From the Bookshelf of Graphic Novel Reading Group…

Batman: The Long Halloween

Jeph Loeb

Start date: October 22, 2020

Finish date: November 21, 2020

Discussion: Group Monthly Discussions

Why we're reading this: This is our 3rd Superhero Graphic Novel book discussion scheduled for the middle of July to the middle of…more
[close] This is our 3rd Superhero Graphic Novel book discussion scheduled for the middle of July to the middle of August.

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What Members Thought

Jan 12, 2013 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dc-comics, graphic-novels-comics, modern-age-comics, sexy-bad-boy-hero, strong-heroine, jeph-loeb, read-in-2013, strong-hero, my-blog-reviews

The Origins of Harvey Dent has begun!

Two Face

Introduction:

Now, I have been reading many Batman comics whose stories dealt with Batman defeating one of his greatest foes, the Joker. But, I had always wanted to read some “Batman” stories that dealt with another one of Batman’s greatest foes, Two-Face! I got interested in Two-Face’s story when I saw one of the episodes on “Batman: The Animated Series” that dealt with the origin tale of Two-Face and I was amazed at how well that episode portrayed ...more

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Aug 08, 2017 Trike rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017, graphic-novel, mystery, fantasy-comic

By the time the 1990s rolled around I had long since stopped reading comics, so I've missed out on some key stories, which I'm now catching up on. The Long Halloween is one of *the* key stories from that era.

I enjoyed it. It's a nicely taut mystery with a cool hook, namely that someone is going around killing organized crime members on major holidays. That murderer is being called "The Holiday Killer", or Holiday for short. Along the way we get to see yet another reiteration of Two-Face's origin By the time the 1990s rolled around I had long since stopped reading comics, so I've missed out on some key stories, which I'm now catching up on. The Long Halloween is one of *the* key stories from that era.

I enjoyed it. It's a nicely taut mystery with a cool hook, namely that someone is going around killing organized crime members on major holidays. That murderer is being called "The Holiday Killer", or Holiday for short. Along the way we get to see yet another reiteration of Two-Face's origin, as Batman, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent chase multiple false leads and red herrings in their pursuit of Holiday.

As the year grinds on, the three men start suspecting each other, which was a nice film noir touch. Catwoman plays a role, but mostly as distraction and occasional deus ex machina, and Batman begins to suspect her, as well, even though it's not her style. She's in her old outfit here, before the costume revamp (by Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke, I think), and it immediately feels dated. Since this is essentially Batman Year Two, that actually makes sense and works for this story.

The art by Tim Sale is spectacular, and it's really reminiscent of Eduardo Risso's, especially in his epic run on 100 Bullets. It's interesting that Sale and Risso are contemporaries; I wonder if they have a common influence?

My main gripe is that the book shows off its cinema inspirations a little too obviously. It is obviously heavily influence by The Godfather, with some angles taken directly from those movies, and the scenes with The Calendar Man are obviously inspired by Silence of the Lambs. The combative love/hate relationship between Batman and Catwoman (and, by extension, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle), is very much one out of film noir, specifically the Glenn Ford/Rita Hayworth movie Gilda, the film that cemented Hayworth's superstardom. (If you haven't seen that movie, I highly recommend it. Once you see how Hayworth moves in it, you'll immediately get the connection with Catwoman.

Which brings us to the other player in this story, albeit as a secondary role, namely that of Harvey Dent's wife, Gilda. Bizarrely, Loeb's take sets her back decades, turning her into a meek housewife. I guess this was intentional, but even in her earliest appearances back in the 1940s she had a personality. She even had a job as a sculptor. Here, she just waits for Harvey to come home and apologize to her for working late yet again. (view spoiler)

Despite these minor issues, I did enjoy the book overall. ...more

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Aug 01, 2009 Rosa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, graphic-narrative, superheroes, mystery

Very noir, I loved it.

Reread August 26, 2013. Still love the noir style of the story; that this is totally Harvey Dent's tale; how his wife fits in and that there are still some unanswered questions at the end. Love the relationship between Selena and Bruce as well. ...more

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Dec 02, 2016 Mitchell Friedman rated it really liked it

Shelves: popular, library, liked-reviews, superhero, crime, fiction, graphic-novel, graphic-novel-standalone, bc-powells-seqart

A re-read. I'm thinking to read Batman you have have to be in a Batman reading mood. Or perhaps at least not a Don't Want To Read Batman mood. I definitely liked this better then on my previous read. But on its basic point I agree with my review - it's not new, it's not different, it's just another retread. And given a choice, I'd prefer to read Batman Year One by Frank Miller again rather than this. I bought the ending a bit more this time. But it's been a weird couple of years. 3.5 of 5.

Sure i ...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Cintia Andrade rated it it was amazing

Shelves: graphic-novels

great, great, great. the high points for me are jim gordon at his finest self, harvey dent's jeckyll shining brighter than his mr. hyde and the amazing artwork. ...more

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Dec 18, 2015 Get X Serious rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

My absolute favorite Batman arc.

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Aug 11, 2010 Zach Danielson rated it really liked it

Shelves: superhero

This one is long and dense. I'm never quite as interested in the stories about the crime families, but this one kept me engaged. Some of the colorful supervillians like Joker and Catwoman wander in and out of the story, but Harvey Dent (Two-Face) gets the most development. At its core, this a serial murder mystery, and the story kept me guessing throughout (and after) reading. Although The Dark Knight has a completely different plot, I felt like the film took a lot of inspiration from the tone a ...more

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Jul 07, 2010 B. Jay rated it it was amazing

The first comic to rebuild Harvey Dent into a household name, The Long Halloween is not full of much originality, but does an incredible job of blending so much of what makes Batman great into a film-noir style cinematic masterpiece.
Arguably Jeph Loeb's best work, a murder mystery and character piece is capped by an artistic vision which is necessary for all great works in the comics world. The quantity of full page Batman spreads did nothing to undermine the fact that Batman just looks... f*ck ...more

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Oct 31, 2009 Meg rated it really liked it

Yeah! A graphic novel that I dove into and forgot my surroundings....including the subway and its craziness. This was the perfect book to read on Halloween weekend. Awesome. Read it.

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