First Appearance: Batman ’89 #1, 2021
Creators: Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones
Biography
Harvey Dent grew up in Burnside, a prominent black neighborhood in Gotham City. As a child, he spent time at Royal Autobody owned by Jerome Otis. Dent would flip a coin for his fate with Otis, always picking his head. Initially unaware the one used was a double-headed one, Dent eventually learned the truth and took it into his possession.
Harvey Dent worked closely with Commissioner Gordon to find evidence of front companies owned by crime lord Carl Grissom and members of his syndicate. During this time Mayor Borg pressured Dent to find all the answers with immediacy, which only worsened with the emergence of Batman and the Joker. Dent and his allies failed to make the streets safe in time for the 200th Anniversary Parade.
After the Joker’s defeat at the hands of Batman, Dent helped organize a press conference with Borg and Gordon. Prior to it, he received a letter from Batman, who vowed to protect the city from evil. Dent read the letter aloud at the conference, during which Gordon unveiled a signal to call him.
At some point, Dent began dating Barbara Gordon, a sergeant in the GCPD and the Commissioner’s daughter. On Halloween after Penguin’s defeat, he proposed to her at the Janus restaurant. However, the occasion was interrupted by riots started by a gang of criminals modeled after the Joker.
As they left the building, Barbara’s purse was stolen by one of the criminals responsible. Chasing after him, Harvey walked into an ambush. Pretending to surrender his watch, Dent instead fought against the would-be muggers, scaring them off by threatening to kill them. When Barbara arrived, Harvey reassured her he’d spared the duo. Moments later, they saw Batman drive by in the Batmobile.
Believing the riots had been inspired by Batman and that Gordon’s leadership of the GCPD had left the inept, Dent decided to remove both, hoping that doing so would curb crime in Gotham. He also called in the National Guard to clean up the riots. Dent also convinced Barbara to help him by uncovering Batman’s identity, using her access in the GCPD to access evidence left at crime scenes.
The following morning, Harvey visited Wayne Manor to ask for Bruce Wayne’s support, waiting in the kitchen whilst Alfred woke him. Over breakfast, Dent informed Wayne of his intentions to take down Batman and asked for his financial backing, using reports about the previous night’s destruction to emphasize his point. During it, Harvey expressed the belief that there were multiple people operating as Batman, believing they answered to Gordon. When Bruce politely refused due to his past with the Commissioner, Dent left the home and warned him about the National Guard’s presence in Gotham until they caught Batman.
Deciding to get help from his old neighborhood, Dent called into the Royal Autobody to get Otis’ help. During the ride, he called Barbara to discuss evidence she’d obtained, both coming to the conclusion Batman was well-funded from a high-tech Batarang from an incident the previous Christmas. Claiming to need maintenance for his car, Harvey talked with Otis and convinced him to get figures from the community to help him, including the local church.
That night, Dent worked with Harvey Bullock and at least three other officers to set a trap for Batman. Lighting the Bat signal to call him, they planned to shoot him as if he came to respond, though they knew he wouldn’t respond to it. During the wait, Dent learned that Gordon had been communicating with Batman via a communications channel for the last six months.[