The conclusion of this story was Bruce deciding to open Wayne Foundation (but didn't that exist already? What was the function at the beginning of the story for then?) and giving children candy for Halloween.

I know that topic was being brought dozens of times, but using similar lists and my own knowledge I've been trying to set some kind of timeline of modern Batman career for more advanced reader, with "Year One" as the starting point and with an important rule: comics must be collected in fairly available trades, physical or digital (with some exceptions where it's necessary). Thanks to similar attempts and help from other Redditors, now I'm sitting on The second story is "Madness" and tells the story of how the Mad Hatter kidnapped Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon's daughter. During the story "Fears", Batman is hunting down and trying to capture the Scarecrow. As the title suggests, fear plays a large part in the story, with Batman nearly dying of fear while trapped in a large, poisonous thorn maze. Madness" tells the story of Captain James Gordon's daughter, Barbara, being kidnapped by the Mad Hatter and forced to participate in a twisted tea party with other kidnapped children. Batman and Gordon finally save Barbara and bring down the Mad Hatter.Later There was a part, where Bruce had a dream that he died and there he questions his own choice that was it really worth to choose that path and become batman and sacrificing his happiness? Because doing so, he lost his own self - Bruce Wayne. The first part of this omnibus collects the three-issue miniseries of holiday specials Batman: Haunted Knight. It contains three out-of-continuity stories that take place during the Halloween weekend. Let me tell you that it was a lot of fun. I really liked the fact that Loeb inspired himself with classic tales like A Christmas Carol or Alice in Wonderland. A big part of Batman’s rogue gallery is also present (Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Joker) which is awesome. Finally, DC included Catwoman: When in Rome in this edition as well. I was really happy about this. I wasn’t crazy about this book when it first came out, but I ended up enjoying it a little more this time around. Selina makes a trip to Italy, with Edward Nigma in tow, in search of some answers about her own past. Could have used a little more Batman, but what story wouldn’t be better with a little more Batman? I really like Loeb’s Selina and this was a nice little garnish for The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.

The first Batman omnibus I have dug into out of my collection. I was recommended to start here out of all of them, with many proclaiming that a number of these stories are amongst the best ever written for the Gotham City protector. I must admit, that is of slight concern to me, as despite the strength of these stories, and the good time I had with this omnibus, if this is as good as the caped crusader gets. Well, that doesn't speak very highly for his 80 year run. Catwoman and the Riddler takes a trip to Rome where Catwoman meets The Blonde, a hit-man, who sets us a meeting between Selina and the capo of the Italian mob – Don Verinni. However, he is murdered by Joker's Venom and Catwoman is blamed for the act. Throughout her adventure in Rome, Catwoman eventually deduced the truth – The Riddler has betrayed her, because he thinks Catwoman knows the answer the greatest riddle of all – who is the person under the cowl of Batman. Catwoman would eventually return to Gotham City with no proof of her ancestry. Batman: Ghosts is a Halloween version of A Christmas Carol with Thomas Wayne taking the place of Jacob Marley, and the three spirits being Poison Ivy (Halloween Past), the Joker (Halloween Present), and a Grim Reaper figure (Halloween Yet to Come) who turns out to be Batman. The message from the spirit is that Bruce Wayne should not let Batman take over his entire life. THE LONG HALLOWEEN is the most famous of these stories, and it’s pretty engaging in the moment. Set shortly after the events of legendary Batman story BATMAN: YEAR ONE (published in 1987), this story attempts to dance between the raindrops of Batman’s comic book continuity to answer this question: “There sure were a lot of mobsters in Gotham in BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Whatever happened to those guys?” A murder mystery weaves throughout the story, where the victims are mostly taken from that classic 80s Batman tale, and it also features 6 or 7 of Batman’s classic rogues. At its best, this story focuses on the husband/wife and parent/child relationships. At its worst, it is a choppily plotted mess whose mystery plot falls apart under minimal scrutiny. It’s fun to read, but isn’t nearly as clever as it wants to be. I’m also not sure just how successfully it blends the supervillain and mobsters into a single narrative.Bruce on his grave : "For all the good that Batman does... have I left nothing for my self? Spirit, are these visions of things to come or is it too late to change?" Man oh man, does Batman let his rage shine through in this one. Not only is he royally pissed off at Jervis Tetch but he also has to rescue Commissior Gordon's daughter after she is taken captive. His final fight scene with Hatter is particularly brutal and managed to get an audible "Holy Shit!" out of me. Batman by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale Omnibus collects their magnum opus trilogy: Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, and Catwoman: When in Rome. Also included is the Batman: Haunted Knight trilogy of Halloween inspired one-shots: Batman: Choices, Batman: Madness, and Batman: Ghosts. Finally, it contains stories from Superman/Batman Secret Files 2003, Superman/Batman #26, and Solo #1. Alright, this story was just weird. And it wasn't Arkham Asylum hauntingly beautiful weird, it was just weird. Gotta give Dave Stewart a huge shout out for his coloring on When in Rome. Had a nice water-colored look at times that was super smooth. Awesome stuff that really compliments Sale’s drawings and makes that story really stand out among the others in this collection.

first story is about the scarecrow and a woman who batman falls in love with but she turns out to be a rich husbands killer, scarecrow kept evading batman many times in this story.The message they were all trying to tell Bruce was unclear and really confusing. Did they want him to stop being Batman? Accept Lucius Fox's offer? What? What does 'leave something for myself' mean? All “Legends of the Dark Knight” stories not yet referenced, except for crossovers with main titles, or including Robin, Batgirl or Ra’s Al Guhl (Shaman, Gothic, Venom, etc.). Include the Halloween Specials reprinted in “Haunted Knight” Absolute Batman: Haunted Knight is a collection of The Long Halloween and Dark Victory “prequels” in which Loeb and Sale laid the foundation for their later collaborations. Fear is a Scarecrow story that was fun. I believe this was Jeph and Tim’s first Batman story together. Madness focuses on the Mad Hatter and it reminded me of the Mad as a Hatter episode of Batman the Animated Series. This is sort of the “vintage” Hatter story with the "Alice in Wonderland" flavor. Ghosts is a riff on A Christmas Carol. Probably my least favorite of the bunch. Bruce reflects on his life and considers his future. Eehh. Jeph Loeb’s writing is a lot more hit and miss. The Halloween specials are...fine. Nothing too special or noteworthy, aside from the debut of Loeb’s version of the Scarecrow —- who inexplicably speaks in nursery rhymes only when Jeph Loeb writes him.

Last thing i'm going to mention is that all of the great writing comes to life by the exceptional art by Tim Sale. But to be fair, among the many (failed) themes of this story, one of them was actually well done. It centered around Bruce's dilemma about Batman being something he must do. At first, he saw Batman as his obligation to the world, as if it was something he had to do. But at the conclusion of the story, Bruce realized that Batman was a choice that he made and he didn't regret it. Jillian's words in Bruce's mind- "Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go? Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to stay"Batman: El largo Halloween(****): Aquí llega lo gordo del tomo con una de las mejores historias de Batman. Un asesino apodado el festivo porque solo actua en dias de fiesta está atemorizando Gotham y las familias mafiosas de Gotham están enfrentadas a tiro limpio. Batman, Gordon y Harvey Dent intentarán manejar el caso,cada uno a su propia manera y con funestas consequencias para algunos. Collecting the entirety of Batman stories from the ever popular Batman: The Long Halloween to its sequel Batman: Dark Victory plus collecting short stories and Catwoman: When In Rome plus other bonuses, the dark moody art of Tim Sale that tells the right mood of when Batman is still at his earlier stage of his career, Jeph Loeb has written a well-told tale of a serial killer killing of one of the most untouchable organized crime henchmen family members mix with Gotham's known rogue galleries of Batman that is breathtaking from this Eisner Award-winning team. In one such compilation, this is a must have to own whether you are a Batman fan or not.