Batman: The Long Halloween #3: Christmas

Quick answer

Batman: The Long Halloween #3: Christmas is cataloged as part of the The Long Halloween reading path, giving readers a specific checkpoint in that storyline rather than a generic issue listing. Gotham Vault connects it to Batman (Bruce Wayne), The Joker, Commissioner Gordon (James Gordon), Two-Face (Harvey Dent), Batman: The Long Halloween, and the broader 1997-02-01 Batman publication timeline.

Issue summary

The issue opens with the Joker reading about the Holiday killings in the newspaper. As the shot pulls back it reveals that he has bound and gagged a family in their home and is stealing their Christmas tree and the presents under it, all the while quoting various Christmas rhymes. On Christmas eve Batman and Jim Gordon are in Arkham Asylum discussing recent developments. They are there to talk to the Calendar Man Julian Day to see if he can be of help in the Holiday investigation. While Day is more than willing to talk at length it is apparent that he knows nothing of any real value. Gordon and Batman quickly give up and leave. Salvadore "The Boss" Maroni is at his restaurant with his goons speculating that Holiday may in fact be Harvey Dent. One of the members of Maroni's gang dies laughing and The Joker appears. He holds a gun to Marnoni's head and accuses him of being Holiday, because all of the victims have been from The Roman's branch of the Gotham mob. Maroni explains that the Holiday killings have ruined business for everyone, he tells Joker he believes Dent to be the killer. Later, after Joker has left and Maroni's men are attempting to dispose of the body he left behind Batman arrives. He shakes down Maroni and departs when he learns that The Joker was responsible for the murder. Harvey Dent brings his wife Gilda out of the hospital and surprises her with the…

Characters listed for this issue

Batman (Bruce Wayne)The Dark Knight of Gotham. Billionaire by day, vigilante by night. No superpowers, just iron…VIEW APPEARANCES ›

The JokerThe Clown Prince of Crime. Gotham's chaos agent. No one knows his real story, and that's the…VIEW APPEARANCES ›

Commissioner Gordon (James Gordon)The one good cop in a corrupt city. Keeps the GCPD running and the Bat-Signal lit. Never los…VIEW APPEARANCES ›

Two-Face (Harvey Dent)Harvey Dent was Gotham's white knight DA until acid and a bad day turned him into something …VIEW APPEARANCES ›