ONE Batman story aims to turn new readers into superfans

Summary

• The long Halloween
  is an iconic Batman comic that introduces his villains and supporting cast in an easy-to-understand format.
• It shows the decline of organized crime in Gotham, which led to the rise of supervillains like Two-Face.
• It leads seamlessly to the continuation,
  Dark Victory
  and introduces important characters such as Dick Grayson as Robin.

I have read a lot Batman Comics over the years, and I have helped many friends find Batman, so I really believe that Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale is one of the best ways to delve into the Gotham mythos. While it is important to see Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s iconic Batman: Year One, The long Halloween is required reading immediately afterwards and I will explain to you why.

The long Halloween is an iconic comic that takes place at the beginning of Batman’s careermaking it a perfect entry point for new readers. The story follows Batman as he tries to solve the murders committed by the brutal Holiday Killer. It takes Batman a full year to solve this mystery and it involves many of Batman’s supporting characters. Almost all of his villains appear, as well as characters like Harvey Dent and James Gordon.

The long Halloween is a great introduction to Batman’s villains and his supporting cast. The story introduces them naturally, and they all interact just enough to get the core of their identities, without overpowering the main story or not giving it enough time. It’s a fantastic story, and I’ve used it several times to introduce people to Batman’s bigger villains and show how Gotham City has evolved over time.

The long Halloween Is the perfect introduction to Batman’s dark world

Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, Gregory Wright and Richard Starkings

Gotham City is full of supervillain criminals – but it wasn’t always like this. I think The long Halloween is a great introduction for new readers because it actually shows the decline of organized crime that had previously plagued Gotham City. It is important to show that Batman is actually effective, and he pretty much helped drive the mafia out of Gotham. This fall from grace eventually led to the supervillains – also known as freaks. It is the perfect transition between the old crime that was in Batman: Year One into the absolute madness that Gotham City eventually becomes.

The long Halloween
is a great entry point as it allows readers to fully understand the relationship Batman had with Harvey before he became Two-Face.

I am always impressed by how The long Halloween deals with certain villains. While many fans are familiar with Harvey Dent and the story of Two-Face, not everyone has the actual Two-Face transformation covered in this story. The long Halloween is a great entry point as it allows readers to fully understand the relationship between Batman and Harvey before he became Two-Face, something that is rarely mentioned in comics to this day. It is important to see the actual history of these characters and I believe The long Halloween presents this story in a very easy to understand format.

The long Halloween Adds a perfectly updated version of Two-Face’s Origin

Readers can perfectly see the tragedy of Harvey Dent’s downfall

Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face was the first time Batman truly lost a friend to villainy. The rise of Two-Face was an important moment in Batman historyand it underscores how important Two-Face is as a villain to Batman. While new readers know that Two-Face is a Batman villain, in my experience very few are aware of the actual friendship the two had and that they worked together to take down Gotham’s criminals.

The other thing that makes The long Halloween is such a perfect entry point, as it leads perfectly into its sequel, Batman: Dark Victory, also by Loeb and Sale. Batman’s villains are important to him, but his supporting characters are just as important, if not more so. While The long Halloween is a perfect example of the fall of the Gotham Mafia and the rise of the Freaks, Dark Victory Perfectly represents Batman’s most important allysuch as the introduction of the character Dick Grayson, who would become Robin.

I have met many people who knew that Batman has Robins, but the exact How is not always clear to them. I even know people who didn’t even know that there was more than one Robin, which is something Dark Victory helps to clarify. Dark Victory introduces the character Dick Grayson and shows how he met Bruce Wayne and the tragedy that befell him in Haly’s circus. It is about Dick’s hatred of Tony Zucco and his campaign of revenge for the death of his parents and finally shows how Dick later becomes Robin.

Dark Victory Will introduce Dick Grayson’s Robin to new fans

The long Halloween And Dark Victory Are a crash course in Batman history

Not only that, but Dark Victory Continuation of the story of The long Halloween featuring another confrontation between Batman and Two-Face as well as the conclusion of the last bits of the mob still left in Gotham City. It’s a fantastic sequel that perfectly brings together the last important pieces of Batman’s mythos for new fans to catch up on.

I have always recommended Long Halloween And Dark Victory to new readers because of the sheer amount of important topics they cover in such a short amount of time. In the two comics, new readers will see Batman take on and defeat some of the biggest mob bosses in Gotham, the fall of Harvey Dent, Batman’s childhood after the death of his parents, and the emergence of Dick Grayson. There is simply no other self-contained Batman comic that covers all of these important topics so quickly and with such skillful writing and art – at least none that I have seen, and I have read a lot of Batman comics.

Loeb and Sale are also known for their popular Superman series,
Superman for all seasons
which is now available both digitally and in collected editions from DC Comics.

Comics can be daunting. Batman is a character that has been around for nearly a hundred years at this point, and if someone wanted to see the introduction of Dick Grayson, the only other option is the Golden Age, which isn’t even the same Dick Grayson in today’s comics. The Golden Age has since been relegated to Earth-2, and Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are simply not the same characters who have had the same experiences as the characters in today’s comics. For this reason, It can be confusing to know exactly how to learn about these charactersbut these two comic series solve this problem perfectly.

Jeph Loeb returns for The last Halloweenthe last part of the Halloween trilogy

Variant cover by series artist Eduardo Risso

Comics are a large and complex system. I understand that, but there are so many answers to this problem, and I truly believe that these two comics are some of the perfect introductions to the character of Batman and his world – especially considering Loeb will return to the story one last time in the fall, Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween with Eduardo Risso, which will include a cover of the late Sale.

Make no mistake, the iconic Batman: Year One should still be read first, as this comic shows Batman’s first foray and his encounter with the Mafia, but The long Halloween And Dark Victory should definitely be followed next, as together they will teach a new reader everything he needs to know about Batman.

Batman: The Long Halloween And Batman: Dark Victory are now available from DC Comics. Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween #1 will be available from DC Comics on September 25, 2024.