Batman: Haunted Knight
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012) |
| Batman: Haunted Knight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Publication date | 1996 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) | Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #1 (1993) Batman: Madness - A Legends Of The Dark Knight Halloween Special (1994) Batman: Ghosts - A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (1995) |
| Main character(s) | Batman The Scarecrow Mad Hatter |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-56389-273-1 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Jeph Loeb |
| Artist(s) | Tim Sale |
Batman: Haunted Knight is an anthology trade paperback published by DC Comics in 1996. It reprinted three one shot specials from the previous three years (three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials). Each of the stories were written by Jeph Loeb and featured art by Tim Sale. The popularity of these led to the limited series Batman: The Long Halloween.
Plot
During the story "Fears", Batman is hunting down and trying to capture Scarecrow. As the title suggests, fear plays a large part in the story, with Batman nearly dying of fear while trapped in a large, poisonous, thorn maze.
"Madness" tells the story of Captain James Gordon's daughter, Barbara, being kidnapped by Mad Hatter and forced to be in a twisted tea party with other kidnapped children. Batman and Gordon finally save Barbara and bring down Mad Hatter.
"Ghosts" is basically a Batman universe version of A Christmas Carol, with Bruce's father Thomas Wayne taking the place of Jacob Marley, and the three spirits being Poison Ivy (the Ghost of Christmas Past), the Joker (the Ghost of Christmas Present), and a Grim Reaper figure (the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) who turns out to be Batman's ghost. The message from the spirits is that Bruce should not let Batman take over his entire life.
Time of events
Little is known of when Haunted Knight takes place in the Loeb/Sale Batman series:
- During the story "Madness", the villain Two-Face is referenced in the line "Joker. Scarecrow. Two-Face. Each has their own private madness that drives them.", however, Two-Face did not exist in the Loeb/Sale series until the end of the Batman: The Long Halloween, so this story cannot precede it.
- Catwoman, who was in Rome for six months (Catwoman: When in Rome) following the events of the Long Halloween (from Valentine's Day to Thanksgiving in Batman: Dark Victory), but had returned by the end of Dark Victory, is absent, and Jim Gordon still has the rank of Captain in the Gotham City Police Department, even though he was promoted to Commissioner by the beginning of Dark Victory.
- The stories "Fears" and "Ghosts" especially, as they involve Batman's home life, are not likely to take place after Dark Victory, because they make no reference to Dick Grayson / Robin, who had debuted at the end of Dark Victory. However, all three stories take place on different Halloweens.
References
- The graphic novel Batman: Haunted Knight
- Batman: Haunted Knight review - http://comics.ign.com/articles/625/625251p1.html
