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Batman: The Long Halloween is an American comic book published by DC Comics. The murder mystery, written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale, is a sequel to Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (1993—1995) and was serialized as a monthly, 13-issue maxiseries from December 1996 to December 1997. Development of The Long Halloween began after editor Archie Goodwin asked Loeb and Sale, who had recently finished the third Legends of the Dark Knight Holiday Special, to explore the character Carmine Falcone from Frank Miller's "Year One" (1987).

Set in Gotham City shortly after "Year One" (1987), The Long Halloween chronicles the year-long efforts of the vigilante Batman, police captain James Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent to topple Falcone's crime empire. However, they are menaced by a serial killer only known as Holiday, who kills mafiosi on holidays, starting with Halloween. Batman races against the calendar as he tries to catch Holiday, while attempting to stop a gang war between Falcone and his rival Sal Maroni's crime empire. Members of Batman's rogues gallery, including the Joker, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and the Riddler, make appearances, and the series also retells Dent's transformation into the villain Two-Face. The identity of Holiday is never definitively revealed, as both Falcone's son Alberto and Dent's wife Gilda confess to committing the murders.

Publication history

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Development

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Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the writer and illustrator of Batman: The Long Halloween

The origins of Batman: The Long Halloween can be traced back to Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special, three prestige format comics published by DC Comics annually to coincide with Halloween from 1993 to 1995.[1][2] The three stories, written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale, were overseen by DC editor Archie Goodwin, who paired the two for the project.[1] Shortly after the completion of the 1995 story, Goodwin approached Loeb and Sale at the San Diego Comic-Con and asked if they wanted to do more Batman-related work.[3] Specifically, Goodwin wanted the duo to explore the character Carmine Falcone, who had been introduced in the 1987 Batman storyline "Year One". Frank Miller, who wrote "Year One", had no intention to return to the character, and Goodwin was interested in having Loeb and Sale do so instead.[4] Loeb was quickly fascinated by the idea of blending the tone of crime films with the urban setting of Gotham City, and Miller gave the team permission to use his characters.[4][5]

The Long Halloween takes place over the course of a single year, and each issue is dedicated to a specific holiday. The idea, proposed by Star Reach (1974—1979) creator Mike Friedrich,[4] allowed Loeb to produce a deeper story, as he said: "The bigger the canvas, the more you can throw paint up on it." For instance, the length allowed Loeb and Sale to produce an April Fool's Day issue dedicated to how the Riddler would solve a murder mystery.[5] Writer Mark Waid influenced the development of the story, as when he was told Loeb was working on a story set after "Year One", he suggested focusing on Harvey Dent's years prior to becoming Two-Face.[6] Loeb was also inspired by The Beatles Anthology, a 1995 television documentary about the Beatles depicting how a friendship can deteriorate because one goes on a different path, and the 1972 crime film The Godfather;[7] some of The Long Halloween's events, such as one depicting the murder of a character in a bathtub, bear strong resemblances to scenes from the film.[8] Additionally, he used the series to reintroduce the Calendar Man, whom he based on Hannibal Lecter.[7][9]

Publication

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Synopsis

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At a wedding for his nephew Johnny Viti in June, mobster Carmine Falcone attempts to pressure millionaire Bruce Wayne to help launder money, but Wayne refuses. Wayne, as Batman, is called by the Bat-Signal to meet with district attorney Harvey Dent and Gotham City Police Department captain Jim Gordon, and they form an alliance to end Gotham's organized crime. Wayne, on the board of the Gotham City Bank, uses his sway and his influence as Batman to oust the current president, Richard Daniel, and take over as to rid the bank of the Falcone money it has.

Viti, under orders from Falcone, assassinates Daniel. Viti is killed on Halloween by an unknown assailant, leaving behind an untraceable pistol, a baby bottle nipple silencer, and a jack-o-lantern. Batman, Gordon, and Dent discuss the murder when Batman sees Catwoman lurking nearby. She leads Batman to a warehouse where Falcone has stashed over US$20 million. Batman and Dent set fire to the warehouse and destroy the money. Enraged, Falcone hires "The Irish", a gang of hitmen, to assassinate Dent. The Irish destroy his home, hospitalizing his wife Gilda. On Thanksgiving, the Irish are killed by the assailant, who leaves the same pistol and silencer behind along with a Thanksgiving decoration. Falcone's bodyguard is killed in a similar manner on Christmas. Gotham's news press dubs the serial killer, believed to be a Falcone rival, "Holiday". Batman begins to consult Arkham Asylum inmate Julian Day / Calendar Man, who knows Holiday's identity but only gives cryptic clues and implies that the killer is both male and female.

On New Year's Eve, Batman stops the Joker from using laughing gas to kill everyone in Gotham Square. Meanwhile, Dent's assistant Vernon Fields finds evidence linking Falcone to Wayne. Aboard the Falcone yacht, Holiday shoots Falcone's son Alberto and pushes him overboard. Over the next few months, Holiday begins to target the Maronis, a rival crime gang in Gotham. A war between the Falcones and Maronis breaks out, and Falcone is forced to turn to Gotham's "freaks" like the Riddler, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, and Poison Ivy to hold his ground. On April Fool's Day, the Riddler becomes the first target Holdiay spares. Batman begins to suspect Dent may be Holiday, but does not follow his instincts because of the pact they entered.

The pistols Holiday leaves are traced to a Chinatown neighborhood, but Holiday kills the gunmaker on Mother's Day. Dent follows up from Fields's investigation and has Wayne arrested, claiming that as his father Dr. Thomas Wayne saved Falcone's life after he was shot, Bruce is loyal to the Falcones. Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth testifies Thomas' report never came to light due to police corruption, embarrassing the prosecution. Maroni scion Sal Maroni, having been captured earlier, offers to testify against Falcone. During the trial, he throws a vial of acid, given to him by Fields while in transit to the courtroom, at Dent, disfiguring half of Dent's face. Dent is rushed to a hospital, but stabs a doctor and escapes to the sewers, where he befriends the zombie Solomon Grundy.

Gordon deduces Dent may be Holiday, but Batman still refuses to believe it until he can talk to Dent himself. On Labor Day, Batman asks Day where to find Dent, and Day suggests that Holiday will try to kill Maroni. Batman stages a plan with Gordon to move Maroni, giving Holiday the opportunity. During the transfer, Holiday appears and kills Maroni, but Batman subdues him and unmasks him as Alberto. Batman realizes Alberto faked his death to evade suspicion, and Gordon places him under arrest. At the police station, Falcone offers to free Alberto by using his influence, but Alberto refuses. He reveals he committed the murders to spite his father, who excluded him from mob activities. Alberto tells Falcone that, as Holiday, he is bigger than the mob, and that Falcone's days of controlling Gotham are over.

On Halloween, Dent resurfaces as Two-Face; leading Batman's rogues gallery, he kills Falcone and Vernon, despite Batman's attempts to stop him. His revenge complete, Two-Face turns himself in to Gordon and Batman, but tells them that there were two Holiday killers. Gordon is confused as Alberto confessed to all the killings, but Batman interprets this as a reference to the fact Dent killed Falcone and Vernon on Halloween. On Christmas Eve, Gilda packs boxes to move away from Gotham, but takes one to her furnace, containing a pistol and a disguise. As she burns the items, she claims that she started the Holiday killings to end Falcone's empire and reduce Dent's workload. She suspects Alberto is lying and that Dent himself had taken up the killings since New Year's Eve. Knowing that Dent can be cured, Gilda states she still believes in Harvey Dent.

Themes and analysis

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Like other Batman stories, duality is one of The Long Halloween's major themes. While the theme typically deals with Wayne's identity as Batman, in The Long Halloween it relates to Dent's descent into villainy and transformation into Two-Face. Various signs indicate Dent's dark side, from him remarking how easy it would be to steal the Falcone money he and Batman burn to Sale's illustrations depicting half of his face obscured by shadows.[8] The Calender Man refers to him as "Har v. Dent" after his transformation, which, according to Maite Molina of ComicsVerse, describes how Dent is at odds with himself before becoming Two-Face; after, "he's free to be whoever he desires."[8] Dent's wife Gilda also displays duality, appearing as an innocent bystander at the beginning before the reveal she may have committed the Holiday killings at the end.

Family is another theme that recurs throughout the story. Molina writes that the series explores the consequences of a parent's choices on their child's life and "sheds light on the imperfections of parents, an aspect a son or daughter may not accept until they are old enough to acknowledge their parents' faults."[8] For instance, Thomas Wayne is human and sympathetic, which carries over to his son, whereas Falcone expresses indifference towards his children, which causes Alberto to become Holiday.[8]

As the ending of The Long Halloween is purposefully left ambiguous, it is open to interpretation. Despite Alberto's confession, Dent's statement and Gilda's monologue at the end of the series, as well as the Calendar Man—who knows Holiday's identity and frequently switches between referring to the killer as a "he" or "she"—suggest he is innocent. Molina interprets the ending this way, arguing Alberto claimed to be Holiday just to spite his father. To her, Holiday is an idea, "an exemplification of Gotham City pushing its citizens to the edge."[8] Conversely, journalists Chad Nevett of Comic Book Resources and Steve Higgins of GraphiContent refer to the notion of Dent and Gilda being Holiday as "crap," finding it illogical since Alberto would then have no reason to assume the moniker. The Wizard staff wrote in January 1998 that they believe both Gilda and Alberto are Holiday and that Falcone orchestrates the killings after New Year's Eve to weaken the Maronis, only for Alberto to turn on his father when he is caught. By 2009, neither Loeb nor Sale had confirmed Holiday's true identity.

Reception and legacy

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Sequels and other media

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References

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  1. ^ a b Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 261.
  2. ^ Goldstein, Hilary (June 14, 2005). "Batman: Haunted Knight". IGN. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  3. ^ Brady 1997, p. 56–60.
  4. ^ a b c Loeb 1999, p. 5–7.
  5. ^ a b Loeb and Sale 1999, p. 12–17
  6. ^ Salisbury 2002, p. 152-165.
  7. ^ a b Fiamma, Andrea (March 11, 2015). "Intagliare la zucca. Storia di Batman: Il lungo Halloween". Fumettologica (in Italian). Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Molina, Maite (June 29, 2018). "A Retrospective on Batman: The Long Halloween". ComicsVerse. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  9. ^ Goldstein, Hilary (June 3, 2005). "The Best & Worst Batman Villains". IGN. Retrieved June 18, 2019.

Bibliography

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