Batman Overview: Haunted Knight, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory

While the comics of Frank Miller, Graham Nolan (Knightfall) Alan Moore (The Killing Joke) are very notable, these seminal works from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are equally influential of the Batman embraced by Christopher Nolan and a major force behind The Dark Knight. Darker in tone while maintaining the comical tone of the villains, Sale and Loeb mix the dark noir and crime tone of Miller and Moore with the colourful camp tones of the series and golden age comics.

Haunted Knight (1996) is a special collection from the authours, three halloween tales that is, like a Simpsons Halloween special, a retelling of three stories that was the first pairing of the two. “Fears”, the first tale, is a cat and mouse game between Batman and Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, “Madness” is a game between Mad Hatter and Batman inspired by Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland, while “Ghosts”, the finale, has Batman traveling through the past, present and future with members of his rogues gallery a la Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

DC kept the pair together and in 1998 Loeb and Sale began to produce The Long Halloween. Continuing with the theme of Halloween, this time we follow a serial killer who kills on holidays, starting with a bombing at the house of Harvey and Gilda Dent on Halloween. Many frames and scenes in the first issue are later reference in The Dark Knight. The Long Halloween focuses as much on Batman’s rogues gallery as it does the family of Carmine Falcone, the mob rivalry of his family and Salvatore Maroni and the relationship between Batman, Harvey Dent and is as much a crime saga as it is a fantastical story with hyperbolic villains. We can easily see, with such a taut balance of tones, characters and a carefully weaved narrative how it was such an influence on The Dark Knight. 

The Long Halloween also carefully reconfigures one of the most  intangible and inconsequential villains of the rogues gallery into something with a little bit more depth: Calendar Man. Often a joke of the rogues, his quirk is that he kills based on trends he finds in dates on a calendar. Thats it. But imprisoned he is left to his thoughts and is at times consulted when the police are tracking the killer they have now dubbed “Holiday.” Who is Holiday? I won’t spoil it here, because it’s a really great read, but he is a fitting villain aptly mixing the realistic and fantastic with a fitting conclusion.

In 99-2000, Loeb and Sale followed up The Long Halloween with Dark Victory. Directly carrying on with the themes and story, Dark Victory follows Batman’s continued hunt of organized crime families in Gotham as well as their ties to other cities. The Falconi’s relationship with the Vitti family in Chicago is of note. This importantly extends Gotham City closer to the real world and Loeb as a writer shows a considerable talent for subtly blending these worlds. It’s closer our very real world which would allow criminal “freaks” like Joker, Two-Face, Solomon Grundy and the like to exist.

Dark Victory also introduces Robin to this Batman storyline. It’s a retelling of Dick Grayson–the first of many Robins–and his family’s death at the hands of crime families. I’ve often said while reading Dark Victory that due to the intro to Robin and the presence of Two-Face it would have made a much better version of Batman Forever. Dick Grayson here is younger but filled with rage (something O’Donnell seemed to have a problem conveying) and is hellbent on revenge.It’s a much darker tone for the story, but establishes the kind of relationship without the homoerotic undertones that often plague the relationship in the past. Sale and Loeb reconfigure to make sure it’s understood that Batman and Robin is a father-son relationship. Bruce sees in young Grayson the same guided rage that drove him to become Batman so he uses his resources to train him in body and mind to be a tool for justice in Gotham. Through this relationship and process we can easily see how Grayson easily grew into the role of Nightwing and was able to both leave Batman–leaving room for the more troubling Jason Todd–and at times don the Batman cape and cowl.

The Long Halloween is such a clear guide for Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight and Batman Begins that it’s almost a wonder if we would have much of the film without it. They really are a great compliment to Nolan’s films and thats more than can be said of any of the Burton/Schumacher films which draw from style and tone. Combining that with narrative is what clearly separates Nolan’s films from the former, and drawing from such interesting sources is why they’re now counted among the higher canon of Batman’s stories.

Bits and Bats

• The Long Halloween follows the story from Frank Miller’s Year One, the events picking up six months after Gordon’s altercations with Detective Flass. Flass and several other characters make appearances in The Long Halloween.
• Some key Dark Knight references: a large, organized pile of the mob’s money being burnt; someone disguised as a uniformed SWAT (Gordon in Dark Knight and Batman in Long Halloween).

Next Up: Knightfall

Batman Overview: Tim Burton’s Batman

A while ago on my Twitter I half-assedly started a live blog of Batman and Robin, and even though I had every intention of finishing it, until now this never came to pass. After all, now that Avengers is out it’s time we start preparing for The Dark Knight Rises. But before what will undoubtedly be Nolan’s largest effort with the Batman canon to date, I’m going to revisit a lot of different Batman texts with anticipatory eyes and looks back to get us all ready for one of the summer’s biggest film.

This post may seem unstructured, but I’m writing as I am watching, so many of my points will follow the events of the film and may make more sense if you watch it at the same time, though this is not necessary. I won’t be covering every scene, but mostly I will be covering bits of industry trivia or connections with the Batman universes and texts. This is mostly a fun exercise to prepare for The Dark Knight Rises. Enjoy!

Tim Burton’s Batman

• The Warner’s logo opens with the now famous Danny Elfman theme, quietly rising to a crescendo as the camera pans unknown caves and the title reveals itself: Batman, and the march kicks in over the credits. The sequence, famous from the film, was an influence on the famous Batman: The Animated Series.
• The film dates itself considerably by proudly announcing the soundtrack features songs written and performed by Prince. Which current recording artist would you like to hear in Dark Knight Rises?
• Gotham City looks busy, but not quite as corrupt and sleazy as many of the comics represent it. Crime in Burton’s Gotham hides in the alleys, while crime in the comics’ Gotham is often out in the open.
• Burton misdirects us in the opening, a crime similar to the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne opens the film, but no one dies and Batman is quickly introduced; no backstory is given. How well does the 1989 audience know the Batman mythology?
• “I heard ‘The Bat’ got him,” criminals tell stories of the mythic bat, a symbol to be reckoned with.
• Keaton’s movements in the suit are fairly stiff, so while the suit looks big, the editing of the action scenes are a little choppy with his stiff movements. Keaton’s presence is enough to overcome this.
• “I’m Batman,” Keaton announces this as well as Bale in Batman Begins.
• Harvey Dent was originally played by Billy Dee Williams, and his contract stated he would eventually play Two-Face in future films in the franchise, but this never actually happened.
• Jack Nicholson’s Joker is one of the few representations to have a name: Jack Napier. Most other interpretations don’t feature a name, let alone a back story.
• Burton’s Gotham is a busy city drawn from film noir; it wasn’t until Batman Returns where the set design reflected Burton’s spin on expressionist design he is more famous for. Burton, as a relative unknown at the time having only made Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Beetlegeuse, was somewhat of a risk at the time, so Warner’s didn’t give him complete control the film.
• The illustration of the bat in the suit handed to Harry Knox as a joke is signed by Batman’s creator, Bob Kane.
• VIckie Vale has been featured in several other Batman properties, including as recent as the video game Arkham City.
• Axis Chemicals has been responsible for the origin of the Joker in this film and Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s ‘The Killing Joke,’ which reinterpreted the famous ‘Red Hood’ narrative in which Batman knocks the villain, The Red Hood, into a vat of acid. Only in Moore’s version does Red Hood turn out to be the Joker.
• Michael Gough (Alfred) and Pat Hingle (Gordon) hold the records for appearing in the most Batman films at 4 — Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin.
• Pat Hingle, a fine actor, is given one of the most incompetent interpretations of Commissioner Gordon. Not only is he incompetent, in no way does he resemble the comic character. In 1989, who would have been a better choice for Commissioner Gordon?
• “Give Knox a grant!” Bruce Wayne is more of a good guy than a playboy here, but Keaton still seems to have fun with it.
• All the crooks stealing from Axis Chemicals are wearing hats, I find it hard to believe that they all like wearing hats as if it’s some sort of criminal uniform.
• Batman emerges and uses his surroundings and a bit of theatricality to make himself appear more supernatural than he actually is.
• In the shadows Keaton’s facial expressions really prove he can handle the often silent role of Batman, a feat considering many fans were worried about Keaton’s performance. Before Batman Keaton starred in many comedies so there were worries he might not be able to pull off the dark Batman character.
• Vicki Vale becomes a love interest for Wayne, and later one of the few characters to both see the Batcave (later in the film) and know Batman’s true identity. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman/Selina Kyle discovers his identity, as does Nicole Kidman’s Chase Meridian, as does Rachel Dawes, though when she is in the Batcave she is unaware that Wayne is Batman.
• Vale and Wayne talk of the mysterious personality of Bruce Wayne, how many things in the house do not seem like him, reflecting multiple performances at play in the world of Bruce Wayne.
• “Mirror,” the famous scene where the doctor has reconstructed the face of Napier into the Joker. In this interpretation Napier’s skin is bleached, as it most often is. In few other interpretations the Joker’s white face is painted on like in The Dark Knight, but there is always some form of disfigurement.
• The Joker lives up to his clown persona in Batman. Though violent, he is still playful. He uses props and puns as weapons and is more carnivalesque.
• “Jack is Dead, my friend. You can call me the Joker!” Cue to a carnival romp as Joker kills Carl Grissom, Napier’s boss.
• This is the first time I’ve remembered that Bruce Wayne actually sleeps upside down in the film. Accurate or just tacky?
• Nicholson does a good job of channeling Caesar Romero, which isn’t a bad thing. The expressive facial expressions which could be deemed campy are actually very useful for any interpretation of The Joker.
• The Joker’s reverse face paint, where he wipes off the peach toned paint to reveal the bleach white face, is a nice added touch. So is burning a mob man to a mass of bones with an electrified handshake.
• Vale follows Wayne to the site of his parent’s murder. Often in comics we see Wayne (sometimes as Batman) visiting the grave sites of his parents. In Arkham City, an achievement called “Pay Your Respects” is unlocked by remaining at the site of Wayne’s parents murder (behind a movie theatre) for a minute, remaining still and paying respect.
• Joker kills a Criminal official with a pen; the Joker in TDK kills with a pencil.
• “This town needs an enema!” Nicholson’s dialogue is certainly cheeky.
• Contrary to comics, Wayne is well aware of Joker’s identity, and believes that “Jack Napier is still alive,” unaware of the transformation he has undergone. This has a vast effect on their dynamic, as more often Batman and the Joker’s true identity remain secret to each other. Knowing that Joker is Napier allows Batman to treat him like a normal crook rather than an unknowable force.
• A very Joker-like plot: contaminated chemicals! Joker constantly infects water sources or strikes Gotham with chemicals.
• Joker is also very good at taking control of media; the news runners are unable to stop Joker’s adverts from taking over their broadcast. He often addresses the public through media, as he does several times in TDK and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
• Typical of Joker’s gas to be coloured and fairly obvious. While a clear gas would be more convenient, Joker’s theatrical personality makes him more willing to expose himself.
• “Gentleman, let’s make some art!” Prince’s ‘Partyman’ plays over the Joker’s defacement of the various artworks collected in the gallery of Gotham city. All except Francis Bacon’s painting “Figure of Meat” are subjected to Joker’s vandalism. Why could that be?
• The Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman is “The World’s first fully functioning homicidal artist.” In his speech with Vale he considers himself an artist of the avante-garde. I think, to a degree, this works and the character in the comics is more likely to actually consider himself an artist, but Joker is still Napier transformed. He holds on to his old crew, takes over the operation and it’s Napier’s psych profile that Wayne reads, not The Joker’s. I know this dualism is a little much, but in terms of Burton’s film it’s important to acknowledge the conflicting dual roles played by the hero and villain and how each character is a combination of the two, not two separate characters each.
• In the chase scene through Gotham we see the typical 90s trope of a martial artist. Did these guys just contract out to villains everywhere? They popped up in so many movies, screaming and swinging swords everywhere.
• At 1:12 into the film is a musical cue that I’m certain Hans Zimmer borrowed for The Dark Knight. It’s a light floating violin measure as the batmobile drives through the country towards the Batcave. In TDK it comes just before Wayne jumps off the tower in Hong Kong to retrieve Lau and bring him back to Gotham City.
• Fanboy blasphemy: Vicki Vale in the Batcave. However, as an ally, Batman uses her like he often uses Commissioner Gordon in the comics and Nolan versions. Again, Gordon in this film is a buffoon that lets criminals and Batman run his city. I refuse to believe it’s the same character.
• The comparison that is often made and the question often raises, this time from Vicki Vale: is Batman as crazy as the villains he fights? This premise drives Arkham Asylum (the video game and the unrelated graphic novel of the same name)
• We get a speech from Bruce to Vale about double lives and personalities. He wants to tell her that he is Batman, but falls on the old excuse, “my life is complex. You know how a normal person gets up and goes downstairs and eats breakfast and kisses someone goodbye and goes to a job.” But this isn’t his fake normal life, right? He can’t do it, and then he is interrupted by the Joker.
• This is the second encounter between our hero and villain, but in keeping with the film’s theme of multiple lives, they never meet the same way twice. First encounter is Batman meeting Jack Napier, the second is here, where Bruce Wayne exchanges words with Joker, and later we get the final encounter of Batman vs. the Joker. Keaton’s speech here is great, and when he breaks, yelling “Ya wanna get nuts!” we feel an angry Bruce Wayne just tired of it all.
• “Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?” The Joker asks Wayne. It’s this line that is again proves that the Napier’s transformation is not complete. Napier’s line, which he used on Wayne’s parents (a plot-line I’ll be explaining soon) is another holdover from a past life.
• “Never rub another man’s rhubarb.” I have no idea what this means, but without Nicholson this line wouldn’t work half as well as it does.
• Joker, the man of the people? He creates class conflict in Gotham, an antagonist.
• He also calls out Batman to a challenge in his pale faced makeup, lying and saying that ‘I have taken off my makeup, let’s see if you can take off yours.’ Joker proves to be quite capable of manipulating the citizens of Gotham and Batman.
• Batman Blasphemy 2: The Joker killed Bruce Wayne’s parents. This was created for and only appears in this film. No one directly takes credit for it. In the comics it is sometimes an unnamed criminal who kills the Waynes, or in Batman Begins it is a criminal named Joe Chill, but never has the Joker been responsible for that murder. In Batman it works to create a revenge narrative to heighten the drama at the film’s finale, but many fans don’t agree this plot development would ever occur. It’s simply far too coincidental.
• Batman Blasphemy 1 (Cont’d): Vicki Vale is not only let into the Batcave (by Alfred, no less) but also discovers the secret identity, and only after one date!
• The batmobile has guns attached to it as it bursts into the Axis chemicals plant. If Batman refuses to use guns, as in almost every other interpretation he does, shouldn’t the batmobile use something else? Aren’t there other options?
• Another Prince song. I will admit, the songs, though dated, are at least placed into the film at accurate times. Were they placed in the film anywhere else it would have felt…weird.
• Joker makes good on his promise and rains down cash on Gotham’s citizens. Then gases them. Classic Joker! (Sidenote: Joker’s toxin is called “Smylex Gas.” )
• I’m not sure what I think of bat shaped vehicles. They’re great and all, but after the sheer power of the vehicles of Nolan’s films they seem too streamlined to be practical. (Geek nitpicking).
• The style of the Joker’s balloons are kept in Batman: The Animated Series. Along with the music these are two key elements that cross over from film to television.
• Like TDK, Joker and Batman stand off, while Batman charges towards the Joker with a vehicle, Joker taunts him to attack, and again the Joker is left standing while Batman crashes in the distance. 
• The finale is atop a church in Gotham. The only real significance to this is to lend meaning to Joker’s line “Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight” as the Joker is meant to represent evil. However, the story isn’t really complex enough to let this symbolism shine through and it’s mostly an action set piece more than anything. The church does allow for some beautiful visuals, however.
• In the end, for whatever reasons the Joker little resembles the Joker of the comics. He is a villain of convenience in the Tim Burton universe.
• In fact, in “An Evening with Kevin Smith,” Director and Writer Kevin Smith outlines a verbal fight between himself and Burton where Burton admitted to never reading comics, especially those written by Smith, to which Smith responded, “Well that explains Batman.”
• How responsible is Batman for the Joker’s death? He ties the rope around Joker’s foot and lets him fall to his death, but isn’t Batman against killing? Though Batman defeates Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins in a similar way, his logic in that case is “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you.” But here Batman puts the Joker in the position where he is more likely to die. Does Batman murder the Joker? Because in the comics, cartoons and video game this is a very important philosophical debate: would things be better if Batman just killed the Joker? Here it is treated like nothing.
• Like the end of Batman Begins, Batman gives the citizens of Gotham a means to call him to their aid, unofficially Gotham’s protector against “the forces of evil”
• Overall, Burton’s Batman reduces the complex conflict between the Joker and Batman into a very black and white movie good guy vs. bad guy dilemma. While interesting and entertaining it’s still a hero’s movie and lacking the complexity of the source.

In order to avoid getting to the rest of the films too quickly, next up is the comic that changed the landscape of Batman and, to many, allowed Tim Burton’s film to be considered seriously and made: Frank Miller’s 1986 The Dark Knight Returns.