DC’s Last Halloween Just Made Controversial Batman Change

Batman’s Last Halloween just shook up the Dark Knight’s entire world, and it could ruin him entirely.

After finally catching up with Catwoman, who is certain she has been shot by a returned Holiday Killer on Halloween night in the pages of Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween #2, the Dark Knight is forced to face the reality of the situation. By the time Thanksgiving Eve rolls around, Batman is still dangerously short on leads, though he has one idea of who can help. Unfortunately for him, there isn’t time to catch up with the Penguin before he is gunned down by men dressed as Scarecrow’s goons, nor for him to avoid being framed for the crime itself.

Written by JEPH LOEB Art by KLAUS JANSON Colors by DAVE STEWART Letters and design by RICHARD STARKINGS Main cover art by TIM SALE Variant covers by MARK CHIARELLO and ARTHUR ADAMS & PETER STEIGERWALD

Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween brings readers back to the iconic storyline that began with Jeph Loeb and Time Sale’s 1996 original, Batman: The Long Halloween. The series, which has since retconned the events of Batman: Year Two in DC’s New Earth canon, stands as the turning point in which Gotham City’s costumed criminals rose to prominence above and beyond that of the preestablished crime families that existed long before them. Batman: The Long Halloween also marked the introduction of the Holiday Killer, or rather Holiday Killers, who have gone on to leave behind one of DC Comics’ bloodiest legacies.

The original Holiday killings were carried out by Gilda Dent, the former wife of Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent, better known as Two-Face, the latter of whom also helped in his wife’s mission to tear her way through the likes of the Falcones. Eventually, Alberto Falcone took on the mantle of the Holiday Killer, carrying out a near-identical series of crimes in the hopes of furthering his own ambitions.

Loeb recently discussed Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween with CBR, noting the reaction the story garnered from others when he described it as a tribute to the late, great Tim Sale, who passed in 2022. Loeb opened up about first mentioning the project to artist Eduardo Risso, recalling, “I told him I got to do this thing with Tim, but Tim can’t do it, so it’s for Tim and [he was like], ‘I’m in.’ Nobody asked what they were doing, what the project was, which characters they were doing, nothing.” Loeb added, “As soon as I said ‘It’s for Tim,’ everyone said ‘We’re in. Let’s do this.”

Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween #2 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics