Batman: The Long Halloween #1 CGC 9.0 Is $210 So Far At Auction

Batman: The Long Halloween #1 is currently up for auction in a CGC 9.8 slab, with bids of $210 so far and going under the hammer at Heritage Art Auctions in just a few hours. But why all the fuss? Well, the series has had a lot of attention this year and it remains one of DC’s main Batman perennial sellers alongside Dark Knight, Killing Joke, and Arkham Asylum,

Batman: The Long Halloween was a 13-issue American comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. Itself the follow-up to three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials by the same creative team, the entire series has been repeated collected in trade paperback, hardcover and oversized hardcover, with the team creating three sequels, Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome and a recent Batman Long Halloween Special early in the year alongside the release of an animated movie adaptation in two parts. The two films premiered on Adult Swim on the 24th of October.

Taking place during Batman’s early days of crime-fighting, The Long Halloween tells the story of Holiday, who murders people on holidays, one each month. Working with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Captain James Gordon, Batman races against the calendar as he tries to discover who Holiday is before he claims his next victim each month, while attempting to stop the crime war between two of Gotham City’s most powerful families, Maroni and Falcone. This novel also acted as a re-introduction to the DC Universe for Calendar Man, who knows the true identity of the Holiday killer but refuses to share this with Batman. He instead riddles and gives Batman hints from his Arkham Asylum cell. The story also ties into the events that transform Harvey Dent into Batman’s enemy, Two-Face and revolves around the transition of Batman’s rogues gallery from simple mob goons to full-fledged supervillains.

The series ended with the main mystery of the identity of Holiday frustratingly unresolved. It was revealed there were multiple people behind Holiday, some suspects potentially dead, and who killed who… leaving just enough room for a sequel or three…

Batman: The Long Halloween #1 (DC, 1996) CGC NM/MT 9.8 White pages. Catwoman appearance. Tim Sale cover and art. Overstreet 2021 NM- 9.2 value = $50. CGC census 12/21: 201 in 9.8, none higher.