sjj169's review against another edition
3.0
Batman:
Me:
What? 3 stars is good! It was way better than sucky book
Batman:
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-censored*
Me:
Ok weirdo...
Are you really my husband in disguise?
Me:
What? 3 stars is good! It was way better than sucky book
Batman:
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-censored*
Me:
Ok weirdo...
Are you really my husband in disguise?
ugmug's review against another edition
4.0
Batman mystery with a solid cast of villains. One of the few (only?) worthwhile Loeb Batman books.
georgezakka's review against another edition
5.0
Man this book is amazing
Basically someone is going around killing a person related to carmine falcone every month on a holiday using a .22 caliber pistol with the tip of a baby bottle used as a silencer
HUGE SPOILERS..
I had my jaw dropped when I found out the killer was Gilda and Harvey, honestly I thought Gilda was a good nice girl I quite liked her innocence but that end scene was crazzyyyyyyy man and Catwoman is so great in this. I also didn’t expect to enjoy the art but I quite liked it. I liked how everytime holiday kills someone the panels go gray. I could go on and on on why I love this but go read this for yourself.
Overall amazing book
Basically someone is going around killing a person related to carmine falcone every month on a holiday using a .22 caliber pistol with the tip of a baby bottle used as a silencer
HUGE SPOILERS..
I had my jaw dropped when I found out the killer was Gilda and Harvey, honestly I thought Gilda was a good nice girl I quite liked her innocence but that end scene was crazzyyyyyyy man and Catwoman is so great in this. I also didn’t expect to enjoy the art but I quite liked it. I liked how everytime holiday kills someone the panels go gray. I could go on and on on why I love this but go read this for yourself.
Overall amazing book
rmichno's review against another edition
3.0
Good read but plot was a little confusing. Big reveal at end was interesting but seemed to come out of nowhere.
ostrava's review against another edition
1.0
Two-Face's origins, combined with a plagiary of the Godfather. The art is ugly, characters are unimpressive, story is confusing and dull, and... it was all for nothing. There was no point.
It's just a Batman story. Is that bad? No, but the next one could entertain me at least. These false attempts at maturity are juvenile. I've come out of the reading thinking that there's nothing going on inside of Loeb. Besides Batman, of course. He knows his deal about him, but never gets anywhere with that knowledge because we're not reinventing anything here.
So why do you need almost 400 pages to make a point on how much fun he's to you?
I'm too old to be wasting my time on Batman stories for the sake of them...or rather, and explained in a less elitist fashion, I'm too old to be wasting my time on dishonest comic books.
It's just a Batman story. Is that bad? No, but the next one could entertain me at least. These false attempts at maturity are juvenile. I've come out of the reading thinking that there's nothing going on inside of Loeb. Besides Batman, of course. He knows his deal about him, but never gets anywhere with that knowledge because we're not reinventing anything here.
So why do you need almost 400 pages to make a point on how much fun he's to you?
I'm too old to be wasting my time on Batman stories for the sake of them...or rather, and explained in a less elitist fashion, I'm too old to be wasting my time on dishonest comic books.
anessa's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
ajlevy01's review against another edition
5.0
The Caped Crusader meets the Godfather meets Sherlock Holmes.
Need I say more?
Need I say more?
some_okie_dude27's review against another edition
5.0
"I believe in Harvey Dent."
Belief is all that we have in this world. Gilda states her belief in her husband Harvey Dent, Gordon states his belief in law and order, and of this city, but most importantly Batman states his belief in Harvey Dent, his city, alongside his crusade. Batman's whole crusade is based in the belief that one man can eradicate crime, and it is his obsession with eradicating crime that drives, as well as his belief in his cause. If anything, it shows that if we didn't have belief, that we would go mad,
Being a big Batman fan, friends of mine often ask me what Batman stories that I would recommend to newcomers, it can be a complicated answer since Batman has had plenty of excellent stories over the years. I could mention Alan Moore's seminal work Batman: The Killing Joke, or Frank Miller's Batman: Year One (which I far prefer over his much lauded The Dark Knight Returns), or Grant Morrison's remarkably odd Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. I could also mention Brian Azzerello and Lee Bermejo's Joker (though I guess that's not really a Batman story, is it?) or Scott Snyder's run on the character and so many others, but an easy choice for recommendation is always Loeb and Sale's The Long Halloween.
To call this comic a good Batman comic is too faint a praise for this book, it is good crime fiction. Loeb and Sale have a grasp on the crime genre that are replicated by few other creative duos. I could certainly make the argument that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are far more inventive with the genre, but Loeb and Sale come close in terms of the closeness of their working relationship. Many people have noticed over the years that The Long Halloween has notable similarities with Francis Ford Coppola's crime epic The Godfather, and I can certainly see that from certain lines in the book to the shadowy, gothic atmosphere that pervades both works. I'll quote my good friend Alan on this one and say that they both take a sip from the same creative well. It is funny how The Long Halloween was influenced by cinema, as The Long Halloween has been cited by Christopher Nolan as a seminal influence on his own Dark Knight trilogy and has been cited by Nolan as one of his favorite Batman stories, though sadly Nolan didn't lean into the detective aspect of Batman's character as much, though Matt Reeves seems to have taken a note from this with his new Batman adaptation, which I anxiously await.
What makes The Long Halloween so inventive is its take on the criminal underworld, and its exploration of how normal criminals such as Carmine Falcone or Sal Maroni would react to new 'super criminals.' The way that Loeb builds tension throughout the story of the comic proves just how great of a writer that he can be. He also takes a note from Frank Miller's Year One and makes Gotham City into a more realistic, grounded city, while also never failing to capture the theatrics of the Batman mythos, creating a careful balance between these two tones that keeps The Long Halloween from faltering entirely, though sometimes Loeb can get lost with one tone over another. Much of the tension from the series shows how these super criminals begin to drive Gotham into a further state of insanity, and how Batman's appearance has now attracted more insanity to Gotham, rather than giving Gotham a sense of hope in order to end their state of constant misery and struggle.
Much of the tragedy of the book comes from the fall of Harvey Dent, who gradually begins to lose his mind from the stress of the case of the Holiday Killer, the tensions at his home, as well as his burgeoning obsession to take down the Falcone/Maroni crime syndicate, which eventually leads to his transformation into Two Face. Much of the tension that is built throughout the story, asides from the criminals and the so called 'freaks' who are now running amok in Gotham is Harvey's deteriorating sanity and once he's doused with the acid at the trial, it's a breaking point for Harvey that he can never come back from.
Tim Sale once again manages to show himself as one of the best artists in modern comics with this book, bringing a pulpy, yet also gothic tone not unlike one of my other favorite artists Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame. While I do have issues with Sale's body autotomy at times, I do think his idiosyncratic flare continues to have me intrigued and bares comparison to few others like Mignola, Steve Ditko, and Gabriel Ba. His style remains evocative and moody throughout the run of the series, he never gets too wacky and keeps you immersed in the tone and atmosphere of the series. It just shows the power of an inspired artist.
Of course, there are issues that pervade throughout the book. Loeb has a knack for filibustering characters into his books when unsure how to keep the story moving along, it's not as bad as in some of his other works and it mostly works, it does rear its head at times in ways that I felt was unsatisfactory, his depiction of Scarecrow and Mad Hatter, especially when they team up is also lacking, he basically makes them into bumbling, nursury rhyme quoting buffoons, and as someone who really likes Scarecrow that was quite disappointing to see. Sale's design of the Joker is also odd, with his body autotomy occasionally reminding me of my least favorite comics artist Rob Liefeld, and also the story in that issue is lacking, while not horrible, it feels a bit out of place in this mostly serious, grounded story. The final twist is also lacking, while it works thematically in exploring how this new age of Gotham has driven its residents mad alongside the 'super villains' and our heroes, it doesn't quite work when put under intense scrutiny, which leaves me to believe that Jeph Loeb doesn't always know how to wrap up his stories, like with Ken Levine, he relies more on twists that make the story more complicated than a more natural conclusion, nevertheless, most of these complaints are mere small gripes in comparison to the heaps of praise I level at this series.
In the end, The Long Halloween showcases the excellence that we can get when we get a writer and artist duo who are profoundly good at their crafts, and both compliment each other beautifully.
Belief is all that we have in this world. Gilda states her belief in her husband Harvey Dent, Gordon states his belief in law and order, and of this city, but most importantly Batman states his belief in Harvey Dent, his city, alongside his crusade. Batman's whole crusade is based in the belief that one man can eradicate crime, and it is his obsession with eradicating crime that drives, as well as his belief in his cause. If anything, it shows that if we didn't have belief, that we would go mad,
Being a big Batman fan, friends of mine often ask me what Batman stories that I would recommend to newcomers, it can be a complicated answer since Batman has had plenty of excellent stories over the years. I could mention Alan Moore's seminal work Batman: The Killing Joke, or Frank Miller's Batman: Year One (which I far prefer over his much lauded The Dark Knight Returns), or Grant Morrison's remarkably odd Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. I could also mention Brian Azzerello and Lee Bermejo's Joker (though I guess that's not really a Batman story, is it?) or Scott Snyder's run on the character and so many others, but an easy choice for recommendation is always Loeb and Sale's The Long Halloween.
To call this comic a good Batman comic is too faint a praise for this book, it is good crime fiction. Loeb and Sale have a grasp on the crime genre that are replicated by few other creative duos. I could certainly make the argument that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are far more inventive with the genre, but Loeb and Sale come close in terms of the closeness of their working relationship. Many people have noticed over the years that The Long Halloween has notable similarities with Francis Ford Coppola's crime epic The Godfather, and I can certainly see that from certain lines in the book to the shadowy, gothic atmosphere that pervades both works. I'll quote my good friend Alan on this one and say that they both take a sip from the same creative well. It is funny how The Long Halloween was influenced by cinema, as The Long Halloween has been cited by Christopher Nolan as a seminal influence on his own Dark Knight trilogy and has been cited by Nolan as one of his favorite Batman stories, though sadly Nolan didn't lean into the detective aspect of Batman's character as much, though Matt Reeves seems to have taken a note from this with his new Batman adaptation, which I anxiously await.
What makes The Long Halloween so inventive is its take on the criminal underworld, and its exploration of how normal criminals such as Carmine Falcone or Sal Maroni would react to new 'super criminals.' The way that Loeb builds tension throughout the story of the comic proves just how great of a writer that he can be. He also takes a note from Frank Miller's Year One and makes Gotham City into a more realistic, grounded city, while also never failing to capture the theatrics of the Batman mythos, creating a careful balance between these two tones that keeps The Long Halloween from faltering entirely, though sometimes Loeb can get lost with one tone over another. Much of the tension from the series shows how these super criminals begin to drive Gotham into a further state of insanity, and how Batman's appearance has now attracted more insanity to Gotham, rather than giving Gotham a sense of hope in order to end their state of constant misery and struggle.
Much of the tragedy of the book comes from the fall of Harvey Dent, who gradually begins to lose his mind from the stress of the case of the Holiday Killer, the tensions at his home, as well as his burgeoning obsession to take down the Falcone/Maroni crime syndicate, which eventually leads to his transformation into Two Face. Much of the tension that is built throughout the story, asides from the criminals and the so called 'freaks' who are now running amok in Gotham is Harvey's deteriorating sanity and once he's doused with the acid at the trial, it's a breaking point for Harvey that he can never come back from.
Tim Sale once again manages to show himself as one of the best artists in modern comics with this book, bringing a pulpy, yet also gothic tone not unlike one of my other favorite artists Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame. While I do have issues with Sale's body autotomy at times, I do think his idiosyncratic flare continues to have me intrigued and bares comparison to few others like Mignola, Steve Ditko, and Gabriel Ba. His style remains evocative and moody throughout the run of the series, he never gets too wacky and keeps you immersed in the tone and atmosphere of the series. It just shows the power of an inspired artist.
Of course, there are issues that pervade throughout the book. Loeb has a knack for filibustering characters into his books when unsure how to keep the story moving along, it's not as bad as in some of his other works and it mostly works, it does rear its head at times in ways that I felt was unsatisfactory, his depiction of Scarecrow and Mad Hatter, especially when they team up is also lacking, he basically makes them into bumbling, nursury rhyme quoting buffoons, and as someone who really likes Scarecrow that was quite disappointing to see. Sale's design of the Joker is also odd, with his body autotomy occasionally reminding me of my least favorite comics artist Rob Liefeld, and also the story in that issue is lacking, while not horrible, it feels a bit out of place in this mostly serious, grounded story. The final twist is also lacking, while it works thematically in exploring how this new age of Gotham has driven its residents mad alongside the 'super villains' and our heroes, it doesn't quite work when put under intense scrutiny, which leaves me to believe that Jeph Loeb doesn't always know how to wrap up his stories, like with Ken Levine, he relies more on twists that make the story more complicated than a more natural conclusion, nevertheless, most of these complaints are mere small gripes in comparison to the heaps of praise I level at this series.
In the end, The Long Halloween showcases the excellence that we can get when we get a writer and artist duo who are profoundly good at their crafts, and both compliment each other beautifully.
brennenpeterson's review against another edition
5.0
Feels like an all-encompassing quintessential Batman story. Can see the influence this had.
iknewziggy's review against another edition
5.0
Re-read before reading sequel. Easy to see how much this influenced The Dark Knight movie.