The decades-long mystery that began with Batman: The Long Halloween became an instant classic. And at long last, it's getting a much anticipated update in the form of Batman: The Long Halloween Special, just in time for Halloween. But ever fans now wants to know: what new twist in the story has brought Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale back to tell it?
The intensely noir detective story chronicled Bruce Wayne's early years as the caped crusader, and the origin story of Two-Face--inextricably tied to the mysterious Holiday Killer rampage. A case officially closed by both Batman and the police, with Harvey Dent and a crime lord's son taking the fall for the killings... unaware that Harvey's wife Gilda incriminated herself in the final pages. The 25 years that followed seemed to suggest the case, and the culprit, would never again be dragged back into the spotlight. Fortunately, before the new Long Halloween Special arrives on October 26, Screen Rant got the chance to ask Loeb and Sale about the story about to be told. Readers can enjoy the full interview, and an early look at official preview art below.
Screen Rant: Your previous stories in The Long Halloween continuity have been enjoyed for years, but how did this latest follow-up come to fruition?
Jeph Loeb: I think we've gotten so many kind words of praise from fans, particularly at conventions and other ways in social media that people reach out. People talk about The Long Halloween, Batman Noir: Dark Victory, Catwoman: When In Rome and Haunted Night as these seminal works, which is incredibly flattering and incredibly humbling. But it's really when we heard from people like Chris Nolan and David Goyer, who told us that it had an effect on the Batman trilogy with Christian Bale. And then Matt Reeves, who I know personally, talked about how it influenced the new Batman movie that's coming out.
Nonetheless, it just felt like after 25 years maybe there was another story to tell. And the good news was that we both knew Marie Javins, and she was incredibly open to it. It very quickly came together. We got a brand-new editor in Ben Abernathy, who was amazing, and we sort of let the dogs run. That helped a lot on getting it going.
I found the story quickly, and Tim was incredibly helpful in forging it, which is why he always takes storyteller credit. Then the pages started coming in, and I think it's some of Tim's best work. That always helps elevate a story, which is one of the things that Tim has been doing for me for more than 25 years.
Tim Sale: It very much felt like the gang was together again.
SR: Was that a chance for you to get to flex those same muscles again, artistically, or was this work that you were just waiting to get down on paper?
Tim Sale: I've been drawing Batman covers and doing a lot of Batman work at conventions and stuff like that, and the world of all the villains and everything. But the storytelling part of it, I always felt very much that it had to be with Jeph, if it was gonna be at all.
That was what was so exciting to me about jumping back end: having a story to tell, and the way that Jeph and I work together and inspire each other as we've gone along. That was terrific. It didn't take any time at all to figure that part of it out. It just felt good right from the get-go again.
Jeph Loeb: And we've been talking about how the most rewarding thing that came out of it was, while we've always been friends, we hadn't really been talking on a day-to-day basis in a long time. Having that rekindled and being able to have that friendship back again is the greatest gift of all. If the work is accepted, and people like it and buy a lot of it, that would be great. But for me, having Tim back in my life is the greatest reward that I'll get out of this.
Tim Sale: Yes, me too. Anytime you're working and talking - butting heads and getting along; laughing and joking and working towards a common goal every day - you get very close. And sometimes it becomes a really good friendship. Because just workwise we diverged, coming back together made it all the better, and it's really enriching. The story enriches our lives.
SR: One thing that has made The Long Halloween unique is that it's a story where fans might have more details, and understand more about the case, than Batman does. Was that on your minds when you were returning to this story?
Jeph Loeb: Whenever we set out to tell a mystery, obviously, there's going to be secrets. We hope that the readers enjoy the story, and they find it satisfactory - but more importantly, we hope that maybe there's a few things that weren't answered so that there's a story for another day. And that's true with this.
I wanted to answer some of the questions that people had, but I also wanted to leave things open in case DC wanted to revisit this time period; revisit it with us. I have to give enormous credit to them, because of the work that has gone into The Long Halloween stories. The collection started with Haunted Night, and then it's Long Halloween, and it goes into Dark Victory and Catwoman: When In Rome. That's an enormous amount; it's over 1000 pages of work that I can't believe Tim and I ever did.
But the fact that they've left that world for us to go back to - and they haven't told a story that contradicted it in any way, so that we had to figure out, "How do we undo that and still say that that happened?" and that kind of thing - it's just very generous. It's very generous from fellow professionals, who could have seen a Longer Halloween or something that they could do.
In fairness, Marvel's done the same thing with the color books - things like Spider Man Blue and Hulk Gray. We haven't seen an Iron Man Gold that's done by someone else. They've allowed us to keep that brand, and if we want to come back to it, then that may be something that we do one day.
Tim Sale: I also wanted to go back to something that you hinted at in your question. I really enjoy that Batman never figures out everything that the reader ends up knowing, and the reader doesn't know everything by any stretch. That's what Jeph was just talking about. But also, even though Batman catches the main villains, there's still all kinds of tendrils of storylines running around that he doesn't know. That is what leaves us open to for a lot more stories to tell.
SR: Two-Face is such a such a core part of this story, and Batman gives his opinion in this book that Two-Face wasn't 'created,' but rather unleashed. Is that a fair summation of how you view the character?
Jeph Loeb: I'm gonna give you an answer that's not going to be satisfactory. What I wanted to do was point out that that's how Batman sees it. That doesn't mean he's right. But if you're in tremendous pain, and I believe that he's continually in tremendous pain, there's certain truths that you create for yourself.
Gordon is willing to forgive Harvey and misses him and wants him to come back, but Batman has come to the conclusion that he's never coming back. We may never even have known him; he's a monster. That enables him to be able to do what's necessary, whereas there have been so many times when Jim Gordon probably could have just shot Harvey down. He certainly deserved it - he's murdered all sorts of people - and yet he doesn't. He sees hope where Batman is very much driven by vengeance.
SR: What do you view Gilda Dent adding to the equation for Harvey?
Jeph Loeb: I just think it's really interesting that, now that Batman has Robin, Two-Face has a new problem on his hands... She fascinates me. There's a kind of damage in there that we haven't even begun to see, and that always will excite me.
It's why I latch onto those kinds of characters, like the character of Calendar Man. Tim asked me, "Why does he do what he does?" I had never really thought about it, so I went back and read a whole bunch of stories, and it really was just like that was his thing. The Riddler has riddles and the Penguin has penguins and umbrellas. That sort of put me in a place where I went, "There's something here."
Then watching The Suicide Squad, and for James Gunn to put him in there and have his brother [Sean Gunn] playing the part? That just gives me the biggest smile in the world.
SR: Final question for you Tim: what is Batman's cowl made of, that he could hide those ears under the helmet at the end of the first Long Halloween?
Tim Sale: It's made out of... comic books. It's a drawing, people.
Batman: The Long Halloween Special arrives on October 26, wherever comic books are physically or digitally sold.