Batman: Haunted Knight (Paperback)

by Jeph Loeb (Author), Tim Sale (Author) "One Halloween night in 1944 when I was seven years old, I hammered the front door of a house on my block and in my..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In the city of the demented villains, Halloween brings out the worst of the lot. This edition collects three of Batman's Halloween adventures in which he takes on some of the most fearsome and twisted foes--The Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter, and The Penguin. Graphic novel format. Available in September.

Language Notes
Text: English

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563892731
• ISBN-13: 978-1563892738
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,991 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend this book, February 11, 2004

By	Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This graphic novel is a collection of three Halloween stories involving Batman. In Fears, the Scarecrow returns to Gotham City, and he's turning the lights out for one scary Halloween. In Madness, that arch-villain the Mad Hatter is stealing children, and when he grabs Commissioner Gordon's daughter, it becomes personal. The final story is Ghosts, in which Bruce Wayne is visited by the ghost of his father, who warns him that three spirits will visit him for his own reformation; it's a Halloween version of the Christmas Carol, and Bruce hates seeing someone use his father's image - somebody needs to be taught a lesson, but who?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the artwork was very good, and I certainly enjoyed the stories. What was the meaning of the third story? I guess that it is up to you (and Bruce) to decide. As for me, I highly recommend this book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The third story is best, June 26, 2005

By	Corum Seth Smith (Hendersonville, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a collection of three Batman tales. In the first, Bruce Wayne begins to get serious with a woman while the Scarecrow terrorizes Gotham. In the second, the Mad Hatter is up to his usual schemes. Finally, the third is a Batman version of the Dickens classic, "A Christmas Carol."
My favorite is the third story. The tale is woven so that it becomes obvious to Bruce that the Batman can sometimes be his own worse enemy. I just love the way a night of strange visions can change even the most uncompromising character. The thing I always loved about the whole "Scrooge" archetype is that the presence of three spirits, a mystical and supernatural event, takes back seat to an even more incredible event; the redemption of a wayward human heart. So I am a sucker for the whole "Christmas Carol" mentality.
The thing about the Mad Hatter is I believe they've taken the character a bit far; he went from a dreaming schemer to a delusional psychotic. He once was just an eccentric criminal whose sense of reality was a bit distorted; now he is a homocidal maniac. I don't, in general, like the way they write the Jervis Tetch character nowadays.
Nonetheless, the third story is good and the first one is good enough to warrant a good recommendation for this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Dark, August 1, 2001

By	Hassan Galadari (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are a match made in heaven. Any story that they write is bound to be critically acclaimed before it's even published. They create magic. The create entertainment. Batman: Haunted Knight is the series of stories that put their names on the map. While Loeb would later go on to write very well written Superman, Cable and Fantastic Four stories, it is only when he is united with Sale that his creativity and genius moves up a notch.

This book is a collection of three Halloween Specials stories. All three are set in the early days of Batman, where I would believe Loeb finds himself at ease in. Each story holds its own, but deals with a dark side of the Batman, or one might say how the dark side deals with Batman. The three stories are very self insightful where the Dark Knight finds himself contemplating to what has made him the person he is today. How his past shaped his present and what it all means for his past. The most touching of all stories are the ones that deals with his childhood and sights of his parents before their untimely tragedy that helped make the character, the most morose, guilt-stricken characters in all comicdom. You learn that's the only thing that truly makes the character tick. The great love he shared with his parents turned into the great hate he feels towards the criminal underworld. That's what Batman is all about.

Loeb and Sale are truly downright amazing in their depiction of the character. Sale has still to find himself with the character and that can be noticed in some of the awkward art that appears in some pages. His take would masterfully transcend in his next masterwork Batman: The Long Halloween. Loeb and Sale would also go on ahead to make Batman: Dark Victory for DC and the highly acclaimed Daredevil: Yellow for Marvel.

People have caught on that the duo are excellent when solo, but are dynamite when together. With them onto something, there will always be a bang in the horizon. If their magic catches on, they could be the ones reviving the now defunct Batman movie franchise.