#batmonth

[graemewilliamsltm]

Halloween part 2: The Long Halloween! - Batmonth Finale (1996-1997)

Halloween part 2: The Long Halloween! – Batmonth Finale (1996-1997)

  Here we go! The day I’ve been waiting for and building up to all month. The greatest book ever written. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s piece du resistance. The story of a series of murders on 12 of the major celebrations between Halloween and the following Halloween that Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent unite to solve. I have the Absolute Edition volume of it, and it is beautiful. 

The full size…

View On WordPress

[graemewilliamsltm]

Halloween Part 1: The Origin of... Two-Face

Halloween Part 1: The Origin of… Two-Face

  It’s Halloween. I’ve been spending the month reading comics that both take place before The Long Halloween and that introduce the key players. Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, The Scarecrow, an extensive history both of Bruce Wayne, various accounts of his early days in the costume, his relation with Superman, his Halloween adventures. I believe I have covered everything going…

View On WordPress

[graemewilliamsltm]

1995: Ghosts - The Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #3

1995: Ghosts – The Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #3

The third and final Halloween special that Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale wrote before plunging into the year long epic – Batman: The Long Halloween.

And it felt a little rushed.

Inspired by and mirroring Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this story follows a food poisoned Bruce through the standard 4 ghost encountering story.

Before any apparitions appear, it is a typical night for Bruce. While…

View On WordPress

[graemewilliamsltm]

1948/1994: Madness- The Origin of...The Mad Hatter, and Batman: Halloween Special #2

1948/1994: Madness- The Origin of…The Mad Hatter, and Batman: Halloween Special #2

  When I ask you to tell me the name of the first Batman villain that pops into your brain you may say classic characters like Joker, or Two-Face you may say names of villains that are more popular because of the movies like Ra’s Al Ghul or Bane, I might even get newer ones like the Court of Owls, but I doubt the first villain that comes to mind would be Jarvis Tetch, the stout man with an…

View On WordPress

[graemewilliamsltm]

Who Am I? The Origin of...The Riddler (1948/1989/1995)

Who Am I? The Origin of…The Riddler (1948/1989/1995)

Sometimes I wear green leotard, and I question it. Sometimes I wear a green suit, and I question it. Sometimes I wear a bowler, and I question it. Sometimes I question my hair. But I never question my struggle with The Batman. Who am I?

Detective Comics #140 written by Bill Finger with Dick Sprang in 1948. A great story of the time filled with larger than life props, and introducing the larger…

View On WordPress

[graemewilliamsltm]

1963/2011-12 - The Birds and the Court of Owls

1963/2011-12 – The Birds and the Court of Owls

Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed. Speak not a whispered word about them, or they’ll send the Talon for your head.

Sarah and I once a “The Birds” experience. It was this summer, on our way home from a wedding in Alberta, on one of our pit stops. We had…

View On WordPress

[graemewilliamsltm]

1820: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Before there was The Scarecrow there was Ichabod Crane

1820: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – Before there was The Scarecrow there was Ichabod Crane

For the origin of the Scarecrow, I’m going all out. I’ve got a few origins to look at and I also went right to the source of inspiration, a Halloween classic itself, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

I really enjoyed it.

It wasn’t really a scary story at all, it was all just a prank. It was more humorous than it was horrifying. The story paints a pretty broad picture of Ichabod Crane, the protagonist.…

View On WordPress

[graemewilliamsltm]

1989: Batman: Shaman

The Legends of the Dark Knight start here. Denny O’Neal and Ed Hannigan’s Shaman is not a story that everyone has read. In fact, most may not have heard of it. It is available on comixology, but if you want a physical copy, it will take some searching. I had to travel all the way to Newfoundland before I found mine. It is out of print, and looks to stay that way. It is the first story in the…

View On WordPress