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Books : Batman: The Long Halloween
Rating: 
- Batman and The Murder Mystery
Bruce Wayne has managed to make it into the second year of his vigilante career. Gotham City is being plagued by the likes of a powerful crime lord named Carmine Falcone, also known as "The Roman." While The Roman is fighting for Underworld control of Gotham against his gangland rival, Salvatore "The Boss" Maroni, an unidentified murderer is murdering members the Falcone family on different seasons of the year. The number one suspect would be Julian Day (aka "Calendar Man"), but he's locked away in Arkham Asylum. However, Day seems to know who the killer is.
Calendar Man's knowlegde of the "Holiday Murderer" draws the attention of Batman and police captain James Gordon, who interrogate the inmate about where "Holiday" might strike next. The killer might be Sal Maroni, or (much to Batman's dismay), it may even be Bruce Wayne's good friend, Harvey Dent. Dent is the young, newly elected DA of Gotham, and it seems that he'll do anything to keep his vow to help maintain justice in his crime-ridden metropolis. Dent has been trying to take down The Roman's empire for months now.
On the GCPD rooftop, an alliance involving Batman, Captain Gordon, and DA Dent is formed to bring down The Roman. While trying to solve the Holiday mystery and playing a game of "Cat and Mouse" with Catwoman, Batman must also deal with the dreaded "Rogue Villains" that are beginning to make names for themselves--Joker, Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, and Riddler. When the mystery is solved, the real culprit may surprise you. There may even be more to the good-natured Harvey Dent than even his wife, Gilda, may know.
This book has excellent, dark artwork by Tim Sale, and noirish writing by Jeph Loeb. Though writer Loeb went on to write about other popular superheroes--Spiderman, Superman, Daredevil, Wolverine, and the Hulk--his best work was on Batman. Frank Miller explores the mental, obsessive side of the Batman, whereas Loeb writes about the "detective" side of the Dark Knight. Loeb writes a long, but captivating mystery that keeps you guessing who the real villain is. Even after the book is finished and placed back on the shelf, you find yourself guessing if the killer was really caught...
Rating:
- Reading this title got me back into Batman
Growing up, Batman was my favorite comic book and I loved the animated series. I have to admit though that I lost interest in it when I hit high school. A friend of mine was moving and gave me his comics collection and The Long Halloween was in it. It was incredible! The storyline was on point and the simplicity of the artwork makes the words stand out even more. I recommend this comic to anyone that loves comics and, like me, needs a great story.
Rating: - Batman: The Long Halloween
Gotham City's forces of justice, winged vigilante Batman, honest Captain Jim Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey "Golden Boy" Dent, swear to bring Carmine "The Roman" Falcone and his family of organized crime to justice. However, a mysterious killer begins murdering members of the "Roman Empire." Dubbed HOLIDAY by the media, he/she leaves a bloody mess and no clues. Batman, Gordon, and Dent begin to become obsessed with finding Holiday, which slowly begins to change Dent's personality into something darker. Meanwhile, Gordon tries to keep his family together as well as Gotham City, and Batman deals with a combination of his memories of what drove him to crimefighting, the fear that he is losing his friend, his relationship with Selina Kyle, and the assorted villans that get entangled with the Roman. And it all ends with a friendship that is forever shattered.
This is without a doubt one of the best BATMAN stories I have ever come upon. It's a beautiful story that perfectly shows the three heroes for who they are. A crimefighter trying to fight for the promise he made to his parents, a police Captain trying to save the town he's chosen to fight for, and a District Attorney becoming obsessed with a more violent approach to crime. Of course, they wisely retold the transformation of Dent to Two-Face, which was never done justice before. The origin is kept the same, just expanded upon and Dent is more humanized, while Jeph Loeb manages to convince the reader that Dent will become the Dark Knight's most tragic enemy.
The villans are beautifully categorized. You have the Carmine Falcone, a strong, confident man who is slowly losing control over his empire. Carla Vitti, the sister of the Roman, Alberto Falcone, the son that wants to be doing what his father is doing, Johnny Vitti, Milos the Bodyguard, the extremley large Sofia Falcone, and Salvatore Maroni, the Roman's main competition for control of organized crime in Gotham City.
Then, you have the usual suspects, all of which are beautifully weaved into this year-long murder mystery. You have Catwoman, whose relationship with the Dark Knight expands as he tries to figure her connection to the Roman. You also have the wickedly psychotic Joker, the vigorously seductive Poison Ivy, the fear-inducing Scarecrow, the rhytmic Mad Hatter, Gotham's lost soul Solomon Grundy, the cleverly witty Riddler, and the inquisitive Julian Day, The Calendar Man. The Penguin also shows up, yet his presence is as brief as it is incoherent and unexplained.
Tim Sale's drawing and art work is also magnificent. Batman is tall and strong, Catwoman is swift and athletic, the Joker is stick-like and discomfortingly expressive, Harvey Dent is handsome, yet always drawn with a slight darkness, foreboding his transformation, Poison Ivy is luscious, surrounded by plants at all times and with green skin (The way it should've been done in BATMAN AND ROBIN), and the rest of the characters look nice.
All in all, this is a strong book. The beautiful storytelling and expressive art work blend nicely together in what is truly one of the greatest Batman stories written during the dreaded 90's.
P.S: Would make a good movie.
Rating: - My favorite Batman book, part 1
This is the book that got me back into graphic novels/comics. A lush, noir-esque story with great twists and turns as well as a new take on a classic villian that retains the basic origin while expanding it slightly.
It's set early in Batman's career, before Robin and before his role was clear in the eyes of police. The only person who believes in him and what he's doing is Jim Gordon, at this point only a lieutenant in the police force.
Fantastic art and a brilliantly written story. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have quickly become my favorite tandem in graphic novels. Brilliant work! Brilliant!
Rating:
- Great Two-Face Story, Terrible Batman Story!
Here's another offering from the kings of retro, Jeph Loeb (writer) and Tim Sale (artist), reexamining Batman during his mythical "Year One" period. If you believe the intro to this volume, this story was meant to be a sequel to Frank Miller's classic retelling of the Dark Knight's early days in "Batman: Year One" (1986/7). As a story, this work is pretty weak in many areas; as a sequel, is simply falls short of the tight, mature storytelling of Frank Miller's original.
The story centers on the Roman family (originally introduced in "Batman: Year One"), a serial killer who offs people in creative ways during holiday seasons and the trio out to stop the crimes - Batman, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent. Tim Sale is especially suitable for a work like this - his moody, atmospheric and splash-pages art are truly a sight to behold. You feel yourself being sucked into Batman's Gotham. My primary complaint is with Jeph Loeb's writing. Like my previous review of "Superman for All Seasons", my views of the man's writing hasn't changed. I like HOW he writes - I just dislike WHAT he writes! He's a great scripter, providing witty, timely and simply apt dialogues and caption boxes that the whole thing read very smoothly even though it runs into 300+ pages. The problem is with his insipid plotting. He should have someone else plot his tales and script over them. For example, in order to maintain the novelty of "holiday-themed killings", the story is stretched across THIRTEEN months and countless murders - and finally Batman catches the killer (but we are told that he got the wrong guy). And this is the "World's Greatest Detective"? Meanwhile, Batman consults a Hannibal-Lecter-like Calendar Man who is incapacitated in prison but seemingly knows the identity of the killer (?!?). See the problem? Batman, Gordon and Harvey are supposedly super-cops and they run around like madmen without a clue to the killer and you have this locked-up guy knowing the truth behind everything? Granted, Loeb was trying to set up a "Silence of the Lambs" scene with Calendar Man but therein lies the weakness of the whole thing. It is a scene set up for its own sake and doesn't contribute anything to the STORY. We live in times wherein comic writers are a lot more influenced by TV and movies than literature. And Loeb, former screenwriter, epitomize this new breed of writers who set up cool scenes, writes clever dialogue, provides the atmosphere with the right artistic collaboration but ultimately delivers something very hollow and shallow. "The Long Halloween" is often compared to the pulp classics of Chandler and Hammett. I disagree vehemently. Loeb and Sale gave us "mood" and "cool scenes" but ultimately the story is without gusto, the characters lack the machismo and grit of true noirish anti-heroes, and though the atmosphere is there, it lacks the tight, all-encompassing claustrophobia of the great noirish works.
The only redeeming factor in this work is the retelling of Two-Face's origin. Loeb is especially great in the quiet "character" moments and here, the tragic story of Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face is beautifully retold. But Loeb's strength is often his most-glaring fault at the same time. For example the book begins with a full-page drawing of a grim-looking Bruce Wayne muttering, "I believe in Gotham City" - a scene I found to be laughably out-of-character for the flamboyant playboy persona of Bruce Wayne! This kinds of out-of-character scenes abound throughout the story. All in all, this story should have been better written by a more gritty writer like Greg Rucka or Ed Brubaker (both of them have written far better Batman stories than Loeb here).
- Batman and The Murder MysteryBruce Wayne has managed to make it into the second year of his vigilante career. Gotham City is being plagued by the likes of a powerful crime lord named Carmine Falcone, also known as "The Roman." While The Roman is fighting for Underworld control of Gotham against his gangland rival, Salvatore "The Boss" Maroni, an unidentified murderer is murdering members the Falcone family on different seasons of the year. The number one suspect would be Julian Day (aka "Calendar Man"), but he's locked away in Arkham Asylum. However, Day seems to know who the killer is.
Calendar Man's knowlegde of the "Holiday Murderer" draws the attention of Batman and police captain James Gordon, who interrogate the inmate about where "Holiday" might strike next. The killer might be Sal Maroni, or (much to Batman's dismay), it may even be Bruce Wayne's good friend, Harvey Dent. Dent is the young, newly elected DA of Gotham, and it seems that he'll do anything to keep his vow to help maintain justice in his crime-ridden metropolis. Dent has been trying to take down The Roman's empire for months now.
On the GCPD rooftop, an alliance involving Batman, Captain Gordon, and DA Dent is formed to bring down The Roman. While trying to solve the Holiday mystery and playing a game of "Cat and Mouse" with Catwoman, Batman must also deal with the dreaded "Rogue Villains" that are beginning to make names for themselves--Joker, Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, and Riddler. When the mystery is solved, the real culprit may surprise you. There may even be more to the good-natured Harvey Dent than even his wife, Gilda, may know.
This book has excellent, dark artwork by Tim Sale, and noirish writing by Jeph Loeb. Though writer Loeb went on to write about other popular superheroes--Spiderman, Superman, Daredevil, Wolverine, and the Hulk--his best work was on Batman. Frank Miller explores the mental, obsessive side of the Batman, whereas Loeb writes about the "detective" side of the Dark Knight. Loeb writes a long, but captivating mystery that keeps you guessing who the real villain is. Even after the book is finished and placed back on the shelf, you find yourself guessing if the killer was really caught...
Rating:
- Reading this title got me back into BatmanGrowing up, Batman was my favorite comic book and I loved the animated series. I have to admit though that I lost interest in it when I hit high school. A friend of mine was moving and gave me his comics collection and The Long Halloween was in it. It was incredible! The storyline was on point and the simplicity of the artwork makes the words stand out even more. I recommend this comic to anyone that loves comics and, like me, needs a great story.
Rating:
- Batman: The Long HalloweenGotham City's forces of justice, winged vigilante Batman, honest Captain Jim Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey "Golden Boy" Dent, swear to bring Carmine "The Roman" Falcone and his family of organized crime to justice. However, a mysterious killer begins murdering members of the "Roman Empire." Dubbed HOLIDAY by the media, he/she leaves a bloody mess and no clues. Batman, Gordon, and Dent begin to become obsessed with finding Holiday, which slowly begins to change Dent's personality into something darker. Meanwhile, Gordon tries to keep his family together as well as Gotham City, and Batman deals with a combination of his memories of what drove him to crimefighting, the fear that he is losing his friend, his relationship with Selina Kyle, and the assorted villans that get entangled with the Roman. And it all ends with a friendship that is forever shattered.
This is without a doubt one of the best BATMAN stories I have ever come upon. It's a beautiful story that perfectly shows the three heroes for who they are. A crimefighter trying to fight for the promise he made to his parents, a police Captain trying to save the town he's chosen to fight for, and a District Attorney becoming obsessed with a more violent approach to crime. Of course, they wisely retold the transformation of Dent to Two-Face, which was never done justice before. The origin is kept the same, just expanded upon and Dent is more humanized, while Jeph Loeb manages to convince the reader that Dent will become the Dark Knight's most tragic enemy.
The villans are beautifully categorized. You have the Carmine Falcone, a strong, confident man who is slowly losing control over his empire. Carla Vitti, the sister of the Roman, Alberto Falcone, the son that wants to be doing what his father is doing, Johnny Vitti, Milos the Bodyguard, the extremley large Sofia Falcone, and Salvatore Maroni, the Roman's main competition for control of organized crime in Gotham City.
Then, you have the usual suspects, all of which are beautifully weaved into this year-long murder mystery. You have Catwoman, whose relationship with the Dark Knight expands as he tries to figure her connection to the Roman. You also have the wickedly psychotic Joker, the vigorously seductive Poison Ivy, the fear-inducing Scarecrow, the rhytmic Mad Hatter, Gotham's lost soul Solomon Grundy, the cleverly witty Riddler, and the inquisitive Julian Day, The Calendar Man. The Penguin also shows up, yet his presence is as brief as it is incoherent and unexplained.
Tim Sale's drawing and art work is also magnificent. Batman is tall and strong, Catwoman is swift and athletic, the Joker is stick-like and discomfortingly expressive, Harvey Dent is handsome, yet always drawn with a slight darkness, foreboding his transformation, Poison Ivy is luscious, surrounded by plants at all times and with green skin (The way it should've been done in BATMAN AND ROBIN), and the rest of the characters look nice.
All in all, this is a strong book. The beautiful storytelling and expressive art work blend nicely together in what is truly one of the greatest Batman stories written during the dreaded 90's.
P.S: Would make a good movie.
Rating:
- My favorite Batman book, part 1This is the book that got me back into graphic novels/comics. A lush, noir-esque story with great twists and turns as well as a new take on a classic villian that retains the basic origin while expanding it slightly.
It's set early in Batman's career, before Robin and before his role was clear in the eyes of police. The only person who believes in him and what he's doing is Jim Gordon, at this point only a lieutenant in the police force.
Fantastic art and a brilliantly written story. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have quickly become my favorite tandem in graphic novels. Brilliant work! Brilliant!
Rating:
- Great Two-Face Story, Terrible Batman Story!Here's another offering from the kings of retro, Jeph Loeb (writer) and Tim Sale (artist), reexamining Batman during his mythical "Year One" period. If you believe the intro to this volume, this story was meant to be a sequel to Frank Miller's classic retelling of the Dark Knight's early days in "Batman: Year One" (1986/7). As a story, this work is pretty weak in many areas; as a sequel, is simply falls short of the tight, mature storytelling of Frank Miller's original.
The story centers on the Roman family (originally introduced in "Batman: Year One"), a serial killer who offs people in creative ways during holiday seasons and the trio out to stop the crimes - Batman, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent. Tim Sale is especially suitable for a work like this - his moody, atmospheric and splash-pages art are truly a sight to behold. You feel yourself being sucked into Batman's Gotham. My primary complaint is with Jeph Loeb's writing. Like my previous review of "Superman for All Seasons", my views of the man's writing hasn't changed. I like HOW he writes - I just dislike WHAT he writes! He's a great scripter, providing witty, timely and simply apt dialogues and caption boxes that the whole thing read very smoothly even though it runs into 300+ pages. The problem is with his insipid plotting. He should have someone else plot his tales and script over them. For example, in order to maintain the novelty of "holiday-themed killings", the story is stretched across THIRTEEN months and countless murders - and finally Batman catches the killer (but we are told that he got the wrong guy). And this is the "World's Greatest Detective"? Meanwhile, Batman consults a Hannibal-Lecter-like Calendar Man who is incapacitated in prison but seemingly knows the identity of the killer (?!?). See the problem? Batman, Gordon and Harvey are supposedly super-cops and they run around like madmen without a clue to the killer and you have this locked-up guy knowing the truth behind everything? Granted, Loeb was trying to set up a "Silence of the Lambs" scene with Calendar Man but therein lies the weakness of the whole thing. It is a scene set up for its own sake and doesn't contribute anything to the STORY. We live in times wherein comic writers are a lot more influenced by TV and movies than literature. And Loeb, former screenwriter, epitomize this new breed of writers who set up cool scenes, writes clever dialogue, provides the atmosphere with the right artistic collaboration but ultimately delivers something very hollow and shallow. "The Long Halloween" is often compared to the pulp classics of Chandler and Hammett. I disagree vehemently. Loeb and Sale gave us "mood" and "cool scenes" but ultimately the story is without gusto, the characters lack the machismo and grit of true noirish anti-heroes, and though the atmosphere is there, it lacks the tight, all-encompassing claustrophobia of the great noirish works.
The only redeeming factor in this work is the retelling of Two-Face's origin. Loeb is especially great in the quiet "character" moments and here, the tragic story of Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face is beautifully retold. But Loeb's strength is often his most-glaring fault at the same time. For example the book begins with a full-page drawing of a grim-looking Bruce Wayne muttering, "I believe in Gotham City" - a scene I found to be laughably out-of-character for the flamboyant playboy persona of Bruce Wayne! This kinds of out-of-character scenes abound throughout the story. All in all, this story should have been better written by a more gritty writer like Greg Rucka or Ed Brubaker (both of them have written far better Batman stories than Loeb here).
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