I've always appreciated the character of Batman, but I never really followed him all that much, beyond seeing the movies and picking up an odd issue here or there whenever a seminal moment seemed to be happening or in the works. After seeing The Dark Knight, however, I found myself drawn into the world more than ever, and wanted to see just what kind of stories Batman was capable of producing. The first trade I picked up was Batman: The Long Halloween, written by Jeph Loeb and with art by Tim Sale. It's one of the best trades I've ever read and proves that Christopher Nolan isn't the only one who knows how to properly handle Batman.

Batman is well known for his rogue gallery, featuring everyone from the Joker to the Penguin to Poison Ivy. Though many of those appear – as do quite a few others – the central focus on the villain front is Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, the ruling mobster of Gotham who seemingly has his hands in every dirty deal and knows the right strings to pull. He doesn't have a freeze ray, fear gas, or can control plants. Instead, he's just a bad guy, and one of the main reasons the book works.

Much like Batman Begins - where a big focus was on taking down crime in general - Batman in this story is focused on clearing the criminals from the streets, and he has in his corner James Gordon and reluctant District Attorney Harvey Dent. It's your standard good guys versus bad guys situation, but then a cog is introduced into the story – Holiday. Holiday is a shrouded figure of mystery, who on the major calendar holidays, is slowly picking off members of the crime family, and it's leaving everyone baffled as to who could be behind it. Meanwhile, as the trio seeks to take the mob down and stop Holiday, classic Batman villains rear their heads to not only make an appearance for the sake of appearance sake, but also factor a great deal into the main story of the book. The classic rogue gallery isn't utilized to their full potential, but seeing as how this isn't their story, they fit nicely into the proceedings.

Hell Yeah I'm Batman

Batman: The Long Halloween is outstanding in terms of its narrative tone, as it manages to perfectly mix the feeling of a gritty pulp noire with the introspection and philosophical nature that defines the essence of Batman and his pursuit of justice. Though the book is indeed a "Batman" book, the real star of the show is Harvey Dent, and his slow and carefully plotted out turn into Two-Face. In fact, it's easy to see that Batman: The Long Halloween was one of the main inspirations for The Dark Knight's similar portrayal of the character, as the two share a common tone and similar corrosion in the way they go from hero to villain.

Beyond the amazing storytelling presented in the book, the art of Tim Sale is phenomenal, featuring a gritty style with a heavy focus on contrasts. I can't recall ever seeing his art before, but within the span of a little over 350 pages, I have instantly become a fan and hooked on his art. It doesn't matter if Batman is fully displayed in the light or partially hidden in shadows, as his visage and silhouette are so striking you can see how he would put fear into any man who ran across him. Sale also does a remarkable job on the villains, specifically the Cheshire cat grin of the joker and the kudzu-esque hair of Poison Ivy. In regards to villains, however, Two-Face takes the cake in terms of art, as his face is truly disturbing and disgusting, though a part of that comes from caring about Harvey Dent in the beginning, and then having to watch his fall from grace as the story moves forward.

Batman: The Long Halloween is an exceptional graphic novel, collecting what will assuredly go down as one of the best Batman stories of all-time. Besides being a book that every Batman fan can enjoy, it's also a great way to introduce new fans to the character.

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