The Flip Side of Justice: The Two-Faced Spirit of The Dark Knight

Abstract

Throughout his essay, Eco argues that the Superman comics helped to perpetuate a binary system of good and evil that hinged on property, such that "good" emerges from the protection of middle class property rights and "evil" is reduced to elements of theft (22). Fallible and frustrated, Dent's desire to do good and preserve passion provides an example of autonomy that works against the heterodirected order of comic book logic without The Joker's absolute opposition.