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Batman: The Long Halloween

Batman: The Long Halloween

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $13.57
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kill me on Halloween...
Review: I read this book on Halloween...and you can imagine the excitement the original series generated when fans waited 13 months to catch up with the conclusion.

What is great about this book is that it is a cool detective story in which the murders are central in the plot. Batman is still raw as he attempts to shed some "dark" light on the matter.

The Batman regular enemies embelish the novel in a nice way... & Catwoman remains a puzzle for the readers & her involvement is somewhat strange & incoherent.

Being a long-time admirer of murder mysteries & a student of the Agatha Christie school I saw through the plot, but however you guess you'll have a surprise at your hand at the end.

Very good stuff, inferior to the work of Frank Miller but retaining the taste, nice drawings that replace words...& a dark atmosphere that really suits the Caped Crusader.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Until the End
Review: I have to say that I enjoyed reading The Long Halloween. It was interesting to see Batman in a case involving more traditional criminals while still providing time for Batman's usual rogues gallery to satisfy the fans (even if it does seem all too much like padding). My main qualm is with the ending which is quite the hackwork. Looking at the end notes available in collected graphic novel, they mention that a great many people wrote in after catching on to a vital clue that reveals the identity of the Holiday killer. I can't help but figure that when the story was coming out in monthly segments, the writers feared their secret was a little too obvious (which frankly it was, I guessed who Holiday was as soon as the character was introduced). Unable to totally revamp their outline. They simply tacked on additional material to the conclusion in a desperate effort to still catch their audience off guard. An ending that makes sort of sense in a way, but relies on such serindipity and dumb luck on the part of many characters that it's almost an insult. I wish they simply would've let us be right and delivered a well written satisfying conclusion rather than the thrown together "GOTCHA" ending that seems to sell out everything that proceeded it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Maybe I just don't see it, but....
Review: This book is not great. Maybe you like the art.. OK, that's one thing. Personally, I don't. But even if I did, I'd like some writing to go with it.

People compare this to Frank Miller.. which I think is a very valid thing to do since it's intended as a direct follow-up to Miller's little masterpiece, "Year One". First off, I should say that I think Miller's Batman stories are really works of literary genius, as good as many great novels. The Long Halloween can't really be a work of literary genius as there's barely even any writing in it. The whole book can be read in no time flat. Most of the supporting characters get no time at all, and I'm still confused as to why any of Batman's usual roge gallery was included since none of them are really used well, and since their presense begs for questions about their origins, all unexplained here. This is a follow-up to Year One, so where did all these people come from? From the laziness of the writers, that's where. The story of Harvey Dent is handled horribly as well. There's a huge gap between his story in Year One and where we pick up here, and we see almost nothing of him after his trasformation, and we don't get too deep inside his head during the actual transformation, because I guess thought balloons would muddy up the "artwork". So what this leaves us for drama is basically just the moment where he gets acid thrown in his face. It's sad.. so's roadkill. So's this waste of nearly 400 pages. Almost as shameful is the endless parade of Godfather references trying to act as if they're homages when all they are is further excuses for new creation. My main problem with this all can be summed up in one word: Density. As in total lack thereof. Miller would have used about 3 pages to tell this story, and then taken us inside Harvey's head for the rest of the book, and then ended it in a way that reinforced the genius of his allegory. This book ends with Batman punching people. Even if you don't expect this to be a masterpiece like Frank's work, which I (perhaps foolishly) did, it's still just not very good.

To compare this with Frank Miller is just nuts.. He usually has more than 3 words on a page, for one thing, and his characters usually do something. To compare the art to Watchmen.... well, lets just not even go there.

This is the only Batman book I've ever been sorry I bought.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Loeb, Sale Deliver with "Long Halloween"
Review: Being a Batman fan for many years and seeing all the transitions and interpretations of the character, this is one of the best stories I have read in a long time. The noir style of the story, and the dark, shadowy, "Frank Miller-esque" art by Tim Sale is his best work ever! This story picks up where "Year One" left off, and delivers. Loeb and Sale are up there with the greats like Miller, Adams , and O'neil. If you enjoyed "Dark Knight" or "Year One", you will like this one. Definitely a great book for the older Batman fans!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT STORY IMPRESSIVE ART WORK
Review: Bruce Wayne and his more famous alter-ego are written at their best. It can't be easy to write about a vicious vigalante with a heart of gold, but it is done in convincing fashion here. Batman will do anything to stop mob boss "The Roman" and a serial killer killing his henchmen in a corrupt Gotham yet, he has a tender spot for not only "Catwoman" but, for "Solomon Grundy born on a Monday". It is this dual persona that humanizes our hero and has made him the social icon he has been for over 60 years. You see nobody is all good or all bad and we have all thought of revenge and selfless giving at nearly the same instant. Many novel writers could study the Batman/Bruce Wayne character to learn a thing or two about character development. This is the most impressive graphic novel I have ever seen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Who is Holiday?
Review: I remember I was in my junior college year when I first collected this series. And it brought back so much fond memories I couldn't stop myself from writing this stuff.

This graphic novel is the collected edition of the famous Batman maxi-series, The Long Halloween (obviously). It is about a young and naive Dark Knight out to clean a city, which loves being dirty with the help of a certain District Attorney called Harvey Dent and a passionate hero-cop named James Gordon. Together they form the triumvirate of justice in a city without hope.

This graphic novel is called as such because our hero is out to catch a killer called 'Holiday', who began his/her killing spree on Halloween night (it really is the Long Halloween because it took a year in real-time for the story to unfold). His/her targets are members of the most notorious crime family in Gotham, The Falcones, marking key monthly events (or holidays) with murders bearing his/her name. So, sounds like an easy case for our well-esteemed hero? Well...no.

Of course it would've been muuuccchhh easier for Batman to get his hands on this maniacal monthly murderer if his favorite list of infamous rogues-i.e., the Joker, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter-were on vacation! Add a few more gangsters, Harvey Dent's 'transformation' and boom, you have a Gotham City literally painted in red. Roughly said, this book has all the classic Batman elements of mystery and intrigue masterfully told in each page by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. It has adventure, introspection, detective work (man, it has lots of those), and drama woven in a tight yarn that absolutely deserves an Eisner award every which way. And I assure you, the conclusion will leave you plainly breathless and gasping for more. In fact, it is so great a shocker you'll have to read the book again and again just to satiate the inquiries of your baffled senses!

So what're you waiting for? Get this book now. Coz you guys are so lucky you don't NEED to wait for a year to find out how the story unfolds. All you need to do is sit back, relax and wander through the Dark Knight's world as you ask the question again and again: WHO REALLY IS HOLIDAY?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfectly paced and drawn-- a fine thriller
Review: Over the last two years, the Batman-as-noir trope has become commonplace, a generally welcome development that is nevertheless often marred by the fact that writers less talented than the likes of Frank Miller and Grant Morrison try and substitute ambience for script. Not so with "The Long Halloween," one of the most finely-scripted comic storylines in a long time. Loeb's characterization of the main protagonists is effective; in particular, the running juxtapositions of Batman and Harvey Dent with the denizens of Arkham Asylum do not redound to the credit of the former, leading up to a rather disquieting denouement. A drawback: Catwoman is not as she could have been, and ultimately disappoints. Sale's artwork is perfect for this script, and seems to get better as the series progresses; there is something "cartoony" about his renditions, albeit in a serious sort of way, and at its best-- as in the portrayals of the Joker & Selina Kyle-- the effect is genuinely discomfiting.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One word: Outstanding
Review: I will not make this long because if you have not read this, you need to right now. This comic book stands out in my mind as one of the finest things I have ever read. Tim Sale's art looks awkward at first, but you will soon realize that his style somehow tells a story without words. Sale is brilliant.

Jeph Loeb continues to be outstanding as this is a thriller. It is a mystery with the great Batman that you won't be able to put down.

I have read this multiple times and passed it around to friends of mine at the office and they love it.

Give it a try, you will love it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Whodunnit
Review: This book is so well thought out and detialed that one , if not for the artwork, could forget he or she was reading a comic book. Most of the Batman's rogue gallery are in full force as a young Batman and Captain Gordon search for a serial killer. Batman is under intense pressure trying to stop a killer, who by the way only kills on holidays, while fighting against the usual culprits. No detial is missed. Unlike many hardbound comics, this one is suitable for youngsters 13 and up without losing its flavor for mature (adult) readers. This book can also be collected in the monthly magazine format.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible Story with Compelling Art
Review: People always ask themselves the question what is it about the Dark Knight that makes him one of the most enduring and popular characters of our time? This wonderfully scripted trade paperback edition of the Long Halloween points to the answer. The book delves deeply into the criminal elemant of Gotham and bring out the best of Batman, who you see very little of when it come to the action scenes, but a lot of in scenes depicting conversation. The mood is very dark in this comic and reminisces the first Batman movie by Tim Burton. Batman sticks to the shadows and you just can't help but feel intimidated when he slowly walks out. The element of fear has always been the Bat's strongest features and this book really shines through when it comes to that. The coloring by Gregory Wright suits the mood so well that yopu feel as if you're that third person looking at things from behind a lens. Tim Sale is without a doubt one of the most promising talents out there. His soft, smooth approach to the characters makes better than the detailed, cartoony features that have become the norm in this day and age. Jeph Loeb scripts one of his best stories in there and you can interact with the characters and understant their expectations and wants. The story is suspenseful, thrilling with action in just the right places. Loeb brings out half of Batman's rogue gallery and portrays them right without them overstaying their welcome through and through.

If you're a fan of Batman, his first movie and the Godfather all put into one, you'll never put this book down (I read it continuously without a break). If you're just a Batman fan, then You'll be seeing the character written at his best.


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