I’ve long been a fan of Batman and when I saw this at a closeout price on a well known internet retailers’s site I had to get it. The Batman that I know is campy (pow, bam, biff!) and was on afternoon TV when I was younger.
This book is Batman as The Dark Knight (more human, a little meaner, but he gets injured and is interested in women).
This book contains 3 main story arcs. One is called the Long Halloween, which was a 13 issue comic story which was published in 1996 and 1997. The stories cover a series of murders, one which occurs each holiday.
In the story Gordon is not yet Commissioner Gordon, instead he is Captain Gordon. Robin is nowhere to be found. So, in this sense it’s a bit of a prequel to familiar Batman stories.
The Dark Victory and Haunted Knight story arcs are sequels to this main story.
The final story arc is When In Rome, which is a story about Catwoman trying to uncover her origins.
In this omnibus we learn much about the origins of Batman in wanting to fight crime, how Robin joins Batman, how the Riddler, Joker, Mr. Freeze and other villains entered the Gotham City crime scene, the origin of Two-Face, and other fun facts.
A quick internet search shows that this is NOT the only Batman Omnibi available, there are at least 14 others, but this one is often praised for its storytelling and noir art style.
Favorite Quotes
“Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go? Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to stay?”
“Sometimes holding onto the past can help build a better future.”
“It’s a mystery, broken into a jigsaw puzzle, wrapped in a conundrum, hidden in a Chinese box.”
“You’ll be stronger if you learn to stand on your own.”
“I didn’t take your job, Gil. You lost it in a cesspool of corruption and graft.”
“The only problem with being alone, is being alone.”
“You are never stronger than when your enemy thinks you are weak.”