Summary
Batman’s most famous rogues are on display inTim Sale’s cover art for the long-awaited sequel toBatman: The Long Halloween.NoBatmanstory quite affected Gotham as much as the detective mystery by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, published more than 25 years ago. In 2024, however,Long Halloweenfans will be treated to another sequel:Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween, which is the final entry into Batman’sHalloweensaga.
Now,AIPThas shared the covers for the final four issues of the 10-part miniseries.Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloweenis written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by a different artist for every issue, because the original artist, Tim Sale, recently passed away. But Sale’s work lives on in the series of covers he completed for the series before his passing.
Solomon Grundy and Catwoman get their own covers from Sale. Based on the rogues assembled for the cover of the final issue, it appearsTwo-Face, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Riddler, Penguin, Harley Quinn and the Joker are all on the docket to cause a little bit of trouble in Gotham. Even in the variant covers for these issues completed by other artists, the style imitated seems to be paying homage to Tim Sale and the world he created.
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Return to the World ofThe Long Halloween
The Last HalloweenCovers Pay Homage to Tim Sale
One of the best parts ofThe Long Halloweenwas the use of a killer outside of the typical caped superheroes and villains.Each issue showcased Batman and a different villain as they both get closer to solving the mystery.Now, inThe Last Halloween,Batman has another mystery to solve, and it looks like the rogues of these covers are going to get in the way. Even mostly underused villains like Solomon Grundy, much loved by Jeph Loeb, will be leading the plot of their issues in the same style that made the original so successful.
Each of these villains is spotlighted posing for a mugshot in variant covers for the final four issues.The variants are drawn by their respective issue’s artist and evoke the distinct art style of Tim Sale. Poison Ivy is featured on Dave Johnson’s cover for issue #7, Solomon Grundy takes center stage in Becky Cloonan’s cover for issue #8, Catwoman is the focus of Chris Samnee’s cover for issue #9, and Two-Face graces the cover for issue #10 by Matteo Scalera.
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In a time of shifting continuities andworld-ending high-stakes drama, it’s nice to see DC back at its foundational, detective comic roots.The Long Halloweenhelped cement Batman as the World’s Greatest Detective, and with Tim Sale’s style, it also gave the villains of Gotham their classic, almost fairy-tale looks. Catwoman is in one of her original purple costumes, and even Two-Face, whose origin was forever changed inThe Long Halloween, has his not-too-showy split side. Recently, DC Comics has giventhis simple villain a nightmare-fueled reinvention. Here, however, it’s nice to see Two-Face back to Tim Sale’s unfussy basics.
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s first sequel wasBatman: Dark Victory(2000) and was famous for giving an alternate introduction to Dick Grayson’s Robin!
With characters revamped into their classic selves by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, it’s wonderful to see his work still on display and honored in these covers.Tim Sale’s art is the front piece of the story, and this final chapter is held in his memory.TheLong Halloweenfans should prepare to see some of their favoriteBatmanvillains be pushed and tested to the very limits inThe Last Halloween.
Source:AIPT
Batman
One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
