A couple of years have passed. Jim Gordon has been made Commissioner of a police force that still has its fair share of dirty cops. On the home front, wife Barbara took their son James and are now living separated in Chicago.
The Falcone crime family is now headed by daughter Sofia, who languishes as a cripple in a wheelchair while trying to reunite the truce with the Maronis. Harvey Dent/Two-Face is an inmate at Arkham, as is Alberto Falcone; the troubled young man who confessed to being Holiday despite looming evidence to the contrary. Dent's wife Gilda went into hiding and hasn't been seen or heard from since.
Despite accidentally putting Sofia Falcone in her wheelchair, for which the new mob boss has vowed vengeance, Catwoman has agreed to a $1 million bounty to locate the stolen body of Don Falcone and to enact revenge against the perpetrator of the crime. Hopefully, this will eliminate the large bounty that still rests over the jewel thief's head.
There's a new District Attorney; the fiery blonde Janice Porter. She reopened the case against Alberto and is pushing for his release, citing police brutality at the hands of Batman.
As for Batman, along with Gordon, he's trying to solve a new series of holiday themed deaths. This time, the targets are current and former Gotham City Police with ties to Harvey Dent. Each victim is hanged with a Hangman's puzzle affixed to them. The will they/won't they romance of Batman and Catwoman gets even more complicated when she leaves suddenly for Italy after always seemingly having his back during Falcone involved altercations. As for Bruce Wayne, he's a date with destiny at the next performance of Haly's Circus.
I don't know about you, but my favorite Batman stories are when he's playing detective. There are numerous stories where the Dark Knight has to defuse gang wars or fight through a gauntlet of villains. They're good stories, mostly. But I prefer a more toned down noir story where Batman has to solve the unsolvable. Don't get me wrong. There's a slew of villains from Batman's Rogue's Gallery in this book and they play pivotal roles. Only, at the heart of this story is a mystery and I love it!
The art, while still kinda primitive, has improved dramatically. The Joker seems to have a lot of teeth. Just not as many. Probably because Batman's knocked a few out over the years. Plus, Tim Sale manages to draw several characters similarly in a way to make you think that perhaps one or more players aren't who they really are. I really fell for several red herrings in this book and was nowhere close to solving the mystery! Make that mysteries.
Everybody talks about how great the first Long Halloween miniseries is I think Dark Victory is a forgotten classic and a must read!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
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