Timer

***Batman: Two-Timer*** was a planned movie based on Batman: The Animated Series. However, this idea was scrapped in early development in favor of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm which was the movie that ended up being produced. Batman: Two-Timer was later adapted into a two part comic book in issues one and two of Batman & Robin Adventures.

## Synopsis

*Below is the synopsis of the Batman & Robin Adventures: Two-Timer comic book.*
At a dock at night Batman and Robin stop gun runners who are unloading illegal weapons. Robin tells Batman that he has to go because he has to get sleep for his class tomorrow. Robin reminds Batman that he also has an appointment to keep in the morning.

The next morning Bruce Wayne and Grace Lamont go to Arkham Asylum to visit Harvey Dent. Harvey tells Bruce and Grace that his therapy has been going well and that he is now able to make decisions without his coin. Harvey informs Bruce and Grace that his doctors told him could soon have his operation to fix his face and thanked the both of them for sticking by him during this time. Joker sees that Two-Face is meeting with Bruce and Grace and decides to mess with him. As Two-Face is being taken back to his room he is walked past Joker's cell. Joker tells Two-Face that it is obvious that Bruce and Grace are a couple now. Joker even tells Two-Face that the only reason Bruce is paying for his treatment is because he wants him to be locked in Arkham forever.

Later that day Bruce takes Grace to a clocktower atop a tall building in Gotham City. Bruce tells Grace about a redevelopment project he is running that will help Gotham. Bruce invites Grace to a party at Gotham Gardens to get her mind off Harvey for a little while since she has been so stressed about him. Grace agrees to go with Bruce and tells him that she and Harvey are lucky to have a friend like him.

At that time Two-Face is taken into the recreation room at Arkham. There Joker further antagonizes Two-Face and makes him believe that Bruce and Grace are seeing each other behind his back. Later, in secret, Joker makes a phone call to Harley Quinn and says that he has a job for her to do.

Later that night at the party at Gotham Gardens, Dick Grayson introduces Bruce to his girlfriend Cindy. Shortly afterwards Grace arrives at the party and begins dancing with Bruce. Grace thanks Bruce again for all that he's done for Harvey and gives him a kiss on the cheek. As Grace kisses Bruce on the cheek Harley Quinn, who is in normal street clothes posing as a photographer, takes a picture of them. As the photographer leaves Bruce and Dick hear her voice and realize that she is really Harley Quinn.

As Herley leaves the party the photo of Grace kissing Bruce is developed in the camera, and she gives it to a reporter that is at the party that works for the Gotham Globe. As Harley Quinn is about to get into her van she is stopped by Batman and Robin. However, Harley Quinn's camera is also a flamethrower, and she tries to burn the Dynamic Duo. Batman throws a Batarang at Quinn which knocks her to the ground. However, Harley Quinn has her pet hyenas Bud and Lou attack Batman and Robin which gives her enough time to escape.

The next day Joker sees that the picture of Grace kissing Bruce has made it into the newspaper wrongly reporting that Bruce and Grace are engaged, and he delivers a copy to Two-Face. Furious believing that Bruce and Grace betrayed him, Two-Face goes on a rampage, takes out the guards, and escapes Arkham. Sometime later, Batman and Robin meet with Commissioner Gordon at Arkham. Batman gets a hunch that Two-Face was goaded into escaping by one of the other inmates. However, as they walk past Joker's cell Joker tells Batman that he was the one that caused Two-Face to lose control. Just as Batman and Robin are leaving Arkham, a furious Two-Face breaks into Grace's apartment and kidnaps her.

Batman and Robin begin a search for Two-Face by interrogating criminals with possible connections to him. Batman tells Robin that he blames Joker for causing Two-Face to revert to his criminal ways. However, Robin suspects that Two-Face was never really cured and was just waiting for the perfect time to escape Arkham. Later, Dick returns to his dorm room and finds Two-Face waiting for him. One of Two-Face's thugs hits Dick in the head with the butt of his gun knocking him out.

A short while later Two-Face calls Bruce and informs him that he has taken Grace and Dick. Bruce meets two of Two-Face's henchmen, and they blindfold him. They then take Bruce to the clocktower at Gotham Gardens. There Bruce is held at gunpoint by Two-Face who accuses Bruce of getting with Grace while Bruce kept him locked in Arkham. Two-Face has Bruce tied up and tells him that he has rigged Gotham Gardens to explode at 2:00 A.M. Two-Face then leaves and forcibly takes Grace with him. However, Bruce and Robin are able to escape their chains and Bruce uses a remote control to bring the Batwing to them. Bruce and Dick escape in the Batwing seconds before Gotham Gardens explodes.

From a ship Two-Face and Grace watch as Gotham Gardens explodes. Two-Face tells Grace that he has finally taken back everything that was his. However, Grace calls Two-Face a monster. This makes Two-Face furious, and he grabs Grace and shouts at her never to call him a monster again. Just then the Batwing flies overhead and Batman and Robin drop down and Batman kicks Two-Face in the face. As Robin takes out Two-Face's thugs, Two-Face grabs Grace and begins shooting at Batman and Robin. However, Grace carefully reaches into Two-Face's pocket and grabs his coin and stabs him in the eye with it. This allows Grace to get away, and Batman takes Two-Face down by punching him in the face. Later, as Two-Face is taken away from the police Grace says goodbye to him for the last time.

## Background

In an article from Overstreet Fan Magazine #4 in September 1995 Paul Dini explained "The first two issues are a Two-Face story. It's a pretty strong story that at one point, I was considering for the Batman animated movie." A few months later in Wizard Magazine #51, Paul Dini by saying "This is the wrap-up story we debated as a popular candidate for the animated movie. We decided to go with the Phantasm idea for the feature, but I've always had a fondness for this one. I decided to dust it off and use it in the comic book, as we had stopped production on the cartoon series. It's also unique because instead of Two-Face versus Batman, it's Two-Face versus Bruce Wayne. It kind of redefines their relationship."

At one point Two-Timer was considered to be adapted into a two part episode of Batman: The Animated Series. However, the episode was not produced because two part episode were not easy to produce. Paul Dini said in an interview for Overstreet Fan Magazine #4 "I really wanted to do Two-Timer as a two part episode of the TV series, but by the time I thought it up, we had sort of sworn off two parters, because they're hell on the production schedule.