This is my very first Batman comic. Apparently it's not too bad a place to start. I must admit I'm not too much into the big superhero comics but instead prefer independent comics (mostly because of the constant re-boots of universes etc).The Long Halloween is actually less of a superhero comic and more of a detective story. We have a bunch of mobsters such as Mr. Falcone and his Familia and on each holiday, someone dies. Thus, Batman (together with Harvey Dent and Lieutenant James Gordon) must

Warning! This is not strictly a review as much as me just loudly yelling into the void, so if your gentle soul can't handle some tasteful swearing, please avoid it at all costs.My second attempt at giving Jeph Loeb another chance failed spectacularly. This book is everything I ever hated about Jeph Loeb's writing: contrived plotting, horrible character work, unbearably bad dialogue, and the story that is so fucking dull and stupid that I would literally, honestly rather go and watch paint dry in...

Someone is killing off associates of Gotham City's crime lord, Carmine "The Roman" Falcone but only only holidays. Can Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent stop Holiday before the entire Falcone crime family is dead?I first read Batman: The Long Halloween in that mythic time before I felt compelled to write reviews for everything I read. I didn't care for it at the time but when a copy fell into my lap last week, I decided to give it another go.Batman: The L...

FINAL RATING: 4.25 STARS I made a promise to my parents that I would rid the city of the evil that took their lives. I wasn't really intending to read The Long Halloween, even when it was highly recommended to me by my comic book reading friends. I'm member of a Goodreads group that has Batman: Dark Victory as their next group read and I wanted to participate. However, it seems that Dark Victory is set after the events from The Long Halloween, so I was just fuck it, let's read this shit.I'm ha...

Batman: Me:What? 3 stars is good! It was way better than sucky bookBatman: Me:For reals Bats? Are we going to go there? This book had some draggy parts that bored me, but it did have Poison Ivy, The Riddler, The Joker, Catwoman and The Scarecrow..so it had some good stuff...but what the hell was with Soloman Grundy? He had no place in the frigging book. Plus the art made you look hot. Batman: Me:Now you are gonna grope me? Me:I could go for that. Batman: *image removed-c...

The Long Halloween deserves a spot in the comic book hall of fame, it's The Godfather of the superhero world, a slow and long thrilling mystery noir story, with timeless classy art by Tim Sale, possibly my favorite Batman story of all time.

2.5 starsThe first thing you need to know is that The Long Halloween isn't actually a Halloween story. Sadly, if you're looking for that perfect spooky tale to curl up with during October, you'll need to keep on looking. It's a Young Batman vs the Mob story.Mmm. Ok, this is one of those Batman stories that everyone loves and I just sort of tolerate. I don't hate it or anything, I just can't really muster up any excitement for it. But I keep trying.This was my 3rd time and I thought maybe now tha...

“Life is made up of little disappointments, Mr. Falcone. It’s what makes what we do so...challenging.”This is Batman at it’s finest!Adored the story till the last page with twist after twist! Jeph Loeb surely did an amazing job writing this mystery and Tim Sale’s art was something to behold with darker tones when some murders took place.Only minor complaint is that i wanted more involvement with the joker here. Otherwise an amazing story for every Batman fan!

Well, this is a rarity.I honestly can’t remember the last time I re-read a book.  Granted, this was a graphic novel, which is generally a quick read anyhow, but usually my cup overfloweth with new reads leaving me with little interest in re-reading stuff.  Back in August when I was scheduling my reads for October (a.k.a spooky book month), I was perusing my shelf for some frightening fiction when I came across Batman: The Long Halloween.  Given that I haven’t read this one in about eleven years,...

Comic books often deal with extremes; they deal with the extremely good and the extremely bad, highlighting the struggle between two opposites on the morality scale. One wishes to wreak havoc, hurt people and gain some form of gratification. The other wishes to save and restore order. The two are diametrically opposed, though sometimes in order to achieve the most ultimate form of good (or evil) one needs step into the opposite camp to reach their goals. The two are not so far apart as they may

If I met anyone that had never read a Batman book, this is probably the one I would recommend. This is the quintessential Batman story. The volume revolves around mobsters being murdered on each holiday and takes place early in Batman’s career. It’s a vehicle for Harvey Dent’s transition from Gotham City district attorney to Two-Face. Dent along with Captain Gordon and Bats (puts “Detective” back in DC comics) attempt to figure out who’s the killer.It features most of Batman’s rogue’s gallery (w...

In general, this might be the most quintessential Batman story ever. I wouldn't call it the best just yet, but definitely one of the most definitive. It captures a proper tone, rightfully grounding it as a crime epic and features almost all of the major bat-villains. It follows a tumultuous year early in Batman's career as a vigilante as he works with GCPD Captain James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent to bring down the untouchable Carmine "The Roman" Falcone and his crime mob that rule

Want to know exactly why this book is garbage, in detail? I wrote this article today about the many faults of The Long Halloween which you can read here. Let me know what you think!

Any time Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale team up, it's a good thing, usually it's a great thing. By this point, they've made a name for themselves for writing "THE" Year One story for a hero. In the case of Batman, they've written five of them now. This was the first maxiseries they took a stab at, after writing three fantastic Halloween Legends of the Dark Knight specials. (For those of you not up on your DC history, Legends of the Dark Knight was an anthology series in the 80's and 90's set in Batman's...

This was one of the three Batman comics which influenced the making of the movie BATMAN BEGINS. The sequel to that film THE DARK KNIGHT grabbed heavily from this particular graphic novel. It's something of an early years of Batman's time as he deals mostly with the mob and an avenger named Holiday who kills people during almost any holiday. There are some good connection setups between Batman, Gordon and Dent. Film noirish style as to the murders some would say.ARTWORK: B; STORY/PLOTTING; B plus...

Pretty decent volume, full of all the favorites and the beginning of Two-Face, featuring a ton of mobsters and everyone, including the villains and Batman, are bright and shiny and new. It's Year One for the DC line, and it's just fine. Coherent, fun, even having a bit of depth.I like the quality and it's a good story. I especially loved all the interactions with Catwoman. Other than that? It's just the classic Two-Face opener. :) Good mystery, interesting reveal. Solid.

"I believe in Gotham City."The Long Halloween deserves its hype. It's a classic Batman story and belongs among the greatest like Batman Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, and The Killing Joke. I have to say, this is probably Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's best work. Loeb's writing is incredible. It definitely draws from Frank Miller's Batman Year One with its sense of noir, crime drama, mystery, and the addition of light horror. But largely The Long Halloween is, as the cover blurb says, "an epic trag...

I’d been hearing great things about this the past few years (I’m a late comer to the game, what can I say?) The story is broken up by different holidays, some major and some I basically forget exist until they pop up during the year. All the stories connect as Batman works with Gordon and attorney Dent to try and figure out who the killer is, as he strikes during the holiday season, setting forth a solid detective battle. They investigate, contemplate, interrogate, make wrong guesses, get shown

I read this for the first time back in 2008, which was 5 Batman movies ago by my count. While I enjoyed it a lot back then, I didn't remember much about it so it was a shock to go through it now and realize how many things in this would go on to be included in various Bat-films. It's an interesting idea with a serial killer taking out mob related figures on holidays over the course of the year, and it also functions as a solid whodunit that manages to work in a really good version of the Harvey

A classic Batman tale, which of course inspired the excellent Nolan films covering the early years of the character. Artist Tim Sale is a great storyteller with a unique style (although he does draw Batman - and Catwoman - too buff for my tastes).The mystery genre works well for Batman, formatted around trying to stop a killer who murders every holiday for a year. And the cast of villains makes it a well-rounded storyline that all iconic fans will love. However, Jeph Loeb is something of a pande...