So I’m listening to a podcast on The Long Halloween, which does fit this era of Batman, and I’m curious what you guys think that strlyline’s strengths were in this era, and why it may or may not be a top story of the era.

On the one hand, I think it genuinely has a pretty weak climax, and that it somewhat wastes the buildup for its central mystery with the refusal to unfurl its answers clearly at the end (at least in most critics’ opinions regarding Gilda’s confession at the end). And some of the “Villain of the Month” ideas seem to waste more time than not the further we get away from the start. And Catwoman’s subplot basically had it meat for both this story and the next one in Dark Victory kicked away to her own When In Rome book for a variable resolution even there.

But on the other hand... the Two-Face origin is fantastic, Bruce and Selina’s interactions are pretty good, the “politics” of the mob and of the heroic Trumivirate of Dent, Gordon, and Batman are all very good, and the theme of the mob falling to the freaks is well done in the end.

In comparison to stuff like Prey, NML, or Murderer, the central conflict is pretty weak, but the sidestory stuff is so good in TLH is kind of makes up for it, especially when combined with Tim Sale’s Art.