Batman: The Long Halloween is probably my favorite graphic novel. It is written by Jeph Loeb and was published in installments that ran from 1996-1997. I haven't read too many of the Batman comics over at DC but I have always loved the character of Batman ever since I was a little kid. Maybe it was because my Dad used to give me packs of Batman bubble gum cards from the 1st Batman live action movie when he got home from work. Or maybe it was because I was obsessed with watching reruns of the Adam West Batman TV show while my mom made dinner when I was a kid. However, I can safely say it was Batman: The Animated Series that cemented me as fan of the character(as I am sure it did for many in my generation).
Somehow or another I ended in possession of a copy of Batman: The Long Halloween(I really don't recall how I ended up with that particular book). And I remember putting it down after reading it and thinking, "Now that's a Batman story."
The story takes place in the early career of Batman. His infamous rogues gallery of villains such as the Joker, Poison Ivy, and The Riddler have yet to take over Gotham. Instead Gotham is still run by mobsters, in particular The Falcone crime family. Batman and Jim Gordon, who is just a police captain still, are more concerned with taking down the mob than stopping the Joker or the Mad Hatter's latest scheme. In fact The Falcone Empire has such a strangle hold on Gotham that a young Jim Gordon and Batman make a pact along with the District Attorney Harvey Dent to work together to do whatever it takes to bring The Falcone's down and remove their influence on Gotham City. Even if it means bending the laws as long as they aren't outright broken. Things start to derail though when a serial killer begins targeting high profile mobsters on holidays. I'll leave the rest to readers because the conclusion is a powerhouse one.
The story overall is filled with mystery and has a film noir feel to it. The colorful rogues gallery that Batman is known for contrasts with the sinister mobsters leaving a realistic haunting feel to the evil lurking throughout the story. Even the beautiful artwork by Tim Sale is full of shadows. There are nods to popular darker cinematic master pieces of past decades. For instance a nod to Silence of the Lambs when Batman talks with an incarcerated serial killer through a wall of glass to gain insights into the Holiday serial killer they are trying to track down. All of this along with the dark and foreboding tones that run throughout the book keeps the reader unsettled and lets them know that this story has no such cliched "good triumphs and heroes win the day" conclusion.
Instead the story is a tale of obsession. Obsession over power, obsession for your cause. It pits the team of Batman/Gordon/Dent, obsessed with ridding the city of crime, against the criminals who seek power at any cost over the same city. But since both sides are insistent on not resting until their will prevails the conflict creates sparks that end up setting a fire ablaze that consumes all involved.
I love the story for it's rich emotional drama and interplay of characters all blindly hell bent on getting what they want before they can find any peace within themselves. After all, isn't that what Batman is all about at the core. The angst and sorrow are palatable in this particular story and it proves to be a very cathartic and poignant tale. In these current times I also find it almost a cautionary tale. Even if your intentions are virtuous, when you blindly set an unbending will to see your cause through it may in the end burn you and what you love, as it sadly did for these characters.
Overall though I recommend Batman: The Long Halloween to anyone who is a Batman fan, a noir fan, or just a fan of emotional stories about the prices we pay to get what we want or hold onto what we have.
