This time I thought I would be a bit different. I thought that I would hit you with a two part recommendation so I can dissect both of them. Now I am cheating a little bit here because the two I have chosen are essentially two halves of the same story.
As we have previously covered, I love Graphic Novels. Comics will always be my first and truest love when it comes to reading.
Now you might be forgiven for thinking I am a Marvel guy based on my previous posts.
I don’t personally buy into the whole DC vs Marvel narrative, I just like good comics, hence why I am a DC guy! (I kid, I kid, I am a humble neutral in this conflict). I won’t deny that Batman is my favourite hero though. Partly because in a world of Men of Steel, Amazons, Gods and Monsters he is just a man. A normal (admittedly incredibly fit and well trained) man.
No powers. Just his incredible wealth, mind and drive for justice that compel him to dress as a giant bat and fight crime.
Partly because he has had a host of wonderfully talented artists be it Jim Lee, Tony S. Daniel, Greg Capullo and so many more. Each have put their own take on the character.
Partly because, quite frankly, there have been more of the all time great stories than I can count in the pages of the Batman Titles. From the true classics of Alan Moore’s Killing Joke & Frank Miller’s Year One, to the modern greats of Grant Morrison’s death and rebirth of Bruce Wayne & Scott Snyder’s epic New 52 run there more than you can shake a stick at.
Jake's copy of A Long HalloweenI have gone with one (well, two) of these Classics. The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.
There’s a joke/debate in the comic community that with prep time Batman can beat anyone.
To be fair this is mainly because nowadays we have a Bruce Wayne who has been Batman for years, so has experienced pretty much everything Gotham City can throw at him while training four/five (damn reboots) Robin’s as his sidekick.
What we have now is the finished article, the real McCoy so to speak.
That’s why the stories set during Year One & Two of Bruce being Batman have obtained quasi-mythical status.
We don’t get the complete Batman, we get a man starting his legacy.
In my opinion the best Year One & Two based story is Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Loeb has also written the seminal Batman piece Hush, as well as runs on Hulk and The Ultimates for Marvel. Sale is quite frankly one of the most gifted artists in the industry.
The Long Halloween starts with Bruce at a wedding in June, resisting the attempt of Mob Boss Carmine Falcone to pressure him to help Falcone with money laundering. As he and his date Selina Kyle leave they find District Attorney Harvey Dent in the carpark battered and bruised by Falcone’s goons.
Our trio swiftly escape. Later that evening Dent meets with Captain Gordon (not yet Commissioner)and The Caped Crusader himself, The Batman. The three agree to a pact. Too long has Falcone abused Gotham for his own criminal ends. Tonight the three fight back to bring down the kingpin of Gotham’s Underworld. They are willing to bend the law to this end but not break it
Jake's copy of A Long Halloween
Fast forward to October and Bruce is enacting this plan by using his influence at The Gotham City Bank to force out the president of the board who happens to be under Falcone’s control. Falcone won’t tolerate failure so sends his nephew Jonny Vitti to deal with the problem. Being a mob hitman it’s quite predictable how he deals with said problem. On Halloween Vitti gets a taste of his own medicine from a figure in a wide brimmed hat, heavy coat, and a pistol with the serial number filed off, silenced by using the top of a baby’s bottle. Finally our killer leaves a jack o’lantern at the scene. So The Long Halloween begins.
What we get in The Long Halloween is a detective story. It’s The Dark Knight doing what he does best. Being a detective. Yet it constantly reminds us that this Batman is still in his infancy.
He fails to figure out the killer's identity before they can strike again, this time on Thanksgiving, earning them the moniker of The Holiday Killer.
While Bruce tries to hunt down Holiday we see the growing distractions of the costumed criminals that have started to crawl out the woodwork with the arrival of The Bat.
He is almost ignorant to the fact that he is the flame drawing the moths towards him.
Ultimately Batman’s deductions lead him to someone unexpected as the killer, yet we also get one of the formative events of his early days wearing The Cowl. One that will haunt him both figuratively and literally for the rest of his career.
The Long Halloween is truly a brilliant piece of literary work. Its creative team truly understood what they wanted to achieve with this story, so they made sure they did so with deliberate care.
In terms of writing Loeb tries to keep you focused on the case, but uses the murders as an opportunity to showcase the evolving face of Gotham’s.
How it changes from being dominated by gun toting gangsters in fedoras to the emergence of costumed/super-powered ‘Freaks’, and what The Mob are willing to do to survive in this brave new world.
Entry for Antihero in The Oxford Dictionary from Oxford Reference Online
Through all of this though he impresses on us the vulnerability of Bruce. He proactively shows us his hero's shortcomings. This isn’t done to humiliate Batman, but to remind us that he isn’t the legend we have come to know. This is a rawer, more inexperienced Bruce, he will make mistakes because he is only human. Loeb wants us to remember this because ultimately Bruce is at his most relatable when he is at his most fallible. It also raises the stakes because you can’t be sure it will be the same old ‘lol Batman wins’ scenario.
Jake's copy of A Long HalloweenThe artwork is beautifully illustrated. Sale creates this contrast between the dark and grim Mobsters and the bright, colourful supervillains. The gangsters fill you with a dark, ominous feeling, while the costumed crowd draw your eyes like the bright, flashy apex predators they are. Both fill you with dread, just in completely different ways. The old school does it in an ominous way, while the new school does it in a breathtaking way.
His design of Batman straddles this line in a way no other character does. Both dark and threatening, yet still fantastical like the costumed criminals he has inspired. There’s also the way Bruce is drawn out of costume. Emphasis goes on showing us just how human he is, the scars, the wounds, these are the price of protecting Gotham.
As a stand alone The Long Halloween is an amazing read, blurring the lines between realism and the fantastic which helps create a sense of a Gotham in transition with an under prepared protector to keep the city safe. It’s a raw Batman in an evolving world where it’s fly or die. I will be back with part 2 very soon.
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