Dark Victory

The Long Halloween has been one of the strongest stories I have read so far in this quest to read about the adventures of Batman in 'chronological' order. The Dark Victory continues the story threads which began in that volume, and introduces several elements which have since become a staple of the Batman continuity.

Opening with a blow by blow recount of the final confrontation between Batman and 'Holiday', Tim Sale's artwork gets off to a strong start as we see Alberto Falcone beaten and arrested. The story then flashes to the present, where Falcone is in a cell in Arkham Asylum being interviewed by the new DA Janice Porter. Porter mentions reopening the Holiday case later on, to Jim Gordon. She is a character who seems shrouded in mystery, her motives not becoming that clear until a bit later into the story.

The next scene sees a graveyard vigil for Carmine Falcone, who was gunned down by Dent/Two Face at the end of TLH. Both Batman and Catwoman soon make their presence known, in a throwback to TLH where they crossed paths several times in connection with the Falcone family. 

It seems that Sofia Falcone is trying to rebuild her fathers empire after his tragic death, and on the surface it seems that she is bringing the different crime families together. She hires the sons of Sal Maroni - who are introduced in a panel which is an excellent example of foreshadowing from the writer/artist team of Loeb and Sale. Tony Zucco is also involved in this 'rebuild' - a name which hints at what is to come later on in the volume if you know anything about your Bat-history.

Then, in quick succession there is a mass breakout from Arkham, and the first victim of The Hangman is discovered. All of the pieces are in place, in what slowly reveals itself to be a game that is being played for control of Gotham City.

The motif of games is most obvious in the game of hangman which is left at each of the crime scenes. Each one seems to be a clue of some sort, with the main finger of blame being pointed at Harvey Dent due to the nature of the paper which is used to write the notes. I remember when I first read The Dark Victory, I would try and figure out the significance of these notes. That's what makes this such a great Batman story - it makes the reader want to try and solved the mystery alongside Batman. And this is a mystery which isn't short of possible culprits and motives.

There is also the game being played by the escapees from Arkham, under the guidance of Two Face. A series of seemingly random events involving rogues such as Scarecrow and Solomon Grundy eventually transpire to be part of a bigger plan being masterminded by Dent. It is this game which reveals the significance of the title - The Dark Victory. Even though the various crime families have been decimated by the end of the volume, it is not without a price. Gotham belongs to the 'freaks' now.

Duality and the mirror image is also a motif that Loeb and Sale explore. Right from the opening sequence, where we see Holiday in a cell opposite Calendar Man, the idea of characters mirroring each other is present throughout. 

After his parents die tragically at Haly's Circus, we see a series of panels in Wayne Manor which explore the parallels between Grayson and Wayne as they deal with the deaths of their parents in similar ways. We also see the way that Alfred deals with them both, and in a touching ending to this sequence we see that he has learnt from the mistakes he made in dealing with Bruce after the deaths of Thomas and Martha.

There are also the parallels between Sofia and her father Carmine. The most obvious is in the cat scratch scars on the side of her face. We often see panels with these scars in close up, or with Sofia gazing into a mirror, and later on we discover that they hold more significance than they first seem to. Sofia also mirrors her father in her objection to the 'freaks' who have begun to take control of Gotham. Although she never goes as far as hiring these 'freaks' to serve her purposes, unlike her father.

Dent is also a dark inversion of what he used to be before the acid destroyed his face and his psyche. Despite his methods having changed, he is still working tirelessly to rid Gotham of the organised crime which was his mission in TLH. His relationship with Porter also plays into the idea of duality, and several characters are not what they initially appear to be.

One of the other reveals of duality is that Umberto and Pino Maroni are twins, and in fact working for Two Face. This is hinted at in the panel I mentioned earlier - when their faces are half obscured in shadow, in a nod to the foreshadowing of what Dent would become in TLH.

When the dust settles on the story, several things have changed. The crime families are no longer in control of Gotham. The police force is seemingly no longer as corrupt, or at least Jim Gordon has some people in the force whom he can trust. And finally Batman is no longer alone - he has Robin. 

The Dark Victory was outstanding, and Loeb and Sale have crafted the definitive Batman story here. It has everything that is great about the character. Obviously, there are other fantastic interpretations of the character, but Loeb is not a creator who can be overlooked when it comes to a list of writers who have defined the Batman we all know and love.

Next up - Robin Year One

The Long Halloween

'More than a comic book, it's an epic tragedy.' Christopher Nolan.

The Dark Knight Trilogy is, for me, the definitive interpretation of Batman on film. Throughout the first film, at the heart of it all, there lies the triumvirate of Batman, Jim Gordon and the DA. These three characters work together to bring down the crime families who are the cancer at the heart of Gotham. This triumvirate is replicated in The Dark Knight, with Gordon, Batman and Dent - the trio of honest men who are at the centre of this story.

The Long Halloween is, in my eyes, one of the greatest Batman detective stories ever written. It has the hook of the crimes committed on holidays. It has red herrings and several characters who could in fact be the mastermind with the .22 calibre pistol. It has Batman truly baffled by the clues in front of him, which again is fitting for this point in his career. Obviously there are other great detective stories in Batman chronology, but this is the first long running storyline which explores the other side of Batman.

The first murder occurs on Halloween, leading to the series of crimes being nicknamed 'The Long Halloween' by the Falcone crime family. Johnny Viti, recently married into the Falcone crime family, is shot dead in the bath in the first of a stunning series of black and white rendered murders. Tim Sale really excels himself in this volume, after excellent standards of artwork in Haunted Knight.

Alongside these horrific murders, most of which centre on members of the Falcone crime family, Gordon, Dent and Batman agree to work together to take down Falcone once and for all. It is this story which is used as the inspiration for Batman Begins - as well as some elements being used for The Dark Knight.

Loeb also explores the effects of this pact - and resulting obsession - on the families of Gordon and Dent. We see more of Barbara Gordon struggling to raise their young son James (maybe that's why he turns out the way he does...) and we see Gilda Dent struggling to adjust to the increased workload of her DA husband. Dent becomes more desperate as the issues go by, and he even resorts to investigating and arresting Bruce Wayne based on an old link between the Wayne and Falcone families.

Another aspect of the artwork which was excellent for me was the foreshadowing of Harvey Dent's eventual fall from grace - often he is pictured with half of his face obscured in shadow. Not to mention the coin which he flips obsessively. Plus there are references to the number 2 scatteredr throughout his dialogue. Finally I can read the stories in this timeline without having to get annoyed about a mention of Two Face before he is 'created'.

All of Batman's other famous villains are here, all of them employed by Falcone in order to try and get a foothold in the Gotham Bank. Each of them is used in a way which plays to their strengths, showing Falcone as much more of a mastermind than we are used to. I'm hoping this is a side we will continue to see in the weekly Batman Eternal series which has started recently. Ivy seduces, The Riddler tries to solve the Holiday riddle, Scarecrow terrifies and causes chaos with the Mad Hatter. But eventually they all band together under the leadership of Two Face to claim Gotham City as their own.

Familiar themes are returned to, as again Gordon questions whether Batman feels responsible for the lunatics who are beginning to phase out the run of the mill mobsters that have run Gotham for so long. Other members of the Falcone family are horrified when The Roman resorts to using 'freaks' to further their cause in Gotham also.

More of the relationship between Bruce and his father is explored also, as we see a flashback to his childhood which also explains the Falcone link. Bruce is clearly in awe of his father as he performs surgery on the young Carmine Falcone, and later on he recalls a recording he heard where his father described how to approach difficult surgery. Batman applies these words to his crusade against crime, as he takes on all of his rogues at once, with some help from Catwoman.

Catwoman is also a central role in this mystery, and also the source of some mystery herself. We are never told why exactly she is constantly found lurking around near Falcone. I also found it a bit odd that neither her or Bruce figure out who the other one is, being as they are both such intelligent characters.

The final solution to the mystery of Holiday was also nicely handled. Seemingly wrapped up until the final pages, we are left with the question of who was really behind the murders and whether it was even just the one person.

There are so many incredible elements to this graphic novel that I don't feel like I have done it justice in my description of it. But it is up there as one of the greatest Batman stories I have ever read.

Next up - Batman - Night Cries