Taking place during Batman's early days of crime fighting, The Long Halloween tells the story of a mysterious killer named Holiday, who murders people on holidays, one each month. Working with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Captain James Gordon, Batman races against the calendar as he tries to discover who Holiday is before he claims his next victim each month, while attempting to stop the crime war between two of Gotham City's most powerful families, Maroni and Falcone. This novel also acted as a re-introduction to the DC Universe for one of Batman's most elusive foes, Calendar Man, who knows the true identity of the Holiday killer but refuses to share this with Batman. He instead riddles and gives Batman hints from his Arkham Asylum cell. The story also ties into the events that transform Harvey Dent into Batman's enemy, Two-Face.[2] Enemies such as Scarecrow, the Joker, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and the Riddler, among others, also make appearances.
In continuity terms, The Long Halloween continues the story of Batman: Year One for the characters of Batman, Gordon, Catwoman, and Falcone, and is considered to replace the earlier effort Batman: Year Two in the character's continuity. It also revolves around the transition of Batman's rogues gallery from plainclothes, real-world style mobsters to full-fledged supervillains and tells the origin of Two-Face, incorporating elements of the story in Batman: Annual #14.
Jeph Loeb has stated that the genesis of the story was influenced by writer Mark Waid, who, when told that Loeb was working on a story set in the Year One continuity, suggested focusing on Harvey Dent's years prior to becoming Two-Face, as that had not been depicted in depth since the original Year One story.[4]
Plot
At a wedding in June, Gotham City mob boss Carmine Falcone tries to pressure Bruce Wayne to help launder his money, but Bruce refuses. Later, Bruce (as Batman) returns to investigate Falcone's penthouse but finds Catwoman similarly engaged. Batman meets with district attorney Harvey Dent and police captain Jim Gordon. The three agree to a pact to end Falcone's crime reign, bending but never breaking the law to achieve it.
Bruce, on the board of the Gotham City Bank, uses his sway and influence as Batman to oust the current president Richard Daniel and take over to rid the bank of its Falcone money. Under orders from his uncle, Falcone's nephew, Johnny Viti, assassinates Daniel. Viti himself is killed on Halloween by an unknown assailant, leaving behind an untraceable pistol, a nipple from a baby bottle used as a crude silencer, and a jack-o-lantern. Catwoman leads Batman to a warehouse where Falcone has been forced to stash his funds. Batman and Dent set the warehouse on fire to destroy the money. Falcone responds by hiring a gang of Irish hitmen to destroy Dent's home with a bomb, but he and his wife Gilda survive. On Thanksgiving, the hitmen themselves are killed by an unknown agent who leaves the same type of pistol and silencer behind, along with a Thanksgiving decoration. The killer is dubbed “Holiday” by the media. Milos Grappa, Falcone's bodyguard, is killed similarly on Christmas. Holiday is believed to be a rival of the Falcone family.
On New Year's Eve, Batman stops the Joker from using deadly laughing gas to kill everyone in Gotham Square. Meanwhile, Dent's corrupt assistant, Vernon Fields, finds evidence supposedly linking Falcone to Wayne. Aboard the Falcone yacht, Falcone's son, Alberto, is killed by Holiday on New Year's Eve. Over the next few months, Holiday's targets change to that of the Maronis, a rival crime gang in Gotham. A war between the Falcones and Maronis breaks out, and Falcone is forced to turn to enlist Gotham's "freaks" (such as the Riddler, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter) to hold his ground. Per Falcone's instructions, Poison Ivy ensnares Bruce Wayne on Valentine's Day, coercing him into laundering money for Falcone. This unintentionally takes Batman out of the equation. It is not until Saint Patrick's Day that Selina Kyle figures out what has happened to him and, as Catwoman, frees him from Poison Ivy's clutches. The Riddler becomes the first target to be spared by Holiday on April Fool's Day, which Batman comes to suspect as being a message from Holiday to Falcone.
Meanwhile, the pistols left behind by Holiday and the bullets gleaned from Holiday's victims are traced to a Chinatown neighborhood, but the gunmaker is found dead as Holiday's victim on Mother's Day. On the following day, Dent follows up on Vernon's investigation and has Bruce arrested, claiming that as Bruce's father Thomas Wayne saved Falcone's life after he was shot, that Bruce is loyal to the Falcones. However, Bruce's butler, Alfred, testifies that Thomas Wayne's report never came to light due to police corruption, which helps declare Bruce innocent, especially in light of the murder of the Gotham City coroner on Independence Day.
Sal Maroni, having been arrested earlier, offers to testify against Falcone after his father is killed on Father's Day. During the trial, he throws a vial of acid—secretly given to him earlier by Vernon—at Dent, disfiguring half of Dent's face. Dent is rushed to a hospital but escapes into the sewers, befriending Solomon Grundy when he encounters him. Gordon deduces Dent may be Holiday, but Batman refuses to believe it until he can talk to Dent himself.
After Falcone's sister, Carla Viti, is murdered on Falcone's birthday in August, Batman questions Julian Gregory Day, the Calendar Man, on where to find Dent. Day suggests that, since it is Labor Day, Holiday will try to kill Maroni. Batman stages a plan with Gordon to move Maroni, giving Holiday the means and opportunity. During the transfer, Holiday murders Maroni, but Batman – having disguised himself as one of the security guards – takes him down. Holiday is revealed to be Alberto Falcone, son of Carmine Falcone, who had faked his death.
On Halloween, Dent resurfaces as Two-Face. He releases most of the super-criminals from Arkham Asylum, then seeks out and kills both Carmine Falcone and Vernon, despite Batman's attempts to stop him. Falcone's daughter, Sofia, is also apparently killed in a struggle with Catwoman.
His revenge complete, Two-Face turns himself into Gordon and Batman but tells them that there were two Holiday killers. Gordon is confused, as Alberto has already confessed to all of the killings. While Batman initially dismisses Two-Face's statement, he points out the fact that Two-Face, having killed Falcone and the last of his collaborators on Halloween, could technically be considered Holiday. While Two-Face is imprisoned at Arkham along with the recaptured criminals, Alberto can delay his execution based on insanity.
Months later, on Christmas Eve, Gilda is packing boxes to leave Gotham but takes one box to her furnace, containing a pistol, a hat, and what appears to be her husband's clothing. As she burns the items, she thinks about how she took it upon herself to start the Holiday killings to try to end Falcone's hold on Gotham and reduce her husband's workload so that they would have time together. She has the wild suspicion that Alberto was lying, instead choosing to believe that Dent himself had taken up the killings on New Year's Eve and that the two were finally working together by sharing secrets. Nevertheless, she is content with Alberto as their scapegoat, knowing the authorities are incapable of finding the other Holiday killer without Dent on their side and states that she still believes her husband can be cured.
Noir Edition, hardcover ( ISBN1401248837), DC Comics, 2014.
Deluxe Edition, hardcover ( ISBN1779512694), DC Comics, 2021.
The Batman Box Set ( ISBN1779514298) was released in March 2022, collecting trade paperbacks of The Long Halloween, Year One, and Ego and Other Tails in a slipcase with art by Jim Lee. Director Matt Reeves cited the three graphic novels as the major influences for The Batman.
Critical reaction
Batman: The Long Halloween has received widespread critical acclaim and is praised as one of the definitive Batman stories to date due to Jeph Loeb's involving storyline and Tim Sale's dark, moody art.
Hilary Goldstein of IGN Comics praised Loeb's story as "tight, engrossing, and intelligent writing that never betrays the characters", adding that he "mixes Batman and Bruce Wayne's lives as well as anyone has, and brilliantly demonstrates the bond of brotherhood shared by Batman, Jim Gordon and then District Attorney Harvey Dent."[5] Goldstein later ranked The Long Halloween #4 on a list of the 25 best Batman graphic novels.[6]
Yannick Belzil of The 11th Hour said that "Jeph Loeb has crafted a story that is unique to the characters. It's a complex murder mystery, but it's also a Batman story." Belzil added: "Buoyed by a film noir-ish plot that features a Gothic twist on the gangster/murder mystery plot, terrific character-based subplots, and beautiful, cinematic art, [The Long Halloween is] an addition to your collection that you won't regret."[7]
The New Batman Adventures episode "Mean Seasons" adapts some elements of The Long Halloween storyline, most notably the antagonist committing crimes every holiday.
Films
The Long Halloween was one of the comics that influenced Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy,[9] particularly The Dark Knight (2008), which featured Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face. Dent forms a pact with Gordon and Batman to bring down the mobs that have taken the place of Carmine Falcone's crime family. Both stories involve the mob laundering their money into the Gotham banks and the three protagonists are trying to prevent it. The scene where the Joker sets fire to the mob's money is similar to the scene where Batman and Dent burn Falcone's stashed money at the docks. Similar to the repercussions to the Joker's killing spree, Batman sidetracks his work against the mob and focuses on catching the Holiday killer. Gordon's plan to disguise himself as a S.W.A.T officer during Dent's transportation to the county jail is similar to Batman's plan to lure out Holiday during Sal Maroni's transfer. Dent transforms into Two-Face, he becomes disillusioned with the law and decides to take matters into his own hands by murdering Sal Maroni. He also gets his revenge on the corrupt associates who were involved in the attack that led to his disfigurement by deciding their fate with a flip of his coin. A quote from the graphic novel, "I believe in Harvey Dent", is used as Dent's campaign slogan in the film.
The Long Halloween serves as one of the primary inspirations for the story of The Batman (2022), directed by Matt Reeves. The film similarly depicts a more inexperienced version of the titular character in his second year of crimefighting, as well as illustrates the gradual transition of some supporting characters in Gotham City such as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin from more grounded individuals into the fully formed characters they come to be in the comic books. It also shares a similar tone influenced by noir film and detective stories, as well as introducing Batman as closely cooperating with the Gotham City Police Department and having a strong relationship with James Gordon prior to his becoming Commissioner.[19] The film also features minor subplots of Selina Kyle taking interest in Carmine Falcone due in part to his knowledge of her parentage and the question of the Wayne family's honor having ties to the Falcones and doing business with them.
Video games
The 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City has an unlockable skin for Catwoman based on her appearance in The Long Halloween.[20]
For the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins, a pre-order bonus pack contained an optional suit for Batman based on his appearance in The Long Halloween.[21]
In Batman: Arkham Knight, upon finding the third victim in the "Perfect Crime" side mission, Alfred will tell Batman that the events of this mission resemble a serial killing case he conducted early in his career as the caped vigilante that coincidentally also occurred on Halloween, recalling that it was "a long one". This is a reference to The Long Halloween, more specifically the events of the Holiday killings. The "Flip of a Coin" story pack also includes references to the comic, such as a gun with a baby bottle nipple in a display case at Two-Face's office.
Related Research Articles
Batman: Year One is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli. Year One was originally published by DC Comics in Batman #404–407 in 1987. There have been several reprints of the story: a hardcover, multiple trade paperbacks, several deluxe editions in hardcover and paperback format, and an absolute edition. Year One was also adapted into an animated feature in 2011, after efforts to adapt it into a live-action film were cancelled following the failure of 1997's Batman & Robin.
Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #66. As one of Batman's most enduring enemies, Two-Face belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery.
Batman: Hush is an American comic book story arc published by DC Comics featuring the superhero Batman. It was published in monthly installments within the comic book series Batman, running from issue #608–619 in October 2002 until September 2003. The story arc was written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Jim Lee, inked by Scott Williams, and colored by Alex Sinclair, under the editorship of Bob Schreck.
Carmine Falcone is a fictional supervillain in DC Comics, portrayed as a powerful mob boss, an enemy of Batman, and a friend of the Wayne family. He has also been depicted in some versions as the illegitimate father of Catwoman.
Gillian B. Loeb is a fictional character in the DC Universe who serves as an enemy to Batman's ally James "Jim" Gordon in DC Comics publications.
Batman: Dark Victory is a 14-part American comic book limited series published by DC Comics, featuring the superhero Batman. The series, which ran from 1999 until 2000, was written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale, and it serves as a sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween. Batman: Dark Victory takes place primarily four to five years into Batman's career as a vigilante crimefighter. The plot centers on a series of murders involving Gotham City police officers by a mysterious serial killer only known as the Hangman. Central to the storyline is a territory war between Two-Face and the remnants of the Falcone mob, led by Sofia Falcone.
Hush is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, the character first appeared in Batman #609 in January 2003 as part of the twelve-issue storyline Batman: Hush. Hush serves as a criminal foil to the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
Calendar Man is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, as an enemy of the superhero Batman, belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery. Calendar Man is known for committing crimes that correspond with holidays and significant dates. He often wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. His name, in itself, is a joke, referencing both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. In his debut, the character was presented as a joke villain, but in later years, writers developed Calendar Man as a dark, disturbed criminal who toys with Batman.
Sofia Falcone is a villain appearing in DC Comics, primarily in association with the character Batman. Debuting in the 1996–97 comic book limited series Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, she is introduced as a member of the Falcone crime family, who assists her father Carmine Falcone in unearthing the identity of the "Holiday Killer"—later revealed to be Sofia's own brother Alberto Falcone, a mass-murderer who had been indiscriminately killing Gotham City's citizens in correlation with holidays in the yearly calendar. In the 1999-2000 limited series Batman: Dark Victory which served as a continuation of the arc established in The Long Halloween, Sofia is revealed as the identity behind the murderer known under the alias the Hangman, who had spent over a year targeting and eliminating various members of the Gotham City Police Department, notably in association with former district attorney-turned criminal, Harvey Dent / Two-Face, who ends up killing her during a lengthy confrontation with Batman himself.
Rachel Dawes is a fictional character who first appeared in Christopher Nolan's 2005 feature film Batman Begins. She was portrayed in that film by Katie Holmes, with Emma Lockhart as a younger version of the character in early scenes. Holmes also voiced the character in the video game adaptation. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Holmes in the 2008 sequel The Dark Knight after Holmes chose not to reprise the role. Gyllenhaal also appeared as Dawes on the viral marketing website I Believe in Harvey Dent, giving Harvey Dent her endorsement in the District Attorney election.
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Gilda Dent, occasionally referred to as Grace, is a fictional character who has appeared in Batman comic books since Detective Comics #66. Associated with her fiancé Harvey Dent, who becomes the criminal mastermind Two-Face, she has since been a recurring character throughout various Batman stories involving him. Her largest role is in the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale collaboration Batman: The Long Halloween and she was voiced by Julie Nathanson in the animated adaptation. Her role as Dent's fiancé in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight was instead filled by the original character of Rachel Dawes, portrayed by Katie Holmes and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Alberto Falcone is a fictional comic book villain appearing in books published by DC Comics, in particular the Batman books. In addition to being a mobster, he has also made appearances as the Holiday Killer, a serial killer featured in Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory.
Salvatore Vincent Maroni is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The substantial character is portrayed as a powerful mob boss and gangster of Italian descent in Gotham City and an enemy of Batman. Maroni is most famous for disfiguring Harvey Dent, setting the stage for the young district attorney's transformation into the supervillain Two-Face.
Hamilton Hill is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a known Mayor of Gotham City and an adversary of Batman.
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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. 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.
Mario Falcone is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the son of Gotham City mob boss Carmine Falcone, the brother of Alberto Falcone and Sofia Falcone, and the uncle of Kitrina Falcone.
The character Two-Face was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #66. However, he did not appear outside comics until half a century later in Batman: The Animated Series. Two-Face has since been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, such as feature films, television series and video games. Two-Face has been voiced by Richard Moll in the DC Animated Universe, Troy Baker in the Batman: Arkham series, Billy Dee Williams in The Lego Batman Movie, and William Shatner in Batman vs. Two-Face. His live-action portrayals include Billy Dee Williams in Batman (1989), Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever, Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight, and Nicholas D'Agosto in the television series Gotham. In 2009, Two-Face was ranked #12 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.
Batman: The Long Halloween is a 2021 American two-part animated direct-to-video superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, based on the DC Comics storyline of the same name. Part 1 is the 44th film, and Part 2 is the 45th film, of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, with both parts serving as the third and fourth installments of the Tomorrowverse. The film is directed by Chris Palmer and stars the voices of Jensen Ackles, Josh Duhamel and Naya Rivera in her final film. The film is dedicated to Rivera following her death the year prior. In both parts of the film, Batman attempts to unravel the mystery of murders committed on holidays throughout the year, and uncover the true identity of the serial killer Holiday.
References
↑ Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p.275. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. The acclaimed team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale reunited to chronicle a dark year of the Dark Knight's past with Batman: The Long Halloween, a thirteen-part limited series.
Publications are listed alphabetically by published titles. Storylines are listed in publication order. Compiled without respect for canon or "current" continuity.
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