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Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: Dark Victory #7
It may be April Fools' Month, but things are getting very serious in Gotham City! The Calendar Man sets out to prove that he's nobody's fool. Where has he been since breaking out of Arkham, and why is the answer bad news for Batman?
23 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 22, 2014
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Jeph Loeb
1,589 books1,376 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 31, 2025
I’m not sure what’s up but this issue didn’t click with me as much as I think it should’ve. The ending portion with Harvey felt a little flimsy and written solely to have Tim draw something “exciting.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2025
Another absolutely stellar issue picks up right where we left off in the last issue, with Batman surrounded by guns and cops at Harvey's old house, as Officer Merkel's body hangs next to him. The cops suspect him and when he doesn't comply to put his hands in the air, they open fire! Batman responds in kind by mace gas grenades as one of the cops blindly fires in batman's direction. Gordon finally has to step in and stop her and remind her that batman is not the enemy, even if he hasn't been working too closely with them.
Elsewhere Harvey gets out of bed with Porter and begins preparing for court. You heard that right. But this is not the normal courthouse he is going to, as we are going down to the sewers for criminal court! I absolutely love underground criminal courts! It's also why I loved that 2024 Two-face mini series. Seeing two-face lead the court room with Calendar man at the witness stand and the jury made up of other rogues, it's just so cool! But calendar man really isn't on trial, this is a grand jury inquiry. Following the train of thought that calendar man helped the police along and even knew the holiday killer identity without telling anyone who it is, then he may also know who the hang man killer is. Harvey is quite brash here as Calendar man keeps a very calm demeanor and states that the current evidence would imply Harvey Dent is the hangman killer. But if it isn't him and Harvey's files are being used by the hang man, then Dent may know who it is, so maybe two-face should ask Harvey. But he better hurry...as today is April Fool's day.
Alberto still believes his father is talking to him, and today he has a gift for Alberto. Sitting on his table is a small chest, inside is a .22 pistol and a rubber nipple, his MO as the holiday killer. Suddenly Sofia interrupts him and he hides the gun a way. She is still pissed about Mario taking over, but then she sees the chest sitting on the table. She recognizes it as her poppa's and that it was in her penthouse, the penthouse her brother just locked her out of. Is Alberto also working with him against her?! But Alberto stays calm and states he could care less what they do, he has his own plans.
Bruce is not doing good. After seeing him beat penguin to a pulp for information he probably doesn't have, that much should be clear. As he racks all the clues and information through his head, trying to find patterns where none exist, he also goes through an intense training regiment. Chaining himself up and jumping into water, pounding rock while blindfolded, balancing from the roof, and climbing in through the chimney. But even all of that he still isn't sure what he is missing and what someone would gain from pinning it on Harvey if it actually isn't Harvey. But the one person near him who notices him slipping...is Alfred. Overhearing Batman think out loud Alfred is catching him slipping on things. Saying that the first message was "No one is safe' when it was really "None of you are safe." Even with how snippy Bruce is being right now with Alfred, Alfred persists and asks him to recite the murders in order...Batman fails to do so, even leaving out a name. The real problem here is batman's decision on handling this alone. Without Jim, without catwoman, even without Alfred he needs another pair of eyes. And to make matters worse Alfred points out that everything has really been bad since Christmas eve when he avoided Selina's company. Then batman remembers to that night, when he was trying to capture scarecrow...when he took a dose of fear gas to the face. Batman needs help and this is a huge turn around point for this, but even though purging that fear toxin from his system is a great start it doesn't address the core issue: being alone.
We jump over to Jim as he prepares to leave the office, calling his wife to let her know how much he loves her, but then he sees the bat signal turn on...and he didn't do it. As he walks onto the roof, suddenly a noose comes down and strings Jim up by the neck! As he fires his gun and strains for air, a mysterious figure steps over and cuts him down. But batman doesn't see the figure cut the rope, only that it was in hand...so he kicks Harvey off to the side, his worst fears realized...until Jim stops him as he knows Harvey just saved his life. Two-face once again confirms that Harvey isn't the hangman, and even though he helped them tonight they should except anything else. He doesn't even tell them if he saw anyone else on the roof tonight. He is able to slip away under the threat of two marksmen trained on them. With batman and Jim together again, we finally get a moment for the pair to work together. Batman finds out that Barbara and Jim's son have come home. Batman isn't entirely sure two-face is telling the truth, as he could of setup the hanging just to throw them off, or even telling them that Harvey isn't the hang man but two-face is. But one thing is missing from this scene, the hang man game left behind at every scene. But on the floor is file folder, inside is a police report going back years. One of Harvey's first cases with O'Hara and Merkel (two of the dead cops) as the arresting officers where they arrested Mario Falcone.
As the issue comes to an end we check in on our two favorite smugglers, Eddie and Anthony. Eddie is all healed up and Zucco has a new plan to get around the freaks stealing their take. Screw the Maronis and the Falcones they can have their own way of smuggling, through the one place that travels everywhere and no one thinks twice about: Haly Circus. Their headliners: the flying graysons. OH NO.
Elsewhere Harvey gets out of bed with Porter and begins preparing for court. You heard that right. But this is not the normal courthouse he is going to, as we are going down to the sewers for criminal court! I absolutely love underground criminal courts! It's also why I loved that 2024 Two-face mini series. Seeing two-face lead the court room with Calendar man at the witness stand and the jury made up of other rogues, it's just so cool! But calendar man really isn't on trial, this is a grand jury inquiry. Following the train of thought that calendar man helped the police along and even knew the holiday killer identity without telling anyone who it is, then he may also know who the hang man killer is. Harvey is quite brash here as Calendar man keeps a very calm demeanor and states that the current evidence would imply Harvey Dent is the hangman killer. But if it isn't him and Harvey's files are being used by the hang man, then Dent may know who it is, so maybe two-face should ask Harvey. But he better hurry...as today is April Fool's day.
Alberto still believes his father is talking to him, and today he has a gift for Alberto. Sitting on his table is a small chest, inside is a .22 pistol and a rubber nipple, his MO as the holiday killer. Suddenly Sofia interrupts him and he hides the gun a way. She is still pissed about Mario taking over, but then she sees the chest sitting on the table. She recognizes it as her poppa's and that it was in her penthouse, the penthouse her brother just locked her out of. Is Alberto also working with him against her?! But Alberto stays calm and states he could care less what they do, he has his own plans.
Bruce is not doing good. After seeing him beat penguin to a pulp for information he probably doesn't have, that much should be clear. As he racks all the clues and information through his head, trying to find patterns where none exist, he also goes through an intense training regiment. Chaining himself up and jumping into water, pounding rock while blindfolded, balancing from the roof, and climbing in through the chimney. But even all of that he still isn't sure what he is missing and what someone would gain from pinning it on Harvey if it actually isn't Harvey. But the one person near him who notices him slipping...is Alfred. Overhearing Batman think out loud Alfred is catching him slipping on things. Saying that the first message was "No one is safe' when it was really "None of you are safe." Even with how snippy Bruce is being right now with Alfred, Alfred persists and asks him to recite the murders in order...Batman fails to do so, even leaving out a name. The real problem here is batman's decision on handling this alone. Without Jim, without catwoman, even without Alfred he needs another pair of eyes. And to make matters worse Alfred points out that everything has really been bad since Christmas eve when he avoided Selina's company. Then batman remembers to that night, when he was trying to capture scarecrow...when he took a dose of fear gas to the face. Batman needs help and this is a huge turn around point for this, but even though purging that fear toxin from his system is a great start it doesn't address the core issue: being alone.
We jump over to Jim as he prepares to leave the office, calling his wife to let her know how much he loves her, but then he sees the bat signal turn on...and he didn't do it. As he walks onto the roof, suddenly a noose comes down and strings Jim up by the neck! As he fires his gun and strains for air, a mysterious figure steps over and cuts him down. But batman doesn't see the figure cut the rope, only that it was in hand...so he kicks Harvey off to the side, his worst fears realized...until Jim stops him as he knows Harvey just saved his life. Two-face once again confirms that Harvey isn't the hangman, and even though he helped them tonight they should except anything else. He doesn't even tell them if he saw anyone else on the roof tonight. He is able to slip away under the threat of two marksmen trained on them. With batman and Jim together again, we finally get a moment for the pair to work together. Batman finds out that Barbara and Jim's son have come home. Batman isn't entirely sure two-face is telling the truth, as he could of setup the hanging just to throw them off, or even telling them that Harvey isn't the hang man but two-face is. But one thing is missing from this scene, the hang man game left behind at every scene. But on the floor is file folder, inside is a police report going back years. One of Harvey's first cases with O'Hara and Merkel (two of the dead cops) as the arresting officers where they arrested Mario Falcone.
As the issue comes to an end we check in on our two favorite smugglers, Eddie and Anthony. Eddie is all healed up and Zucco has a new plan to get around the freaks stealing their take. Screw the Maronis and the Falcones they can have their own way of smuggling, through the one place that travels everywhere and no one thinks twice about: Haly Circus. Their headliners: the flying graysons. OH NO.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2018
It's a stark contrast seeing how Two-Face interacts with Gordon and Batman vs how they interacted at the beginning of The Long Halloween. Things certainly have changed. It was also nice seeing Calendar Man again.
May 16, 2025
it feels ridiculous rating every issue of dark victory 4/5 stars but it really just is that good… also is that dick grayson in a tutu.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2024
2024 - Year of The Bat (366 Days of Batman)
Day 214
Day 214
August 11, 2025
THE ACROBATS WILL FALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2025
4.5/5
that underground courtroom scene is actually so peak i want that animated
that underground courtroom scene is actually so peak i want that animated
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews