Moments after Maroni’s assassination at the hands of Alberto Falcone, just as Alberto is about to kill Jim Gordon, Sal’s helmeted bodyguard leaps up. It is Batman, who was protected from the .22 bullets by a kevlar vest. Batman pummels Alberto and almost kills him, but Jim stops him. Alberto is placed under arrest and jailed.
A few days later Carmine comes to visit his son Alberto in jail and offers his assistance. He tells Alberto that he can get him out if he will plead guilty to Maroni’s murder alone and drop any notion of being “Holiday.” Alberto spurns Carmine, saying he felt slighted when Carmine sent him to Oxford and kept him out of the family business. He says that Gotham now belongs to the freaks, and he is one of them.
On Halloween Jim and Barbara Gordon go to visit Gilda to check up on how she is managing alone. She is still left wondering where Harvey is and if he is even still alive. Meanwhile at Arkham there has been a breakout. All of the maniacs have been set free by a solitary figure who, after flipping a coin, decides to leave Calendar Man in his cell.
Carmine is furious over Alberto’s unwillingness to accept his help, which has subsequently led to his impending execution for the Holiday murders. As he is ranting in the kitchen to Sofia, the lights cut out suddenly. The two explore the house with their guns drawn, finding guards dead all around. They burst into the Roman’s office to find all of the Arkham escapees there, along with Solomon Grundy, Catwoman, and their mysterious leader, who reveals himself to be Harvey.
Harvey is about to kill Carmine when Batman drops in, taking down the villains one by one under the cover of a smokescreen. The distraction of Batman fighting the villains has allowed Harvey the opportunity to grab Carmine, however, and he faces down Batman with a gun to Carmine’s head. When Batman appeals to Harvey to let Carmine go, Harvey tells him that his name is now Two-Face. Two-Face then flips his coin which lands scarred side up. Evil wins; Two-Face shoots Carmine twice in the head from point blank range.
Sofia screams and rushes forward to attack Two-Face, but Catwoman stops her. The two wrestle and fall through a glass window. Outside Catwoman is able to grab onto a ledge, but Sofia plunges to the ground many stories below.
Two-Face knocks Batman out and goes to take revenge upon Vernon for his part in Harvey’s disfigurement, giving Maroni the acid. Batman finds Vernon’s dead body later and, following the Bat-signal to the police department, then discovers Harvey on the roof ready to turn himself in. Harvey says that justice has been done now that he has killed the Roman. As Gordon slaps the cuffs on Harvey, Two-Face drops one final bombshell as they take him away; he tells them that there were TWO Holiday killers.
Later Jim and Batman discuss what Harvey might have meant with his final statement, since Alberto has confessed to all the Holiday murders. Batman postulates that, since Harvey killed the Roman on Halloween, he was the second killer. Jim goes home to his wife Barbara and says that he has to keep fighting for the good of Gotham, despite what it has cost. Batman similarly says to himself that he must keep up his work, for the sake of the promise he made to his parents years ago on the night of their deaths.
And on Christmas Eve Gilda is packing up boxes for her move away from Gotham, but before she leaves, she takes a box down the basement furnace. She describes aloud to herself how she read in Harvey’s case files about the removal of the serial numbers of guns and how baby bottle nipples could be used as silencers. She then removes from the box a .22 pistol and drops it into the flames of the heater, along with a familiar-looking hat and coat. And she claims that she took it upon herself to start the Holiday killings, in an attempt to end the Roman’s hold on Gotham and thus lighten Harvey’s caseload so that they could have a child Her belief is that Harvey took up the killings on New Year’s Eve and that Alberto is lying to the police with his confession. She also says that she knows Harvey will eventually be alright and that they will reconcile, because she believes in him.
Annotations/Analysis
Cover--The rotted pumpkin is of course a reference back to the cover of issue one, on which the jack-o-lantern was still fresh. The rotting of the pumpkin overtly reflects what happened to Harvey, since it is the left side that is now mangled, but it more deeply symbolizes how many of the main characters’ beliefs have been perverted in the end of the series. The pumpkin might represent Gotham City; now the idealized perceptions everyone had of Gotham have become corrupted and diseased.
Page 1--”I am Holiday.” Yes, Alberto, yes, you are (no matter what anyone else says to the contrary).
Page 2-3--Batman twists Alberto’s arm here in panels two and three (and in the first panel on page four). When he bent Sal’s arm on Christmas, it had to be in a sling on New Year’s. Here the abuse will totally cripple that arm, leaving it a contorted wreck in Dark Victory. (It already looks mangled on page five.)
Page 4--These events shown here (and in subsequent pages) of Batman beating Alberto down are retold (more horrifically) from Alberto’s point of view in Dark Victory #0
Page 6--Batman warping Alberto’s arm wasn’t all that caused it to become gnarled. Batman standing on his hand (as seen in panel one) surely contributed more than its fair share.
Page 8--
Trivia question for the day: what was Alberto Falcone’s booking number? (Answer (as shown in panel two): Z803425846)
The newspaper (The Gotham Examiner) in panel three is dated September 2nd, the day after Labor Day. (It must be a late edition, though it isn’t listed as such. There’s no way that a reporter could have written the story in time to make the printing deadline, since the events at the end of last issue occurred late at night. Plus, the entire front page had to be redone, so that there could be that huge banner headline.)
The Gotham Examiner makes several appearances throughout this issue, but I don’t think that the paper had been named in the series before now. (In fact, I don’t know if I have ever read a Batman story that named Gotham’s paper. If anybody has evidence to the contrary, please let me know.)
The year given for the paper’s date is partially obscured, but it obviously reads 1982, a full fifteen years before the time the series was being published. I have long been a proponent of a fifteen year timeline (since that much time allows Dick to go from teen to adult), but current continuity only allows for twelve years. Therefore, we pretty much have direct evidence here that TLH is NOT in continuity. (But that won’t stop me from trying to make it fit there in my own timeline.)
Page 9--
If you notice here in panels one, two and three, Alberto only uses his left hand to smoke, implying what we find out is true in DV, that he can no longer use that arm. (Further examples of Alberto only using his left hand can be seen in: page ten, panel one; page eleven, panels one and four; and page twelve, panel three.)
Tim’s use of silhouettes and shadows throughout this interrogation scene is really brilliant, suggesting a very oppressive environment. The way the bars drape across Alberto in panel one here (as well as panel one on the next page) illustrates the feeling of entrapment that prevades in the mood.
The reflections in this scene really are brilliant as well. Panels three and four on this page are a great example of Tim’s talent as an artist. The reverse angle in panel four must have been incredibly difficult to draw. (Also check out the use of reflection in the last panel on page eleven--great!)
Page 11--Alberto's question in the last panel here, if Carmine knows when his birthday is, is an obviously answered yes to us. The Roman visited his grave on his birthday, for Pete's sake. He must know, so might this whole scene between the two of them be sort of a staged argument? Or could it be that the Roman was involved, but Alberto resents that his part in the family business must remain so secretive and decides he wants the notoriety of being Holiday instead?
Page 12--"The Roman must have known." This line seems incongruous with what we have just witnessed, the conflict between the father and the son. Yet Batman is unwavering in his belief that the Roman was in on it.
Page 14--
The newspaper in panel one here (which dates from Sept. 30th--ignore the fact that Gilda has a month-old paper sitting out on her table still) tells us that in the time that has passed since the Roman met with Alberto in the interrogation room, he has further defied his father and confessed to the murders. This action seems to fit with my interpretation that Alberto enjoyed the spotlight of the media so much that little else mattered to him.
Note the mantleof the fireplace in the Dent home, much changed since we saw it last on New Year's, but only due to surface decorations.
Page 15--The three empty cells we are shown belong to Identity Unknown (which must be The Joker), Jonathan Crane (The Scarecrow), and Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy). It is already evident that all is not right this Halloween night.
Page 16--Day's look of shock in the final panel helps illuminate yet another reason he had for his involvement in the Holiday case, dubious as it was. Calendar Man cannot be forgotten, Day has said. Like Alberto, he craves the attention given to him by the police, Batman, the media, and so forth. So that he is left behind and misses all the action should leave him in a state of shock as it so clearly does here. (Note the clipping in panel four which tells us that Alberto will be executed for his murders--Carmine explains on the next page the manner of execution: thegas chamber.)
Page 18--Great build-up to the onslaught of the Roman's penthouse here as we see Ivy begin to creep in in the first two panels, and the effects of the Joker's gas in panels three and four, before the lights finally go out and tip off the Falcones in the last panel. (They similarly survey the damage on the next page and must recognize the effects of the Scarecrow's fear gas, as well as the mark of the Joker and Ivy, long before they ever come face to face with them.)
Page 20--I have no idea why Jeph and Tim decided to suddenly throw in The Penguin, seen here standing on the desk, with the rest of the freaks. This two-page spread (along with one panel on page 26) mark his only appearance in TLH, while the rest of the freaks have appeared at various times throughout the series. But at least Tim's rendition of him looks cool, and maybe they figured we would never get to see it otherwise. (But the Penguin does end up appearing in DV eventually.)
Page 22--Yet another repetitio from Harvey here in panel two: "What needs to be done." Gotham needs to be cleansed of the Falcone influence and Harvey is the one who takes it upon himself to sweep up.
Page 26--Batman's captions here, recreating the dialogue of his father from years ago, is a nice contrast to the violent encounters depicted in the artwork. And Batma does seem to follow his father's advice for getting rid of the most dangerous elements first. Solly is the first one to go down when Bats pounces on the previous page. Then he takes down the Joker and Ivy, the two who gave him the most trouble throughout the past year. I would have though Scarecrow more dangerous than the next two, the Penguin and Mad Hatter, but clearly he saves those he's unsure of, Catwoman and Harvey to the last. And of course this is a fatal mistake, very well evidenced by the look of surprise in Bats' face in panel two of page 28.
Page 27--It is not coincidence that the freaks are listed in one caption and Catwoman appears separately as dialogue, in a questioning tone. What IS she doing there anyway? She was not set free from Arkham with the rest. Perhaps she simply knew the Roman would be going down and wanted to witness the events as payback for whatever past grievance he so obviously commited upon her.
Page 29--Harvey's words here of course echo his words from issue one, which then referred to Johnny Viti's death. (If you believe parts of Batma Annual #14, this was not the first time Harvey killed, but I think the drama works better this way, without any prior acts--especially in the guise of Holiday.)
Pages 30 and 31--Here we see the untimely demise of Sofia (whom Cats calls Sophia in panel one of page 31, but corrects herself in the final panel). Sofia will return in DV, even if her death seems pretty final here. How she survived the fall is beyond me, but it is comics, and there is a bit of realism in that it left her crippled. Yet when Sofia returns, her scars (that Catwoman etches into her face in panel four of page 30) have switched sides, a phenomenon that has yet to be explained fully.
Page 32--Batman's first words to Harvey after he kills are ones of reassurance, not just for his friend but for himself as well. "You still believe in Gotham City." Batman almost seems to be rationalizing his friend's action, that he was acting in the interest of the city, and that he can be forgiven. Bats also tries to appeal to his emotions by bringing up his wife, but Harvey is clearly more focused on his duty to do what needs to be done. (Or, for you Gildists, he knows about Gilda's actions as Holiday, showing how Gilda would approve of what he did.) Harvey again proves to Batman that he is no longer the man he once was, by sucker-punching him.
Pages 33 and 34--
And here we have evidence that Harvey is following Holiday's pattern--the taped .22 left at the crime scene (sans nipple silencer) and the clue: the scarred coin. This holiday shall be remembered as the one on which Two-Face was born.
Page 35--
Page 36 is of ocurse harking back to the meeting of these three men in issue one, under much different circumstances, to further illuminate the change in their dynamic.
And panel three of page 36 has the second reference to the series' title, the first having been said by the Roman in last issue.
Page 38--Harvey's comment in the final panel about there being two Holiday killers is one that leaves readers as well as Jim Gordon perplexed. If you're a Gildist, you can use this statement to mean that Harvey knew what his wife had been up to (but why he would give a clue of her involvement to the police here is beyond me). Or you can take it as Batman does, to mean himself, using as evidence the scene of Vernon's murder from page 34 with gun and clue left at the scene.
Page 39--My single most favorite depiction of Jim Gordon in all of Batman history is here in panel two. Jim has the saddest eyes I've ever seen here, and the lines on his face show that the gray hair he will be sporting in years to come is not from age but from the hardships he's endured as a part of the job. (Plus, I've always thought Gordon looks a tad like author Kurt Vonnegut here, but that's prolly just me.)
Page 40--If anyone ever asks you why the follow-up mini to TLH is called Dark Victory, point them to the dialogue on this page and it should soon be evident to them. Great stuff.
Page 41-43--Both Gordon and Bats here seem to be rationalizing to themselves to make up for the terrible price they have paid for ridding the city of the roman, the loss of their friend Harvey. Both Jim and Bats say "I have to" before they say "I believe in Gotham/Batman," letting in a hint of desperation in their voices that they cannot give up if their friend was willing to pay this sacrifice.
The lost pages were to go right after page 43 and before page 44. These pages canbe found in the TLH trade paperback (if anyone wants to scan them for me, I'll put it on the page). They take place on Thanksgiving at Arkham and we see for the first time the set-up of Alberto and Julian's cells opposite one another (which we saw prominently in DV #0 and 1). A newspaper clipping tells us that Alberto has been declared legally insane and will not be put to death now. He ad Julian trade off naming holidays as the scene shifts to Harvey on page 44.
Page 45--This is Christmas now, and Gilda is packing up to leave Gotham. Her statement in panel two, "I did what needed to be done," can be taken as part of her true confession by Gildists, or it can simply be her reiterating in disbelief Harvey's sense of duty which tore their family apart.
Pages 46-48--I will make no comment here other than to say that if you want to believe Gilda, that's fine, but remember how the words "I believe in..." had a hint of desperation when Jim and Bats said them. They MIGHT here too. I don't believe in Gilda Dent, but that rant is not for these annotations. (I want to try to keep it neutral.) Check the "bios etc." section for my essay on why I think Alberto was the only Holiday killer.
Moments after Maroni’s assassination at the hands of Alberto Falcone, just as Alberto is about to kill Jim Gordon, Sal’s helmeted bodyguard leaps up. It is Batman, who was protected from the .22 bullets by a kevlar vest. Batman pummels Alberto and almost kills him, but Jim stops him. Alberto is placed under arrest and jailed.