Friday, August 8, 2008

Book Review: "Batman: The Long Halloween" by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale


In the spirit of the recently released movie The Dark Knight I thought I'd review the graphic novel Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.

What you'll find while reading the most excellent "Batman: The Long Halloween" is that the film "The Dark Knight" borrows quite a bit from this book. The graphic novel opens with Batman, Comissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent trying to take down the mobsters in Gotham City, specifically Carmine "The Roman" Falcone. The mobsters are plaguing the city and need to be stopped. As an interesting parallel to this story, we see that the result of Gordon, Dent, and Batman's work as the driving force behind the decay of their home life. They keep missing important events such as birthdays and holidays, as their quest to capture the crime bosses in Gotham City has almost become an obsession.

The plot thickens when members of the Falcone family are murdered. Oddly enough, all of these murders occur on holidays, thus giving the killer the nickname "Holiday". In turn, the Falcone family must turn to what they call "the freaks" of Gotham City, specifically villians like The Riddler and The Joker. The problems pile on when these characters are introduced into the mix, making for an interesting mix.

Eventually, we get to see Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face. I won't spoil how it happens, but let me just say that if you enjoyed the movie version of this transformation you'll most likely enjoy this one.

Do they find out who Holiday is? What becomes of the Falcone family?

To find out, read Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. I give it like 7 thumbs up.

-Justin The Librarian

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