Ben Wan
- Oct 18, 2021
- 3 min read

Is Batman: The Long Halloween OVERRATED?

It's considered as one of the best Batman stories AND an inspiration for Matt Reeves on The Batman but...does it TAKE from TOO many movies and comics? We cover all the movies and comics that clearly inspired writer Jeph Loeb, including ALL The Godfather Trilogy lifts, as well as the Two-Face origin comic it remakes- Eye of the Beholder- before asking the question- how much homage becomes TOO much homage?

CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction

Matt Reeves's tweet about The Long Halloween being among his favorites comes from here.

Along with this tweet revealing that Jeph Loeb was one of his screenwriting teachers at USC

3:46 The Long Halloween Recap

7:40 The Long Good Friday

For John's blog that pointed out the connections between The Long Halloween and the movies mentioned in the podcast, read his in-depth analysis here:

https://about-faces.livejournal.com/94129.html

This also contains comparisons with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's previous collaborations that drew off of Michael Mann's Manhunter, as noted during the podcast episode.

11:48 The Untouchables

The Sean Connery movie that Ben jokingly quotes is, of course, The Rock.

13:43 Goodfellas & Mask of the Phantasm

14:28 The Silence of the Lambs & Calendar Man

As noted in the episode, Calendar Man's original costume was red. Here's Tim Sale's take on it.

21:53 Presumed Innocent & Gilda Dent

For John's blog in pointing out the connections to Presumed Innocent, check out his in-depth post on how the comic changed Gilda Dent forever here: https://about-faces.livejournal.com/99614.html

Part Two: https://about-faces.livejournal.com/99926.html

29:52 The Godfather & The Falcones

Ben points out that John Turturro was Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's casting for Alberto Falcone. This came from a Casting Call article in Wizard Magazine, which included:

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Russell Crowe

Dick Grayson/Robin: Frankie Muniz

Selina Kyle/Catwoman: Jennifer Lopez

Joker: Ray Liotta

D.A. Janice Porter: Gillian Anderson

Commissioner James Gordon: Guy Pearce

Poison Ivy: Angelina Jolie

Calendar Man: John Malkovich

Mario Falcone: Andy Garcia

Sofia Falcone: Kathy Bates

The Riddler: Steve Buscemi

Harvey Dent/Two-Face: Kevin Spacey

1:02:28 Break- Chat of the Wild promo and Barkbox promo

This is a promo for another podcast in the Greenlit Podcast Network, Chat of the Wild, which you can find here. Check out our link for Barkbox here.

1:03:41 The Dark Knight Returns

1:06:06 The Eye of the Beholder - The ORIGINAL Long Halloween

The comic discussed is The Eye of the Beholder in Batman Annual No. 14, written by Andrew Helfer, pencils by Chris Sprouse, inks by Steve Mitchelle, letters by John Costanza, and colors by Adrienne Roy, with a cover by Neal Adams.

It can be found reprinted in the Batman: Featuring Two-Face and Riddler trade paperback that tied into Batman Forever: https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Featuring-Two-Face-Neil-Gaiman/dp/1563891980/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=batman+two-face+riddler&qid=1634426413&sr=8-4

As well as Two-Face: A Celebration of 75 Years collection: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Face-Celebration-75-Years/dp/1401274382/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Two-Face+75&qid=1634426477&sr=8-3

1:37:00 What DID The Long Halloween Originate?

The comic that cites Falcone and The Roman as separate characters is “Unfinished Business”- Secret Origins #50 (1990)- Alan Brennert writer, Joe Staton as penciller, Dick Giordano as inker, Todd Klein as letterer, and Juila Lacquement-colorist.

It covers Black Canary II/Dinah Laurel Lance's origin, where she received training from Ted Grant/Wildcat, who says the line about Mayor Falcone working for the Roman.

1:40:34 IS The Long Halloween Overrated?

2:00:05 Closing: Fan Comments & Social Media Promotion

The "William Day-foe" clip comes from footage that Conan O'Brien found. He and Willem Dafoe discussed the pronunciation of his name here:

BIG THANKS to Our Guest, John Hefner

:https://about-faces.tumblr.com/

https://about-faces.livejournal.com/

https://batman-daily.tumblr.com/

And big thanks to our research assistant Dan Yamat for putting together the visuals on this episode as well as the time code/chapters. Please record us a “bumper” saying “You’re listening to Superhero Stuff You Should Know” and send it over to superhousepodcast@gmail.comAlso to any animators- we’d love to see our sketches animated. Please include #SuperheroStuffYouShould Know IN the video

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