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This is a really excellent murder mystery that spans a year of time in which a murder occurs each month starting on Halloween and hitting all the major holidays thereafter. The monthly murder concept must have had a nice added meta-value when it was originally published within the monthly comic format though here in a hefty paperback volume it's still a great read. All the victims are members of Gotham City's reigning crime family and the crime has Batman, Commissioner Gordon and a pre-Two-Face Harvey Dent stumped. Comic books are not usually known for spinning out great murder mystery yarns so I went into this one not expecting any surprises but writer Jeph Loeb delivers in the end with a great little twist that I didn't see coming.

Loeb's creative partner, artist Tim Sale, is the real key here. He brings an inky, film noir look to the story while also giving an amusement park distortion to Batman and his rogues gallery of villains. All the major villains get at least a little face time and Sale tackles them all pretty well, though his Catwoman is way too bulky for my tastes. There are some points where Sale goes over the top in his exagerations of characters and gestures to the point that I either wasn't sure what was happening or I just didn't buy what I was seeing. I think his work has actually improved quite a bit since this was first published but overall he has a strong design sense and uses ink and washes to great effect.

In addition to being a mystery surrounding the "Holiday" murderer, the story also retells the origin of Two-Face, tying it into the main plot pretty nicely. It's a more subtle take on the character that doesn't get overly hung up on the "two of this, two of that" tic he usually exhibits. What makes Harvey Dent interesting here though is his close ties with Gordon and Batman, which is intriguing to read if you're reading it knowing that he eventually becomes one of Batman's greatest villains.

Posted at March 5, 2006 9:44 PM

I remember one great section in that, when Dent was questioning the mob boss on the stand, who was feigning a coughing fit, raising a kerchief to his face, luring Dent in close, before tossing a bottle of purloined acid in his face. Just excellent, excellent pacing, I thought.

Posted by: Brent at March 8, 2006 9:03 PM