Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Batman: Dark Victory
Book Review: Dualling Identities
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: Last Stands and Origins
Summary: 5 Stars
In the sequel to the amazing The Long Halloween, Batman/Bruce Wayne and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon are out to catch a cop-killer who hangs both current and ex cops on holidays, very similar to the exploits of Holiday, AKA Alberto Falcone. The difference is that Holiday always struck at members of the Falcone crime family. Complicating the investigation is the fact that, with the Falcone family in ruins, the streets of Gotham City have become infested with "freaks", the supervillains who comprise Batman's Rogues Gallery. Chief among them are Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, the ex-District Attorney whose face was half burned off by acid. Furthermore, the Joker, Batman's chief nemesis, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, and Catwoman are making things very hard for Batman.
Meanwhile a new D.A. named Janice Porter has taken over for Dent, and her misguided idealism causes problems for Gordon and Batman. Furthermore, when Harvey Dent's files are stolen out of her archives, his old documents begin appearing on the victims. These, along with intricate knowledge of the dead cops suggests that Dent is the Hangman, as the killer is called, but Batman thinks that they are merely being misdirected (although, it is strange that one of the notes implies that the killer knows something only the true Holiday would know).
Dark Victory shows the final attempts of the Falcone and Maroni crime families to regain power in Gotham. When one of the plans involves using a circus as a front for their illegal activity, a young Dick Grayson witnesses the death of his parents, very similar to Bruce Wayne.
Overall, this is a great story and worthy follow-up to The Long Halloween. While it isn't as good as its predecessor (it's a hard story to top) and it does somewhat follow the same formula (holiday killings), it is still a great read.
Book Review: Loeb and Sale Do It Again!
Summary: 5 Stars
Another instant classic in the Long Halloween tradition, Loeb and Sale deliver on all counts. This time, adding Robin's origin story to another mobster-and-super-villain-filled romp through Gotham City. If you like Batman, and enjoy different art styles, you'll love this masterly crafted work. Book Review: A Worthy Follow Up To One Of The Best Batman Stories.
Summary: 5 Stars
Here we have a direct follow up to one of the most acclaimed batman stories of all time. But does it live up to the quality of the previous book that had sweet art and great story? The Answer is a deffinite YES.
What can I say? I don't want to spoil the story for you, or anyone else. But I'm gonna have to feed you on what the story is about and yada, yada, yada. So I'm goonna jump to it!
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale return to give you another mind boggiling murder mystery set in batman's third year of kickin' a** and takin' names. This time round there is a new case that Jim Gordon , Batman, Catwoman, and the most gotham police department have to bury through. A new killer is on the loose in gotham, but it's not the old 'holiday' killer, but a new one who murders police officers and former police officers. This killer is later dubbed as the hangman killer, due to the victims being hung, with a hangman game pinned on to the victim's body. So it looks like batman and all his little friends are gonna have to bash some skulls and kick some a** in order to stop this new killer who also strikes on holidays. But there is more trouble thrown into this massive story 13 issue story line. Arkham Asylum's most notorius and dangerous madmen have escaped into the streets of gotham. These classic villains are Two Face, The Joker, Poisin Ivy, Scarecrow, Solomon Grundy, Mr Freeze, The Riddler, and The Calander Man. We also encouter alot of familliar faces from Frank Miller's Year One title, this is set two years later.
This follow-up is even thicker than it's predecesor and has smooth beter quality paper, so it will last longer. The art in this book is Tim Sale's best, it looks much neater and much clearer than his previous projects, it also has a more powerful look to the drawings, so you immediatly get grasped by his gorgeous art work. The story isn't as good as the previous title but still is very creative and unique, what put the story down was Robin, it was good that they introduced him back to the batman story, but he got kind of annoying towards the end.
All in all it's a really great read. If you haven't read or got Year One and The Long Halloween, I suggest reading year one first then the long halloween, every batman fan or comic book wierdo should own this fantastic title. Thank you and good night!
Book Review: The mystery is not yet solved...
Summary: 5 Stars
A direct follow-up from "The Long Halloween," Batman and newly appointed polce commissioner James Gordon, along with Gotham's new D. A. replacing Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, Janice Porter, find themselves trapped in another yearlong, mind-teasing "who dunnit?" mystery. The new "Holiday" serial killer not only marks his/her murders with items that relate to that particular holiday's theme, but he/she is targeting police officers. It is up to the Dark Knight Detective to end this new wave of madness before Gordon, Porter, or himself become the next victims, find Two-Face, and a bunch of other costumed wackos, whom have escaped during a major Arkham Asylum breakout, and look after Dick Grayson, a young, orphaned circus acrobat who witnessed his parents murders much like Bruce Wayne (Batman) did when he was around Dick's age. But what Batman also doesn't know is Dick would be destined for greater things than just an adopted ward...
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are my new best friends! This time, the real "dynamic duo" first begin the story by showing how badly Batman and Commissioner Gordon have been affected by former D. A. Harvey Dent's traumatic accident, and transition to the schizophrenic villain "Two-Face." They also add to this by giving Two-Face himself the spotlight he truly deserves as the central antagonist. Two-Face is amazing villain because of his personal connection to Batman and Gordon. He, too, was once a crusader for justice, and a close friend to the two, which makes the hunt personal for the Batman. This, naturally, makes for a truly potent adversary. I also like the unexpected addition of Dick Grayson (Robin). Because Dick also witnessed his parents' murders much like Bruce did when he was Dick's age, this provides a short, but meaningful, side story describing exactly how similar Batman and Robin really are, and the best part is Loeb manages to flesh this out without turning it into 60s Adam West-style camp! In addition, just like last time, Loeb's crime-drama/detective-style writing keeps you reading on and on until everything falls into place and the true villain is finally caught. Oh, and there's also an interesting bit, somewhere in the middle, involving Catwoman and the Falcones.