After taking a month off, The Last Halloween is back with issue #5. Batman is now back to investigating into the mystery surrounding these new copycat Holiday shootings. He’s still recovering from being shot by Mario Falcone and now a wild card has entered the game… The Joker! How will the Clown Prince of Crime affect this story? The legendary Bill Sienkiewicz takes over art duty for this issue, and here are my thoughts.
To be honest, my interest in this series has been waning for the past two issues. While every artist who has been contributing for each issue has been putting in phenomenal work, Jeph Loeb’s story has been holding the series back for me. Though, I did think that issue #5 was a slight improvement over issue #4. We are half way through the series now, and we’re finally getting some answers. But there are still some lingering questions. We can now rule out that Mario Falcone is not the new Holiday based on what happened at the end of the issue. And we know that Holiday (or Holidays) wanted all the villains that were targeted to be sent to Arkham, but why? So I’ll give Loeb credit because I am still interested in the main mystery. But some of the qualms I have with this issue in particular are the subplots.
The subplots are starting to get a little convoluted, and there are some that I just don’t care for. Specifically, the subplot involving Commissioner Gordon and his wife. It just feels like Loeb didn’t really know what to do with Gordon in this story, so he just inserted some martial drama with this wife. Also, with Catwoman staying at Arkham even though she can leave at anytime; I know there’s more to that, but I just don’t know if I’m interested enough to find out. The Joker’s involvement in this issue did not really make sense to me. Of course, he’s inserted to create some chaos, but I just didn’t understand why he was doing what he was doing. It involved what he did with the escapees from Arkham. There are hints that Calendar Man, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy will appear in the next few issues, so we’ll see how that plays out. And this is some minor spoilers: it’s revealed that Two-Face did survive from being shot at the end of issue #1. How will he and his wife, Gilda, play into the main mystery? I am a little intrigued to find out.
Once again, the highlight of the issue for me was the artwork. Some people might be divisive of Bill Sienkiewicz’s artwork or might find it off-putting, but I feel that his eccentric style perfectly complements the dark and gritty tone of Jeph Loeb’s story. It was like peering inside someone’s trippy nightmare or witnessing how someone who’d been exposed to Scarecrow’s fear toxin might view their surroundings. Ironically, there are a couple of pages that are beautifully illustrated and depict the effects of said fear toxin. Dave Stewart’s colors elevated the illustrations. While the color palette was muted, it fit the tone quite well.
Recommended if…
- You’re a fan of Bill Sienkiewicz’s artwork.
- You’ve been enjoying this series so far.
- You want to see The Joker be the hero(?).
Overall
Batman: The Last Halloween #5 was carried by the fantastic artwork of Bill Sienkiewicz. His abstract style perfectly melded with the dark tone of this series and elevated Jeph Loeb’s story. While some of the subplots aren’t quite working for me, I’m still intrigued with the main mystery. And if Loeb is able to tie everything together in a satisfying way by the end, then I might look back at previous issues that didn’t work for me differently.
Score: 7/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of review.
English (US) · 