Things are heating up in Batman: The Long Halloween, and Two-Face comes clearer into focus in Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween #6, out this week. Joining Jeph Loeb is artist Enrico Marini as the series delves deeper into detective work than in previous chapters. Oh, and Robin fans, get the tissues ready!
Batman: The Long Halloween — The Last Halloween #6 opens where we left off. Harvey Dent’s wife wants her husband back from Two-Face. Marital bliss it is not, which leads to her imprisonment. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin encounter the main threat at the FBI, Amanda Waller.
If you’re a fan of detective work, you’ll like this issue. The best scene comes by way of Robin and Batman in the Batcave, with Batman asking Robin to keep asking the right questions. The theme of Batman caring for Robin is brought up, and there’s a parental element between them. Loeb has done a great job hammering how young Robin is in the way he talks, and that’s a highlight here. It’s also a big reason why, when tragedy strikes, it feels earned.
There’s also action, but it feels unimportant to the larger mystery. In fact, the captions tell us this, as if the editor requested an action scene in an otherwise boring issue.
Angry wife, unhappy life.
Credit: DC Comics
Unfortunately, for this chapter, a lot of what happens is stretched-out procedural dialogue scenes and not much else. There may be some clues in there involving Catwoman, but for the most part, most of the reveals in this issue are uninteresting, or at best, a road to more reveals later.
No shade to Marini, but his art doesn’t have the iconic pop of previous artists, either, making the visuals feel ordinary in an otherwise striking series so far. There’s an animated series look and feel as it’s not super detailed nor striking when it needs to be. Batman diving off a building is fine, but it’s also not very striking.
Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween #6 leans into detective work and the father-son dynamic between Batman and Robin, but it’s bogged down by sluggish pacing and lackluster visuals. While Robin’s arc lands emotionally, much of the issue feels like filler, setting up future reveals without offering enough excitement in the present.
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