Batman: The Long Halloween Concludes with Second Part Blu-ray Release

The second part of Batman: The Long Halloween didn't take long to release, thankfully overcoming the expiration of expectations that can hamper a story cut into two pieces like this. And it doesn't waste any time rushing through a number of holiday murders during which time Batman... does nothing. Why? Because Bruce Wayne (Jenson Ackles) has been mind-controlled by Poison Ivy (Katee Sackhoff), and has been regularly signing over assets at her bidding to her boss, Carmine Falcone (Titus Welliver). Fortunately for Bruce, Catwoman (Naya Rivera) not only notices his absence but also knows his secret identity, mounting a rescue mission that brings Batman back into the thick of things after nearly four months of stupor.

Batman: The Long Halloween is, essentially, an origin story for Two-Face, aka District Attorney Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel). In this sense, the murders are almost secondary plot, a device where someone is trying to exact revenge on Falcone by killing his associates on holidays. It's also an event that takes place very early in Batman's career, making the presumption that this version of Batman was not already a functioning detective so that he has to hone his observation and deductive reasoning skills.

The mystery of the identity of the holiday killer isn't that hard to suss out for the viewers. There's a lot of telegraphing, and it differs in many places from the original source material by Jeph Loeb. The drama here is all about the tragedy of Dent, and how the stresses of his obsession impact his work life as well as his marriage to Gilda (Julie Nathanson). And, of course, it's a good reason to trot out the majority of Batman's rogues gallery, including Scarecrow (Robin Atkin Downes), Mad Hatter (John DiMaggio), Solomon Grundy (Fred Tatasciore), Calendar Man (David Dastmalchian), and, of course, Joker (Troy Baker).

The bonus features on this release were particularly entertaining. There's a Blue Beetle short that is done as an homage to -- of all things -- the 1967 Amazing Spider-Man cartoon series. It's very tongue-in-cheek and includes team-ups with The Question, Captain Atom, and Nightshade, for a whole brigade of Charlton action heroes.

The disc also includes a preview of the upcoming DC Animated release of Injustice, as well as two bonus episodes of Batman: The Animated Series -- "Two-Face" parts 1 and 2.

Be aware that while the first part of Batman: The Long Halloween was rated PG-13, this second part is inconsistently rated R.