Customer Reviews

Batman: Dark Victory (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Batman (Pb))

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In this sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween, a new District Attorney has plans to clean up Gotham, and her plans include cleaning up Batman. But, someone is playing Hangman, and with each new game, someone in the police department gets hanged. As if things aren't bad enough, a mass breakout from Arkham puts a lot of super-villains on the street (including Two-Face, Joker, Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Penguin).

This is another great graphic novel, and a worthy sequel to The Long Halloween. I thought the story was nice and gripping (just like a Batman story should be!), while the illustrations were wonderfully done, making the whole read that much better. I enjoyed the Catwoman character once again, and thought that the author did a great job with the Robin character. I highly recommend this book to any, and every, Batman fan!

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have done it again. "Dark Victory" begins where "The Long Halloween" ended and creates a new intriguing murder mystery where once again, the obvious answers are the most unlikely and no one can be trusted. It continues to pay homage to the late 30's/early 40's noir style and madness that lurks on (and beneath) the streets of Gotham City.

The Gotham police force is slowly being annihilated by a killer known as "The Hangman" while the mafia families have united in a war against the crazed rogues of Arkham. Unfortunately, they've all escaped and established Two Face as their leader to control the city. Commissioner Gordon's security efforts are strained by the new no-nonsense district attorney, Janice Porter. Despite her prim and firm manners, her intentions are just as vague as the other "Dark Victory" characters.

Batman toils to discover the Hangman's identity but the memory of Harvey's demise still haunts him. Blaming himself for his friend's tragedy, Batman distances himself from close allies and gradually loses his identity as a human being. His relationship with Selina Kyle and Catwoman is a strained romance while his work life becomes a heavy toll worn on by Gordon's frustrations. "The only problem with being alone, Master Bruce, is being alone," Alfred notes.

As the Hangman's noose tightens around Gotham's finest, as the criminal war continues to devour sane and insane men alike, as both Bruce Wayne and Batman slip down the void of despair, he finds himself akin to a feisty but extraordinary person: Dick Grayson. A tiny but determined boy with piercing blue eyes and an adorable pout, Dick is tragically orphaned and finds his destiny interwtined with the Dark Knight. The origins of Robin make this story enticing for any big Bat-fan.

This story isn't about the transition from darkness to light as much as it is about finding inner strength and comfort by finding (and trusting) a friend. There are terrible loses and sacrifices for both Batman and Commissioner Gordon but they find respect for one another. Gordon is reunited with his family just as Batman constructs a surrogate family, a comfort to ease his troubled mind. The Hangman's reign terror cannot stop Dick from his want of justice and opportunity to become a better person. When he chooses to ally himself with Batman, both orphans emerge from the darkness wiser, determined, and no longer alone.

This book, the sequel to The Long Halloween, is yet another winner from Jeph Loeb. All the best from the Batman universe are in here, and his notion of how Robin came to be is the best use of the Boy Wonder I've read yet.

One of the real strength of this one is the use of all the supervillains; every character from The Scarecrow to Mr. Freeze makes an appearance and plays a roll in the story. A part of me wonders if that might not be a continuity error (as Dark Victory is set early on in the Batman universe), but that's certainly a minor quibble. I also really liked the development of Jim Gordon in this book.

The two reasons I knocked this story down: the new ADA, and the confusing elements of the plot. The motives behind the new ADA (the lady who took over Dent's job) aren't really explained that well--more of a backstory would have helped to explain her better. I also thought the book had too many elements at times; three competing crime families, a cast of characters that probably numbers 30+, plus two seperate yet intertwined storylines that both demand a lot of attention. This isn't an inherently bad thing, and the things that I'm still not quite sure of will probably resolve themselves on a second reading.

All in all, a great story. Thumbs up, and highly recommended!

Loeb and Sale improve upon the Long Halloween with a gripping mystery that succeeds in tension and suspense where I felt the long Halloween failed. More important than the mystery is the continued look at the relationships of the characters in Gotham City. Jim Gordon and Batman, Jim Gordon and his wife. Batman and Selina Kyle in their heart-breakingly unconsummated relationship and Batman and Robin.

We also get to see the interactions of the remnants of the crime families, the new super-villains under Two-Face's lead and a new D.A., Harvey Dent's replacement getting her fingers dirty interacting with both sides. More than the mystery of who Hangman is, it is the characterization of Batman, the D.A., Jim Gordon and Two Face that make this a superior work. Dualism abounds in this work as you would expect in a story about Two Face and Batman. We get to see the two sides of many characters as well as their dramatic foils. I speak not just of the two sides as in alter-egos, but the emotional dualism of each character as well as contrasting and comparing each character such as the quartet of Selina/Bruce/Catwoman/Batman. That's one complex relationship.

The art...well it ranged from good to serviceably abstract. I prefer realism though I understand what Sale was going for. However it wasn't distracting to me so it worked for the story.

Very good sequel that doesn't top "The Long Halloween" (I mean, how could it?) but stands well on its own and has its own merits. The good: we find out what happened to Chief O'Hara, who disappeared years ago in Bat-continuity after the '60s show; we find out why Holiday and the crime families are not around at all anymore and why the "freaks" seem to run everything; we see more of why Batman took on a partner, which I still think is silly but understandable, and we get another good mystery, which few comic books can carry out. The bad: Robin doesn't have much face time (about five panels in full costume, plus the last cover); the story is rather repetitive in its use of holidays as murder times (though the use of August 2nd in this and TLH is a good giveaway of the killer: only someone in the family would think of the Roman's birthday as a holiday); the art doesn't seem quite so lovely as before; and the use of super-villains is gratuitous. Overall though, a worthy followup.
BEST part: the Gilda Dent picture puzzle: _uil_ _s si_.

The Long Halloween was a pleasant surprise. I was captured by the detective noir quality of the story. It featured a great origin and characterization of Harvey Dent, which makes the court room scene later in the novel tragic. The rise of the "freaks" in Gotham and the fall of them mob. All in all it was a great story that would have been served better as just a one-shot.

Let's start with the general story: The book starts out with a reformed Alberto Falcone being released from Arkham while Mario Falcone is actively trying to change his legacy and go legit. This is an interesting development but the book soon devolves into a retread of the original's plot. A serial killer known as the Hangman is targeting individuals connected to Harvey Dent: the modus operandi is ridiculous in its execution.

I thought this was going to be a great origin for Dick Grayson's Robin. It wasn't. He's not really introduced until late into the saga. I'll agree it was interesting with the detail on the similarity between Wayne and Grayson but its not essential to the story as much as I hoped for. It's not similar to the Harvey Dent origin. Its a bit of a distraction from the fact that there isn't much new in the plot.

It's not an actual sequel but it is a companion piece. With a sequel, although the story is a continuation. The sequel still has to be able to hold up on its own without over-reliance on the first. It's parasitic of the good elements that came before it.

Two-face has essentially been turned into a crime boss with Joker and Scarecrow working for him. It was fine at the end of Long Halloween (they had just risen in power)but it undermines the characters to see them continuing in this fashion.

The plot twists this time around are weaker, easily identified, and sometimes preposterous. The ending shoehorns the Robin story into the main story but it feels forced. I don't want to spoil it but you'd be surprised at how accessible something are.

Batman: Dark Victory, written by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, was originally published as a miniseries in 1999 and 2000. It is a sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween. It takes place early in Batman's career, and focuses on a serial cop killer, the Hangman, who murders on holidays. Meanwhile Harvey Dent has escaped from Arkham and is waging war on Gotham's organized crime families. This story also retells the origin of Robin.

Loeb, as usual, tells an engaging story. He does a good job balancing a fairly large cast of characters, although he waters down Batman's rogues gallery by cramming virtually all of them into this story, then making them incredibly easy to defeat.

Sale's art is stylized and exaggerated. There are often vast differences in the sizes of characters, and his sewers are like cathedrals. But overall, the art works.

There are a few grievous plot holes here. The Hangman is killing cops on holidays, and the cops know this, yet most every protagonist in the book has trouble keeping abreast of upcoming holidays. Batman knows that Harvey Dent and his minions are using the sewers to hide out and move around, yet he can never find them. Nor is he aware that the sewers conveniently lead right into the Batcave. The mind fairly boggles.

Overall, though, Batman: Dark Victory is interesting enough to overcome its flaws, and, while not as good as The Long Halloween, is entertaining enough. Read The Long Halloween first, as Dark Victory relies heavily on it.

I'll admit, at first, I was hesitant to pick up "Dark Victory." Its predeccesor, Loeb and Sale's classic "The Long Halloween" was such an awesome, page-turning whodunnit that utilized all of its characters so well, that I thought this would fall prey to the usual curse that befalls sequels and come up short of capturing what made the original so great. But I was wrong. This tale IS great, deserving of being placed on the same level of "The Long Halloween."

The tale picks up right where the original left off. Batman, along with his ally Commissioner Jim Gordan, is still devastated by the loss of one of the few people in his life he had come to trust: the former District Attorney Harvey Dent (whose origins as Two-Face were spectacularly retold in "Long Halloween"). Meanwhile, Gotham City's various Mafia families, particularly the Falcone Family around which the previous story centered, are regrouping following the death of so many of their members at the hands of the Holiday Killer, and their grip on the city continues. Standing in their way, however, is the rise of the "Freaks," the familiar members of Batman's rogue's gallery (The Joker, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, The Penguin, The Scarecrow, etc.). Led by Two-Face, they intend to drive the Mobsters out of existence and sieze the city for themselves. The city is once again a battlefield against crime.

Enter the Hangman Killer. Echoing the Holiday Killer's method of attacking on holidays, the Hangman goes after former and current police members, hanging them by nooses while leaving crude renditions of the children's game "Hangman" pinned to their bodies (all of which are mysteriously written on materials closely associated with Harvey Dent). And thus begins another page-turning round of Whodunnit, as Batman must once again put his master detective skills to work, deducing the killer's identity in the midst of his battles against Mobsters and Freaks alike.

The tale is amazingly coherent, keeping you at the edge of your seat from the start to finish as you yourself try to deduce who the Hangman may be. And let me tell you: it's a shocker. I sure didn't see the revelation coming, and I doubt many others did. It was all a great payoff to all the build taking up most of the tale. And to top it all off, this story also contains a retelling of the origins of Robin, as Bruce Wayne takes in an orphaned Dick Grayson (whose parents' death is loosely tied into the main plot of the story) and finds in him an unexpected partner in his war on crime.

There's also the usual quality from the Loeb/Sale team that we saw in "The Long Halloween." Sale's art is just as good as ever. The gangster drama and action plays a great part in the story alongside the murder mystery, and, like the previous story, is accompanied by more references and nods to film noir and Mob movies, particularly "The Godfather" (there's even a scene in the book that is taken directly from the famous horse-head-in-the-bed scene!). Basically, all the magic of "Dark Victory's" predecessor is intact, still as fresh and as amazing as ever. It truly is a testament to the skills of both creators that they were able to make such a high-quality sequel.

In short, "Dark Victory" is a most excellent tale, a worthy follow-up to "The Long Halloween" in every way, and should be an essential part of every Batman fan's graphic novel collection. Enjoy the action, enjoy the drama, enjoy the mystery, because I promise, none of it dissapoints.

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have done it again in "Batman: Dark Victory." The story is still a "whodunnit" and is similiar in formula to the first (killings take place on a Holiday). The target this time are "cops" and many "cops" only mildly remembered in previous Batman stories are quickly brought into this story only to be killed.

The plot thickens as Gordon and Batman try and get the killer. The art work is much better than the Long Halloween. It has a similar style, but is perfected in this series, especially on the Batman. The story is thinner and I easliy figured out the killer after the first death. Neverless, the story is still written so well, I stayed tuned and felt compelled to go on. Enjoying every minute as I turned each page. Robin is skillfully brought in to the story.

Even if you have the magizine format, get this special hardbound edition. You can re-read the story withhout touching the magazine (therefore, not having to take a chance of devaluing the comic)and enjoy the read.

I read this in a few hours as my eyes were glued to the pages. My first impression was as a sequel it wasnt as good, it wasnt but none the less it was top class. The story fantastic and genius. Totally recommend.