Since Easter just ended I thought I would talk about another favorite comic book of mine. I don't care if you don't celebrate Easter...just listen up okay.
I never really was a DC fan and I still can't really get into their stuff, but there have been a few gems that I have randomly picked up. This is where you go, "What crazy DC book is he talking about? The Matter-Eater Lad comic?" Nope. I am talking about a pretty well known book about Batman titled "The Long Halloween." I bet you are thinking "Lame-O" right about now. If you have read it; good. If you haven't read it; pay attention.
"The Long Halloween" was originally a 13 issue miniseries beginning and ending on Halloween and written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale. They had done some previous Batman stories that I will eventually hit upon at another time. The art is beautiful and the writing is superb. Presently Tim Sale is near or at the top of my favorite casual current artists. The way Tim draws The Joker is just creepy and portrays the madness inside him. If you have the graphic novel check out pages 114-115 and and be sure to look at page 345 when you get to it, but don't look ahead at 345 unless you want something ruined.
"The Long Halloween" takes place during the Batman: Year One storyline or at least near to it. Two-Face is still Harvey Dent and Gordon is still Captain Gordon rather than Commissioner. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone is one of the lead villians in the story and the story mainly deals with somebody killing members of the Falcone family...at the beginning. The first killing is on Halloween and a killing happens on every major holiday afterwards, once a month. The killer leaves behind a .22 caliber pistol, a baby bottle nipple used as a silencer, and a trinket symbolizing the holiday. As the plot twists and turns more gang members die (including the rival Maroni gang) and you don't know who is doing the killing.
Throughout the story Batman will face many of his major enemies including Catwoman, Poison Ivy, The Scarecrow, among many more. I think you may be surprised by the ending even though it is made to be pretty obvious throughout the story.
Anyways, read it and tell me what you think. I know you will like it.
2 comments:
Yeah I was somewhat disappointed by the surprise ending as it was the same surprise ending used in the JLA graphic novel "Identity Crisis." I mean come on...repitition!
Other than that it was good. A much better story than Identity Crisis, and Batman was grittier but not "McFarlane grittier."
I liked it as well, although it was definately only worth one read for me because once you know the secret it isn't worth reading. My one complaint with the art was the totally hokey Catwoman costume... I mean Come'on! What is with all these crappy Catwoman re-does. Keep the thigh highs but loose the extra big ears and let your hair down like in the good ole days.
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