Thanks to fantastic adaptations of the character in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham video game series, Batman has been elevated to even more beloved status and is now one of the most important superheroes. With that success and popularity comes great stories told, including comic books.
The Long Halloween is considered one of the classics, but a more recent arc in The New 52's The Court of Owls proved to be an enthralling and deep dive into one of Batman's darkest moments. Here are five reasons The Court of Owls is the most iconic Batman comic and five why The Long Halloween still is.
10 The Court Of Owls: The Best New Villain(s) In Batman's Lore
One thing about the superhero genre as a whole is that it seems like the superhero's best and most intriguing villains were introduced fairly early from when the main protagonist first appeared. Joker, for example, was introduced about a year after the titular superhero's debut in comics. However, The Court of Owls introduced among the best villain(s) in the character's rogues gallery.
The Court was a criminal organization that was expertly written into the lore to fit into how they have gone on so long without being noticed. This conveyed an ominous aura as well as one of mystery and terror, rivaling even Batman's use of these elements.
9 The Long Halloween: An Excellent Mystery-Thriller
Since Batman is more than just immense physical prowess, this allows authors to be more flexible in what stories they want to tell. Naturally, for this character, mystery-thrillers are one such type of story that can be told and Jeph Loeb does masterful work crafting this narrative.
While we certainly see Batman beat down some notable villains in his rogues' gallery, we are also deeply invested in a brutal murder-mystery at the hands of the "Holiday" killer. On top of that, there are fighting criminal factions and run-ins with classic supervillains.
8 The Court Of Owls: Possibly The Most Mentally/Physically Broken We've Seen Batman
We--generally--love to see our favorite superheroes come out on top by thwarting whatever threat they're facing. But that doesn't mean that every story has to be overly cheery with little conflict. In order to be emotionally invested, we also need to see them at their worst. The Court of Owls offers that and more by showing us a Batman that, arguably, is the most mentally and physically broken we have ever seen him.
This is greatly emphasized in a major climax of the overall story arc when Batman directly confronts The Court. The whole story arc is fantastic, but this is probably the best part as the criminal organization puts him through a metaphorical meat grinder.
7 The Long Halloween: Batman's Emphasized Detective Skills
Among the major appeals of superheroes is that they're generally physically powerful characters and are more than capable of dishing out hard, physical justice to their enemies. While Batman certainly has that, even while being a super-powerless superhero, another big appeal of this character is his intellect and detective skills.
In The Long Halloween, we see him flex those muscles. He has to be at his best as he tries to solve who the "Holiday" killer is before he/she claims any more victims. The way this plot is written is done so intricately that it immerses the reader in the mystery itself.
6 The Court Of Owls: Shows Batman's Mental/Physical Strength
Subsequently, while we see Batman at possibly the most mentally and physically broken we've ever seen him, it ultimately shows us how strong he is in those respects to overcome the situation he found himself in. Like mentioned earlier, seeing our heroes struggle can make us even more invested in them.
But seeing them go through hell and back and come out on top truly feels like a reward for the character and the reader. In addition, seeing Batman succeed after all he went through here shows immense character growth and development.
5 The Long Halloween: Iconic Supervillain Origin Story
When Batman fans or comic book fans – even people largely unaware of the character or his lore – think of the character, at least in terms of his villains, Joker is assuredly the first to come to their minds. This is with good reason, of course, as he is arguably the best villain ever introduced in fictional media. But that should not take away from the rest of the excellent rogues' gallery.
The Long Halloween and author Loeb take advantage of the story to give a tragic and fitting origin story for another iconic supervillain: Two-Face. This story chronicles Harvey Dent's path from Commissioner Gordon and Batman's ally to fall from grace into a deranged enemy.
4 The Court Of Owls: Greg Capullo's Artwork
Art might not necessarily correlate to a story's – or, in this case, a comic book's – quality in overall storytelling, but it certainly speaks to the general quality of the product itself. Depending on who you ask, this factor may not matter as much, but to some, this is a deciding factor in whether they will give a story a chance.
Greg Capullo's art is, thankfully, skillfully displayed throughout this run of Batman. It is thoroughly appealing and detailed, but most importantly it fits a perfect art style to fit modern superheroes in, at least, comic book format.
3 The Long Halloween: Tim Sale's Artwork
On the other hand, comic book artist Tim Sale's artwork in The Long Halloween is also nothing to scoff at. Of course, it may not be something that would be quite as popular in modern comic books, but, especially for the time, it was stylistic in the best possible way. It even holds up today as an example of classic comic book artwork. Sale's artwork is wonderfully retro, yet dark, and absolutely distinct.
His work could be identified at a mere glance. He uses sharp, angular lines in the character designs to display exaggerated body--particularly facial--features with Joker being a great example.
2 The Court Of Owls: Larger Stakes
Having large stakes and consequences in a comic book story--whether in film or actual comics--does not always pan out depending on how big the scale of the problem is. There are great examples of large-scale problems working well, like the Avengers films. However, The Court of Owls takes the stakes to just the right magnitude.
They're not global or galaxy-wide consequences, but they span all of Gotham. Having a secret, horrifying, criminal organization with a long history of pulling the strings of the whole city makes the stakes feel that much more daunting. It's a small enough scale to appear "realistic" and big enough to feel threatening.
1 The Long Halloween: A Perfect Example Of Comic Book Noir
Being dark, gritty, and serious is one thing, but that does not guarantee that it fits the genre of "noir." Noir is certainly a possible result of being dark, gritty, and serious, but it takes the right combination of elements to make it so. Batman is certainly those first three things, but given the nature of his character and some of his stories, he's also a character that can easily fit into a noir story.
The Long Halloween is arguably the best example of this, even across all comic book characters. This is due to a combination of factors like the story itself, the way the characters are portrayed, and Sale's artwork. The plot's murder-mystery focus and mafia conflicts as another backdrop and subplot certainly add further credence to this.