Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale - This story focuses on a series of murders yet again occuring on holidays (one year after TLH) but this time with more supervillains and mob drama. Taken independently the story is entertaining if not a rather simple pastiche of well trodden mob drama and supervillain plots. However, as a series with so much similarity to TLH the more repetitive, stale, and underwhelming qualities become more glaring. Overall it was still a breezy read saved by Sale's immersive art and delivers many entertaining moments even though the story is rather unoriginal. 7.5/10 My thoughts (the good and bad) - the first story with scarecrow was good, the second one with mad hatter shows you the struggle of being a parent mostly in the eyes of Jim Gordon which I really enjoyed and the last about Bruce Wayne finding out that in the future he will be forgotten. I’m still getting used to Tim sales art but it’s overall pretty good, and the stories in this are pretty good. My problem was that sometimes during the stories I wouldn’t get attached and wouldn’t care. I also thought the scarecrow one was a bit boring but Jillian made it better.

THE LONG HALLOWEEN is the most famous of these stories, and it’s pretty engaging in the moment. Set shortly after the events of legendary Batman story BATMAN: YEAR ONE (published in 1987), this story attempts to dance between the raindrops of Batman’s comic book continuity to answer this question: “There sure were a lot of mobsters in Gotham in BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Whatever happened to those guys?” A murder mystery weaves throughout the story, where the victims are mostly taken from that classic 80s Batman tale, and it also features 6 or 7 of Batman’s classic rogues. At its best, this story focuses on the husband/wife and parent/child relationships. At its worst, it is a choppily plotted mess whose mystery plot falls apart under minimal scrutiny. It’s fun to read, but isn’t nearly as clever as it wants to be. I’m also not sure just how successfully it blends the supervillain and mobsters into a single narrative.Ghosts" is a Batman universe version of A Christmas Carol, with Bruce's father Thomas Wayne taking the place of Jacob Marley, and the three spirits being Poison Ivy (the Ghost of Christmas Past), the Joker (the Ghost of Christmas Present), and a Grim Reaper figure (the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) who turns out to be Batman's ghost. The message from the spirits is that Bruce should not let Batman take over his entire life. This was by far my favorite of the three and it also made me tear up a bit (can you tell I'm a sappy bitch). I know we've been the horse of Bruce's parents dying to death (like, literally) but I can never get enough of it. I like that we learn the new information that Bruce was reading A Christmas Carol with his mom on that fatal night they went out to watch Zorro in cinema. Also, Alfred is ma boy! <3 And that principle holds for The Batman, which unfolds its entire first act on Halloween. Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig use the holiday to reinforce the entire film’s eerie-but-exciting tone. The weather’s starting to chill. Folks are out late in masks and face paint, getting into all kinds of trouble. One jerk even murders the mayor. Everyone in Gotham is restless. In October, those same vibes are already in the air for the audience before they even start watching, adding a layer of fun and immersion that’s certainly less distracting than 3D glasses. Bruce on his grave : "For all the good that Batman does... have I left nothing for my self? Spirit, are these visions of things to come or is it too late to change?" Catwoman and the Riddler takes a trip to Rome where Catwoman meets The Blonde, a hit-man, who sets us a meeting between Selina and the capo of the Italian mob – Don Verinni. However, he is murdered by Joker's Venom and Catwoman is blamed for the act. Throughout her adventure in Rome, Catwoman eventually deduced the truth – The Riddler has betrayed her, because he thinks Catwoman knows the answer the greatest riddle of all – who is the person under the cowl of Batman. Catwoman would eventually return to Gotham City with no proof of her ancestry.

The conclusion of this story was Bruce deciding to open Wayne Foundation (but didn't that exist already? What was the function at the beginning of the story for then?) and giving children candy for Halloween. Batman: Haunted Knights collects 3 Halloween Specials of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (Fears, Madness, and Ghosts) written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale And last thing I love about this book is Tim Scale's brilliant artwork. Every panel is superbly crafted. His design of Batman with glowing red eyes is my favorite Batman design. Scarecrow has never looked more intimidating than he's in this book. He draws Ivy in very unique way. All the iconic villains like Joker, Penguin etc appears with very cool design. The artwork sets the spooky atmosphere of Gotham city so well. Jeph Loeb’s writing is a lot more hit and miss. The Halloween specials are...fine. Nothing too special or noteworthy, aside from the debut of Loeb’s version of the Scarecrow —- who inexplicably speaks in nursery rhymes only when Jeph Loeb writes him. I also liked that this book showed Bruce's relationship with his mother. I was surprised to know that he was the one who requested her mother to wear that Pearls at that night. And we know very well that how this leads to Pearls shattering death of her mother which forever hunts him for rest of his life. Then there's that sweet part which shows how Bruce's mother used to tell him the story of Alice in wonderland on rainy nights.And we know at this moment that all this is Bruce's dream which is reflection of his own inner self so there Bruce try to defend his father (actually his own guilt) so all this was so depressing for me to read. Bruce's father : "These chains I wear, I forged in life. Link by link, yard by yard, I made this burden. Obsessed with my medical practice, I lost sight of what was truly important." Gotta give Dave Stewart a huge shout out for his coloring on When in Rome. Had a nice water-colored look at times that was super smooth. Awesome stuff that really compliments Sale’s drawings and makes that story really stand out among the others in this collection. Fears centers around Scarecrow and his attempt to frighten Batman down to his core. While the caped crusader comes off as a bit amateurish this time around, it does bring to light his buried quest to find happiness. This desire clouds his judgement when as Bruce Wayne, a love interest enters his life.

There Bruce's struggles to decide, whether he should stay in happiness with Jillian or should go for crime fighting by leaving Julian(happiness).Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are my favorite duo when it comes to writing and drawing Batman comics and sadly, this is the last comic I hadn't had read from them. This collects Choices, Madness and Ghosts, three short stories that were conceptually at different times but all take place on Halloween in Gotham City.