Big One Comic Podcast : Batman The Long Halloween Part 1

[Crazy Clees]

Our dissecting duo return in this Dark Knight episode. We review 1-6 if The Long Halloween. The thunderstorm rages in the background while our hosts do their best to help build the mystery of the Holiday Murderer. Our Dramatic Reading is from a giant, sewer dwelling albino. Uatu takes a week off and Pariah fills in. Enjoy

Music by Jukebox the Ghost entitled "Half Crazy"

[Dezreavey]

Good timing, the HHW guys looked at this book briefly on Monday's episode this week.

[Crazy Clees]

Great minds must think alike

[DarkKnightJared]

Batman: The Long Halloween was the second comic I ever read, after picking up Batman: Dark Knight Returns (another one you should probably do an episode(s) on, BTW), and while looking at it now, I can see massive plot holes that makes the story nigh incomprehensible, it's still a solid book, filled with great characterization and gorgeous, moody art.

I never had a problem distinguishing any of the faces in Sale's art (the hair really helps--like the example of Dent and Bruce you guys use, Dent has curly hair, and Bruce has his slicked back), but some of the details on the Rogues' costumes/attributes aren't really my favorite--like I really don't like Catwoman's costume at ALL (LOVED his Selina, though), Ivy's hair being these huge plants I'm not a big fan of, and I really don't like Joker's teeth looking like something out of a humpback whale.

Fun fact about the first scene with the wedding: This is almost the exact same way that the first Godfather movie started, with the wedding of a gangster. Even the first line is mutated in here--in the movie, it was "I believe in America." Granted, the America version made more sense, and fit in the monologue, whereas in TLH it's there simply because it's a version of the first line in The Godfather. It does do a great short-hand in setting up this gangster/crime feel.

Funny you guys say that there should be a flow-chart in this book--because the version of the book I have DOES have a flow-chart in the back.

The first kill was Johnny Vitti, Falcone's nephew.

The whole "I believe" thing was just TLH. It was never really used like this in Dark Knight Returns.

I'm not sure if I get what you mean about asking for what the purpose of the scene was--do you mean of Solomon Grundy or of the Irish gang? The former was probably, like you guys said, Loeb wanted to make the story full of Gotham characters and, to a certain extent, Grundy is sort-of Gotham's first super-villain, so it makes sense that he's in the sewers. As for the Irish--Loeb wanted to create a rich, vibrant family of crime for Gotham, back in a time where it wasn't dominated by super-villains, but by families of different nationalities and creeds, working together and stabbing each other in the back to protect their own families and to possibly pull themselves out of squalor.

You know, on one hand, I can see what you mean about Grundy's plate--but on the other hand, I can't imagine Grundy getting really good food in the sewer, so even a small plate of a Thanksgiving meal is still pretty damn good.

"Why did Joker kill two co-pilots and a stewardess for a one-seat plane?" It's The JOKER. It was probably because he thought it would be hilarious.

I've always assumed that Bruce found through WayneTech one of those experimental engines that creates, like, 500 miles on a gallon of water or something and uses that to power his stuff.

They never go through Vernon's back-story--he's just an assistant who, unbeknownst to Dent, is in Maroni's pocket.

Good episode, guys.

[Crazy Clees]