Two Face Year One #1 (OF 2)

This book felt like a missed opportunity.

I've always found the transformation of Harvey Dent to be one of the most fascinating stories lurking at the edge of the 'Batman' universe.  It's the tragedy of a man who had the potential to be a hero, and, through the combination of circumstances and choices, went another way.  You catch glimpses out of the corner of your eye in 'The Long Halloween' and 'Dark Victory.'  It's hinted at in numerous other storylines, like James Robinson's 'Face the Face,' his role in 'No Man's Land,' and his interactions with Renee Montoya in 'Gotham Central'.  But as far as I know, there's not a story that puts Harvey Dent front and center, as the tragic hero of his own story.  (If I'm wrong about this, please let me know; I'm by no means a Batman expert, but I'm definitely a Harvey fan, so I'd like to know about it).

"Year One" could have been a chance to take a coherent look at how Harvey became Two-Face, to tell a clear story from his point of view.  Unfortunately, the result is often a confusing mishmash.  There are 'backstage' elements from 'The Long Halloween,' flashbacks to his friendship with Bruce Wayne, and also a story about Harvey visiting a psychiatrist for multiple personality disorder,  which seems to have been lifted from 'The Animated Series'.
This is at least one plot thread too many; I felt like the 'Long Halloween' references could have been dropped or simplified.  I don't think either TLH or Year One books are strictly in continuity, and, anyway -- if the book were going by TLH, it's missing some key elements, such as Harvey's wife, who isn't even mentioned in this issue..  Overall, I had a hard time figuring out what was up with poor Harv from one page to another and, while I like the idea of incorporating his pre-existing psychiatric problems and anger management with his eventual transformation, the story is a bit too muddled to pull it off.
 
 There were some things in the issue I really enjoyed:   a plot thread featuring Jim Gordon and some of the cops of Gotham Central (Maggie Sawyer, Harvey Bullock, and Eric Cohen).  I'm a huge GC fan and I loved seeing these parts play out.  The issue's feel for Gotham overall worked really well, and  I did enjoy Dent's characterization in several of the scenes. 

The art was really nice to look at -- the coloring in particular (though Vicki Vale should be a redhead! ) -- although I only gave 4 points out of five because there are times when it's tough to tell one character from another, to the point that I couldn't follow what was going on.

I'll definitely get the next part of this, and maybe the second half will improve my opinion.  Basically, this was a good book that features a lot of the things I like to see in a Batman story.  I just wish it had been a little bit more.