Prior to his death, Tim Sale was working with his frequent collaborator Jeph Loeb on a sequel to their career-defining Batman maxi-series, The Long Halloween. That sequel will continue on, according to DC, who officially announced The Last Halloween at MCM London last month.
Loeb will write the 10-issue series and will be joined by a different artist on each issue, starting with 100 Bullets artist Eduardo Risso. Klaus Janson, known for his work on books like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Daredevil, will draw the second issue, while Mark Chiarello, the former art director for DC, will draw the third issue. They’ll be joined by letterer Richard Starkings, who worked on the original series, and colorist Dave Stewart.
“Batman The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween is Tim Sale’s parting gift to me,” Loeb said. “Tim and I had already decided to tell this last chapter following Batman: The Long Halloween Special, which will serve as the prologue to this 10-part action-packed mystery.”
Batman: The Long Halloween ran for 13 issues back in 1996 and 1997, following three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials by the same creative team. Loeb and Sale teamed up again for two sequels, Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome, and from there went on to work together on character-focused miniseries featuring Superman, the Hulk, Daredevil and more.
More recently, the duo returned to the thematic elements of the Long Halloween in Batman: The Long Halloween Special, which came out in 2021 and teased that there was more to come at the end. This new series “concludes the war between the freaks and the crime families forever, as Batman, Robin and DC’s most infamous Bat-villains face off against Holiday:”
In the debut issue, Gotham City learns to fear Halloween once more as a terrible event threatens to destroy Jim Gordon’s life and puts Batman and Robin’s teamwork to the test more than ever before. In a city of liars, masked vigilantes, and criminals…can anyone be trusted?
“Tim’s unfortunate passing put our plans for this series on hold,” Loeb said. “About a year later, after speaking with Mark Chiarello and Richard Starkings, my partners on the previous Long Halloween titles, we decided the time was right to move this forward as a tribute to Tim, who continues to be with us in spirit.”
Here’s a look at Risso, Janson and Chiarello’s covers for their respective issues:
Additional artists for further issues will be announced at a later date. Look for the first issue to arrive Sept. 25.
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