Customer Reviews

Batman: Dark Victory

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the follow up to the much successful story, The Long Halloween. Now keep in mind that The Long Halloween is one of the most popular Batman stories written in recent times and trying to beat that or at least tie it is a daunting task. But Loeb and Sale successfully pull it off and even gets one up on the original.

Dark Victory pick up where the Long Halloween left off. The Holiday case is re-opened and he is released due to technicality, Harvey Dent escapes from Arkham, and a young Dick Grayson is left an orphan. From the very beginning, a war ensues between the old-school wiseguys and the modern freaks (i.e. Joker, Two-face, etc.) for the control of Gotham. I won't spoil the story more than it has already been done. All I have to say is that Jeph Loeb successfully manages to tie in all the events in a very coherent manner. For example, the death of Dick Grayson's parents are not just thrown in as a random act of violence but is tied in with the war between the freaks and the mobsters. Loeb also incorporates the idea of Batman (who is dark and moody) having a partner (who is on the other hand restless, talkative and dresses in a bright red and yellow outfit) in a mature manner.

And as for the mystery itself, it continues in nearly the same manner as the Long Halloween. A killer is murdering former members of the Gotham City Police Department and is tagging them with hang-man puzzles. I'll admit that I was surprised by the killer's identity. But I can't say the same for all the other readers out there who might be a better sleuth than I am.

All in all, in my opinion, Dark Victory reads better than the Long Halloween and is highly recommended.

The sequel to "The Long Halloween", in essence, this story is NOT essential to the Batman Storyline, it is NOT essential in regards to anything that may occur in the future. While this story is great, it does not surpass the original. If you enjoyed "The Long Halloween", I reccomend buying this--though if you are just beginning to purchase comics--your money is better spent of "The Killing Joke" or "The Man who Laughs".

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!

Loeb and Sale put together a wonderful sequel to Halloween. It all comes together with but one flaw. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE JOKER? That has to be the worst JOKER art ever.

(see my review for the Long Halloween). Dark Victory continues the great storytelling from The Long Halloween. A great batman epic.

Bought this and the Prequel together, another great book. I thought the Robin story was a little lame and just barely fits into the dark theme of the story but still a great read.

This book has the best combination of art and story in a Comic I have ever read. I think it is better than Miller at his best. The story reads like a Chandler or MacDonald noir mystery with some of the best art work put onto page. Greatly follows up the first part. Hard bound edition is excellent. A good way to introduce a new generation of young and old to the Dark Knight.

After reading and enjoying author Jeph Loeb/artist Tim Sale's Batman epic, The Long Halloween, I found out that there was a sequel. I was surprised how hard it was to find a copy. Every time I tried to purchase the follow up, it was either on order or, completely sold out. My months of frustration are now done, having just completed Dark Victory, I can safely state that the tale is a worthy follow up to what came before.
The story follows an intricately woven series of challenges for the Dark Knight of Gotham. Shortly after the events of The Long Halloween, a cop killer, known only as Hangman strikes and plunges Gotham into further chaos. The populace is being over run by a gang of villianous freaks, as the cops are determined to catch this brutal killer, led by the city's new police commissioner, James Gordon. The Falcone crime family takes advantage of the situation and decides to rebuild their now decimated empire. We also meet a new District Attorney, Janice Porter, following Harvey Dent's fall from grace to become the evil Two Face. In the midst of all of this, Batman meets an orphan, that will change his life forever. If it sounds like a "crowded" story, it is, but Loeb, who's also a consuting producer for the Superman as a teen series Smallville, is able to tell a story in such a way, as to draw readers right in. All of these plotlines work well off each other and never bogg down the book.

Sale, who also wrote the trade paperback's intoduction, gives the story some fine contasts, using darker shades with burts of color, for the art. Matching the style created for TLH, his layout is one of tradition and innovation. Betweem the words and pictures, Dark Victory is a feast for the eyes of every comic book fan.

The 392 page book also includes a Falcone "family tree" and some of Sale's character sketches. ****1/2 stars and of course, the book is recommened.

Also known as Batman Year Two, the follow up story to The Long Halloween is great story packaged with amazing design and graphics. The part about Robin was not developed much, but it is one of the best crime thrillers Batman has ever come across.

You must read Long Halloween before reading this one or you might not understand or follow what takes place in Gotham. Loeb is a master of twisting Batman into this unusual pit of criminal muckery. There are the regular Batman villians but they seem to focus on the crime families more in this story and I am heavily reminded of Frank Miller's Year one. As for Tim Sale's wonderful art, I commend him on pulling off this book even though some of it is not exactly his best. There are a few pages in which I thought he was just doodling or doing some kind of chicken scratch, but I think he was doing that just for the style of the book as doing Batman has to look kind of odd in comparison to when they did Superman For All Seasons which is also a Great read. This came in Hardcover and a library binding, so there was no dustjacket to mess with. I liked that. Looking forward to the final chapter Haunted Knight.