Free Comic Friday: Batman: The Long Halloween #1 (Special Edition)

Batman: The Long Halloween #1 Batman Day Special Edition
“A Thing or Two”
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Colors: Gregory Wright
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover: Sale
Published by: DC
Released: Sept. 21, 2024

Our last Halloween Free Comic Friday installment for 2025 arrived last year on neither Free Comic Book Day nor some variation of the Halloween Comics Extravaganza. Instead, this landed in comic shops as part of DC's annual Batman Day celebration, which, as you might have guessed, celebrates the first appearance of Jarro, the Starro spawn with his own Robin costume.

Wait... no... Google confirms it's... just a day to celebrate Batman. It happens in a variety of ways; this year even included a special tour at Warner Bros. Studio Hollywood. But, for our purposes here, it always includes free comics.

Among the offerings last year was this issue reprinting a portion of the classic 1996-97 series that I got to know in the pages of Wizard. I wasn't buying a lot of DC comics at the time, but I heard good things. In fact, it sounded so interesting that I just went ahead and read the explanation of the mystery when Wizard recapped it. Look, it was a different time. I had no idea libraries would have graphic novels and share them with other libraries or offer them digitally on services like Hoopla.

But I eventually did borrow “The Long Halloween” from a library and read it, which is how I know that this version leaves some things out. Like a clue as to what the actual story is about.

Don't get me wrong; we get an excellent Batmosphere thanks to the writing of Loeb and distinctive art of the late Sale. We can tell it's earlier in the Caped Crusader's career since Jim Gordon is a captain rather than a commissioner and Harvey Dent only has one face.

Dent is still a district attorney, crashing the wedding of Johnny Viti, nephew of Gotham crime boss Carmine “The Roman” Falcone to see who all's on the guest list. One of those guests is Bruce Wayne, whose father apparently knew Falcone's dad, a relationship that doesn't sit well with Wayne, given his concern* about crime, organized or otherwise.

I am not familiar with mafia customs, but I guess if it's the day of your nephew's wedding, you get to ask for a favor. Falcone wants Bruce to help him with some sort of bank board vote. But he doesn't seem too concerned when Wayne turns him down, nor is he overly worried when his son, Alberto, informs him Bruce was snooping around outside his office.

Bruce is about to leave when he crosses paths with another guest, Selina Kyle. Now you and I know she's Catwoman and he's Batman, but I don't think they know that about each other at this point. I remember Batman unmasked for Catwoman (in one level of DC continuity anyway) during the Loeb-penned “Hush” storyline. I thought at first he knew who was under the cat mask, but dialogue here suggests I was mistaken.

While Bruce and Selina cut a rug, Dent is confronted by some ruffians who tell him to keep his nose out of other people's business and threaten his wife before knocking him unconscious. Bruce and Selina rouse him, but he has little time to chat with an idle rich guy like Bruce. Instead, he goes to see Gordon, who tells him he's got a friend who might be able to help them against Falcone.

Though Bruce has left the wedding, that friend returns in a different suit to get a look at the safe he spotted in Falcone's office. But wouldn't you know it, Catwoman's there too.

And so are Falcone's armed guards. Batman and Catwoman disappear in a cloud of smoke, but the Roman is none too pleased about the sanctity of his home being violated. So he puts out a $1 million bounty for either of the masked interlopers.

And that's where this particular reprint ends. I won't spoil too much of “The Long Halloween” for you – not just because I don't like un-alerted spoilers but frankly due to me not remembering many of the details. I know it involves a killer who strikes around holidays, which is part of the reason why this story elevated Calendar Man years before Kite Man's unlikely catch phrase was even a twinkle in Tom King's brain. The Holiday Killer may or may not be in these pages, but no festive murder is committed.

Does that make this an inferior Batman Day offering? No. It's a Loeb and Sale collaboration and gives new and old readers an on-ramp to a great Batman story. I guess I'm just a little surprised at where they chose to hang this particular cliff This is an enjoyable read, but “mob boss wants Batman and Catwoman dead” isn't as intriguing as “year-long murder mystery that perplexes the world's greatest detective.” The seeds of the focus on Batman, Gordon and Dent are there.

Still, it's got me wanting to re-read Long Halloween and finally check out its sequel “Dark Victory,” as well as the recent finale/tribute to Sale “The Last Halloween.” So, as a free comic book offering, it seems to have done its job (even if a little of the credit lies with my rather faulty memory).

* - By “concern” I mean “obsessive drive to stop it by almost any means necessary, including dressing up as a bat.”