DC Revolt: The Black Mask

At 26, Harvey Dent is the youngest district attorney ever to serve Gotham City, and is nicknamed "Apollo" for his clean-cut image. He is elected about six months before Batman begins his war on crime.

Dent, Captain James Gordon, and Batman forge an alliance to rid Gotham of crime boss Sal Maroni, who is murdered by Carmine Falcone's son Alberto. Falcone hires the corrupt Assistant District Attorney Fields to disfigure Dent with sulfuric acid. The attempt is foiled by Batman.

In a suprising turn of events, Judge D. Williams throws out the case against Alberto Falcone citing the alleged relationship between a city DA and a vigilante. Dent breaks. In his eye the law fails, justices, and that evil prevails. To this end, he begins his war on crime anew with the old adage: "If you can't beat them, join them."

Dent has a mask fashioned that can only be removed by an operator's code and a polymer solvent. The mask is of a black skull (thought to invoke passions about death in criminals). Dent uses his network of informants and intimate knowledge to climb the crime family tree. Eventually, he replaces the interim leader of the Maroni family, charging all of his underlings to wear similar masks and dubbing them the False Face Society.

Harvey now burns the candle at both ends. By day, he prosecutes rival gangsters as the Gotham City District Attorney, and by night he carries out exacted justice as the criminal overboss, The Black Mask.