A newcomer's thoughts on Long Halloween

Hi guys, I'm stepping into the Mooneyverse while Richard is away. My name is Katy and I'm a relative comic newbie. I grew up watching the X-Men cartoons and Batman: The Animated Series, and have seen a lot of comic book related movies, but only recently did I decide to make the leap into reading comics.

However, thanks to the recommendations of some friends, I jumped in the deep end and came out with a graphic novel that I found riveting, exciting and well drawn. I submit to you, my thoughts on The Long Halloween....

It is a very noir book, which I enjoyed tremendously. It follows on from Frank Miller's Batman: Year One offering, and to be honest, although it was Heroes' Tim Sale who did the artwork, it did seem Miller-esque. It was beautifully drawn, a lot of dark and light contrast, with the colour mainly being provided by the villains.

The plot of The Long Halloween involves the killing of a number of mobsters. At first, the gang think it's a rival faction behind the hits, but soon the other side find their numbers dwindling. Batman, with Gordon and the newly appointed DA Harvey Dent are on the hunt for the killer, who strikes on public holidays.

One element I particularly enjoyed was that a number of Batman villains were utilised. From the Joker to Scarecrow to the Mad Hatter, it seemed as though the writers enjoyed bringing these great villains out and giving them a part of the story. It also helped a newbie like me, seeing characters I recognised.

Another great aspect of The Long Halloween was that it actually gave me an idea of the origins of the whole "I Believe In Harvey Dent" campaign that was alluded to in the viral marketing of The Dark Knight. (And that was some amazing viral marketing.)

The twist at the end was amazing and totally unexpected (at least by me) and I'm going off to buy Dark Victory, which I've been told is the sequel to The Long Halloween.

If anyone has any more recommendations for me, I'd love to hear them!