Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Batman, dc comics, Long Halloween, the batman

Batman: The Long Halloween Giveaway With The Batman Cinema Tickets

I don't know how widespread this is. Maybe it was just the cinema I went to see The Batman at last night. Kingston-Upon-Thames Odeon IMAX if you must know, I mentioned the pre-credit sequence there. But on entering the screening, we were all handed a free copy of a promotional reissue of the first issue of The Long Dark Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, with a new cover designed to reflect the new movie.

Newly published for 2022 by DC Comics, to accompany the release of The Batman movie, as well as leading into the Long Halloween graphic novel with a detective mystery set around the organised crime families of Gotham, it is clear that the comic book had an effect on the movie.

The comic book also lists many graphic novels that are available as well as a mini-interview with Robert Pattison about the film in which he said "I spent 2019 traveling with my suitcase filled with Batman comics. Batman: The Long Halloween was a big influence on the whole movie. I really liked that and Batman: Dark Victory. I must have read every single one of the top 20 graphic novels, but I really liked Batman: Ego, Batman: Shaman, and Batman: Damned. I gravitated toward the comics that deal with the psychological implications of dressing up as something almost mythological. I also liked the ones that erred on the side of almost supernatural, where there's a spiritual element to it."

There have often been calls for comic book movie studios to do more about tying in the multi-media exploitation of comic books back with the originals they came from. Ads at the beginning, more prominent and informative credits and acknowledgements, but this may well do the trick, depending upon how widespread it is. And while a few copies were discarded on seats at the end of the showing, most folks took them home with them. But I wonder how many might make their way to Piranha Comics, just round the corner? That natural link is not one that has been used here.

Taking place during Bruce Wayne's early days of crime-fighting, The Long Halloween tells the story of Holiday, who murders people on holidays, one each month. Working with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Captain James Gordon, Batman races against the calendar as he tries to discover who Holiday is before he claims his next victim each month, while attempting to stop the crime war between two of Gotham City's most powerful families, Maroni and Falcone. This novel also acted as a re-introduction to the DC Universe for Calendar Man, who knows the true identity of the Holiday killer but refuses to share this. He instead riddles and gives Batman hints from his Arkham Asylum cell. The story also ties into the events that transform Harvey Dent into Batman's enemy, Two-Face and revolves around the transition of his rogues gallery from simple mob goons to full-fledged supervillains… something the movie touches on as well.

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