It is June in Gotham City, and Johnny Viti, nephew of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, is getting married on the hottest day of the year. The Roman rules over an intricate crime family which in turn rules over Gotham. However, the Falcone mob is in desperate need of a means to launder their ill-gotten gains, and the Roman sees the Gotham City Bank as a likely source. To that end, the Roman has used his influence on several members of the bank's board of directors, including bank president Richard Daniel, to persuade them to accept his family's business. Carmine takes advantage of the occasion of his nephew's wedding to similarly convince Bruce Wayne, but Bruce is not swayed and leaves in a huff. The Roman confides in his bodyguard Milos that he is disappointed at Wayne's refusal, but that the deal still has enough votes to get through.
Bruce listens in on the conversation from the hallway until he is discovered by Alberto Falcone, the "good son" who shows Bruce the door and eyes him menacingly as he goes. Bruce is eager to leave and pursue his regular night activities, until he meets up with Selina Kyle. Selina seductively convinces Bruce to stay, and their dancing attracts the attention of Carla Viti, mother of the groom and sister to the Roman. Carla is in turn being watched over by the Roman, spying from his office and ruminating on his less-than-smooth relationship with his sister. When Alberto informs Carmine about Bruce listening at the door, Carmine tells him to stay out of the family business.
Meanwhile Harvey Dent, district attorney of Gotham City, has been in the basement parking garage of the Roman's home, copying down the license plate numbers of various cars. But his actions have not gone unnoticed, and the Roman's goons come and give him a beating, warning him to lay off for his own sake. Luckily Bruce and Selina soon arrive, on their way home for the evening, and help him to his feet. Harvey brushes himself off and curtly walks away. Although Selina asks Bruce if he has further plans for the evening, Bruce claims he is tired and they part company.
Harvey meets up with Captain Jim Gordon of the Gotham City Police later that night and the two discuss possible means of bringing the Roman down, including involving the Batman. Similarly, Bruce and Selina meet again in the Roman's penthouse, this time in their costumed guises of Batman and Catwoman. Their presence quickly attracts the presence of the Roman's guards, but they manage to escape under a cloud of smoke and a barrage of bullets. The Roman, furious over this invasion of his privacy and at being taunted by his chief rival Sal Maroni over the break-in, puts a million dollar bounty on both of their heads.
Batman chases Catwoman through the city but she eludes him even as she dodges his questions regarding her motivations against the Roman. Batman loses her and gives up the chase to answer a Bat-signal sent out by Harvey and Jim, who discuss the mutual strains put on their mariages by long hours at work while they await Batman's arrival. When Batman appears, the three discuss the lengths they will go to bring the Roman down. The three enter a pact (Batman however agreeing rather reluctantly) to bend the rules if necessary but never break them. Batman then disappears into darkness, but he leaves behind for Harvey and Jim the Roman's ledger, an incriminating piece of evidence Batman stole from the safe in the Roman's penthouse.
July finds Bruce in a meeting of the board of Gotham City Bank, very vocally protesting the position of the other board members in favor of accepting the Falcones' money. When he proves unable to sway them, Bruce storms out, but that evening Batman pays a visit to Richard Daniel, the bank president, warning him to keep the Falcone money out. Daniel subsequently resigns from his position and Bruce steps in.
In August Falcone meets with his family and, enraged over Daniel's betrayal, orders his nephew Johnny to come home from his honeymoon as soon as possible to take care of the problem. In September Johnny Viti kills Richard Daniel, gunning him down as he is on his way home from a movie. Jim and Harvey both receive the news at home later that night.
On the day of Halloween, Johnny Viti is shot twice in the head by an unknown assailant while taking a bath. The perpetrator leaves behind the murder weapon, a .22 caliber pistol with the nipple of a baby bottle used as a crude silencer, as well as a jack-o-lantern. That night Harvey, Batman, and Jim discuss the murder, and Harvey lets it be known that he couldn't care less about the death of a mafia hitman. The three discuss the particulars of the murder and toss about possible suspects, when Batman notices that their conversation is being eavesdropped upon. Catwoman, listening in on their discussion from the rooftop, offers to help Batman hit the Roman where it hurts the most: his money.
Catwoman's information leads Batman and Harvey to a warehouse on Gotham Harbor, where they discover that the Roman has stockpiled over twenty million dollars. Harvey contemplates stealing some of it, but Batman puts a curb on such thoughts. Instead they together set fire to the warehouse and destroy the money. Harvey cheerfully returns home to help his wife Gilda give out candy to trick-or-treaters. But as he is rummaging through his mail, a bomb hidden inside a package goes off and blows the Dent house sky high.
Annotations/Analysis
Cover--The scratches across the left side of the jack-o-lantern, what would be the right cheek, are meant to symbolize Carmine Falcone, who has similar scratches on his face. The cat represents Catwoman, and the mouth is in the shape of a bat.
Page 1--"I believe in Gotham city." This quote is one of many Godfather references throughout TLH. The first line in the film The Godfather was "I believe in America." It was spoken by a man meeting with Don Corleone on his daughter's wedding day, a meeting paralleled in this scene.
Page 2, Panel 1--"Your father was MORE than just a friend to MY father, Bruce." This line, spoken by Carmine, will be fully explained late in issue nine of this series.
Page 2 and 3--
The spread on both pages is Bruce's view as he looks out the window. In this spread we are introduced to several characters. On the far left is Sal Maroni, in the center is Johnny Viti and his mother Carla, and on the right we have (as Bruce tells us in the caption) Richard Daniel.
Note the woman having a drink with Richard Daniel.
(Anybody know who the moustache man in the foreground on the left is? I have a sneaking suspicion it's Clancy O'Hare, the chief of police killed in Dark Victory #1.)
Also notice the border around this spread. In this first issue, certain panels which seem to introduce new characters to us will have this border.
Finally, in one of the captions states, "It seems like only yesterday when the Roman tried to get a hired knife slid between his nephew's ribs." This murder attempt was at the end of Year One, the Batman mini by Frank Miller. That information was given to us in early December and it is now June. Not quite "only yesterday," Bruce, but you're right; it was very recently.
Page 4, Panel 2--
Again, note the border around this panel where we see Carmine and his bodyguard Milos for the first time.
The scratches on the right cheek on Carmine's face were put there by Catwoman in Year One, I think in November.
Notice Carmine's ring. It is identical to one that Janice Porter will be sporting in issue 1 of DV, and this ring will be used to identify Carmine's severed finger in that same issue.
The reference to cannoli is also an homage to the Godfather, albeit a later scene in the film than here.
Page 5, Panel 1--
The TV on the Roman's desk will be seen again on page nine.
The safe on the right will also reappear, this time on page fifteen.
Page 7, panel 1--There's that moustached man again in the center.
Page 7, panel 2--
"It's hot. But, not as hot as the night Johnny Viti got married."--In Dark Victory #1, Selina will in fact repeat this line during the opening scene in early August of the following year.
Selina gets a special border around her picture, since this panel introduces her character.
Pay attention to the bracelets on Selina's arms. They'll be back.
Page 7, panel 3--Bruce's dopey little grin tells me he's definitely more than a little happy to see Selina. I also like how the lights in the background sort of encircle Bruce's head, as if he enters a state of euphoria just upon seeing her.
Page 8, panel 1--
That's Carla on the left and Johnny on the right. Bruce and Selina are silhoutted in the center. (I have no idea who that is lighting Carla's cigarette, though.)
Moustached man sighting #3! He's there under Bruce's right arm.
Page 8, panel 2--"Dancin' with that... woman." Carla's pregnant pause when referring to Selina might imply some sort of connection there, as if she wanted to call her something much worse. Does Carla know Selina? Would she have reason to hate her? It would certainly explain her presence at the wedding here, the family meeting in Dark Victory #1, and her apparent hatred/vested interest in the Falcones throughout the series. But as for why they know each other, I have no clue.
Page 8, panel 3--Johnny's line, "His old man and Uncle Carmine used to be pals or something," hints further at the Falcone-Wayne connection that will be revealed in issue nine.
Page 8, panel 4--We have a bird's-eye view of the reception here, showing that it's taking place on the rooftop of Carmine's apartment building. Bruce and Selina are in the center and Johnny and Carla watch from their table slightly up and to the left of them. These figures are set apart by being the only ones not in shadow.
Page 9--Some family tension is evident here in two separate lines of dialogue. In panel 1, Carmine says, "If anything ever happens to me, Alberto, you don't have to look any further than your Aunt Carla in Chicago." And in panel 2, Carmine brushes off Alberto's attempt to help, telling him that the family business doesn't concern him. Family is important in this story (just as it was in The Godfather); essentially this story is more about family than anything else, esp. in later issues (8 and 9, in particular). Clearly the relationship between brother and sister is strained, but we have no idea why Carla and Carmine are rivals rather than friends. Maybe it has something to do with who Carla married. The relationship between Alberto and Carmine is a little tougher to analyze. In later issues his company is clearly accepted (i.e. the thanksgiving dinner scene in next issue). Carmine's daughter is in prison and his other son is currently not allowed in the country. All of this info leads me to believe that the disapproval of Alberto's help was merely staged. Alberto eventually becomes Holiday and pulls off crimes which he would have needed help with. But since Milos was for some reason going to eventually become a victim of Holiday, he had to be kept in the dark about Alberto's involvement.
Page 9, panel 4--Here's that TV again which apparently is tapped into security cameras. (You know what kills me? Harvey is in Garage level B of Carmine's house. This implies that there is probably an A. He has a MULTIPLE LAYERED PARKING GARAGE in his HOUSE!)
Page 10, Panel 1--There's that border again as we are introduced to Harvey.
Page 10, panel 5--"That pretty wife of yours..." is an obvious threat on Gilda. Those of you out there who think Harvey might have been Holiday can use this statement as evidence. A threat made on the life of his wife might make him a killer.
Page 11, panel 3--They beat Harvey down but apparently didn't feel that the information he was writing down was worth their time, since they left the notebook. They were just trying to send him a message. (Sorry, guys; it takes more than a beating to stop Harvey Dent.)
Page 11, panel 5--"And what needs to be done?" Bruce's eyes here are partially in shadow, maybe showing that he agreed that something needs to be done, but can only act on that with his darker persona. (This line will recur later in the series as well.)
Page 11, panel 6--Here we have a view of just Harvey's right eye, what will become his "good" side when he later becomes Two-Face.
Page 12, Panel 1--"I believe in Harvey Dent." Yet another phrase that will be repeated throughout this issue and the entire series.
Page 12, panel 2--Selina's calling attention to her bracelets here.
Page 13, panel 1--
Gordon is a captain during TLH, having been promoted from lieutenant at the end of Year One. He will become the commissioner between TLH and DV.
"I'm packing up now." Unfortunately for Barbara, Jim won't be home for quite a while, as we shall see as the night progresses.
Page 14, panel 4--Carmine seems to notice Batman gliding into the compound here. His rubbing of the scratches has always struck me as a signal to his guards to check out the house, in reference to the last time Bats broke in and Catwoman scratched him.
Page 15--
This safe is the same safe we saw before on page 5.
In the first couple of panels, we might think this is Batman sneaking up to the safe, but the bracelets in the third panel reveal the truth. It's Selina, in her guise as Catwoman.
Why didn't Bruce notice that Selina and Catwoman were wearing the same bracelets?
In the last two panels we clearly see a ledger and a case of jewels. We'll see the ledger again later.
Page 16--Batman himself first starts wondering why Catwoman seems so interested in the Falcone family. (He says "This isn't the first time our paths have crossed inside this penthouse" in reference to the incident in Year One.) He's going to keep wondering throughout the series and in DV too. As of yet, he and we still have no clue. (And look at those jewels scatter!)
Page 18--There's a border around Catwoman in the second panel, our introduction to Selina in this character.
Page 21, panel 3--Again a border to signify our introduction to Sal Maroni.
Page 21, panel 5--"One million dollars for either of them." The Roman puts a bounty on both Catwoman and Batman here, but we never hear that much more about it. I would have liked to see some thugs trying to collect on it and Bruce taking them down.
Page 23--In the background we see a clock on top of a skyscraper. We'll see it again at the end of issue four.
Page 24, panel 3--Bats and Cats just passed by the hotel Astoria, according to the neon sign. The Irish gang is killed at the same hotel in the next issue.
Page 26--We have some foreshadowing here. Barbara eventually "understands" less and less about Jim's late hours, leaving him between TLH and DV (although the Harvey-Gilda situation at the end of TLH might have been Barbara's real impetus for leaving). And the problem with Gilda, as we will find out as the series goes on, does not get "handled" very well by Harvey.
Page 27--Gordon is surprised to see that Batman and Harvey know each other, but we should not be. The two interacted during Year One, although it was never overt. Harvey and Batman obviously worked together to convince Jefferson Skeevers to testify. In one scene Jim rants at Harvey about skeevers being allowed to go free, but Dent is unworried because (though it is never stated) he knows Skeevers will be back. And after Batman scares him, he does return.
Page 28--Check out the blocking on this scene. In panel one, Jim is facing away from them. His line "It's still a line" lets us know that he disagrees on a certain level with what Bats and Harvey propose, bending the rules to take the Roman down. In panel two it is Batman who turns away, as they discuss how the Roman is above the law. And in panel three, Harvey turns away, while talking about his inability to charge the Roman. Each of them obviously feel inadequate. But together they feel that they'll be able to accomplish their goal. Great scene, and great final line from Batman, echoing Harvey's earlier statement about "what needs to be done."
Page 29--Batman is obviously torn here, between his promise to his parents that he would clean up Gotham at whatever cost, and his newfound allegiance with these men who would be his friends, for which he must compromise and stay in the good favor of the law.
Page 30, panel 2--Gordon's comment that "there was a time when I suspected you were Batman" should be obvious to Harvey. In Year One Jim questioned Harvey about his whereabouts on nights Batman was spotted.
Page 30, panel 3--"I'm quite happy with who I am." Sure you are, Harv. The left side of his face is in shadow, signifying the dark side of him that will eventually come out as Two-Face.
Page 30, panel 6--Batman must have taken the ledger under the cover of smoke on page 20. The page Harvey and Jim look at is from June, earlier that very month.
Page 31--July.
This dark-haired woman on Richard's right will be seen again in the boardroom scene on St. Patrick's Day (issue 6).
Page 31, panel 5--Check out the border around the Roman. Note his ring again.
Page 32--Richard Daniel's luxurious lifestyle is probably being funded by the Falcone's. Note the border on the last panel.
Page 33--August.
Who's that in silhouette in the foreground on the right? Milos?
More family tension (or the illusion of tension) between Carmine and Alberto. (Why's Alberto even there if he's not involved in the family business? Maybe to point out that he's not involved.)
Last panel, note the border. Johnny's home.
Page 34--September.
Richard's "darling" in this scene is different than the woman at Johnny Viti's wedding.
Richard Daniel is killed in front of a movie theater. Remind you of anyone else in Batman's history?
Johnny Viti wasn't really going to great lengths to avoid be recognized. He yells out Richard's name and then shoots him with his face hanging out the window so everyone gets a good look.
Anybody seen How to Succeed in Business and want to fill me in on the relevance of the title?
Border on Batman this time in the last panel.
Page 35--If it's black and white, it must be Holiday. This page is our first shot of Holiday, where we see him hard at work at his workbench filing serial numbers off (unless these are Gunsmith's hands). The tools on the wall behind the vice in panel two are (from left to right) a hammer, needlenosed pliers, two screwdrivers and a wrench. In panel five (a little higher up) we see a saw, a hacksaw, several screwdrivers with the needlenosed pliers beneath and another hammer below what looks like another wrench. The nipple in the last panel is used to transition between this scene and the next at the Gordons' home.
(How would Gilda have got the gun if she had really been Holiday?)
Page 36--
Family tension between the Gordons here. As we enter the scene, they've clearly been arguing about Jim working too much and that argument carries over into Barbara's tone as she answers the phone. (Hey at least he's doing the dishes! Cut him some slack!)
The domestic setting of Jim, Barbara and baby James in the kitchen contrasts well with Harvey getting the news on the next page, while working in his basement.
Jim's eyes in the last panel definitely show his pain. You can tell this murder affects him on a personal level.
Page 37, panel 2--The pegboard here is clearly different from Holiday's. You can see a hammer on the left and then a hacksaw. That combo does not come up in Holiday's workbench.
Page 37, panel 5--Harvey's eyes show something other than pain here. Definite anger. (and note that it's the left eye, the sinister side, that we see.)
Page 38-39--
I assume that it was Halloween morning when Johnny gets shot by Holiday, becuase he's bathing.
Holiday's a rightie here.
If Gilda did it, how did she get into the Falcone house unnoticed?
And why Johnny? As a victim of Alberto as Holiday, Johnny makes sense. Carmine had tried to have Johhny killed before (the hired knife in the ribs thing) and had lulled him into a false sense of security by funding his wedding before actually killing him, with Alberto's help. But why would GILDA want to kill Johnny? If she really wanted to kill somebody to get her husband home, why not CARMINE? (Then again maybe it ties into Johnny killing Richard Daniel. She does say that the idea of the same thing happening to Harvey scares her, and so perhaps she killed Johnny to prevent it. I'm just playing devil's advocate here; I don't believe it's Gilda for one minute.)
Page 40--
"Two shots to the head. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." This dialogue will be repeated in issue seven, issue thirteen, and issue one of DV.
A pro, huh? Bats says it had to have been a professional. Does Gilda strike you as a pro? Alberto at least could have been trained by his dad, who is a pro.
The tape on the handle never made sense to me since Holiday wears gloves.
Page 41, panel 4--Cats makes one of the few references to the bounty on her head here.
Page 45--Come on. Admit it. You can't help but agree with Harvey here, can you? (The reason why Bats can be so noble is 'cause Bruce Wayne's already rich!)
Page 47, panel 4--The profile of the person who orders the bombing clearly resemble Jimmy Slick of the Irish gang, who cops to it in issue 2.
Page 48--"I believe in Jim Gordon. I believe in Harvey Dent. I believe in Gotham City." Cool.
It is June in Gotham City, and Johnny Viti, nephew of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, is getting married on the hottest day of the year. The Roman rules over an intricate crime family which in turn rules over Gotham. However, the Falcone mob is in desperate need of a means to launder their ill-gotten gains, and the Roman sees the Gotham City Bank as a likely source. To that end, the Roman has used his influence on several members of the bank's board of directors, including bank president Richard Daniel, to persuade them to accept his family's business. Carmine takes advantage of the occasion of his nephew's wedding to similarly convince Bruce Wayne, but Bruce is not swayed and leaves in a huff. The Roman confides in his bodyguard Milos that he is disappointed at Wayne's refusal, but that the deal still has enough votes to get through.
