The Long Halloween

Batman has been through a ton in his life. He's lost his parents, his companions, and his life. He been broken, destroyed, and left for dead. He's faced villians that have ripped him mentally to shreds and others that have left him confused and scared.

With The Long Halloween, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales gave him a villian that was challenging for him to deal with. This was because the clues didn't just lead to one person. Unfortunately, as the story goes on, it does appear that a trusted friend is the culprit. This disturbs him, above all other things. The mystery is engrossing and keeps you guessing up until its ending.

One thing that I must start off with is that this is considered to be noir in both its art and its storytelling. It does have a very old style to the art, with loads of shadows, and, of course, the murder mystery of who is killing these people. The images have hard edges and colors that are both muted and vivrant at the same time. There are some odd decisions made in regards to the character designs, so the art is a bit off putting, taking time to get used to. So, with this knowledge in place, I will say that noir is not my favorite type of storytelling, and this could have been a detractor for this book.

However, I really like this story. It's never dull, making you want to find out who the killer is.

(Spoilers follow)



The story starts with Carmine Falcone, a mob boss who is trying to make a proposal that Bruce Wayne invest some money into the bank BW is on the board of. When he is refused, Falcone is understandably upset. Here we are introduced to Falcone's main rival, Sal Maroni, who is more than willing to try and take over Falcone's empire. Batman wants to take both of these guys down, but will need the help of Jim Gordon and the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent. They make a pact to find a way to bring these criminals to their knees, no matter the cost. Soon after, the killing starts. Because the killer strikes on a holiday, he is dubbed the Holiday Killer. This pattern will continue on throughout the year with each major holiday ending with a kill (with the exception of April Fool's Day). Of course, Falcone blames Maroni, and is willing to come to a war to just prove it. As the trail of Harvey Dent's research begins to take shape, he is led to Bruce Wayne as a suspect and a way to take down the mob. He becomes obsessed with ridding Gotham of the criminals, in which group he now includes Bruce. His obsession leads him to making some drastic choices, which will ultimately destroy him. Batman is also trying to find the killer, but too many clues lead him in too many directions. Add to this mix the escapees of Arkam Asylum, the Joker, Riddler, Scarecrow and Mad Hatter, and what you have is a mystery of who is who, what is right and wrong when all things seem lost, and obession that turns to tragedy.

This is a very powerful story, filled with loads of twists and turns that keep you guessing to the identity of the Holiday Killer. It's also interesting to see that some old favorites like the Joker, Two Face, and Catwoman all make appearances. So you are kept glued to the story at all times.

I liked the great storytelling. It has great depth and it has so many characters that cover these multiple issues that at times, it might be super hard to keep up with what is going on. It's no wonder that it was the inspiration for the film Batman Begins, not in adaptation, but in spirit. There are even echoes of it in The Dark Knight. Sure, there are no direct moments taken from the book, but you can tell that it was a factor in the feeling of these two movies and even some of the character designs. Amazing.

Now, as far as the art and character designs go, there are a few problems I have. One, the Joker looks so strange that it borders somewhere between silly and truly disturbing. There is just something wrong about this design, it feels way too alien, even for that character. Then there is Falcone's daughter. If there is one character in this book that makes me physically uncomfortable, it's this one. Her design is just unnerving, because she is just so, well, ugly. Sure that is the point, but this borders on excessive. If there is one character that can make the Hulk look like a storybook prince, it's her.

"Honey, you got real ugly"

The rest of the pages are just chock-full of wonderful wonderfulness. OK, so the ending is a bit muddled. I did have a bit of a problem understanding the final "twist." Also, it does have a bit of non-resolution about one or two storylines, which the trade paperback collection points out.  However, those things aside, it still powerful and engaging stuff.

As far a Batman stories go, this one is up there at the top. I fully recommend reading this story. If nothing else, it gives some great background on the mob bosses that were featured in the movies.

--MGS

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