Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1’s Biggest Changes To The Comic

Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for the graphic novel Batman: The Long Halloween and the film Batman: The Long Halloween Part One.

What changes were made in adapting the classic Batman story The Long Halloween into an animated film? While Batman: The Long Halloween Part One stays true to the main plot of the original graphic novel, it does make several cosmetic changes that quicken the pace of the story for the film. The changes also offer more definition to some members of the ensemble, transforming them into richer characters.

Originally published as a 13-part miniseries, The Long Halloween was written as an unofficial follow-up to another classic graphic novel, Batman: Year One. Set in the early days of Batman’s career and taking place across an entire year, The Long Halloween examined both Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face and how the underworld of Gotham City came to be taken over by costumed criminals after decades of mob rule. The centerpiece of this saga was a series of serial killings targeting the Falcone family’s criminal empire, perpetuated by a mysterious figure dubbed Holiday, due to their habit of killing only on major American holidays and decorating their crime scene with objects related to the relevant holiday.

With The Long Halloween being adapted into two separate films, it remains to be seen if Part Two will wildly diverge from the ending of the original book. It seems likely, given that the climax of Batman: The Long Halloween Part One contained some notable alterations from the book, and Warner Bros. Animation has changed Batman adaptations’ twists before to surprise those fans who had read the source material. Here is every major change from the book made for Batman: The Long Halloween Part One.

Alberto Falcone Is A More Conflicted Character

In the original The Long Halloween, Carmine Falcone’s son Alberto was something of a nebbish character, with no real characterization other than being “the good son” who was kept away from the Falcone family’s illegal enterprises. The film gave Alberto more personality, making him fond of logic puzzles, with a crossword book in his hand throughout the film. Alberto was also given a new backstory which changed his motivations from the book considerably. Rather than wanting to take a hand in the Falcone family business and prove himself to his father, Alberto speaks of wanting to escape his family and live a normal life. Alfredo also spoke to Selina Kyle about how Carmine Falcone drove away the only woman that ever loved him because she was not right for the family; a subplot that was not in the book.

Barbara Gordon Is In The Film

When The Long Halloween was originally published in 1996, Barbara Gordon had been retconned into being Commissioner Gordon’s niece rather than his daughter. Presumably, this was done to justify the younger Jim Gordon depicted in Batman: Year One, who couldn’t possibly have a teenage daughter old enough to be Batgirl. The film spits the difference, depicting a younger Jim Gordon and a tween Barbara Gordon, who has a brief cameo preparing to go trick-or-treating as a police officer, using her dad’s badge as a prop. Barbara Gordon didn’t appear in the original Long Halloween books but was mentioned in passing as now being old enough to babysit other children.

A New Origin For Two-Face’s Coin

There have been many different stories describing how Two-Face acquired the two-headed coin that was his trademark, but The Long Halloween, for all of its focus on how Harvey Dent became Two-Face, did not detail where his coin came from. The film version provides an original take, with the coin having been a gift from Batman. After uncovering a warehouse full of Carmine Falcone’s illegally earned cash and having no way to safely (or legally) move it, Batman and Harvey Dent decided to burn the building and the cash. When Dent proved reluctant to go through with starting the fire, Batman suggested they settle the matter with a coin-flip, saying they’d burn the money if the coin he offered Dent came up heads. It was not until later that Dent realized Batman had given him a double-headed coin to rig the toss.

Harvey Dent Is Hospitalized, Instead Of His Wife

In The Long Halloween graphic novel and movie, Harvey Dent’s house was blown up on Halloween night, as Carmine Falcone held him responsible for Johnny Viti’s death, regardless of who the actual triggerman was. In the book, Harvey Dent took advantage of the incident to fake his own death, in a bid to lay a trap for the gangsters who had tried to kill him, while his wife Glenda lay in the hospital. In the film, it was Harvey Dent who was put in the hospital for the better part of a month, rather than Glenda Dent.

A Chinese Triad Bombs Harvey Dent’s House

In the original Long Halloween books, Carmine Falcone outsourced the job of bombing Harvey Dent’s house to Mickey Sullivan and his gang, The Irish. In the film, Mickey Sullivan was replaced with Mickey Chen; leader of the San Ho Hui Triad. Both gangs meet the same untimely end, becoming the victims of Holiday’s Thanksgiving rampage.

Selina Kyle Is A Better Developed Character

While the original Long Halloween hinted at a blooming romance between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Selina remained largely undeveloped as a character. The film corrects this oversight, adding several brief scenes which highlight Selina’s intelligence and playful nature outside of her activities as Catwoman. Perhaps the best of these moments comes during the closing montage of the Thanksgiving segment, in which Selina (who is waiting for Bruce to return home) tries to steal a bit of the turkey Alfred Pennyworth was preparing for dinner, only to have her hand artfully deflected by the ever-vigilant butler.

Batman Isn’t That Good Of A Detective

In most stories, Batman is renowned for his skills as an investigator, to the point that he is addressed as “The Detective” by Ra’s Al Ghul and nicknamed both the Dark Knight Detective and the World’s Greatest Detective. The Batman of The Long Halloween film is a different sort of vigilante, who confesses to Alfred that he never anticipated having to be a crime-solver, thinking that his work as a superhero would be all about “sweeping criminals off the street… maybe scaring them straight.” Amusingly, Sal Maroni, Alberto Falcone and even The Joker all call Batman out for being a bad detective in the film, after he accuses them all of being Holiday at various points, leaving them to point out the obvious proof that they are not.

A Reduced Role For Carla Viti

The leader of the Falcone family’s operations in Chicago and the sister of Carmine Falcone, Carla Viti played a prominent role in the original Long Halloween comics. Despite being named as one of the five prime suspects behind the Holiday killings by Batman, Viti barely has a presence in the Long Halloween film, only appearing in the background of various Falcone family functions. Indeed, the film didn’t bother to cast a voice actor to play Viti.

Catwoman Knows Bruce Wayne Is Batman

Throughout the Long Halloween comics, Selina Kyle flirted with Bruce Wayne and encouraged him to leave Gotham City and run away to somewhere else with her. Some fans took this as a sign that Selina had deduced Bruce’s secret identity and was trying to get him to quit being Batman, either to get him off her back or because she honestly had fallen for the Dark Knight and wanted to curb his self-destructive impulses. While the comics remained ambiguous on this point, the Selina Kyle of the Long Halloween movie was confirmed to have figured out Batman’s secret identity, as she accidentally called Batman “Bruce” when he suddenly showed up to confront Alberto Falcone in the film’s climax.

Batman And Catwoman Witness The Fourth Holiday Killing

In the original Long Halloween graphic novel, Alberto Falcone was apparently alone when he became the fourth Holiday victim. The comic showed Alberto standing on the deck of his father’s yacht, where he was seemingly shot by Holiday and fell overboard, with his absence and Holiday’s calling card being discovered by his aunt, Carla Viti. The film offers Alberto a more dramatic death, being shot by Holiday in front of Batman and Selina Kyle, before falling overboard.

The Post-Credits Sequence With Poison Ivy

Batman: The Long Halloween Part One ends with a post-credits scene set at Alberto Falcone’s funeral; an event that was never shown in the original comics. In the brief scene, Carmine Falcone introduces Bruce Wayne to his female companion, who was revealed in the be Poison Ivy, after she used her powers to place Bruce Wayne under her control. The same thing occurred in The Long Halloween novel, but the circumstances were quite different. In the book, Ivy approached Bruce Wayne disguised as a flower-seller, while he was on a Valentine’s Day date with Selina Kyle, delivering her mind-control formula by “accidentally” pricking his finger with one of the roses she was selling. It was not revealed until later in the miniseries that Ivy had been hired by Carmine Falcone to manipulate Bruce Wayne and make him agreeable to doing business with Falcone.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1839 Articles Published)

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Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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