BarclayCard Waterslide Ad

An interesting advert I came across today. Effectively sliding information to the viewer.

Batman: The Dark Knight

I know what you are thinking, “Oh great! Another movie review.”

Far from it actually, I’m sure you’ve heard how awesome and kickass The Dark Knight was.

I spent my Saturday night re-reading one of my most favorite comics in my collection, Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween. The Long Halloween is a 13-issue series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale from 1996-1997. Most people know Jeph Loeb as one of the writers/contributors for the popular tv series. Smallville and Heroes, while Tim Sale is also part of Heroes. Tim is, in essence, ‘Isaac Mendez’. He is responsible for the paintings that Isaac Mendez does on the show, from his premonitions about explosions to his own death, all those portraits were done by Tim.

The Long Halloween, basically, is about a murderer named Holiday that strikes on, well, holidays. Sounds simple enough? Not really, behind this simple plot is a complex series of interactions between key characters, from Batman himself to mob bosses Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni. It also features a slew of villains such as the Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy and others. Mostly notably, it is also the re-telling of the origins of one Two-Face.

This series was actually one of the main inspirations for Christopher Nolan and the screenwriters for the second film. And while I was re-reading it today, it just came together. I was seeing a lot of the panels that were translated into the film. Not just the panels but even the interactions of characters, plots and even lines such as “I believe in Harvey Dent.” were inspired by the comic.

I highly recommend this comic to anybody who enjoyed The Dark Knight. Tim Sale’s art is superb, I really like his work and The Long Halloween was no exception with his great play on shadows coupled with a grim color palette. It really brings a dark and gloomy feel that’s fitting for the story. You can also check out the sequel, Batman: Dark VIctory, which was done by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale as well.