Batman: Haunted Knight

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What made this story stand out was the elaboration on how the Mad Hatter was such a disturbing character. I quote the Batman: "In taking his identity from Alice in Wonderland, Jervis Tetch unknowingly perverts a happy childhood memory." Last thing i'm going to mention is that all of the great writing comes to life by the exceptional art by Tim Sale.

Batman: Ghosts is a Halloween version of A Christmas Carol with Thomas Wayne taking the place of Jacob Marley, and the three spirits being Poison Ivy (Halloween Past), the Joker (Halloween Present), and a Grim Reaper figure (Halloween Yet to Come) who turns out to be Batman. The message from the spirit is that Bruce Wayne should not let Batman take over his entire life. These are the ones that remind me why for all those years, Batman stays on the top of the list of my favourite superheroes. At the same time they lit the fuel of my enthusiasm and make sure, he will stay on the top for many years to come. First part is about Bruce meeting a lady named Jillian maxwell who is actually a secret CIA agent. In this part we see how Bruce has a deep desire to have a happy life with his beloved women. But on the other hand he doesn't have any choice to do that because he already lost his choice on the day his parents died.

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Fears’ sprints through this possible budding romance between Bruce and Jillian, Batman hunting down the Scarecrow, and facing his own fears that stem from the night of his parents’s murder. The Halloween theme aside, what sets this story firmly into this horror anthology is a nearly pitch perfect use of Scarecrow and the effects of his toxin. It is never over done. We get some great imagery that would go on to inspire future iterations of both the villain and Batman lore as a whole. Loeb really allows us to see Bruce/Batman at his most vulnerable. He also leaves us with a bit of a mystery. What is making Batman deal with these issues at this moment in time? Is it a delayed effect of the Fear Toxin? The possibility of a real relationship with a woman? Guilt over how he must split his life right down the middle? It’s a solid little mystery without over explanation and a satisfying resolution. It even has some old school Alfred quips. 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. Madness" tells the story of Captain James Gordon's daughter, Barbara, being kidnapped by the Mad Hatter and forced to participate in a twisted tea party with other kidnapped children. Batman and Gordon finally save Barbara and bring down the Mad Hatter.

The Haunted Knight Absolute Edition comprises of four stories. The first three, 'Fears', 'Madness' and 'Ghosts' were originally released as Halloween special issues of Legends of the Dark Knight between 1993 and 1995. These three issues later inspired the same creative team to create The Long Halloween. The fourth story in this book, 'Catwoman: When in Rome', is set parallel to the later issues of Dark Victory and showcase Catwoman's adventures during her absence after The Long Halloween and during the first half of Dark Victory. The short stories make up roughly a third of this book, while the latter two thirds feature Catwoman's miniseries. This is the opening of only the first of the three stories in Haunted Knight. The collection reprints "Fears," "Madness," and "Ghosts," three collaborations between Jeph Loeb’s writing and Tim Sale’s art that became yearly Halloween specials in DC’s Legends of the Dark Knight title from 1993 through 1995. In each story, Bruce Wayne faces a challenge that calls the fundamental principles of his life into question. ORIGINS: Batman: Year One and/or Zero Year and/or Golden Age origin story (first appeared in Detective Comics #33, reprinted in Batman #1) I don't get what this comic is trying to say. Haunted Knight includes three unconnected stories happening in Halloween; non of them has a particularly satisfying conclusion, and they aren't particularly entertaining either.Absolute Batman: Haunted Knight is a collection of The Long Halloween and Dark Victory “prequels” in which Loeb and Sale laid the foundation for their later collaborations. Fear is a Scarecrow story that was fun. I believe this was Jeph and Tim’s first Batman story together. Madness focuses on the Mad Hatter and it reminded me of the Mad as a Hatter episode of Batman the Animated Series. This is sort of the “vintage” Hatter story with the "Alice in Wonderland" flavor. Ghosts is a riff on A Christmas Carol. Probably my least favorite of the bunch. Bruce reflects on his life and considers his future. Eehh.

Like most books with Loeb and Sale at the helm, “Batman: Haunted Knight” feels like a warm blanket on a chilly stormy night. It will wrap you up in its scares, nostalgia, and well told Batman stories. This is a must read this time of year and it makes for one of the best Halloween comics ever produced. Bruce's thoughts : "On rainy days, in particular... ...I miss my mother. But I know just the thing for it..." (reads that Alice book) This is technically a reread for me, having read the various parts many years ago at previous times. Collecting the entirety of Batman stories from the ever popular Batman: The Long Halloween to its sequel Batman: Dark Victory plus collecting short stories and Catwoman: When In Rome plus other bonuses, the dark moody art of Tim Sale that tells the right mood of when Batman is still at his earlier stage of his career, Jeph Loeb has written a well-told tale of a serial killer killing of one of the most untouchable organized crime henchmen family members mix with Gotham's known rogue galleries of Batman that is breathtaking from this Eisner Award-winning team. In one such compilation, this is a must have to own whether you are a Batman fan or not.Batman: Choices takes place during Batman’s early vigilante career. The Scarecrow is on the prowl in Gotham City, forcing Batman into a furiously frightful game of cat and mouse. While as Bruce Wayne, he meets a bewitching Jillian Maxwell – a woman whose allure sways his personal feelings almost as effectively as Scarecrow's fear gas. 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. There Bruce's struggles to decide, whether he should stay in happiness with Jillian or should go for crime fighting by leaving Julian(happiness). second story was about the mad hatter and it was inspired by alice in wonderland, it was a great story i specially liked the girl that jim gordon has adopted i never knew he had a girl from adoption before, maybe it happens in this story only i am not really sure as i am not an expert on all things batman..