In the world of comics, there are a few titles that deserve to be celebrated. One of these is Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Taking place over the same period of time as Frank Miller’s iconic Batman: Year One, this holiday themed mystery series pits The Dark Knight against some of his most well known enemies as well as a new killer who calls himself Holiday. This anonymous murder strikes on the biggest holidays of the year throughout the 13 issues of the story. Over the next year, we will be taking a look at the issues in order on the holidays they’re set against. Today, Casey Trahan and I celebrate Halloween by taking a look at The Long Halloween Chapter One entitled Crime.
The Long Halloween is an exciting noir style story by the award winning creative team of Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale. The first issue opens on the hottest day of the year, which is also the day of Johnny Viti’s wedding. Viti is the nephew of the notorious crime lord Carmine “The Roman” Falcone. During the wedding, in a dark back room Falcone meets with Bruce Wayne to try and convince him to vote in favor of allow the Gotham City Bank to do business with Falcone imports. Wayne, a member of the Bank’s board of trustees and a strong opponent of The Roman, is unswayed. On his way out of the meeting, Wayne runs into Falcone’s son Alberto (“the good son”) Saline Kyle (a possible love interest) and Harvey Dent (Gotham’s District Attorney) who has been beaten up by some of Falcone’s men. After seeing that Harvey was clearly here to investigate something, and that Falcone obviously didn’t want him poking around, Bruce decides to leave Selina and spend the rest of the evening on his own.
While Bruce prepares to patrol the night as the Dark Knight Detective, Captain Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent have launched an investigation of Falcone on their own. Having the first issue begin this way, instead of with Batman hudling alleyways and running across rooftops, sets the tone of the story as a gritty, Law and Order style mob vs. cop drama unites the worlds of both Bruce Wayne and Batman and gives this Batman story a unique feel. It also featuresHarvey Dent and Jim Gordon as very important characters. The prominence of Dent and Gordon, and their partnership with Batman will most likely remind readers of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight which took the Dent-Gordon-Wayne partnership straight from the pages of The Long Halloween. In fact, Bruce even tells Selina “I believe in Harvey Dent” when they run into each other at Viti’s wedding. The three of them carry out a small war on The Roman throughout July, August, and September.
While we then get a dark Gordon-Batman meeting, a sexually charged Catwoman chase which shows us the other half of the Wayne/Kyle relationship, and a drive by shooting, the thick of the plot occurs when an unidentified assassin shoots and kills the newly wed Johnny Viti on the last night of October leaving behind a special order pistol, a jack o’lantern and a rubber nipple. The anonymous murderer is known to the people of Gotham as Holiday. Holiday’s identity is kept concealed by never showing Holiday to the reader and also by showing the murder scenes in a series of obscured black and white shots.
Many other charters are also shown with Jack o’lanterns. Harvey is shown at one point with a pistol like the one that Holiday uses. Even Captain Gordon is not safe from suspicion when he is shown in his kitchen washing the rubber nipple from his baby’s bottle. All of this obscurity and possible leads serve to keep the reader guessing about Holiday’s true identity could be. Then, just as soon as the Holiday plot is introduced, the reader is pulled right back into the Falcone story.
It seems Batman and Dent have been working to strike at Falcone where it hurts. Harvey and Batman go down to the docks to find Falcone’s massive stash of cash. With the Gotham City Bank refusing to do business with Falone, he has been forced to keep all of his cash on hand. In another moment that was borrowed- though modified- in The Dark Knight, Batman and Harvey burn all of Falcone’s cash. The first issue closes with Harvey closing the door to his home while Batman muses. “I believe in Jim Gordon” he thinks. “I believe in Harvey Dent”. As Harvey closes the door to his house, pleased to be returning home to his wife on Halloween, his home explodes. “I believe in Gotham City” Batman thinks, unaware of what this night has held for those not protected by a mask.
What did you think of The Long Halloween? Did this issue appeal to you? Do you have any hunches on who the Holiday killer might be? Be sure to check back here on Thanksgiving to hear all about Chapter 2. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow the guide @MultiverseGuide and the author of this piece, Casey Trahan, @punsforfree !
Thanks for reading.
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