The Long Halloween: Difference between revisions

{{tropework}}

''[[The Long Halloween]]'' is a [[Batman]] mini-series that ran from 1996 to 1997, produced by the creative team of [[Jeph Loeb]] and Tim Sale. The mini-series came out of the duo's semi-regular yearly Batman Halloween Specials that they did for DC Comics.

For Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, the head of Gotham's largest remaining crime family, Holiday is just the latest in a long series of problems. The Batman has been a thorn in his side and [[Catwoman (Comic Bookcomics)|Catwoman]] has been robbing him (prompting Falcone to put a bounty on both their heads), District Attorney Harvey Dent is crusading to shut him down, and he's facing competition both from other mobsters and from a new breed of criminals--the costumed supervillains.

The mini-series was extremely popular, in large part because it came out at the time that DC was overtly whoring out the main Batman books with cross-overs after cross-overs, meaning that fans were happy to have a compelling and well-written Batman book to read that didn't require them to buy four books and spin-off books to understand. It had a great deal of impact on later Batman books, most notably its exploration of the idea of the crime-fighting alliance between Harvey Dent<ref>whoseWhose pre-Two-Face self had not received much focus prior to this series</ref>, Batman, and Commissioner Gordon, as well as the subtext of the conflict between traditional organized crime and the up-and-coming supervillains. This was also a major influence on Nolan's ''Batman'' films: ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|The Dark Knight]]'' copies the alliance between Batman, Gordon, and Dent straight from here, and homages this series in a number of other scenes--even the slogan "I believe in Harvey Dent" came from here.

Spawned two sequels, the less critically acclaimed (but still considered excellent) ''[[Batman: Dark Victory]],'' and was concluded in ''[[Catwoman: When in Rome]]''.

* [[Bedsheet Ladder]]: Well, straw rope ladder if you want to get technical.

* [[Calling Card]]: Holiday leaves one at the site of each of the killings. A jack-o-lantern for Halloween, a cornucopia for Thanksgiving, etc.

{{quote| '''Joker:''' Quick question. When the clock strikes midnight... do I get a little kiss?<br />

''[Batman strangles him]'' <br />

'''Joker:''' I guess that's a no...<br />

* [[Good Cop, Bad Cop]]: Gordon and Batman take on the respective roles when interrogating Mickey Sullivan.

** [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] by Holiday's .22. The .22 is the peashooter of rounds, but in very capable hands it brought a city to its knees. To quote Clapton, "It's in the way you use it".

* [[Hero of Another Story]]: Catwoman's entire motive is not revealed and is not resolved until [[Batman: Dark Victory]].

* [[Ironic Echo]]: "I believe in Harvey Dent".

* [[Mob War]]: Holiday's killings place the Falcone and Maroni crime families at each other's throats. In Harvey's words: "They all want to do our job for us".

* [[Nice Hat]]: Mad Hatter & Scarecrow (the former's hat is about three feet tall).

{{quote| '''The Riddler:''' It's a mystery. Broken into a jigsaw puzzle. Wrapped in a conundrum. Hidden in a Chinese box. ''A riddle''.}}

* [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]: Alberto.

* [[Wacky Wayside Tribe]]: The Joker's attempt to spread his poison into Gotham Square on New Year's Eve has remarkably little to do with the overall plot besides giving Batman something to do. [[Rule of Cool]] excuses it, though.

{{quote| '''Batman''': The promise that we made to bring down the Roman. [[Pyrrhic Victory|What it cost us.]] [[Face Heel Turn|Harvey...]]<br />