CGC Featured Comic of the Month: Batman – The Long Halloween #1

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Name of comic: Batman – The Long Halloween #1

Comic publisher: DC Comics

Date: October 1996

Variants: Along with the standard cover (pictured above), there were five subsequent printings.

What makes it special? This series follows Batman's relentless pursuit of the enigmatic Holiday killer, a murderer who strikes on holidays, as the Caped Crusader navigates the treacherous waters of Gotham City's criminal underworld. With its intricate, noir-inspired storytelling, complex character development, and compelling artwork by Tim Sale, "The Long Halloween" has become a beloved classic in the Batman canon and remains a highly regarded and influential Batman story in the world of comics.

Why is it interesting now? It’s never a bad time to celebrate this perennial classic, but it’s especially fitting for the spooky month of October.

Did you know? Elements of The Long Halloween were loosely adapted into the 2022 movie, “The Batman.” In the film, just like in the comic book series, Batman is very early in his crime-fighting career as he tracks down a serial killer who is targeting people close to the Carmine Falcone crime family in Gotham City. In the movie the villain is Riddler, but in the comic it was the villain Holiday. There was also a two-part animated film released in 2021 that is more closely based on the comic book series.

Total graded by CGC: As of September 19, 2023, there were a total of 777 copies of The Long Halloween #1 in the CGC Census.

CGC highest graded: There are 366 copies of The Long Halloween #1 graded CGC 9.8, including 50 CGC Signature Series and two Qualified copies.

Sales highlights: A CGC 9.8 copy, signed by Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb, was sold on eBay for $1,100 in 2021.

CGC Comics Registry Champion: CGC Comics Registry participant Dork Buzz’s set The Dork Halloween includes a CGC 9.8 copy of The Long Halloween #1. The set also includes a CGC 9.6 or CGC 9.8 copy of all 13 issues of the series, helping to earn it the Best in Set Type Award from 2018 to 2022.

Previous Featured Comics of the Month:

• Action Comics #252
• Amazing Spider-Man #149
• Avengers #8
• Captain America #100
• DC Comics Presents #67
• Disney’s Darkwing Duck #1
• Man of Steel #1
• Mystery Men Comics #1
• Omega Men #3

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About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for many other types of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for TCGs, sports cards and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. The newest division of CGC, CGC Home Video, provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes.