Batman Annual #14 – “The Eye of the Beholder” – Andy Helfer/Chris Sprouse/Steve Mitchell
This was meant to be the definitive post-Crisis origin of Two-Face. Some of the details have been superseded by Long Halloween, but that story mostly expands on this one without making it obsolete (although Long Halloween’s timeline needs to be compressed, as it would push Two-Face’s debut into Year 3). This story starts with Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent having nightmares about his abusive father and being comforted by his wife, Gilda. Meanwhile, Batman tracks down a serial killer who’s been preying on senior
citizens. The killer (Rudolph Klemper) confesses everything to Batman, but when the cops show up (led by Captain Gordon) Klemper pretends Batman was assaulting him for no reason and denies killing anyone. Unfortunately, Klemper was very careful not to leave any evidence and since Batman can’t testify, Dent’s case falls apart Klemper is acquitted. Gordon considers killing him, but Batman talks him out of it (though he admits he had the same impulse). Klemper taunts Dent, telling him he has two sides to his personality, so he can disassociate himself from his crimes. Klemper 
suggests Dent has a dual personality too and he turns out to be right: after flipping a two-headed coin his father gave him, Dent blows Klemper to hell with explosives. Dent is bothered by what he did, so the Mayor tells him to take some time off, letting his assistant (Adrian Fields0 take his case load. Dent meets with Gordon and Batman and agrees to an alliance to stop as many criminals as possible. It works pretty well, even bagging serial killer Mad Dog Pike and mob boss Maroni, previously untouchable. But Fields accidentally set the bail recommendation too low on Pike, so he walks. Dent suggests to Batman that he plant evidence in Pike’s place, or even just waste him. Dent pretends
he was kidding but Batman knows better and asks Gordon to check Dent’s background. Meanwhile, Dent’s nightmares are getting worse and he heads to work early, but gets jumped by Pike. Dent pounds the shit out of Pike, who apparently was working for Maroni. Fields is crooked and working for Maroni too, but warns him that Dent will go ahead with the trial and Maroni will go to prison. Maroni decides to get some revenge, so—with help from Fields—he smuggles nitric acid into the courtroom (ironically in a bottle of antacid) and throws it in Dent’s face. Maroni is shot by the cops, but Dent’s face is fucked 
up. Batman later tells Dent about Fields being crooked and says he’ll help put him away. But Dent’s personality is completely divided now; his coin (which was marked by the same acid that scarred him) tells him to go after Fields himself, so he escapes from the hospital. Dent (or Two-Face) grabs Fields, who offers him a deal: Fields has files on all the mobsters in Gotham and will trade it for his life, promising to let Dent take over the underworld once Fields is elected District Attorney. But Two-Face prefers to let fate decide Fields’ fate and flips his coin. Before he can catch it, Batman busts in to stop him. Fields knocks Batman out, but Two-Face kills Fields and takes off, leaving the coin
behind. Batman asks Gilda about the coin and realizes Two-Face is going to kill his father. Two-Face gets another coin from his father and scars one face before tossing it. Batman busts in but the “good” side landed up, so Two-Face wasn’t going to kill his father anyway. Dent is sent to Arkham Asylum where he undergoes surgery to repair his face. But his dark side emerges and he tears his face up, turning himself into Two-Face again.
Detective Annual #3 – “Obligations” – Archie Goodwin/Dan Jurgens/Dick Giordano
This one starts with Batman visiting the grave of his parents. He’s surprised when a stranger comes by to visit the grave and leaves something there … one of his fingers, which he’d recently cut off. Batman recognizes that as a yakuza ritual, but this guy is African-American, so he confronts him. Turns out the guy is Mark Cord, a Gotham cop, who gives Batman some background. Apparently, Cord’s father was a numbers runner who almost got jacked by Joe Chill. He talked Chill out of robbing him, but felt guilty when he found out Chill had killed
the Waynes. He made Cord promise to help people, Bruce Wayne in particular, but Cord says he’s failed to protect Bruce so he cut off his finger in penance. A car full of yakuza try to waste Cord and Batman saves his life, but the yakuza and Cord take off. Batman figures the yakuza will be coming for Bruce Wayne and sets a trap, pounding the yakuza who show up. The head yakuza (Jiro) takes off but Cord is waiting outside for him and they have a sword-duel. Jiro is killed and Cord is gravely wounded and he admits he gave Jiro the specs on Wayne Manor security, giving Batman more backstory on the way to hospital. Cord 
met Jiro years ago in Japan when he was trying to uncover a yakuza connection to thefts of army supplies. Cord and Jiro ended up being friends and Jiro saved his life when Cord got jumped by some yakuza for banging some businessman’s girlfriend (Michi, who Cord fell in love with). Jiro took the rap for killing the attackers and Cord went home to his wife, but he felt obligated to repay his debt to Jiro, even if it meant breaking his promise to look after Bruce Wayne. Jiro’s attempt on his life cancelled the debt, but he figures Michi is in danger and he has no way to help her. Cord’s daughter (Rachel) is at the hospital and overhears her father talking; she’s not too thrilled he got hurt
protecting a rich white dude, nor hearing he had another woman in Japan. Batman figures the yakuza are trying to disrupt a deal Bruce Wayne has with Noburu Yamada, so he heads to Japan after assuring Yamada the deal will go ahead. Batman follows the yakuza (and their oyabun, Mitsuru Chobei) when they pick up Jiro’s body. Rachel is following them too and she gets caught, so Batman has to jump in to save her. They get away and Chobei gets his top assassin (Tsunetomo) to come out of retirement to go after Batman and Rachel. But Tsunetomo has a personal reason for wanting to be involved … he once 
trained Bruce Wayne in martial arts and has recognized his former student as Batman. Batman finds out Michi is serving Chobei as a “hostess” at his private retreat. Tsunetomo jumps Batman before he can tell Rachel and they fight, with Batman getting wounded. Since Rachel has gone to the yakuza retreat (upon invitation from Michi), he uses Bruce Wayne’s connection to Yamada to get medical help and heads for the retreat himself. Naturally, the yakuza are expecting him, but Batman takes out all the guards before busting
in to rescue Rachel. Meanwhile, Michi has cut off her finger and presented it to Rachel as penance for her own dishonourable conduct before freeing her. Batman pounds some more yakuza and gets into a sword duel with Tsunetomo, while Chobei chases Rachel and Michi to a cemetery. Rachel kills Chobei and Batman beats Tsunetomo, who impales himself on Batman’s blade, revealing that he’s dying of cancer anyway. Michi leads Rachel to a caretaker’s shack, but Yamada is waiting for them. Turns out he was the boyfriend she dumped for Cord all those years ago and he wants to cover everything up 
since he has political ambitions. He also reveals that Michi had Cord’s baby. Batman stops him from killing them and Rachel meets her half-brother. Back in Gotham, Rachel is ready to cut her finger off in penance for her disrespect towards Michi, but Batman convinces her to let the obligation go and get to know Michi and her half-brother.