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Books : Batman: The Long Halloween
Rating: 
- My favorite Batman book, part 1
This is the book that got me back into comics! I've been a Batman fan for years but these two guys reeled me in to the comics.
This story takes place early in Batman's career. How early? No Robin, Harvey is still "Apollo" Harvey Dent, and James Gordon is still married to his wife. It's essentialy a murder mystery involving the Falcone crime family, back when there were REAL criminals running Gotham as opposed to the classic Bond-villians-on-acid criminals! Members of this family are being hit and the killer leaves macabe souveniers related to the holiday on which the murder occurs. Everyone is suspect, the conclusion is startling; everything I love in film noir murder mystery!
The art is more realistic than other Batman books. My only quip is the way catwoman was designed. They reached the design apex on the animated series. But in this book she has large eye holes, large ears, and whiskers in a attempt to make her more cat-like. Selina Kyle is WONDERFULLY done! The best drawn character is the Joker, he's my favorite anyway!
This is my favorite book because it's back to the essentials: Batman kicks the crap out of criminals, no supernatural stuff, and a great emotional comples for our hero! Bravo!
Rating: - Can't put it down
What can I say? This is one of the finest graphic collections I have ever read. Excellent!
Rating:
- Too much hype
When it first came out as a 12 issue series, everybody was raving about Long Halloween. I missed the boat during that time, so when the TPB came out, I quickly picked it up, read it and wondered why all the hype?
It's a pretty standard detective/gangster story, jazzed up with appearances by Batman's Rogues Gallery. I remember the hype back then on who was the killer, and the revelation is not that surprising, in fact, it's a little anti-climactic. Maybe in this day and age of CSI, the audience is a little sharp on red herrings and false leads. On its own, it's a solid Batman story, it's just that Long Halloween doesn't deserve to be labeled/hyped as the best or a classic.
Rating:
- Brutally dissapointing
This book was a real let down. My interest in this title was generated based on the great reviews The Long Halloween recieved (on Amazon and elswhere). When the comparrisons to Frank Miller's seminal work on Batman was made by some, I was sold. Oh my, was i ever shocked upon actually reading it. This is why I'm sending out a warning out to those expecting Miller calibur writing in this title: Don't! This doen't even come close. In fact, The Long Halloween is actually not very good at all.
Here's my main complaint: Incridebly contrived and poorly executed "mystery." One should not be left severely confused after the story and mystery is resolved, and as hard as I tied to figure it out, I was continually perplexed by The Long Halloween. I reread it two times trying to make some sense of it, but still the pieces didn't fit together. Well, at least in any manner that was not extremely convoluted, arbitrary, and well, unbelivable. The "twists" at the end just didn't add up. I attribute this to very poor characterization and pacing, and motivations and allegiences that are never clearly explained, even after the story's punchline. I really can't understand why some people would compare The Long Halloween to Frank Miller's work, it's totally overrated. Pretty art though, and at least the follow up, Dark Victory, was a bit of an improvement.
Rating: - Beautifully-drawn, but everything else is average
Murder mysteries and mafia dramas; there's a million of 'em. What separates the wheat from the chaff are 3 things: originality, characterisation and resolution. So how does this tale measure up?
Originality - Well, as this is a conscious homage to Frank Miller's Batman Noir, it's more a comforting return to established territory than anything new.
Characterisation - Yikes. Hardly any! There are 2 crime familes who are quite impossible to tell apart, and no insights into either Batman or any of the Arkham Asylum Barmy Army. (Jeez that place is leakier than a sieve.) Apart from the standard soul-searching about "the death of my parents", Batman doesn't use his grey matter either to look at himself or solve clues.
Resolution - See "characterisation". Without any credible motivation among the participants, the final revelation of the killer's identity is empty. In fact, it's right out of Sccoby Doo.It doesn't even make logical sense - but I can't tell you why without spoiling the plot, which is always unfair in a review.
So there you are. Only average I'm afraid, but I'll give it 3 stars instead of 2 for the beautiful art
- My favorite Batman book, part 1This is the book that got me back into comics! I've been a Batman fan for years but these two guys reeled me in to the comics.
This story takes place early in Batman's career. How early? No Robin, Harvey is still "Apollo" Harvey Dent, and James Gordon is still married to his wife. It's essentialy a murder mystery involving the Falcone crime family, back when there were REAL criminals running Gotham as opposed to the classic Bond-villians-on-acid criminals! Members of this family are being hit and the killer leaves macabe souveniers related to the holiday on which the murder occurs. Everyone is suspect, the conclusion is startling; everything I love in film noir murder mystery!
The art is more realistic than other Batman books. My only quip is the way catwoman was designed. They reached the design apex on the animated series. But in this book she has large eye holes, large ears, and whiskers in a attempt to make her more cat-like. Selina Kyle is WONDERFULLY done! The best drawn character is the Joker, he's my favorite anyway!
This is my favorite book because it's back to the essentials: Batman kicks the crap out of criminals, no supernatural stuff, and a great emotional comples for our hero! Bravo!
Rating:
- Can't put it downWhat can I say? This is one of the finest graphic collections I have ever read. Excellent!
Rating:
- Too much hypeWhen it first came out as a 12 issue series, everybody was raving about Long Halloween. I missed the boat during that time, so when the TPB came out, I quickly picked it up, read it and wondered why all the hype?
It's a pretty standard detective/gangster story, jazzed up with appearances by Batman's Rogues Gallery. I remember the hype back then on who was the killer, and the revelation is not that surprising, in fact, it's a little anti-climactic. Maybe in this day and age of CSI, the audience is a little sharp on red herrings and false leads. On its own, it's a solid Batman story, it's just that Long Halloween doesn't deserve to be labeled/hyped as the best or a classic.
Rating:
- Brutally dissapointingThis book was a real let down. My interest in this title was generated based on the great reviews The Long Halloween recieved (on Amazon and elswhere). When the comparrisons to Frank Miller's seminal work on Batman was made by some, I was sold. Oh my, was i ever shocked upon actually reading it. This is why I'm sending out a warning out to those expecting Miller calibur writing in this title: Don't! This doen't even come close. In fact, The Long Halloween is actually not very good at all.
Here's my main complaint: Incridebly contrived and poorly executed "mystery." One should not be left severely confused after the story and mystery is resolved, and as hard as I tied to figure it out, I was continually perplexed by The Long Halloween. I reread it two times trying to make some sense of it, but still the pieces didn't fit together. Well, at least in any manner that was not extremely convoluted, arbitrary, and well, unbelivable. The "twists" at the end just didn't add up. I attribute this to very poor characterization and pacing, and motivations and allegiences that are never clearly explained, even after the story's punchline. I really can't understand why some people would compare The Long Halloween to Frank Miller's work, it's totally overrated. Pretty art though, and at least the follow up, Dark Victory, was a bit of an improvement.
Rating:
- Beautifully-drawn, but everything else is averageMurder mysteries and mafia dramas; there's a million of 'em. What separates the wheat from the chaff are 3 things: originality, characterisation and resolution. So how does this tale measure up?
Originality - Well, as this is a conscious homage to Frank Miller's Batman Noir, it's more a comforting return to established territory than anything new.
Characterisation - Yikes. Hardly any! There are 2 crime familes who are quite impossible to tell apart, and no insights into either Batman or any of the Arkham Asylum Barmy Army. (Jeez that place is leakier than a sieve.) Apart from the standard soul-searching about "the death of my parents", Batman doesn't use his grey matter either to look at himself or solve clues.
Resolution - See "characterisation". Without any credible motivation among the participants, the final revelation of the killer's identity is empty. In fact, it's right out of Sccoby Doo.It doesn't even make logical sense - but I can't tell you why without spoiling the plot, which is always unfair in a review.
So there you are. Only average I'm afraid, but I'll give it 3 stars instead of 2 for the beautiful art
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