|
It's a far better tale than I expected, and provides a good sense of closure to this rough trilogy that I think it needs. There's more than the Robin story here, though, as the recurring serial killer idea is brought back with a grisly new twist, but one that feels like an extension of the Holiday killings from Halloween, not a cheap re-use. Highly recommended. More of a continuation of The Long Halloween than a sequel, Dark Victory applies the same psychologically-driven tale of origin to Batman's sidekick Robin that Halloween did to Two-Face, and does the character right in the process. Rather than using Robin for cheap gags and a weak sidekick, Loeb and Sale intertwine him with Wayne, drawing out their similarities and need for each other, culminating in a heartbreaking chapter in which the reader watches the two boy's mirror reactions to the death of their families.
Luckily Dark Victory exceeded them. Batman is grieving the loss of Harvey and is questioning his lonely life style.
Robin is hardly in it at all and when he is Jeph Loeb actually does a great job of actually making him cool. For those of you who are turned off of a Batman story with Robin in it dont fret.
Long halloween was my second favorite book of all time. It offers the most sentimental look at two face you will be likely to see.
If you loved Long Halloween there is absolutely no reason to not pick this up as well. So of course I went into Dark Victory with high expectations.
It wasnt better than Long Halloween but it was certainly almost just as good.
It's "The Long Halloween II" - both for good (same art quality, same writing quality - both rather impressive) and bad (the story doesn't feel that original).
I gave it 4 out of 5 because I dont think I would ever buy it hardcover. It was, however a pretty good story seemed cut short for some reason. Although I was expecting this to be right up there with Batman: The Long Halloween. It wasn't.
I love the failed relationship between Bats, Gordon, and Dent. The mystery is easier to solve this go around and Tim Sale's art isn't as good but overall the series rocks. Really good read. While most sequels lack in quality, this sequel to The Long Halloween somehow seemed more like an extention of the first series. The addition of Robin was made and actually made sense.
|
