Review: Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween

Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I remember reading Batman: The Long Halloween years ago, and really liking it. It was one of my first real Batman experiences (along with Batman: Shaman). I'm glad to see that it holds up pretty well (for the most part).

The story, which is set after the events of Batman: Year One, follow another year in the career of Batman, as he tries to track down a serial killer picking off members of one of Gotham's most notorious crime families. Batman, Gordon, and Dent form a pact to bring down the family and bring the killer to justice. Meanwhile, Batman has to deal with the increase in freaks who are showing up to cause problems in his city.

All in all, this is a solid Batman entry, especially in the "Year One Era". Batman is still young, but is starting to hit his stride. He's got a handle of his caped identity and is still developing his methods. His relationship with Gordon is starting to stabilize, despite their different methods. He's still not completely used to the more outlandish members of his cast of characters, but he's getting there.

Loeb really nails Gordon, here. This is Gordon, still struggling with the nature of Gotham, still struggling with the graft and corruption that infects the department, and still not 100% comfortable with Batman. Seeing the little slices of his personal life helped breathe a lot of life into his character.

It's impossible to talk about The Long Halloween without mentioning Sale's artwork. Not to state the obvious, but it's not for everyone. I like a lot of Sale's work, and there are some truly fantastic panels here, but his work is very stylized. His Batman is... not my favorite. There's something about the horns and how... lumpy his Batman is. Likewise, Catwoman. I'm not really sure what's going on with her torso. Sale depicts her with muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles... I think they're, unfortunately, the weakest elements of Sale's visuals here (especially unfortunate, since it's a Batman book, and Catwoman makes frequent appearances).


But some of his designs are fantastic. His Joker is among my favorites; he's all weird angles and teeth. So many teeth. Even when he's just sitting reading a newspaper, he's clearly the Joker, and he's clearly a creepy, malevolent creature.



Personally, Sale's artwork (as much as I don't particularly like his Batman or Catwoman designs) really works for me. His subdued color palette and expressionistic layouts help give the book a very strong noir sensibility. I also appreciate how much he lets the characters designs do the work of characterization.

A reoccurring theme in the book is the changing nature of Gotham and the criminal element there. Dual natures are constantly being brought up and explored. Organized crime vs. "the freaks." Crime vs. Law. Chaos vs. Order. The whole book is essentially the origin of Two-Face, so it makes sense that Sale and Loeb would play around with the theme throughout. Sale's artwork helps visually represent the change in Gotham; the Roman and his family (indeed, most of the "normal" characters) are depicted with generally human features that are, if exaggerated at times, still well within the norm for humans in a comic book.




Compare them to Batman's rogues, though. The rogues are depicted in positively freakish, grotesque forms. They're depicted as severely distorted and outlandish, some of them barely human at all:



So, like I said... not for everyone.

And, as much as I like this book, even I can admit... the mystery isn't perfect. The plot is a little bit of a mess, and there's a feeling that even Loeb and Sale weren't completely sure who the killer was supposed to be, or made changes at the last minute.

(view spoiler)[The idea that Dent's wife (who was in a wheelchair and in the hospital during two of the murders!) was the killer is ridiculous. Alberto is the only one who makes sense within the context of the story; he's the only one who would have had the means, access, and motive for the crimes. The artwork of the book also suggests him, to my mind. He's got the exaggerated features (and a trademark, to boot! The purple glasses!) that mark him as being... off compared to the "regular" humans that make up the rest of the cast.



Circumstantial, perhaps, but, combined with the rest of the evidence, it works for me.
(hide spoiler)]

Loeb does cheat a bit on the story side. The final revelations don't have as much impact as they probably should, and there aren't really enough real clues to definitively say who the killer was (and Loeb and Sale refuse to clarify). Batman narrates parts of the story, but there are many scenes that are shown to the reader that Batman can't have seen. And, seriously, why doesn't Riddler just tell everyone who Holiday was? Tsk.

Despite that, it's still a very entertaining romp through the Dark Knight's world, and it functions well as an origin story. I really enjoyed rereading it, despite the flaws.


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