“The Long Halloween,” “Hush” remain among best Batman tales

Since I’ve gotten on a Batman kick in my “2,011 in 2011″ comic-book reading challenge, I decided to revisit to of a couple of my favorite Batman stories, both written by Jeph Loeb.
“Batman: The Long Halloween” was a 13-issue limited series in 1996 and 1997 by the team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, who had already collaborated on some Batman Halloween specials for DC.

Set just after the “year one” era of Batman, the book features district attorney Harvey Dent, police commissioner James Gordon and Batman beginning a tenuous alliance to root out the mobsters of Gotham City.   A killer begins a campaign against men working for The Roman, aka Carmine Falcone, starting with the Halloween slaying of Johnny Viti.  More slayings follow on major holidays each month, earning the unknown killer the nickname “Holiday.”

Tim Sale provides a great atmospheric tone for “Long Halloween,” and Loeb crafts a compelling mystery that will have readers talking long after finishing the book.