Batman: Haunted Knight

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Batman: Haunted Knight
Batman Haunted Knight cover.jpg
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
Publication date1996
Main character(s) Batman
Scarecrow
Mad Hatter
Creative team
Written by Jeph Loeb
Artist(s) Tim Sale
Collected editions
Trade Paperback ISBN   1563892731
Trade Paperback (Titan Books) ISBN   1852867396
Absolute Edition ISBN   1401251226
2018 Trade Paperback ISBN   1401284868
Deluxe Edition ISBN   177951638X

Batman: Haunted Knight is an anthology trade paperback published by DC Comics in 1996. It reprinted three one-shot specials from the previous three years (three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials ). Each of the stories was written by Jeph Loeb and featured art by Tim Sale. The popularity of these three stories led to the three miniseries Batman: The Long Halloween #1-13, Batman: Dark Victory #0-13 and Catwoman: When in Rome #1-6.

Contents

Plot

During the story "Fears", Batman is hunting down and trying to capture the Scarecrow. As the title suggests, fear plays a large part in the story, with Batman nearly dying of fear while trapped in a large, poisonous thorn maze.

"Madness" tells the story of Captain James Gordon's daughter, Barbara, being kidnapped by the Mad Hatter and forced to participate in a twisted tea party with other kidnapped children. Batman and Gordon finally save Barbara and bring down the Mad Hatter.

"Ghosts" is a Batman universe version of A Christmas Carol , with Bruce's father Thomas Wayne taking the place of Jacob Marley, and the three spirits being Poison Ivy (the Ghost of Christmas Past), the Joker (the Ghost of Christmas Present), and a Grim Reaper figure (the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) who turns out to be Batman's ghost. The message from the spirits is that Bruce should not let Batman take over his entire life.

Background

The graphic novel reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #1 (1993), Batman: Madness - A Legends Of The Dark Knight Halloween Special (1994), and Batman: Ghosts - A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (1995) written by Loeb and art by Sale respectively. These stories were specials and spin-offs of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight series.

Timeline of events

Little is known of when the stories in Haunted Knight take place in the Loeb/Sale Batman series:

Collected editions

The entire series has been collected in trade paperbacks, an absolute edition, and a deluxe edition:

In other media