Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween #3 review

In the last edition of The last HalloweenBatman and Robin continued to investigate the kidnapping of James Gordon Jr. and these new Holiday assassin copycats who have taken out Batman’s villains. The issue ended with Batman possibly being charged with murder. Is the FBI somehow involved? And why are the villains being targeted? Mark Chiarello is doing the artwork for issue three, so let’s see how the mystery unfolds.

I enjoyed the previous two installments of this latest series from the legendary Jeph Loeb. I love being back in that world he helped create all those decades ago, and the mystery that has emerged from it has fascinated me. But with this third edition, my feelings were really mixed. There were certain story decisions that Loeb made that either just fell flat, didn’t make sense to me, or were simply disregarded compared to the previous issue. One of the main subplots was the kidnapping of Commissioner Gordon’s son and ended in this issue. I felt like this conclusion was disappointing, and I didn’t have the emotional connection to the father-son reunion that Loeb may have had intended for. Robin’s subplot with Calendar Man doesn’t really excite me, but my opinion might change depending on what happens in subsequent issues.

I might also do this one section where Batman and Robin are outside a moving ambulance and both the driver and another paramedic tending to an injured Riddler are unconscious. Batman uses this odorless gas to incapacitate them, but the ambulance should still be moving. But in the next few pages, the ambulance is suddenly stopped and parked while the driver remains unconscious. It just didn’t make sense to me. It leads to a pretty cool panel where the Riddler runs the Morse code using just his eye movements while Robin deciphers it. Although I felt the story had lost quality, there were things I really admired about this issue.

The artwork by Mark Chiarello, much like the first issue, might be my favorite of the series so far. His colors caught my attention the most. The color palette was so simple that certain colors like green or red were very vibrant, while the colors in the background and the rest of the panel were muted. This was particularly evident towards the end of the issue when Batman faced Mario Falcone. The use of black and shadows also provided the atmosphere, giving the illustrations a classic noir feel. And maybe I didn’t like the story in this issue so much, I found the banter between Catwoman and Robin to be hilarious. I also liked the foreshadowing that The Joker will be appearing in the next issue or two.

Recommended if…

• You’ve enjoyed the series so far.
• You want to admire Mark Chiarello’s beautiful artwork.
• You see a pretty cool scene where Riddler does Morse code with just his eyes.

In total

Mark Chiarello’s artwork was the clear highlight The last Halloween #3. It elevated a kind of mediocre story from Loeb, but I’m still happy to be in the Gotham of The long Halloween and still wants to see how the mystery unfolds. But I notice that my interest is waning a little. To the fourth edition!

Score: 7/10

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