Batman: Haunted Knight (New Edition)

I read the Long Halloween and Dark Victory several years ago but never got around to picking up this collection of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Halloween Special comics from the years leading up to those stories. I'm definitely sorry I missed them. While not as essential as either Long Halloween or Dark Victory, the three stories in this collection are all well written and beautifully drawn. Honestly, I couldn't get enough of Tim Sale's Batman. Worthwhile for any Batman reader but especially fans of Loeb and Sale.

Batman: Haunted Knight collects: Batman Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #1 (1993) titled Fears, Batman: Madness - A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (1994) and Batman Ghosts - A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (1995) in a nutshell this collects 3 separate Halloween Specials, written by Jeph Loeb and artwork from Tim Sale. This is an important collection for two main reasons to me, the first being that it was these Halloween specials that led to The Long Halloween and Dark Victory which are classics and one of the first comics Batman fans recommend to people and rightly so. The second reason being that this could be a gateway comic to The Long Halloween, incase a fan might be unsure of TLH, I could suggest this comic which is shorter and contains 3 separate and contained stories to see if the artwork and writing from Loeb is up their alley. Another benefit is that we can see the change in style over the years between these Halloween specials which I always find interesting. I should also mention this is a copy I borrowed from my local library, I was holding off purchasing this because I couldn't find this new print on Amazon and now I have so I will be purchasing it soon. If you can't find this new printing I had the same problem, if you change the paperback format to hardcover then back to paperback it will show the new printing, personally I think it looks way better.Fears - released in 1993 and the first time Loeb and Sale worked together on Batman it's almost magic reading this, a more simplified story and especially knowing what they would later create. It was a great enjoyable read, taking place during Halloween weekend Batman is after Scarecrow who is shutting off the power in parts of Gotham to instil fear, while this is going on Bruce meets a special woman who makes him question between Bruce Wayne being happy and Batman fighting crime. A captivating read that is split up into 3 parts, the artwork was great and you can see hints of what would become the style for The Long Halloween. Here shadows are present but don't dominate the panels involving Batman, here were see more detail and a wider array of colours used and it was fantastic. Since Loeb and Sales work was a big part of some of the recent Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan I got goosebumps seeing that they used a quote from this comic in the movies (something along these lines) 'crane isn't available right now, but if you'd like to make an appointment' I loved it.Madness - released in 1994 this story is split into two parts and feels shorter than the previous but don't be fooled, I loved this story more than Fear. Using the story of Alice in Wonderland as inspiration for this story and it uses the story to tie into Bruce's childhood which is a repeated theme throughout this tale. The story is that the Mad Hatter is on the loose and suspected in kidnapping children on Halloween, Jim Gordon's daughter gets tied up in it and Batman has his own problems dealing with the Mad Hatter. The story is well done and because of the use of Alice in Wonderland into Bruce's childhood and the task at hand makes it an interesting read as there more internal conflict within Batman and explains why Mad Hatter is a for Batman dislikes. There is also an improvement in the artwork and I'll be including a picture of one of my so far Favourite Batman panel, the shadows are present but not too over the top. This simply was a fantastic read and anyone who is a Batman fan is doing themselves a disservice by not reading it. I also loved the nod to Alan Moore's The Killing Joke (as far as I'm aware, it could've been in Batman comics before) Batman chases Hatter into the Gotham Playing Card Co. Which was the target for Red Hood to steal money from.Ghosts - released in 1995 this story is inspired by a Christmas Carol except it takes place with Bruce on on Halloween eve, not really much else to say, just a story of the three ghosts that visit him and make him change. In my opinion I felt this last story a bit disappointing and had hoped for better but as it stands this is the weakest of the collection. Perhaps it's because it's not a typical or traditional Batman tale but it didn't offer enough to make it unique as it could have been, it quite literally is Batman: A Christmas Carol, which is a shame because I love A Christmas Carol. The artwork is pretty solid as you'd expect, so no complaints there.Overall, a pretty great collection, although I didn't really care for Ghosts, Madness alone makes up for it but having Fears as well makes the collection a must buy for me once I get a chance. I loved seeing the changes in artwork from issue to issue and the usage of shadows throughout the issue was interesting to notice as well. As I said before, I can see this as an entry point for people unfamiliar with Loeb and Sale and for this reasonable price point it's hard to argue. To me the artwork and the stories of Fears and especially Madness are more than enough to justify the purchase. Seeing as how all of these stories have a focus on Halloween, I think I'll make this a tradition to read this on/near Halloween to give me more reason to read it regularly. For newcomers to comics this is quite approachable, 3 quick short stories that don't require any prior reading with some great artwork and at a reasonable price, what more could you ask for?Hopefully you found this review helpful and happy reading.

The story itself is amazing but the book itself had the front and back page completely detached from the spine