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DC Comics Absolute Edition
Absolute Batman: Dark Victory
A New York Times Bestseller
Presenting the classic tale of the Dark Knight from writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale for the first time in DC's upscale Absolute format! Collecting DARK VICTORY #0-13, this epic continues the story of THE LONG HALLOWEEN. It is early in Batman's crimefighting career, when James Gordon, Harvey Dent, and the vigilante himself were all just beginning their roles as Gotham's protectors. Once a town controlled by organized crime, Gotham City suddenly finds itself being run by lawless freaks, such as Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and the Joker. Witnessing his city's dark evolution, the Dark Knight completes his transformation into the city's greatest defender. He faces multiple threats, including the seeming return of a serial killer called Holiday. Batman's previous investigation of Holiday's killings revealed that more than one person was responsible for the murders. So the question who is committing Holiday's crimes this time? And how many will die before Batman learns the truth?
Presenting the classic tale of the Dark Knight from writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale for the first time in DC's upscale Absolute format! Collecting DARK VICTORY #0-13, this epic continues the story of THE LONG HALLOWEEN. It is early in Batman's crimefighting career, when James Gordon, Harvey Dent, and the vigilante himself were all just beginning their roles as Gotham's protectors. Once a town controlled by organized crime, Gotham City suddenly finds itself being run by lawless freaks, such as Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and the Joker. Witnessing his city's dark evolution, the Dark Knight completes his transformation into the city's greatest defender. He faces multiple threats, including the seeming return of a serial killer called Holiday. Batman's previous investigation of Holiday's killings revealed that more than one person was responsible for the murders. So the question who is committing Holiday's crimes this time? And how many will die before Batman learns the truth?
408 pages, Hardcover
Published May 29, 2012
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Jeph Loeb
1,591 books1,388 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 24, 2018
What a Batman book!!! Maybe its the mood I'm in today but I loved it all! The story was outstanding. The art I, surprisingly, loved. Just great!
August 28, 2013
I wanted to like this a lot more. The writing was solid, but there seemed to be too many plots up in the air. Also, the mystery itself was kinda meh. Gorgeous Tim Sale art that looks stunning in the Absolute format.
January 18, 2026
Batman: Dark Victory is not just a sequel to The Long Halloween—it’s a deeper, sadder, and ultimately more human story about legacy, grief, and the cost of becoming Batman in a city that never stops creating monsters. In the Absolute Edition, the story hits even harder. The oversized pages give Tim Sale’s haunting art room to breathe, turning Gotham into a character as emotionally damaged as Bruce Wayne himself.
Set in the aftermath of The Long Halloween, Gotham is still reeling from the Holiday killings, and Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent are trying—and failing—to move forward. Instead of healing, Gotham fractures further when a new killer emerges: the Hangman, who murders on holidays by leaving a noose at the crime scene.
Right away, the book makes one thing clear: victory in Gotham is temporary. Every solution creates a new problem. Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face isn’t an ending—it’s a beginning.
The Absolute Edition elevates this story to another level. Tim Sale’s heavy shadows, exaggerated anatomy, and gothic compositions feel operatic at this size. Gotham’s architecture towers over the characters, visually reinforcing how small and powerless they are against the city.
Every page feels deliberate. Faces linger in shadow. Smiles look wrong. Even moments of hope feel fragile. Sale’s art doesn’t just illustrate the story—it is the mood.
I love this book it’s easily top 5 Batman stories ☝🏽
Set in the aftermath of The Long Halloween, Gotham is still reeling from the Holiday killings, and Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent are trying—and failing—to move forward. Instead of healing, Gotham fractures further when a new killer emerges: the Hangman, who murders on holidays by leaving a noose at the crime scene.
Right away, the book makes one thing clear: victory in Gotham is temporary. Every solution creates a new problem. Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face isn’t an ending—it’s a beginning.
The Absolute Edition elevates this story to another level. Tim Sale’s heavy shadows, exaggerated anatomy, and gothic compositions feel operatic at this size. Gotham’s architecture towers over the characters, visually reinforcing how small and powerless they are against the city.
Every page feels deliberate. Faces linger in shadow. Smiles look wrong. Even moments of hope feel fragile. Sale’s art doesn’t just illustrate the story—it is the mood.
I love this book it’s easily top 5 Batman stories ☝🏽
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2025
Chapter One - Fear focuses on Batman’s battle with Scarecrow. Its an enjoyable story focused on a less experienced Batman struggling to balance continuing his mission as he grows tired working late nights and other elements draw him toward a normal life.
Chapter Two - Madness focuses on Batman’s fight with the Mad Hatter while weaving in the struggling relationship between Jim Gordon and his adopted daughter Barbara. I thought this story more so focused on Gordon trying to manage his relationship with Barbara rather than any development with Batman. But they do touch on Bruce learning to look back and learn to enjoy the things he used to do with his parents
Chapter Three - Ghosts, inspired by A Christmas Carol, focuses on Bruce being visited by 3 ghosts who question his commitment to being Batman and whether that is best for his family legacy. A nice shorter story again focusing on Bruces balance between being Batman and Bruce.
Catwoman When in Rome - The main reason I bought this book, to hear the story of Catwoman’s trip to Rome that falls into the Dark Victory storyline. I enjoyed this story as a solo adventure for Selina. The mystery of who was behind the killing was a surprise and made sense once everything came to light. The nightmare scenes give interesting insight into Selinas feeling about Bruce & Batman. It was a bit hard to read when some of the dialogue was in Italian only. Probably my favorite story from this book.
Chapter Two - Madness focuses on Batman’s fight with the Mad Hatter while weaving in the struggling relationship between Jim Gordon and his adopted daughter Barbara. I thought this story more so focused on Gordon trying to manage his relationship with Barbara rather than any development with Batman. But they do touch on Bruce learning to look back and learn to enjoy the things he used to do with his parents
Chapter Three - Ghosts, inspired by A Christmas Carol, focuses on Bruce being visited by 3 ghosts who question his commitment to being Batman and whether that is best for his family legacy. A nice shorter story again focusing on Bruces balance between being Batman and Bruce.
Catwoman When in Rome - The main reason I bought this book, to hear the story of Catwoman’s trip to Rome that falls into the Dark Victory storyline. I enjoyed this story as a solo adventure for Selina. The mystery of who was behind the killing was a surprise and made sense once everything came to light. The nightmare scenes give interesting insight into Selinas feeling about Bruce & Batman. It was a bit hard to read when some of the dialogue was in Italian only. Probably my favorite story from this book.
October 10, 2018
Batman: Dark Victory a fourteen-issue miniseries (including a #0 issue) that takes place primarily three to four years into Batman's career as a vigilante crime fighter. The plot centers on a series of murders involving Gotham City police officers by a mysterious serial killer only known as the Hangman. Central to the story line is a territory war between Two-Face and the remnants of the Falcome Crime Family, led by Sofia Falcone. This is also a retelling of the origins of Batman's partner, Dick Grayson as Robin, and his adoption by Bruce Wayne.
This particular trade paperback, Absolute Batman: Dark Victory collects all fourteen issues, the first being a #0 issue, in the 1999 mini-series written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale with fewer extras included than the previous installment.
It has been several months after the killer known as Holiday was apprehended and Gotham City has changed tremendously and not for the better. Gotham City was once a city controlled by organized crime, but Batman has dealt with that, but the power vacuum was replaced with something more sinister – super villains. Organized crime was replaced by the likes of Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and the Joker. If that was not enough Holiday seemed to have returned, which makes Batman question if there were more than one person behind the Holiday persona.
Nearly three-quarters of the story in (Batman: Dark Victory #9), Bruce Wayne attends a circus and ends up adopting a young Dick Grayson as his family is killed during a mob sabotage, and he begins his training to be his partner. Dick Grayson is rather instrumental to the story, as he is the one of the few, if the only, anchor to humanity that Bruce Wayne and Batman has. He also solved the riddle concerning the identity of Holiday and was instrumental in defending the Batcave when Two-Face, The Joker, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy discovered it.
Jeph Loeb penned the entire series and for the most part, it was written extremely well. It deals with one of Batman's earliest cases and the introduction of Dick Grayson as Robin. It has a detective noir feeling to it and was well paced with a gripping mystery intermix between a renascence of darker criminal activities.
Holiday makes a return, but is seemed as a second fiddle to all the craziness that is going on. The Hangman seemed like an interesting villain, but did not have the same impact as Holiday in Batman: The Long Halloween. It is a sequel, so Batman: The Long Halloween should be read first as Batman: Dark Victory seemed rather dependent on it.
Tim Sale penciled the entire trade paperback and because he was the main penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I rather liked his penciling, despite the simplistic nature of the illustrations. It adds to the detective noir feeling of the text extremely well as it brought life to that noir feeling.
All in all, Batman: Dark Victory is conceived and illustrated extremely well. It is an interesting story dealing with a case rather early in Batman's career, the introduction of Dick Grayson as Robin, and the emergence of the super-villains.
This particular trade paperback, Absolute Batman: Dark Victory collects all fourteen issues, the first being a #0 issue, in the 1999 mini-series written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale with fewer extras included than the previous installment.
It has been several months after the killer known as Holiday was apprehended and Gotham City has changed tremendously and not for the better. Gotham City was once a city controlled by organized crime, but Batman has dealt with that, but the power vacuum was replaced with something more sinister – super villains. Organized crime was replaced by the likes of Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and the Joker. If that was not enough Holiday seemed to have returned, which makes Batman question if there were more than one person behind the Holiday persona.
Nearly three-quarters of the story in (Batman: Dark Victory #9), Bruce Wayne attends a circus and ends up adopting a young Dick Grayson as his family is killed during a mob sabotage, and he begins his training to be his partner. Dick Grayson is rather instrumental to the story, as he is the one of the few, if the only, anchor to humanity that Bruce Wayne and Batman has. He also solved the riddle concerning the identity of Holiday and was instrumental in defending the Batcave when Two-Face, The Joker, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy discovered it.
Jeph Loeb penned the entire series and for the most part, it was written extremely well. It deals with one of Batman's earliest cases and the introduction of Dick Grayson as Robin. It has a detective noir feeling to it and was well paced with a gripping mystery intermix between a renascence of darker criminal activities.
Holiday makes a return, but is seemed as a second fiddle to all the craziness that is going on. The Hangman seemed like an interesting villain, but did not have the same impact as Holiday in Batman: The Long Halloween. It is a sequel, so Batman: The Long Halloween should be read first as Batman: Dark Victory seemed rather dependent on it.
Tim Sale penciled the entire trade paperback and because he was the main penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I rather liked his penciling, despite the simplistic nature of the illustrations. It adds to the detective noir feeling of the text extremely well as it brought life to that noir feeling.
All in all, Batman: Dark Victory is conceived and illustrated extremely well. It is an interesting story dealing with a case rather early in Batman's career, the introduction of Dick Grayson as Robin, and the emergence of the super-villains.
September 9, 2015
Dark Victory follows up on the Loeb and Sale collaboration, Long Halloween, by showing what the next year in Batman's career is like. Despite the capture of Holiday, Batman still has his work cut out for him. Between the fall of Harvey Dent, the breakout at Arkham, and a new DA who doesn't appreciate the Dark Knight's methods, Batman is already pushed to his limits. When a new serial killer appears to be targeting members of the law enforcement community by hanging them on holidays, Batman is forced to reevaluate his solitary campaign.
Dark Victory is a strong entry in the Batman mythology, and fans of the Long Halloween are sure to find a lot to like here, as well. Sale's visuals continue to impress. He offers unique interpretations of the usual cast that might not appeal to fans of more traditional versions, but it's hard to argue that he doesn't have a strong sense of his characters. Even the "normal" characters have strong visual identities under Sale's capable hands.
Sale craftsa Gotham City full of long shadows, strange angles and shapes, and odd perspective shifts that create a strong German Expressionism meets film noir aesthetic that serves the story well.
This aesthetic is carried over to Loeb's writing, as well. This version of Batman is the tough-fisted detective, through and through. He doesn't get the colorful dialog that Marlowe gets, but he spends more than a little time butting (and busting) heads with the various crooks and gangsters that populate Gotham city.
While some of the scenes featuring Batman's more eclectic rogues gallery do feel a little tacked on (perhaps there was a Batman villain quota that they were trying to reach) and the central mystery seems to take a little too long for Batman to figure out, this is another solid Batman story for fans of the darker interpretations of the character.
If you're looking for a slightly pulpy version of the character, look no further!
Dark Victory is a strong entry in the Batman mythology, and fans of the Long Halloween are sure to find a lot to like here, as well. Sale's visuals continue to impress. He offers unique interpretations of the usual cast that might not appeal to fans of more traditional versions, but it's hard to argue that he doesn't have a strong sense of his characters. Even the "normal" characters have strong visual identities under Sale's capable hands.
Sale craftsa Gotham City full of long shadows, strange angles and shapes, and odd perspective shifts that create a strong German Expressionism meets film noir aesthetic that serves the story well.
This aesthetic is carried over to Loeb's writing, as well. This version of Batman is the tough-fisted detective, through and through. He doesn't get the colorful dialog that Marlowe gets, but he spends more than a little time butting (and busting) heads with the various crooks and gangsters that populate Gotham city.
While some of the scenes featuring Batman's more eclectic rogues gallery do feel a little tacked on (perhaps there was a Batman villain quota that they were trying to reach) and the central mystery seems to take a little too long for Batman to figure out, this is another solid Batman story for fans of the darker interpretations of the character.
If you're looking for a slightly pulpy version of the character, look no further!
October 15, 2023
Well, if there's any superhero who nails the Halloween aesthetic, it's gotta be Batman, right? I've never read "The Long Halloween" so when I heard there was a prequel, I decided to start there.
There are three core stories to it, the first is about Scarecrow constantly causing blackouts in Gotham, and Batman is exhausted as he tries to chase him down.
The second features the Mad Hatter with a flashback to Bruce's childhood, and how he loved reading "Alice In Wonderland" with his mom.
The third is a Halloween riff on "A Christmas Carol" where Bruce is visited in his exhaustion by three spirits, and they show him that he passed on the most important part of his legacy by not establishing something that would outlive him. (In this case, a foundation to support orphans.)
There are fingerprints of this stuff in the Nolan movies, which explains why they were so good.
Comics were awesome back in the 90s, I'm glad to be catching up on the stuff I didn't read back then.
There are three core stories to it, the first is about Scarecrow constantly causing blackouts in Gotham, and Batman is exhausted as he tries to chase him down.
The second features the Mad Hatter with a flashback to Bruce's childhood, and how he loved reading "Alice In Wonderland" with his mom.
The third is a Halloween riff on "A Christmas Carol" where Bruce is visited in his exhaustion by three spirits, and they show him that he passed on the most important part of his legacy by not establishing something that would outlive him. (In this case, a foundation to support orphans.)
There are fingerprints of this stuff in the Nolan movies, which explains why they were so good.
Comics were awesome back in the 90s, I'm glad to be catching up on the stuff I didn't read back then.
May 4, 2018
A followup to the Long Halloween, Loeb and Sale continue their great partnership on DC's caped crusader. Top notch Batman gangster story that ties up the loose ends of the previous book. Sale is probably one of the best to draw the Dark Knight and the pair do a terrific job writing and drawing Robin's origin story. Keeps the Detective in Batman, and is sure to draw in any fan of crime comics. A Batman top ten read.
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April 19, 2023interesting follow up to long halloween, re-hashes a lot of the same ideas/beats, but its got some different permutations. gordon stuff is really good. art, as always, is incredible. everyone looks perfect. some of these images just took my breath away. even if the narrative doesn't stand up well, the atmosphere is impeccable.
September 4, 2022
Batman stories be so fine, then boom: fordøyelse av traumer på måter som ikke er sunn i det hele tatt, og ikke på en kul måte som skal kommentere noe om dårlig maskulinitet, de bare gjør det og er sånn «okay dette er en bra måte å løse problemene mine på:D»
March 25, 2025
this was utterly fantastic. god. the heart. the story. the characters. the art (you get used to it). it was all absolutely incredible. this is what DC is capable of and they should never settle for less.
May 21, 2016
Originally read Dec 2002: Reread the Absolute edition 5/2016.
Under appreciated sequel.
Under appreciated sequel.
July 12, 2020
What a great sequel to The Long Halloween that felt different but still amazing. Why hasn't this been made into a movie or TV miniseries?
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews