Batman: The Long Halloween
The Long Halloween is really quite brilliant and needs to be reread mainly for the fact that its nearly 400 pages and you may forget some things. This epic New York Times best seller happens to be one of the 2 or 3 best Batman stories ever told. Complex, intricate, wonderfully written by Jeph Loeb and beautifully illustrated by Tim Sale. It's cool and creative and one of my favorites and I read a lot of different stuff. This book along with Year One which came out before TLH inspired Chris Nolan when he made his Batman films. He read it and took notes. Not campy or cheesy or full of color and comedy. Instead Nolan drew from the dark, gritty, grungy, detective noir story incorporating it into his trilogy. I highly doubt Nolan collected comics but he probably did read a few issues as a kid like most boys do. The films are extremely good. Rises, Begins, and Dark Knight are my order of favorites. Some agree, many have their own order. But all concur that these films are dope. Some of the cartoons are pretty awesome too in my opinion. Especially the Batman Animated Series and Batman Beyond. I didn't like the others. And I'm not talking Superfriends and old stuff like that because they had their time and place in the 50's, 60's and 70's. You don't have to read all these comics to be a Batman fan, although you will have insight on who the characters are. How many of you knew Selena Kyle was a hooker? Do you know Edward Nygma's origin? Or that Harley Quinn was the Jokers shrink? Who the hell knows who Solomon Grundy is? Point made I hope. I apologize if I'm a bit scattered in this one. Its midnight and I'm listening to Aphex Twin.
The Long Halloween is a 13 issue story revolving around a serial killer named Holiday who strikes on holidays. Pretty tight huh? Holiday is offing Carmine Falcone's mob, yes the same Falcone in the Nolan films as well as the major players from Batmans Rogue's Gallery including Catwoman, Mad Hatter, Joker, and Riddler to name a few. Being a huge fan of the Godfather films (Part 1 and 2) I got a big kick out of portrayal of the Falcone family because they closely resemble the Corleones. Please allow me a moment to compare. The Godfather opens at the home of Vito Corleone where the wedding of his daughter Connie is proceeding. At the start of TLH, Bruce Wayne says to Carmine Falcone aka Vito Corleone, "I believe in Gotham City" just like Bonasera (the wedding cake guy in the opening scene of Godfather) says to Vito "I believe in America". Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this! Later on in TLH theres a shotting at Falcones and he goes nuts and says "In my home! In my bedroom where my wife sleeps. Where my children play." Michael Corleone, son of godfather Vito says these exact lines in Godfather 2 after his attempted assassination. So tight! I love it.
Beginning on Halloween and continuing on every national holiday thereafter the Holiday killer is taking out the trash. Enter the worlds greatest detective on a mission to find Holiday and learn why he has gone on a killing spree. The relationship between bats, Captain Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent is tense at times. We get the famous rooftop scene that was included in the Dark Knight film straight up lifted from this book. The emergence of Two-Face is fantastic, and in addition to mob boss Falcone we have his rival Maroni whom is believed to be part of the killer known as Holiday. "I believe in Harvey Dent" is also borrowed from this book. Its great though. I like seeing the pages brought to life on the silver screen. There is so much detail in this book its overwhelming. Its a crime drama mystery and of course its not perfect. I am a fan who reads these books for simple enjoyment. Rekindling my youth and remembering how simple and good things used to be. Its a nice feeling to reminisce ya know. There were a few times I shook my head and thought a few things kind of sucked but over all its a good read. For some the end is open to interpretation. I have an idea or two. I would like to hear your thoughts too so please drop me a line.
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