The Joker has escaped from his cell in Arkham Asylum to go on the hunt of the unknown assassin of Johnny Viti and the "Irish Gang," whom the paper have dubbed "Holiday." The Joker breaks into the home of a Gotham family after escaping and ties them up, then eats some cereal and reads the newspaper before finally stealing all their Christmas presents and leaving.
At Arkham Jim Gordon and Batman walk the halls and discuss the recent escape. Jim wonders aloud if there's any correlation between Batman's arrival in Gotham and the population of Arkham's subsequent doubling in size, but Batman dismisses the idea coldly. The two enter the cell of Julian Day, a criminal known as the Calendar Man. Their hope is that he can aid them in their investigation into the Holiday killings, since he also committed crimes in correspondence to specific dates on the calendar. But, despite their offer to set him free for his assistance, the only information Day gives is that the killer likes the attention given to the murders by the media. He then begins taunting them by listing upcoming holidays that could mean a higher body count in the future. Batman angrily leads Jim out.
Meanwhile in Maroni's restaurant Sal and his right-hand man Toots dine. Sal is sure that Harvey Dent is Holiday, and so Toots has planted a kid named Vernon in the DA's office. Just as Toots is giving Sal this information, he breaks into laughter suddenly and keels over dead, killed by the Joker. Sal is destined to soon follow, as the Joker accuses Sal of being Holiday with his finger on the itchy trigger of a very big gun. But Sal, his head at the end of a very big barrel, tells the Joker that Holiday is ruining business for everyone, not just Maroni's rival Falcone as the Joker implies.
Later two of Maroni's men, Angel and Curly, are in the alley behind the restaurant dumping Toots' body into the trunk of a car so they can dispose of it in the harbor. Suddenly Batman bursts onto the scene. Maroni comes outside to see what the holdup is, and Batman gets the drop on him. Sal tells Batman about Joker's search for Holiday, echoing Jim Gordon's earlier statement that all the crazies have come to town since Batman showed up.
Meanwhile Harvey is revealing his Christmas present to his wheelchair-bound wife Gilda--a new house. She excitedly rises from the chair, disparaging her doctors' fears for her well-being and enters the house with Harvey. She asks him for another chance at trying for a child, but before answering Harvey notices footprints on the floor and send her upstairs so he can investigate the source. The footprints belong to the Joker who has invaded the house via the chimney; the two tussle. When the Joker gains the upper hand he warns Harvey that if he is Holiday as the rumors say, he should be careful.
The final stop on the Joker's tour is the Roman's penthouse, where he wakes Carmine and tells him to find Holiday or he'll kill everyone in Gotham. As the Joker leaves he is confronted by the Roman's bodyguard Milos but escapes by flinging a deck of cards at him. Milos is left picking up the cards moments later when Holiday arrives and assassinates him. Batman find Milos dead with the playing cards and swears vengence upon the Joker.
Annotations/Analysis
Cover--I'm sure you noticed the Batman wrapping paper. (Where can I get some?)
Page 1--
What song is Joker singing here? The beginning is "Happy Holidays" and the end is "Walking in a Winter Wonderland."
Looks as if Joker was enjoying a bowl of fruity Trix as he sat on the stool and read his morning paper. These are the old, round Trix too, not the modern fruit-shaped kind.
I'm surprised the newspaper was allowed to run this article. First, they printed some gruesome photos of the killings. On the left page is a shot of Johnny dead in the bath. On the right page we see the Irish gang dead. Second, they apparently have all kinds of info I would think the police would keep out of the papers. They have photos of the gun from Thanksgiving, both clues and the nipple used as a silencer. Shouldn't the police have not released some of that info?
The headline on the right pages "Who is Holiday?" will be seen again as clippings hung in Calendar Man's cell in issue eight.
Did you ever hear the phrase "If it bleeds, it leads?" Why then is this high profile murder case stuck in the middle of the paper?
Page 3--This page's artwork is, in my opinion, the quintessential Joker.
Page 4--
the Joker's rhyme on this page is a take-off of "Twas the Night Before Christmas."
This page paints a wonderful picture of how the Joker arrived there. Apparently he burst into this home, chopping down the door with an axe (as seen in panel three), tied up the family, and then sat down for some breakfast (the cereal bowl and stool in panel one).
He's taking the tree, but we'll see it again later.
The father of the family looks so angry in panel two. Personally, were I a Gotham resident, I'd be happy to come through an encounter with the Joker and be left alive. Forget the presents, man! Count your blessings!
We'll see the Joker's car again too.
Page 5, panel two--As Batman and Jim stroll through Arkham Asylum on their way to Julian (Calendar Man) Day's cell, they pass Jonathan Crane and Pamela Isley, both better known by their villain names, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy. Both characters will be seen in later issues of TLH.
Page 5, panel four--This idea that Batman attracts the freaks to Gotham is nothing new. It was touched upon in the LODK story "Prey," and dealt with in full in the infamous The Dark Knight Returns.
Page 6--Here we have one of Calendar Man's short but memorable appearances. He is in all of five panels on the next two pages, and a lot has been said about the "information" he provides. Really the crux of the actual information he gives in this issue is from panels two and four. Julian says, "Tomorrow is the big day. SHE'll be killing again." Bats asks, "What makes you think it's a woman?" Julian replies, "Because HE likes it. The attention. No one knows who SHE is and already HE has made a name for himself. Or herself."
First, why is he so vague? Jim offers to let him go free, and he still won't provide any concrete information. the only thing he's willing to commit to is that the killer will strike the next day. Oooh. Big surprise there. He makes a guess that Holiday kills for the attention, but it's just a guess. And he is even wishy-washy about the gender of the killer. That's why Batman storms out onthe next page; he knows Julian has nothing to tell them.
The he/she thing, which some people have attributed after the fact to mean that Calendar Man KNEW that it was both Alberto and Gilda who did the killings, is flimsy at best. At this point, if you believe Gilda, she is still the only killer. Why then is Calendar Man switching genders in reference to Holiday? Answer: because he doesn't know who Holiday is. That's why in the end he says "himself OR herself." You can't use the ramblings of a crazy man as evidence that Gilda and Alberto both were Holiday, esp. since there's no way he could have.
This whole scene and the ones with Day that follow in later issues are homages to Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal switched genders in reference to Buffalo Bill, but that was because the killer wanted to switch genders himself. So does Alberto want to be a girl? And Julian Day is no Hannibal Lecter. Lecter was a brilliant psychologist. He also had a personal connection with Jame Gumm. Calendar Man is no genius. He's just a schmo in an insane asylum.
And Calendar Man will be switched to a different cell by DV #0, so that he and Alberto can be side by side in Arkham.
Page 7--I know you probably don't care but I counted the calendar pages on the floor and looked at all the unobscured dates. There are more of Oct and Nov than any other month, but that would make sense. since they were the most recent, more of them would be on top (tho there are very few Dec pages for some reason). There is only one repeated date: Jan. 4. It is by the bed, partially under Oct. 5, and also by the wall on the left. Also the date Jan. 29 is on the center of the floor between Day's feet and the bed. This date is Jeph Loeb's birthday. (Anybody know if any of the other dates have special significance, i.e. Tim's birthdate?)
Page 8--Toots' mention, before his untimely demise, of Vernon as the plant in the DA office sets things up for next issue's introduction of the character. (And for some reason Toots ends up in the coroner's files under Holiday in issue eleven.)
Page 9, panel 3--I shouldn't need to point out to anyone that the gun Joker is using here is impossibly huge. The recoil would throw him back at least ten feet, a la the noisy cricket in Men in Black. (But just because it's impossible doesn't mean that I wouldn't be wetting my drawers if I were Maroni.)
Page 10, panel two--The license plate of the car in which Toots' body is being placed is 042-EFC. Is that significant? Probably not, but I'm a completist. (We know that this can't be the same car as in issue five though; the license plates are different.)
Page 11, panel one--"Curly? Angel?" The two hitmen that Bats surprised by pouncing on the trunk will also end up in the coroner's files. So either they will be in the car that gets blown to bits in issue five or they will be among the many killed in Holiday's St. Patrick's Day massacre.
Page 12--
Batman's application of pressure to Maroni's hand is so hard here in the early paels on this page that it will put his arm in a sling in the next issue.
Maroni refers to the earlier events of the evening in panel two by saying, "Some guy. Calls himself the Joker. Came looking for Holiday." Some guy? Who in Gotham, even only a year after his debut (as this event is--Joker appeared at the end of Year One poisoning Gotham reservoir in early December), would not know who the JOKER was?
Maroni's "Lunatics" statement in panel four echoes Jim's ealier questioning of Batman about the insurgence of freaks to Gotham.
Gotta love those footprints in panel five. Bats landed on the trunk took out the mooks, and then came over to take Maroni to the ground. No footprints for his arrival or departure, as if he dropped out of thin air.
Page 14, panel three-- "Doctors! What do they know?" I'm sure you're right, Gilda. Medical school taught them nothing. They have you in that WHEELCHAIR for no real reason. (Could she have been up and around enough to go kill Milos? No!)
Page 14, panel 2--"A second chance?" More foreshadowing. Harvey will never get that opportunity.
Page 14, panel three--The footprints Harvey notices are from Joker coming down the chimney, a la Santa, and walking in the soot.
Page 15--Here's the tree again which is the one that the Joker stole from the family in the beginning of the issue. The Joker's line in panel one is from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
Page 16--"You're no Batman," says Joker echoing others' ideas that Harvey might be Batman. Joker says this as he kicks Harv below the belt. Not exactly a fair fight, but what could you expect from the Joker?
Page 17, panel two--"This town isn't big enough for TWO homicidal maniacs." More discussion involving the number two here, and at the same time Joker's face looks grotesquely distorted on the right side as he looks through the magnifying glass.
Page 19--As Joker leaves, he passes by guards he killed on the way in, and recites lines from Twas the Night Before Christmas. (And apparently the Falcone penthouse has a street address of 70, as seen on the awning.)
Page 20--
panel one--There goes Joker in his car.
panel two--Here comes Holiday.
Why Milos? His murder makes sense the least for either Gilda or Alberto. But Milos has failed at his job a lot lately, failing to keep Harvey, Bats and Cats all out of the house on the night of Johnny's wedding, so maybe that's why for Alberto to kill him. Gilda's possible motivation--I have no idea.
Page 21--Why a snow globe? There are definitely more Christmas-oriented clues he could have used, a wreath, candy canes, a mini tree, etc.
Page 22, panel two--Apparently even tho allof the previous action took place on Christmas Eve, it has just passed midnight, because Batman claims that Milos was killed on Christmas Day.
Let's take a look at the family tree, shall we?
+ The diagram makes it seem as if Carla Viti was one of Carmine's kids, when in reality they are siblings. + Where's Carmine's wife, Louisa? Currently her whereabouts are unknown, but that may change in DV. + Carmine's daughter, Sofia, will appear in later issues, when she is released from jail. (No mention is ever made of how her former husband, Rocco Gigante, died or of her two children, Vincenzo and Luigi. Apparently even they don't know where Luigi is; he too is listed as "whereabouts unknown.") + We'll meet Mario Falcone's deported self in DV, as well as the new bodyguard, Anthony Mirti, Maroni's sons, Umberto and Pino, and Carla's daughter Lucia (though as of yet, no mention has been made of Lucia's children, Gaetano and Romano, the latter of whom is in jail--no mention will ever be made of Carla's dead husband Felice--could this be why there's bad blood between Carmine and Carla?). + Here we get Curly and Angel's full names. + The Gazzo family--Maroni admits in issue eleven to killing Mickey and Frankie Gazzo. One other member of this family, Bobby, appears in one panel of DV #1 and is identified as consiglieri to Sofia. Given their history, we can probably expect the Gazzo family to join the Falcones against the Maronis in the upcoming mob war in DV. (Wonder if the Gazzo family ever had to deal with Intergang at all, being locted in Metropolis?) + Jefferson Skeevers was in Year One and will appear in the background of one panel of DV #1 with his brother Eddie.
I can't help wonder about the other mobs in town. In the Gauntlet there is a different family mentioned. And what about the Central City mobs which Barry Allen combatted for so many years? Do they tie in at all?
The Joker has escaped from his cell in Arkham Asylum to go on the hunt of the unknown assassin of Johnny Viti and the "Irish Gang," whom the paper have dubbed "Holiday." The Joker breaks into the home of a Gotham family after escaping and ties them up, then eats some cereal and reads the newspaper before finally stealing all their Christmas presents and leaving.
+ The diagram makes it seem as if Carla Viti was one of Carmine's kids, when in reality they are siblings.