
So I finished Batman: The Long Halloween yesterday, which is another graphic novel Polt got me. Like The Dark Knight Returns, it was chock full Batman characters that I’ve been familiar with from other mediums. But unlike The Dark Knight Returns it had a solid story driving the book along. The book is essentially a mystery novel that kept me guessing the entire time up until the very end where they threw me for another loop.
I really liked seeing the comic inspiration for the gangster characters we saw in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight movies as well as some of the minor villains like Scarecrow and Mad Hatter. I read somewhere that this book was a big inspiration for the two movies, and it really shows. I was also really glad to see Catwoman in a bigger role than I’ve seen before. Her character is so much fun, I wish they could have gotten her right in the Catwoman movie.
The artwork is also really fantastic. It’s amazing how every graphic novel I’ve read (all four of them) Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, and now The Long Halloween have had totally different styles of artwork. This one seemed inspired by anime (remember when anime used to be called japanimation?) and I loved it. So yeah, I totally recommend this for anyone who enjoyed the movies and is looking for a good book to read.
Now I’m reading Star Wars: Outcast, which is the first non-graphic novel I’ve read in a few months. Let me know which graphic novels I should read next!