Reviews

Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb

theyoungmarcus's review against another edition

5.0

new favorite comic book - great art and very intriguing plot

mcloonejack's review

5.0

Well this certainly lives up to its billing as a quintessential Batman arc. An absolutely brooding mystery with flashes of the clashing eccentricity of his rogues gallery, plus heavy themes of justice and broken systems, all wrapped up in a twisty journey. What’s not to love?

Obviously the influence it had on the Nolan trilogy is clear in both story beats and overall tone, but there are cool connections to 2022’s The Batman as well.

I want to particularly shoutout the art by Tim Sale, which blends the grittiness of Batman and Gotham and the absurdity of the rogues gallery, particularly Joker, incredibly well. The art has so much depth at all times and is wildly engaging.

All told, this is a supremely fun read! Highly recommend.

offworldcolony's review against another edition

5.0

An influential jumping on point for Batman and his rogues. A whodunnit/slasher/detective/mob epic with Loeb's love of voice over (which may not gel with all - but is at his best here) and Sale's incredible potent and striking physicality of characters. Not my favourite, but an absolute gold standard.

fishfish's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

chocolate_pea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kgosi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

chocolate_pea's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

averylwc's review against another edition

4.0

this is a good story, i love when leob and sal do a book

the art is just *chefs kiss*

ricoocri's review against another edition

5.0

god, is there anything tim sale can't make look incredible!? yet another iconic banger.

trin's review against another edition

2.0

A bit of a let down after all the hype, this was still a decent…well, “romp” is really the wrong word for Batman, isn’t it? A decent mope? A decent glower? Whatever. It wasn’t bad, though 1) mafia stuff still bores me, and 2) the ending was horribly confusing. Deliberately, I’m told—although whether Loeb is just being coy or trying to cover up the fact that his plot got really muddled, I don’t know. Either way, the Batman/Catwoman shenanigans of [b:Hush|107017|Batman: Hush, Vol. 1|Jeph Loeb|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171569076s/107017.jpg|3655307] were much more fun.