Long Halloween really is one of the best comics ever written and drawn. Not just Batman, but in literature as well. Is a unforgettable story that makes you want to keep reading with unexpected consequences.
There's just something so special about this comic. The art style, the story, the tone, the atmosphere, the characters, the setting. Everything blends so well together. It's like everything that makes Batman great put together in one book. We'll never get another Batman story as good as this one. Loeb and Sale together were a powerhouse.
Boy oh boy did that animat version completely compromise itself with it's awful 'house style' that dc animated movies have been churned out with for the last decade. Absolutely ruinedb the thing. Same for killing joke, but obviously there were even bigger issues with thatb
Anyone can summarize a story, but the ability to effectively weave the story’s context, both in-universe and with respect to the creative process, into a cohesive video, is reserved for a select few. Great work! I loved your nod to Batman Annual #14.
Anyone can write kind words of praise about a video on TH-cam, but the ability to eloquently elaborate what actually makes the video noteworthy, is reserved for a selected few ;) Thank you so much for an excellent comment and for sticking around all these years and watch me grow and evolve as a video creator. You will never know how much it means to me.
Thanks for this! The Long Halloween truly is a unique piece! I never realized that Gotham City really was "Halloween:" people dressing up as monsters and scaring people, like you said. What drew me in at first was Holiday. A killer who only works on holidays seemed cool to me.
I cannot express how much I love this story! I would say that the long Halloween is Batman's first true failure in his career he fails to find out holidays true identity (unknown to him) he fails to save holiday's victims he fails Harvey dent who becomes Two-Face and most importantly he fails Gotham that transforms into a city ruled by gangsters into one ruled by super villains! Batman the Long Halloween is my all-time favorite Batman graphic novel there is a reason why so many Batman movies Drew inspiration from this!
The series by Loeb and Sale is by far my favorite overall portrayal of Batman and Gotham City. The Halloween Specials, The Long Halloween, and Haunted Knight are the best. The only other story that I really enjoyed this much was Hush.
I think that this story (and all the surroundings) with, prey, the cult, faces and dark knight dark city are what defines my standard for a good Batman story
Great video - The Long Halloween is one of the most influential Batman stories to this day and still one of my favorites. Perfect mix of noir storytelling (thanks Godfather) and moody art by Tim Sale (RIP). 🎃🦇🎃🦇
I read this story more than ten times maybe (a few of them was during working on its official Arabic translation) and your video took my breath away. Up until the very end with that very smart joke. I've loved your channel since "Strange Apparitions" but this video is just something else. You're a true lover of this fine art and I'm so happy I've stumbled upon this treasure of yours.
Strange Apparitions? Wow! Thank you so much for being here for so long and watch as I get better at making videos. It's been an interesting journey and sometimes difficult too, but you're right about one thing: I truly love everything about this. So thank you again for being here!
I started reading Batman recently. Just finished the long Halloween a few weeks ago, and it is by far my favorite that I’ve read so far. I liked it more than dark knight returns. A lot more, actually. Just ordered dark victory
Goodwin actually did a lot of good work on Batman. I actually have the trade hardcover that collects all of his Batman stories. Most of them were really good (My favorite was the Annual that he did that dealt with his training .).
Excellent coverage of the publication history of the comic and a breakdown of the story’s strengths and weaknesses. I would love if you took the time to cover both Dark Victory and Catwoman: When In Rome at some point. Dark Victory is one of my all time favorite stories, and When In Rome was a brilliant tie-in and exploration of her personal ties to the story. Just **chefs kiss** ❤mmf! So frickin good! This trilogy of graphic novels in my opinion is absolutely top tier.
“Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale weren’t necessarily the most well known names in comics” is a sentence that always makes me smile because no one know they’re going to go down in history as a participant in a legendary work of fiction when they first get the job. It’s just a job. It makes me smile to know that they would eventually get to have some appreciation for the grand scale of the impact they had on their industry before Tim Sale passed away recently. Jeph is still living to the best of my knowledge. But very few artists get to enjoy and understand the impact of what they made while they’re alive, and I’m glad they got to enjoy that is what I’m saying.
This is one of your best videos yet! The production quality, information and flow is really well done man. Keep it up, your videos are always a treat to watch and give so much insight on Batman and the behind-the-scenes stuff
I'm glad and frankly, AMAZED to see that after what, 6-7 years from when I first subbed to your channel, you haven't missed a beat and are still uploading Batman's ENTIRE STORY ARC, IN CONSEQUENTIAL ORDER, all the way back then beginning from his 1st appearance in the Golden Age... Absolutely incredible! Love this channel!!! If you happen to read this, I have a request. I would donate to your Patreon and ask but I'm dirt poor, so If you never get around to doing it, it's all good, but is there anyway you could MAKE A VIDEO outlining the ELSEWORLD storyline of SUPERMAN & BATMAN GENERATIONS II when you get to that point in Batman's timeline (1999-2001)? Comicstorian did Generations I on his channel while back but never continued the series, and literally no one on TH-cam has made any sort of video on its sequel. Either that or the main storyline of DC ONE MILLION??? If you were able to make a video on either one of those stories some time in the future I know they would be amazing! A guy can wish... Either way, keep up the amazing work!
I'm honestly, very glad to read you again in the comments. You have watched my evolution as a video creator and you're still around, even after all these years. That's all I can ask of you, so never feel bad that you can't support me on Patreon. It's ok. I'm just grateful that you're still here. As for the request, I can't promise anything yet, but I will get to those stories and when that happens, we'll see if they get their own videos. Again, thank you for writing. It's good to see you around.
I appreciate the subtitles, I have a hearing difficulty and sometimes struggle with understanding what was said, subtitles help a lot, thanks!! great video btw :))
My favorite comic, next to Batman Year One and Batman Flashpoint. My fan Batman comic screenplay is base of The Long Halloween but in a different take.
It's worthwhile to note that jn The Long Halloween, Batman is largely ineffective. He doesn't stop the Holiday Killer from completing their plan, he barely figures out what'sgoing on, and I don't think he even saves anyone throughout the series. I've heard this fact expressed as a criticism of the series, which I don't agree with. That fact doesn't make it unenjoyable. Batman isn't infallible, and since TLH is supposed to be part of an origin story, it makes sense that he was particularly fallible at that time.
I read the graphic novel as a trade paperback that I checked out from the library. I liked it so much that I bought the series' individual issues off ebay afterwards.
This is one of the most perfect Batman comics in existence but you are right it’s definitely copying a lot of stuff from others but hey if your are gonna copy something might as well copy the godfather and eye of the beholder(imo one of the greatest two face stories other than this one)
It had an impact on me for sure... As a kid, I loved Two Face, but with this story I grew to love Harvey Dent in his entirety... Also, Looney Tunes Joker is GOAT and Tim Sale's depiction is stellar .
Great video on a great comic series! I enjoy your critiques and how in depth you go to explain so much of what happens in the comics. Great stuff! I can only hope there are more great stories in the future as good as this one was! A true classic!
I've always loved the idea of the Batman effect on Gotham's crime. Before Batman, formal gangsters and corrupt policeman. After Batman, criminal lunatics with colorful gimmicks. Is like if Batman's rogues gallery were attracted by the fact that someone in a ridiculous bat costume was in the city bringing order. One of the reasons why I never liked the Gotham TV show. Also a special mention to Tim Sale who recently passed away.
The Long Halloween was the first #Batman comic I ever read that wasn't a tie-in comic to an animated series (Batman: Gotham Adventures or The Batman Strikes).
I think some stories you should definitely give a look are the Dark Moon Rising duology and Dead to Rights. The two Dark Moon Rising miniseries work as a perfect segway between Year One and the Man Who Laughs, and Dead to Rights is kinda like an extended epilog to The Man Who Laughs, and it's a really fun read with excellent characterization for Joker. It's worth noting that Dead to Rights was originally a story from issues 22 to 25 of Batman Confidential, so it's not a dedicated graphic novel or miniseries, but it was collected as a book titled Batman Dead to Rights, and I think it's a lot of fun as a wrap up to Batman's first year.
@@SalazarKnight It's my pleasure! I think you're possibly the most underappreciated youtuber in history. You're an excellent critic. Most people who critique pop-culture have very little of substance to say about any of it. You do a great job of balancing analysis and opinion, and you organize your thoughts very well. And on top of all that, you seem to keep improving. There's very few youtube uploads I get more excited about than yours. I just hope you enjoy the process after all this time -- I'd hate to think of you not using your gift any more, but I can imagine it's hard to work so hard and long to relatively little fanfare. Maybe you're just too good for the average viewer to appreciate, I really don't know.
If I'm being honest, I think my old videos are the problem. You joined the channel back when I was still trying to find my voice (and I thank you for having faith in me, even back then), but as fondly as we remember those videos, sometimes I go back to watch some of them and I just can't. I was still growing as a creator and it shows. The problems is that TH-cam keeps promoting the old videos because the views are higher on those and they only get higher because they keep getting recommended. It's sort of a vicious cycle, that only creates problems because new viewers are exposed to those videos instead of the new ones, basically scaring them away. One of the best things I did recently was the remake of The Golden Age Batman and perhaps remaking some of the oldest videos is probably a good way to help the channel grow. Maybe...
Sal from what I can tell you've made another amazing video, I'd love to discuss some thoughts but I've spent like a year trying to forget this comic so I can experience it again 😭 whenever I do re-read I'll definitely drop some thoughts, just wanted to give you some applause since all the comments are telling me how good this video was
Pretty sure DC confirmed it was Gilda with the animated movie, not leaving it a mystery like the novel. They always do these cop-offs in the DC movies.
Its a top 5 Best Batman stories of all time for sure imo, And The adaptations of it are very good as Well, not as good as The comic is but its still good. Jensen Ackles As Batman was a great cast for the animated adaptations of this story And The comic is Just glorious, The sequel for it which us called Dark victory is great as Well, hope u will make a video abt it as Well in future!
This is not only one of my favorite batman comics but also one of my favorite comics in general in fact I think it's better than the Dark Knight Returns suck it Miller
I re-read the long Halloween recently. While I think the art is great and the premise is strong, the actual writing kinda left me with something to be desired. I remember liking it when I first read it as a kid, but as an adult it kinda stinks of "Making it up as we go along" and they threw out so many random red herrings and twists that by the end it doesn't really make sense anymore. It made me seriously question why I'd liked it as a kid or heard so much praise for it. I remembered it being a cool story about Calender Man, but when I re-read it it felt more like a potentially great Two-Face story that flopped on the last hurdle and couldn't stick the landing. It's definitely no where as big a letdown as the Dark Knight Returns sequels, but it feels clumsy and amateurish, like your average creative writing student coulda avoided the mistakes they made.
This video has been a long time coming for this channel. Must have been thrilled to finally cover this story. And I am happy to see that it is so loved by so many. However, I have problems with this story. I finally read it about last year. My first impressions was that it was good, but overrated. I absolutely love the first two Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials, but I felt the Long Halloween was subpar. I think Tim Sale's art is perfect and explains why this comic is so highly appraised, but it is Jeph Loeb's writing which is lacking. Firstly, Batman is practically useless in the entire story. I understand that the story is meant to be a tragedy, Batman's first failure. However, the way this failure is laid out by Loeb makes Batman completely ineffectual as a detective and a superhero. I think I might have enjoyed the story more had Batman stopped one or two of the Holiday Killer's murders, preferably later in the story as it would convey the sense that Batman as the World's Greatest Detective was beginning to understand and predict the killer, just unfortunately a little too late. This does not happen, with Batman failing to stop a single murder. Other than hanging out, what does Batman really do in the story? And what impact does the failure really have on Batman? It is just sort of presented like "Batman failed" and that is it. We don't really get to see how this impacts him as a character or contributes to his character development. That aspect is sort of left to subsequent and other Batman stories, similar to "A Death in the Family" where the real impact of Jason's death on Batman is undeveloped in its original appearance only to be explored more satisfactorily in other, subsequent Batman comics. Secondly, I thought Harvey Dent's portrayal was colourless. In other forms of media like Batman: The Animated Series, Dent is presented as this likeable, charismatic, suave, intelligent, and moral character. But, under Loeb's writing, Dent doesn't really stand out, nor does he come off as a character we should sympathize for. Because the audience isn't really brought to care and like Harvey Dent, it undermines the emotional impact of his physical scarring and subsequent tragic turn to villainy. Thirdly, the mystery of the case is unbelievable. Loeb should have applied Occam's Razor and gone for a simpler explanation for the Holiday murders. Instead, he overcomplicates it, striving for artistic ambiguity and nuance. But I don't think he succeeded in doing this well enough to make it believable and clever. In the end, the audience, or at least some in the audience, are left more confused than moved by the contrived plot twists of the murder reveals. I don't know whether anyone else shares these impressions about this story, but I am more than happy to discuss them in the comments with anyone who agrees or disagrees more or less with them. I don't hate the story, I like it, especially Tim Sale's contribution to it. But I think Loeb's writing has weaknesses which affect my enjoyment of an otherwise great story.
I see your points are they're completely valid. You've put much thought about this and it shows. Thank you for writing and for not holding back your thoughts!
@Salazar Knight I think he missed that point. Bruce was still a young detective and makes mistake You see the events of the story effect Bruce, such as the scene where he almost kills Alberto. He isn't wrong about the mystery being contrived and Dent isn't as sympathetic as he was in Eye of the beholder (which in my opinion is a better Two Face origin story than LH), but the story isn't as mid as he claims. The atmosphere was great, and some characters moments were strong. The highlight is the art of Tim Sale (MAY HE RIP)
@@zemox2534 I know that the point of the story is to show a young, inexperienced Batman having failures and I don't have any issue with stories like that. Oftentimes, we learn more from failure than we do from success. So it is a brilliant story idea to have Batman fail once, not only to prove his humanity and make him relatable, but also to give him greater character development. But, I don't think this story handles that character development well. It is like Batman fails, but for what purpose? How does the failure make him better, stronger, wiser? My main issue with this story is that Batman doesn't really do anything in the story. He doesn't stop a single murder. He doesn't find out the identity/identities of the holiday killer. The identities are just sort of revealed to everyone, including Batman. He doesn't stop Two-Face's scarring. For a portion of the story, Batman becomes a victim to Poison Ivy. It ends up being Catwoman who rescues Batman from Poison Ivy's mind control. The story takes place over a year and yet, in all that time, Batman doesn't really get anywhere to solving the mystery. Loeb's writing makes the story happen around Batman with Batman achieving nothing. It just seems to me that Loeb underplayed Batman too much in the story to the point that the defense of "Batman was young and inexperienced and fallible" isn't a sufficient explanation. Perhaps, had Loeb let Batman have a little more impact on the story, such as stopping one of the killings from taking place, then Batman's characterisation in the story would have resonated more. I definitely agree with you that the highlight is Tim Sale's art. Sometimes, when I am reading comics, I wonder whether I am enjoying the story mainly because of the artist's efforts or because of the writer and the artist's collaborative efforts. I wonder if I wouldn't enjoy the story that I am reading at the time if the artist was different and perhaps less talented - that, in the end, it is the artist who is making the story work and not the writer. If Tim Sale wasn't the artist for The Long Halloween, would it be as highly regarded as it is?
I love this story but the animated adaptation is bad ( in my opinion ) because of the changes like the Roman's son just being dead and batman just listening to Gilda as she explains who holiday is. I watched that first and rated it like a 5.5/10 while when I read the comic I rated that a 9/10
Nice video, i Just wish u would do a video about me (owlman) or Just my appearances or Just fully about me (owlman) overall. The Best stories including me are: DC's JLA: Earth-2, DC's Forever Evil And there is probably more but i forgot about them probably unfortanetly. P.S. And always remember, that unlike Batman, i am always prepared! Owlman signing out.
I have major issues with Loeb’s writing. The Long Halloween and Hush especially are the worst offenders. I do really enjoy Sale’s and Lee’s work on those books though. Dark Victory is probably the best book Loeb has ever written (probably Sale’s best work too), yet no one ever brings that up.
I miss the days when DC animated movies used the artstyle of the movies they adapted like The dark knight returns, superman/batman public enemies or batman year 1. Now it's just about shared universes.
I wish DC Animated Universe Original Movies left it as it was instead of defying it for a shock from fans on the first viewing. Sometimes its best to leave things as they are. Same goes for Hush. All it does is stir the pot the wrong way.
Ik I’m late but so I’ve watched nearly every Batman movie, played the games and watched a good bit of spin offs and lesser known Batman movies. Is the long Halloween the basis of nearly everything Ik about Batman and Gotham itself??? Like is this the origin story in a sense?
Not exactly. This is definitely one of the most influential Batman stories of all time, but it's far from being the only one. It's really popular and it's really good, but there are many other great stories including Year One, Dark Knight Returns, Killing Joke and Knightfall.
Arguably my favorite batman comics. So with the fact the long halloween is influential, to the point it can be seen in cinemas narratively, how well do you think Christopher Nolan incorporated this storyline in the Dark Knight Trilogy?
Boy oh boy did that animated version completely compromise itself with it's awful 'house style' that dc animated movies have been churned out with for the last decade. Absolutely ruinedb the thing. Same for killing joke, but obviously there were even bigger issues with thatb
I should like to make a point about to The Long Halloween... there are too many stigma and cultural prejudices (maybe racism) towards italian and italo-american's people... it's really a shame.
How so? What specifically are stigmatizing or culturally prejudiced? I cone from a family with primarily Italian ancestry. I've also read the book. I didn't see anything untoward, so I'm curious as to what you saw?
@@estateizeThat doesn't answer my question. Name a specific moment. That's all I'm asking of you. If you make an accusation, you must have evidence to back it up, otherwise it sounds as if you're blowing smoke.
This was muuuuuuch better than Hush! Ugh, that was soooo overrated. I was expecting a loooottt more from Loeb. And Tommy Elliot is just the most contrived character, ugh!
no it sucked it's not true Batman at all idk who they are writing about but this guy is not Batman. Batman is not that dumb he has lived and known the power players of Gotham for many years as Bruce and Batman and there is no way Batman with his abilities and intelligence would be so stupid careless and blind to this group of Gotham rich cmon he has carefully watched all of them especially the rich and powerful and he would have known so sorry no , not one bit believable as a story and it undermines everything that is Batman and makes him so cool great and powerful as a superhero , it's what gives him the same status as Superman even though he has no super strength flight or other physical feats he made his own super powers with his brain his wits and that makes him the most dangerous character for anyone to face so sorry no this story I found was very non batamn. like call it something like what if Bruce Wayne was born with mental disabilities and was really really stupid
An underrated aspect of this story is the acknowledgement of Harvey Dent's workaholism and the toll that takes on his marriage.
you mean his moonlighting as a vigilante serial killer?
@@plasticweaponHalf of one anyway
Long Halloween really is one of the best comics ever written and drawn. Not just Batman, but in literature as well. Is a unforgettable story that makes you want to keep reading with unexpected consequences.
"Not just Batman, but in literature as well. "
don't get carried away.
@@plasticweapon I’ve being honest how much how this series is art
Lol no
@@opposite_hedgehog_753i like invincible more that comic book is so underated
the art work isnt bad, but the joker is wack
There's just something so special about this comic. The art style, the story, the tone, the atmosphere, the characters, the setting. Everything blends so well together. It's like everything that makes Batman great put together in one book.
We'll never get another Batman story as good as this one. Loeb and Sale together were a powerhouse.
Nice pfp
The “Trick or treat” panel is one of my all time favorite panels in a comic
Boy oh boy did that animat version completely compromise itself with it's awful 'house style' that dc animated movies have been churned out with for the last decade. Absolutely ruinedb the thing. Same for killing joke, but obviously there were even bigger issues with thatb
Anyone can summarize a story, but the ability to effectively weave the story’s context, both in-universe and with respect to the creative process, into a cohesive video, is reserved for a select few. Great work! I loved your nod to Batman Annual #14.
Anyone can write kind words of praise about a video on TH-cam, but the ability to eloquently elaborate what actually makes the video noteworthy, is reserved for a selected few ;) Thank you so much for an excellent comment and for sticking around all these years and watch me grow and evolve as a video creator. You will never know how much it means to me.
@@SalazarKnight And thank you for your amazing supply of videos! I’ll always be more than willing to commend your hard work.
Does Poison Ivy count as a Femme Fatale?@@SalazarKnight
Thanks for this!
The Long Halloween truly is a unique piece!
I never realized that Gotham City really was "Halloween:" people dressing up as monsters and scaring people, like you said.
What drew me in at first was Holiday. A killer who only works on holidays seemed cool to me.
I cannot express how much I love this story! I would say that the long Halloween is Batman's first true failure in his career he fails to find out holidays true identity (unknown to him) he fails to save holiday's victims he fails Harvey dent who becomes Two-Face and most importantly he fails Gotham that transforms into a city ruled by gangsters into one ruled by super villains! Batman the Long Halloween is my all-time favorite Batman graphic novel there is a reason why so many Batman movies Drew inspiration from this!
That burn at the end was hilarious
The series by Loeb and Sale is by far my favorite overall portrayal of Batman and Gotham City. The Halloween Specials, The Long Halloween, and Haunted Knight are the best. The only other story that I really enjoyed this much was Hush.
I think that this story (and all the surroundings) with, prey, the cult, faces and dark knight dark city are what defines my standard for a good Batman story
Great video - The Long Halloween is one of the most influential Batman stories to this day and still one of my favorites. Perfect mix of noir storytelling (thanks Godfather) and moody art by Tim Sale (RIP). 🎃🦇🎃🦇
I read this story more than ten times maybe (a few of them was during working on its official Arabic translation) and your video took my breath away. Up until the very end with that very smart joke.
I've loved your channel since "Strange Apparitions" but this video is just something else. You're a true lover of this fine art and I'm so happy I've stumbled upon this treasure of yours.
Strange Apparitions? Wow! Thank you so much for being here for so long and watch as I get better at making videos. It's been an interesting journey and sometimes difficult too, but you're right about one thing: I truly love everything about this. So thank you again for being here!
I started reading Batman recently.
Just finished the long Halloween a few weeks ago, and it is by far my favorite that I’ve read so far. I liked it more than dark knight returns. A lot more, actually. Just ordered dark victory
Check out Hush, Under The Red Hood, Court of Owls
Let me just say this, I love your channel and your passion for Batman really shines through.
Thank you so much! :)
It’s literally my 2 favorite things ever godfather and Batman
Amazing ! It's like the Metallo episode of Superman: TAS which is based on A Clockwork Orange !
I'd never made the connection between Batman & the Godfather until this video! Great job.
Goodwin actually did a lot of good work on Batman. I actually have the trade hardcover that collects all of his Batman stories. Most of them were really good (My favorite was the Annual that he did that dealt with his training .).
Excellent coverage of the publication history of the comic and a breakdown of the story’s strengths and weaknesses. I would love if you took the time to cover both Dark Victory and Catwoman: When In Rome at some point. Dark Victory is one of my all time favorite stories, and When In Rome was a brilliant tie-in and exploration of her personal ties to the story. Just **chefs kiss** ❤mmf! So frickin good! This trilogy of graphic novels in my opinion is absolutely top tier.
And in my opinion, your comments are top tier!
“Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale weren’t necessarily the most well known names in comics” is a sentence that always makes me smile because no one know they’re going to go down in history as a participant in a legendary work of fiction when they first get the job. It’s just a job. It makes me smile to know that they would eventually get to have some appreciation for the grand scale of the impact they had on their industry before Tim Sale passed away recently. Jeph is still living to the best of my knowledge. But very few artists get to enjoy and understand the impact of what they made while they’re alive, and I’m glad they got to enjoy that is what I’m saying.
This is one of your best videos yet! The production quality, information and flow is really well done man. Keep it up, your videos are always a treat to watch and give so much insight on Batman and the behind-the-scenes stuff
That's very kind of you. Thanks.
I have the the story and it's amazing chapter in the world of Batman, thank you Archie Goodwin.
Sale's artwork always makes me feel comfy
Excellent info, thanks so much for putting this together!!
I'm glad and frankly, AMAZED to see that after what, 6-7 years from when I first subbed to your channel, you haven't missed a beat and are still uploading Batman's ENTIRE STORY ARC, IN CONSEQUENTIAL ORDER, all the way back then beginning from his 1st appearance in the Golden Age... Absolutely incredible! Love this channel!!!
If you happen to read this, I have a request. I would donate to your Patreon and ask but I'm dirt poor, so If you never get around to doing it, it's all good,
but is there anyway you could MAKE A VIDEO outlining the ELSEWORLD storyline of SUPERMAN & BATMAN GENERATIONS II when you get to that point in Batman's timeline (1999-2001)? Comicstorian did Generations I on his channel while back but never continued the series, and literally no one on TH-cam has made any sort of video on its sequel. Either that or the main storyline of DC ONE MILLION??? If you were able to make a video on either one of those stories some time in the future I know they would be amazing! A guy can wish... Either way, keep up the amazing work!
I'm honestly, very glad to read you again in the comments. You have watched my evolution as a video creator and you're still around, even after all these years. That's all I can ask of you, so never feel bad that you can't support me on Patreon. It's ok. I'm just grateful that you're still here.
As for the request, I can't promise anything yet, but I will get to those stories and when that happens, we'll see if they get their own videos.
Again, thank you for writing. It's good to see you around.
I also really loved the internal monologue Batman had through the story
I love this comic so much one of my favorites and your video is amazing mr knight 👍🏾
I appreciate the subtitles, I have a hearing difficulty and sometimes struggle with understanding what was said, subtitles help a lot, thanks!!
great video btw :))
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.
My favorite comic, next to Batman Year One and Batman Flashpoint. My fan Batman comic screenplay is base of The Long Halloween but in a different take.
The animated movie is so good and really made good use of the two film format and love the ending more than the comjc
It's worthwhile to note that jn The Long Halloween, Batman is largely ineffective. He doesn't stop the Holiday Killer from completing their plan, he barely figures out what'sgoing on, and I don't think he even saves anyone throughout the series.
I've heard this fact expressed as a criticism of the series, which I don't agree with. That fact doesn't make it unenjoyable. Batman isn't infallible, and since TLH is supposed to be part of an origin story, it makes sense that he was particularly fallible at that time.
Your videos are awesome, man. I wish you success so you continue on making more content.
Thank you so much!
batman year one, long halloween and killing joke are timeless
I read the graphic novel as a trade paperback that I checked out from the library. I liked it so much that I bought the series' individual issues off ebay afterwards.
This is one of the most perfect Batman comics in existence but you are right it’s definitely copying a lot of stuff from others but hey if your are gonna copy something might as well copy the godfather and eye of the beholder(imo one of the greatest two face stories other than this one)
Your videos just keep getting better and better.
Thank you! I do my best :)
@@SalazarKnight long time fan still remember when you found that comic i remember reading as a kid for me
It had an impact on me for sure... As a kid, I loved Two Face, but with this story I grew to love Harvey Dent in his entirety... Also, Looney Tunes Joker is GOAT and Tim Sale's depiction is stellar .
The music, the edition and the narrative, freaking awesome video
You get it! This video is a ceazy good analysis...so much symbolism i was not aware of. Now i gotta head over to comic ship and reread the thing!
Great video on a great comic series! I enjoy your critiques and how in depth you go to explain so much of what happens in the comics. Great stuff! I can only hope there are more great stories in the future as good as this one was! A true classic!
Don't stop man, few people understand Batman as well as you. Absolutely LOVE your videos
Thank you! It's hard to keep going with these numbers, but I still got a few more videos left in me.
Keep going my friend I know that sometimes things are hard and difficult but you are the best. I believe in Gotham, I believe in Salazar Knight.
I've always loved the idea of the Batman effect on Gotham's crime. Before Batman, formal gangsters and corrupt policeman. After Batman, criminal lunatics with colorful gimmicks. Is like if Batman's rogues gallery were attracted by the fact that someone in a ridiculous bat costume was in the city bringing order. One of the reasons why I never liked the Gotham TV show. Also a special mention to Tim Sale who recently passed away.
The Long Halloween was the first #Batman comic I ever read that wasn't a tie-in comic to an animated series (Batman: Gotham Adventures or The Batman Strikes).
Amazing video, great job man!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I think some stories you should definitely give a look are the Dark Moon Rising duology and Dead to Rights. The two Dark Moon Rising miniseries work as a perfect segway between Year One and the Man Who Laughs, and Dead to Rights is kinda like an extended epilog to The Man Who Laughs, and it's a really fun read with excellent characterization for Joker. It's worth noting that Dead to Rights was originally a story from issues 22 to 25 of Batman Confidential, so it's not a dedicated graphic novel or miniseries, but it was collected as a book titled Batman Dead to Rights, and I think it's a lot of fun as a wrap up to Batman's first year.
What a terrific assessment of the book. Due a re-read, I think!
I love this channel. So cool.
Great great video! Thank you so much for making this.
Thank you for sticking around for so long. You've no idea how much it means to me.
@@SalazarKnight It's my pleasure! I think you're possibly the most underappreciated youtuber in history. You're an excellent critic. Most people who critique pop-culture have very little of substance to say about any of it. You do a great job of balancing analysis and opinion, and you organize your thoughts very well. And on top of all that, you seem to keep improving. There's very few youtube uploads I get more excited about than yours. I just hope you enjoy the process after all this time -- I'd hate to think of you not using your gift any more, but I can imagine it's hard to work so hard and long to relatively little fanfare. Maybe you're just too good for the average viewer to appreciate, I really don't know.
If I'm being honest, I think my old videos are the problem. You joined the channel back when I was still trying to find my voice (and I thank you for having faith in me, even back then), but as fondly as we remember those videos, sometimes I go back to watch some of them and I just can't. I was still growing as a creator and it shows. The problems is that TH-cam keeps promoting the old videos because the views are higher on those and they only get higher because they keep getting recommended. It's sort of a vicious cycle, that only creates problems because new viewers are exposed to those videos instead of the new ones, basically scaring them away. One of the best things I did recently was the remake of The Golden Age Batman and perhaps remaking some of the oldest videos is probably a good way to help the channel grow. Maybe...
I may hate Jeph's guts these days but I have to admit the Long Halloween and Dark Victory is some of his best work.
why do you hate him?
I love long Halloween, but I do like the sequel; Dark Victory more. Idk something about Dark victory is just emotional.
I had no idea the long Halloween had a sequel. I'm going to have to check it out
favorite comic story line of all time.
Damn. You've made a video worthy of this story. Amazing work!
Side not, that third Halloween special, I have on my wall signed by both Loeb and Sale.
I loved the Long Halloween.
Sal from what I can tell you've made another amazing video, I'd love to discuss some thoughts but I've spent like a year trying to forget this comic so I can experience it again 😭 whenever I do re-read I'll definitely drop some thoughts, just wanted to give you some applause since all the comments are telling me how good this video was
Thank you. I really appreciate that!
Excellent analysis
I love long halloween.. but dark victory was also great
Fun fact that is Ben Mckenzie at the 6 minute mark who would go on to play Gordon in Gotham.
You make the best Batman vids !!!
Thank you!!
Pretty sure DC confirmed it was Gilda with the animated movie, not leaving it a mystery like the novel. They always do these cop-offs in the DC movies.
Love the Long Halloween.
The godfather joke at the end of the video make me laught so loud 😂
Its a top 5 Best Batman stories of all time for sure imo, And The adaptations of it are very good as Well, not as good as The comic is but its still good. Jensen Ackles As Batman was a great cast for the animated adaptations of this story And The comic is Just glorious, The sequel for it which us called Dark victory is great as Well, hope u will make a video abt it as Well in future!
The Reaper was the BEST part of Year Two, actually!
I still like batman and robin, as well as batman forever. they have the perfect 60s campy feel
This is not only one of my favorite batman comics but also one of my favorite comics in general in fact I think it's better than the Dark Knight Returns suck it Miller
I re-read the long Halloween recently. While I think the art is great and the premise is strong, the actual writing kinda left me with something to be desired. I remember liking it when I first read it as a kid, but as an adult it kinda stinks of "Making it up as we go along" and they threw out so many random red herrings and twists that by the end it doesn't really make sense anymore. It made me seriously question why I'd liked it as a kid or heard so much praise for it. I remembered it being a cool story about Calender Man, but when I re-read it it felt more like a potentially great Two-Face story that flopped on the last hurdle and couldn't stick the landing. It's definitely no where as big a letdown as the Dark Knight Returns sequels, but it feels clumsy and amateurish, like your average creative writing student coulda avoided the mistakes they made.
Dark Victory will always be favortie comic book story
I love your videos man!
This video has been a long time coming for this channel. Must have been thrilled to finally cover this story. And I am happy to see that it is so loved by so many.
However, I have problems with this story. I finally read it about last year. My first impressions was that it was good, but overrated. I absolutely love the first two Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials, but I felt the Long Halloween was subpar. I think Tim Sale's art is perfect and explains why this comic is so highly appraised, but it is Jeph Loeb's writing which is lacking.
Firstly, Batman is practically useless in the entire story. I understand that the story is meant to be a tragedy, Batman's first failure. However, the way this failure is laid out by Loeb makes Batman completely ineffectual as a detective and a superhero. I think I might have enjoyed the story more had Batman stopped one or two of the Holiday Killer's murders, preferably later in the story as it would convey the sense that Batman as the World's Greatest Detective was beginning to understand and predict the killer, just unfortunately a little too late. This does not happen, with Batman failing to stop a single murder. Other than hanging out, what does Batman really do in the story? And what impact does the failure really have on Batman? It is just sort of presented like "Batman failed" and that is it. We don't really get to see how this impacts him as a character or contributes to his character development. That aspect is sort of left to subsequent and other Batman stories, similar to "A Death in the Family" where the real impact of Jason's death on Batman is undeveloped in its original appearance only to be explored more satisfactorily in other, subsequent Batman comics.
Secondly, I thought Harvey Dent's portrayal was colourless. In other forms of media like Batman: The Animated Series, Dent is presented as this likeable, charismatic, suave, intelligent, and moral character. But, under Loeb's writing, Dent doesn't really stand out, nor does he come off as a character we should sympathize for. Because the audience isn't really brought to care and like Harvey Dent, it undermines the emotional impact of his physical scarring and subsequent tragic turn to villainy.
Thirdly, the mystery of the case is unbelievable. Loeb should have applied Occam's Razor and gone for a simpler explanation for the Holiday murders. Instead, he overcomplicates it, striving for artistic ambiguity and nuance. But I don't think he succeeded in doing this well enough to make it believable and clever. In the end, the audience, or at least some in the audience, are left more confused than moved by the contrived plot twists of the murder reveals.
I don't know whether anyone else shares these impressions about this story, but I am more than happy to discuss them in the comments with anyone who agrees or disagrees more or less with them. I don't hate the story, I like it, especially Tim Sale's contribution to it. But I think Loeb's writing has weaknesses which affect my enjoyment of an otherwise great story.
I see your points are they're completely valid. You've put much thought about this and it shows. Thank you for writing and for not holding back your thoughts!
@Salazar Knight I think he missed that point. Bruce was still a young detective and makes mistake
You see the events of the story effect Bruce, such as the scene where he almost kills Alberto. He isn't wrong about the mystery being contrived and Dent isn't as sympathetic as he was in Eye of the beholder (which in my opinion is a better Two Face origin story than LH), but the story isn't as mid as he claims. The atmosphere was great, and some characters moments were strong. The highlight is the art of Tim Sale (MAY HE RIP)
@@zemox2534 I know that the point of the story is to show a young, inexperienced Batman having failures and I don't have any issue with stories like that. Oftentimes, we learn more from failure than we do from success. So it is a brilliant story idea to have Batman fail once, not only to prove his humanity and make him relatable, but also to give him greater character development.
But, I don't think this story handles that character development well. It is like Batman fails, but for what purpose? How does the failure make him better, stronger, wiser? My main issue with this story is that Batman doesn't really do anything in the story. He doesn't stop a single murder. He doesn't find out the identity/identities of the holiday killer. The identities are just sort of revealed to everyone, including Batman. He doesn't stop Two-Face's scarring. For a portion of the story, Batman becomes a victim to Poison Ivy. It ends up being Catwoman who rescues Batman from Poison Ivy's mind control. The story takes place over a year and yet, in all that time, Batman doesn't really get anywhere to solving the mystery. Loeb's writing makes the story happen around Batman with Batman achieving nothing. It just seems to me that Loeb underplayed Batman too much in the story to the point that the defense of "Batman was young and inexperienced and fallible" isn't a sufficient explanation. Perhaps, had Loeb let Batman have a little more impact on the story, such as stopping one of the killings from taking place, then Batman's characterisation in the story would have resonated more.
I definitely agree with you that the highlight is Tim Sale's art. Sometimes, when I am reading comics, I wonder whether I am enjoying the story mainly because of the artist's efforts or because of the writer and the artist's collaborative efforts. I wonder if I wouldn't enjoy the story that I am reading at the time if the artist was different and perhaps less talented - that, in the end, it is the artist who is making the story work and not the writer. If Tim Sale wasn't the artist for The Long Halloween, would it be as highly regarded as it is?
So damn good
I love this story but the animated adaptation is bad ( in my opinion ) because of the changes like the Roman's son just being dead and batman just listening to Gilda as she explains who holiday is. I watched that first and rated it like a 5.5/10 while when I read the comic I rated that a 9/10
14:10 What's the answer to the riddle "When does a killer not kill?"?
Nice video, i Just wish u would do a video about me (owlman) or Just my appearances or Just fully about me (owlman) overall. The Best stories including me are: DC's JLA: Earth-2, DC's Forever Evil And there is probably more but i forgot about them probably unfortanetly.
P.S. And always remember, that unlike Batman, i am always prepared!
Owlman signing out.
14:42 - Michael Jackson?
02:46 but🍑
I actually thought you won't like it that much.
this comic is the reason why victoria is a secret
Just discovered you, have a sub!!
I have major issues with Loeb’s writing. The Long Halloween and Hush especially are the worst offenders. I do really enjoy Sale’s and Lee’s work on those books though. Dark Victory is probably the best book Loeb has ever written (probably Sale’s best work too), yet no one ever brings that up.
Where does The Man Who Laughs fit in?
Sucks that the animated adaption didn't take try to mimic the art style of the comic. It's so exaggerated but beautiful.
I miss the days when DC animated movies used the artstyle of the movies they adapted like The dark knight returns, superman/batman public enemies or batman year 1.
Now it's just about shared universes.
I'm glad they didn't as I kinda hate it, personally.
8:20- Wasn’t that Capone?
Yes
I wish DC Animated Universe Original Movies left it as it was instead of defying it for a shock from fans on the first viewing. Sometimes its best to leave things as they are. Same goes for Hush. All it does is stir the pot the wrong way.
The only good Batman comic Jeph Loeb wrote.
Ik I’m late but so I’ve watched nearly every Batman movie, played the games and watched a good bit of spin offs and lesser known Batman movies. Is the long Halloween the basis of nearly everything Ik about Batman and Gotham itself??? Like is this the origin story in a sense?
Not exactly. This is definitely one of the most influential Batman stories of all time, but it's far from being the only one. It's really popular and it's really good, but there are many other great stories including Year One, Dark Knight Returns, Killing Joke and Knightfall.
Is there WonderBat graphic comic novel? Or series?
Arguably my favorite batman comics.
So with the fact the long halloween is influential, to the point it can be seen in cinemas narratively, how well do you think Christopher Nolan incorporated this storyline in the Dark Knight Trilogy?
In one word: perfectly.
@@SalazarKnight agreed. I've redeveloped a new appreciation for the trilogy. And has proven instrumental for how I'm writing Batman
No mention of the animated films? I thought ''The Long Halloween Part Two'' was great, if a little different.
Why does Selina kinda look like Michael Jackson
I still think the animated movie is a great adaptation
Daddy loeb
Curious, where is the narrator from?
Boy oh boy did that animated version completely compromise itself with it's awful 'house style' that dc animated movies have been churned out with for the last decade. Absolutely ruinedb the thing. Same for killing joke, but obviously there were even bigger issues with thatb
I should like to make a point about to The Long Halloween... there are too many stigma and cultural prejudices (maybe racism) towards italian and italo-american's people... it's really a shame.
How so? What specifically are stigmatizing or culturally prejudiced? I cone from a family with primarily Italian ancestry. I've also read the book. I didn't see anything untoward, so I'm curious as to what you saw?
@@sertorrhenclegane "The deeper you go into the wood, the more expansive the valley of evidence becomes".
@@estateizeThat doesn't answer my question. Name a specific moment. That's all I'm asking of you. If you make an accusation, you must have evidence to back it up, otherwise it sounds as if you're blowing smoke.
@@sertorrhenclegane The truth is like the sun: it is beneficial until it became too hot ...and burns.
@@estateize Never mind. You don't have to answer if all you're going to do is write flowery prose in lieu of having no evidence.
I don’t like the art, so I’ll just watch the movies, including Godfather 1 & 2.
This was muuuuuuch better than Hush! Ugh, that was soooo overrated. I was expecting a loooottt more from Loeb. And Tommy Elliot is just the most contrived character, ugh!
no it sucked it's not true Batman at all idk who they are writing about but this guy is not Batman. Batman is not that dumb he has lived and known the power players of Gotham for many years as Bruce and Batman and there is no way Batman with his abilities and intelligence would be so stupid careless and blind to this group of Gotham rich cmon he has carefully watched all of them especially the rich and powerful and he would have known so sorry no , not one bit believable as a story and it undermines everything that is Batman and makes him so cool great and powerful as a superhero , it's what gives him the same status as Superman even though he has no super strength flight or other physical feats he made his own super powers with his brain his wits and that makes him the most dangerous character for anyone to face so sorry no this story I found was very non batamn. like call it something like what if Bruce Wayne was born with mental disabilities and was really really stupid
BRUH
One of the most overrated comics of all time imho
The word overrated is overrated