I happened to see this at our local library as part of a Halloween Readings display. A long long time ago, I read a whole lotta Batman, including Loeb’s Hush, which I recall thinking was very good. Hush was drawn by the brilliant Jim Lee, which made the reading all the more interesting. There was a time when I read DC graphic novels regularly, but I got kind of tired of it and found other reading more to my liking. While this “prequel” to The Long Halloween, which I have not read, was an entertaining afternoon diversion, it really isn’t on the same creative level as the Batman stories I read way back when.
The Prequel is divided into three stories, all set at Halloween. The first story, “Fears,” features the villain called Scarecrow, a “psychologist turned psychopath.” Scarecrow has been going around Gotham, sabotaging power grids and going to town on criming while the power is out. Bruce Wayne happens to be hosting a Halloween costume party in the midst of this situation, and at this party a mysterious and beautiful woman named Jillian appears. On one hand, Bruce wants very much to follow her advice and enjoy his life (and her). On the other hand, Scarecrow and his minions are causing chaos in Gotham. Should Bruce follow his heart and enjoy his life or should Batman continue to follow his sense of honor and obligation in serving the city? Things get complicated by Scarecrow’s use of poison vs Batman and Alfred’s investigations into Jillian. Absolutely nothing surprising happens here.
Story two is entitled “Madness” and focuses on commissioner Gordon and his teenaged daughter Barbara. They’ve had an argument over Gordon’s over-protectiveness/Barbara’s chafing at his restrictions. She sneaks out on Halloween, and it just so happens that there have been a spate of “missing persons” incidents in Gotham. Turns out, it’s the Mad Hatter, Jervis Tetch, behind the abductions. I was not at all familiar with this character, but as one might guess, he dresses up like the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland and is way into the tea party thing. Little did we know that Alice in Wonderland is triggering for Batman/Bruce Wayne and links him to both his childhood trauma and the therapist who helped him deal with that as a child.
The final story, “Ghosts,” is all about Bruce/Batman working himself to death and never taking a break. On Halloween Eve he gets a visit from his dead workaholic dad — Dr. Wayne — and is then visited by three ghosts who look like Poison Ivy, the Joker and the Grim Reaper. The “Halloween Past” section is fine but the other two were short and weak. It’s a silly story.
As far as the art is concerned, Tim Sale’s illustrations are mostly very good. There is a two-page spread from Bruce Wayne’s costume party that is a lot of fun to examine. I found Waldo and “Milk and Cheese” (if you know, you know). I did not love the way he draws Bruce Wayne — he looks like something out of a 1930s comic and it looks weird alongside the rest of the art.
Overall, this collection is just ok. I wouldn’t go out of my way to track it down, but if you come upon it and are into Batman or just want some Halloween reading, it will do.