“It looks like this book gets a lot of shit because of its similarity to the much-beloved Long Halloween.
First off, it should be noted that the collected editions were released 4 years apart. So yes, I’m betting if you read them back to back, you’d probably prefer the first part because the second part offered more of the same.
For me it’s been at least a decade since I read Long Halloween, and somehow I was just getting to this one for the first time.
It’s good! It’s got a good variety of Gotham weirdos, some solid Bruce Wayne stuff in there, and the story is pleasing.
I think people also dislike this and Long Halloween because they say that the ending is/was predictable. It’s kind of a silly criticism. Let’s face it, when you do a Batman mystery, the villain can’t really be the Joker. Because if it’s the Joker, then who gives a damn? So he killed another half dozen people. Not exciting.
So it always has to be one of the 3-4 peripheral characters who are conspicuous because they are introduced in this book.
What I’m saying to all the detectives out there is that nobody is impressed that you knew the ending first, and if you’re only reading comics for the ending you might as well skip straight to the end anyway. If more comics were written with good stories and less energy was put into making some doofy surprise ending, I think we’d all be a little happier. Isn’t this why we’re always giving M. Night SHaymalsalngf shit? Because everything hinges on the ending, and even if the movie is good the ending will absolutely make or break it? It’s the same way I feel about Hush. The ending wasn’t all that great, but the ride along the way was fun. This book is written well and has a great, unique art style that really works with the Batman aesthetic. Okay, Catwoman looks a little like she’s dressed up to hand out coupons for Fancy Feast, but other than that I have no complaints.”