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Legends of the Dark Knight (1989)
BATMAN : GHOSTS; A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special
BATMAN GHOSTS TIM SALE AND JEPH LOEB
Paperback
First published October 1, 1995
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162 people want to read
About the author
Jeph Loeb
1,589 books1,378 followersJoseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an Emmy and WGA nominated American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.
A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.
A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 12, 2014
When you occasionaly go through your comicbook collection you can always count on finding one you have not read for a while. This one stood in another series of Batman so I must have missed reading it a few years now.
Basicly you Dickens Christmas story with all the appropriate ghosts telling Bruce Wayne about his life, and it brings change. A nice seasonal tale that does nothing earthshattering but deliver a seasonal one off, in this case Halloween.
Basicly you Dickens Christmas story with all the appropriate ghosts telling Bruce Wayne about his life, and it brings change. A nice seasonal tale that does nothing earthshattering but deliver a seasonal one off, in this case Halloween.
May 28, 2023
This Halloween Special: Ghosts, was a play on a Christmas Carol. Bruce suffers through a night of dreams, visited by 4 ghosts culminating in a vision of his own death. Upon awaking and realizing it was all a dream Bruce has new life and goes about facing it with all the gusto that only he can.
February 27, 2024
+6 Imagine if the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and the Batman mythos mixed together, the result would be this story.
Unfortunately - it has lots of unnecessary filler, and that drags the pacing, leaving not enough room for the ghosts and their visions/memories. The comic starts with a 14-page robbery by the Penguin and his arrest by Batman. This portion of the plot is severely disconnected from the rest of the comic - the only purpose for it is to set up Lucius Fox as a character and his father’s medallion as sentimental importance to him. Both of these could have been introduced much quicker with less page count, allowing for more time with the ghosts, particularly Joker.
The spirit that embodies Joker is incredibly underutilised, he could have really gotten under Bruce’s skin and showed how little impact the Wayne family has on Gotham in regards to improving the city for the better. There is a message in this book, don’t get buried by your work, let your legacy be remembered, take help from others, but it could have been so much better.
Tim Sale’s art is stellar, but very much the same as the previous specials. There are way more page-filled singular panels, emulating how dramatic this nightmare is for Bruce. The layouts are more varied and overlapping here though, especially during the nightmare, never saw a page that looked like another. Consistently Sale creates interesting and unique character designs, and they are jam-packed here. Penguin, Thomas Wayne, Poison Ivy and Joker all are distinctive takes on classic characters. The same can be said for the Mad Hatter and Scarecrow in the other two specials as well.
Overall, Ghosts was yet another reflective look into Batman's psyche and vulnerabilities, but lost focus on what truly made its take on A Christmas Carol unique.
Alongside this Batman Halloween special, two others were published in a collected edition called Batman: Haunted Knight, which I've also reviewed.
[Read in February, read and reviewed in May 2023]
Unfortunately - it has lots of unnecessary filler, and that drags the pacing, leaving not enough room for the ghosts and their visions/memories. The comic starts with a 14-page robbery by the Penguin and his arrest by Batman. This portion of the plot is severely disconnected from the rest of the comic - the only purpose for it is to set up Lucius Fox as a character and his father’s medallion as sentimental importance to him. Both of these could have been introduced much quicker with less page count, allowing for more time with the ghosts, particularly Joker.
The spirit that embodies Joker is incredibly underutilised, he could have really gotten under Bruce’s skin and showed how little impact the Wayne family has on Gotham in regards to improving the city for the better. There is a message in this book, don’t get buried by your work, let your legacy be remembered, take help from others, but it could have been so much better.
Tim Sale’s art is stellar, but very much the same as the previous specials. There are way more page-filled singular panels, emulating how dramatic this nightmare is for Bruce. The layouts are more varied and overlapping here though, especially during the nightmare, never saw a page that looked like another. Consistently Sale creates interesting and unique character designs, and they are jam-packed here. Penguin, Thomas Wayne, Poison Ivy and Joker all are distinctive takes on classic characters. The same can be said for the Mad Hatter and Scarecrow in the other two specials as well.
Overall, Ghosts was yet another reflective look into Batman's psyche and vulnerabilities, but lost focus on what truly made its take on A Christmas Carol unique.
Alongside this Batman Halloween special, two others were published in a collected edition called Batman: Haunted Knight, which I've also reviewed.
[Read in February, read and reviewed in May 2023]
May 7, 2023
Part of my Batman comic book reread project. Continued from Troika.
Before we get to Ghosts, here's what Batman's been up to in his various titles as he gets back into the normal swing of things after the three year Knightfall saga.
He takes on Feedback, some famous singer who kills his bandmates because he thought they dicked him over. Then there's some fun with Firefly trying to burn up every damn thing as usual, only this time he starts dating and wants to see his girlfriend immolated because I reckon the only way he can get hot for her is if she gets hot for him. She's like "Aw, hell no. I'm outta here," and Batman lends an assist.
Scarecrow kills some bullies who teased him when he was a young twerp, but Bats eventually gets him before he can kill the last one. Ratcatcher has somehow increased the intelligence of some rats and trained them to be generals for the other rats. The plan is to fill several rats with poison, let them soak in some sort of cistern, then release all that water into the Gotham water supply and kill everybody. Cat-Man gets involved trying to steal something. Catwoman gets involved trying to steal something from Cat-Man. They run into Batman, then all of them stumble upon Rat Catcher, there's a big fight, and of course the forces of good triumph.
Robin infiltrates a ninja camp disguised as Alvin Draper which is just Tim Drake with a nose ring and a little scruff on his chin which I didn't know he could grow, but I guess he's one of the lucky 14-year-olds who can manage it. This is apparently enough to fool one of his classmates who just happens to be going to the same camp, but in a world where a pair of glasses is all it takes to convince everybody that Clark Kent and Superman are two different people, we shouldn't be too surprised. The ninja camp is just a front for some hood to recruit kids to be ninja robbers... Have I seen this plot before somewhere? I think it was in some movie...
"COWABUNGA!"
Oh, yeah. Anyway, Robin takes care of this rather easily because the goon running this show is much more incompetent than Shredder, but Tim has a more difficult time with his girlfriend Ariana, and seriously, why does he even want her? She is so much more trouble than she's worth.
In Legends, Bruce Wayne gets t-boned by a drunk driver, goes into a coma, and spends three issues in some kind of purgatoryish place trying to get back to consciousness. We also see what Bruce's life would've been like if he hadn't become Batman. This story was actually pretty good.
As for the continuing soap opera stuff, Jim Gordon is running for Mayor but not gaining a lot of traction. Bruce Wayne is supporting Marion Grange instead of Jim because he wants Jim to be commissioner again. Jim's estranged wife who is now the commissioner wants Jim to take the job over again as well, but the current mayor, Krol, isn't going to let that happen, and that's where that storyline stands.
GHOSTS review starts here.
I gave this four stars, but it probably deserves only three. It takes place at Halloween, but the plot is ripped straight from my favorite book: A Christmas Carol. Isn't that just so sweet?!
I know that much of that is out of character for Bruce/Batman, but I still like it. Of course, I'm biased because I love A Christmas Carol so much.
This is on my Christmas and Spooktober shelves on technicalities. The Christmas one you've probably already figured out, and I started this run in my Batman project on October 30th even if I didn't get to this particular story until over a week later.
Ads of note for 1995:
Though I can't find a picture of the ad online, Sam Goody let us know that the Goo Goo Dolls album A Boy Named Goo was available for purchase. ("Name" was the only hit single on that album.)
At the theater, you could see...
...the shittiest installment in the original run of eight movies (not counting part three, The Season of the Witch, which doesn't count as a real Halloween movie at all). You know, I bet Batman could take Michael Myers pretty easily. He just wouldn't be able to kill him which is a nonissue since he doesn't kill anybody anyway.
Next checkpoint: Contagion
Before we get to Ghosts, here's what Batman's been up to in his various titles as he gets back into the normal swing of things after the three year Knightfall saga.
He takes on Feedback, some famous singer who kills his bandmates because he thought they dicked him over. Then there's some fun with Firefly trying to burn up every damn thing as usual, only this time he starts dating and wants to see his girlfriend immolated because I reckon the only way he can get hot for her is if she gets hot for him. She's like "Aw, hell no. I'm outta here," and Batman lends an assist.
Scarecrow kills some bullies who teased him when he was a young twerp, but Bats eventually gets him before he can kill the last one. Ratcatcher has somehow increased the intelligence of some rats and trained them to be generals for the other rats. The plan is to fill several rats with poison, let them soak in some sort of cistern, then release all that water into the Gotham water supply and kill everybody. Cat-Man gets involved trying to steal something. Catwoman gets involved trying to steal something from Cat-Man. They run into Batman, then all of them stumble upon Rat Catcher, there's a big fight, and of course the forces of good triumph.
Robin infiltrates a ninja camp disguised as Alvin Draper which is just Tim Drake with a nose ring and a little scruff on his chin which I didn't know he could grow, but I guess he's one of the lucky 14-year-olds who can manage it. This is apparently enough to fool one of his classmates who just happens to be going to the same camp, but in a world where a pair of glasses is all it takes to convince everybody that Clark Kent and Superman are two different people, we shouldn't be too surprised. The ninja camp is just a front for some hood to recruit kids to be ninja robbers... Have I seen this plot before somewhere? I think it was in some movie...
"COWABUNGA!"
Oh, yeah. Anyway, Robin takes care of this rather easily because the goon running this show is much more incompetent than Shredder, but Tim has a more difficult time with his girlfriend Ariana, and seriously, why does he even want her? She is so much more trouble than she's worth.
In Legends, Bruce Wayne gets t-boned by a drunk driver, goes into a coma, and spends three issues in some kind of purgatoryish place trying to get back to consciousness. We also see what Bruce's life would've been like if he hadn't become Batman. This story was actually pretty good.
As for the continuing soap opera stuff, Jim Gordon is running for Mayor but not gaining a lot of traction. Bruce Wayne is supporting Marion Grange instead of Jim because he wants Jim to be commissioner again. Jim's estranged wife who is now the commissioner wants Jim to take the job over again as well, but the current mayor, Krol, isn't going to let that happen, and that's where that storyline stands.
GHOSTS review starts here.
I gave this four stars, but it probably deserves only three. It takes place at Halloween, but the plot is ripped straight from my favorite book: A Christmas Carol. Isn't that just so sweet?!
I know that much of that is out of character for Bruce/Batman, but I still like it. Of course, I'm biased because I love A Christmas Carol so much.
This is on my Christmas and Spooktober shelves on technicalities. The Christmas one you've probably already figured out, and I started this run in my Batman project on October 30th even if I didn't get to this particular story until over a week later.
Ads of note for 1995:
Though I can't find a picture of the ad online, Sam Goody let us know that the Goo Goo Dolls album A Boy Named Goo was available for purchase. ("Name" was the only hit single on that album.)
At the theater, you could see...
...the shittiest installment in the original run of eight movies (not counting part three, The Season of the Witch, which doesn't count as a real Halloween movie at all). You know, I bet Batman could take Michael Myers pretty easily. He just wouldn't be able to kill him which is a nonissue since he doesn't kill anybody anyway.
Next checkpoint: Contagion
March 29, 2025
After a long night spent apprehending the Penguin, Bruce arrives to Wayne manor in a stupor. Beleaguered and seeing phantom illusions, Bruce heads to bed in an attempt to sleep off his condition when he begins to have a series of vivid nightmares. His first dream sees Wayne manor infiltrated by Poison Ivy, who transports Bruce to a childhood halloween and plants the seed that his parents would not approve of his dress up vigilantism. This cascades into a second dream where Joker argues that Batman and him are one and the same, both pouring themselves into their "work" but becoming recluses in the process and Bruce comes to the conclusion he must develop some balance between defending Gotham and finding time for himself.
The final entry in the Haunted Knight trilogy feels like a fable, which seems aptly suited for Loeb's spartan writing style and Sale's imaginative penciling. Most of the joy from this story comes from the art direction during the nightmare sequences which is aptly unsettling and surreal, allowing Sale's idiosyncratic style to shine. The plot and themes are dead simple but effective for propelling the visuals.
The final entry in the Haunted Knight trilogy feels like a fable, which seems aptly suited for Loeb's spartan writing style and Sale's imaginative penciling. Most of the joy from this story comes from the art direction during the nightmare sequences which is aptly unsettling and surreal, allowing Sale's idiosyncratic style to shine. The plot and themes are dead simple but effective for propelling the visuals.
December 21, 2021
This Legends of the Dark Knight one-shot by renowned team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sake functions as both a Dickens adaptation with a holiday swap (Halloween instead of Christmas), and a proof of concept for their longer stories: The Dark Halloween, and Dark Victory.
The "ghosts" (all Dark Knight villains)abd the resolution "letting a few, select others into his life) both make sense for Bruce Wayne/Batman, the Dickens structure suits the mythos well, and the team if Loeb and Sale obviously know the characters and universe well enough to have done two much larger stories together.
If you like Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Loeb and Sales' work in general, Barman, or adaptations of A Christmas Carol, this is definitely worth a read, if you can find it...
The "ghosts" (all Dark Knight villains)abd the resolution "letting a few, select others into his life) both make sense for Bruce Wayne/Batman, the Dickens structure suits the mythos well, and the team if Loeb and Sale obviously know the characters and universe well enough to have done two much larger stories together.
If you like Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Loeb and Sales' work in general, Barman, or adaptations of A Christmas Carol, this is definitely worth a read, if you can find it...
February 28, 2020
Been meaning to read this one for awhile, and I just got a cold so now my comic "to read" pile is getting smaller. Such a fun read and a play on Dickens. Only instead of Christmas of course Halloween is the holiday that is used to shed light on what is lacking in Bruce's life. As if fan do not already know. But the fun part was mostly the "ghosts" that came to visit Batman as he slept. Poison Ivy had a great part. Joker also appears but I really wished his part of the tale could be longer. In fact I think this story was great but could have had more meat to it. Still a great read with wonderful artwork. Proud to have this on in my collection.
November 1, 2019
This was pretty much a redo of A Christmas Carol, but with a Halloween aesthetic. At least it's not too similar like the Teen Titans retelling was. I find it odd that there's not really an explanation for what Bruce went through. And Penguin's triangular mouth looks cringeworthy. It works on Joker here and in The Long Halloween and Dark Victory though.
March 10, 2022
Lectura adicional después de ver el film "The Batman".
Interesante mezlca con la historia clasica del "Fantasma de las navidades pasadas". Me encanta la profundidad con la que se encara en estos numeros el pasado de Bruce, estrictamente cosas de su crianza antes del desafortunado hecho. Gran final tambien.
Interesante mezlca con la historia clasica del "Fantasma de las navidades pasadas". Me encanta la profundidad con la que se encara en estos numeros el pasado de Bruce, estrictamente cosas de su crianza antes del desafortunado hecho. Gran final tambien.
August 13, 2022
I haven’t ever read any of this series, so this may change as I read more, but first introduction into Batman was really good. I liked the art style a lot, the villains in this style are *chef’s kiss*.
February 28, 2021
A very unique take on A Christmas Carol by Dickens. Some bad shrimp and a tortured soul give us some excellent Tim Sale artwork and a Bruce Wayne contemplating the Wayne legacy beyond vengeance.
August 2, 2018
You really cannot go wrong with a Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale Halloween story. Pretty straightforward take on the Christmas Carol story but with Bruce Wayne instead of Scrooge. Sale's art as always is fantastic, and it is an easily digestible read. One to revisit every Halloween!
September 1, 2012
So, so.
June 18, 2014
The Batman, Halloween, Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, a combination that works every time.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews