Holiday (comics)
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Holiday was a fictional serial killer appearing in the Batman story The Long Halloween (1996-1997) by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale.
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[edit] History
Set shortly after the events of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween follows the crusade of Batman, Captain James Gordon and Harvey Dent to topple "The Roman" Carmine Falcone's crime family. At the same time, however, a mysterious assailant begins to murder mobsters.
The killer's identity remains a mystery for some time, but the method is always the same. The killer's weapon is a .22 pistol (using a rubber baby bottle nipple as a silencer) with the handle taped and the serial number filed off. Also, every crime takes place on a holiday and a small trinket representing each holiday is left behind at each of the crime scenes. This is what leads the newspapers come up with the name "The Holiday Killer." Beginning on Halloween and continuing for a full year until the next Halloween, Holiday continues a murderous rampage each month (with the exceptions of April Fools Day, where the killer confronted the Riddler but left him alive, and New Year's Eve where the 'victim' later turned up alive). There are several red herrings that appear in the story to further deepen the mystery.
Reading like an old-fashioned murder mystery, clues to Holiday's identity are found throughout, but the identity of the real killer is still unclear to this day.
[edit] The Holiday victims
- Halloween - Johnny Viti (Carmine Falcone's nephew), who had threatened to testify against his uncle at one point
- Thanksgiving - The Irish (a gang of five Irish assassins hired by Falcone to murder District Attorney Harvey Dent)
- Christmas - Milos Grapa (Falcone's personal bodyguard)
- New Year's Eve - Alberto Falcone (Carmine Falcone's son)
- Valentine's Day - Mobsters hired by Falcone as well as innocent patrons of rival mob boss Sal Maroni's restaurant
- St. Patrick's Day - A large number of Maroni's men
- April Fools Day - The Riddler (shot at, purposely unharmed. A play on the theme of April Fools Day)
- Mother's Day - The Gunsmith (a shop owner who had been making Holiday's guns)
- Father's Day - Luigi Maroni (Sal Maroni's father)
- Independence Day - Jasper Dolan (Gotham City Coroner)
- The Roman's Birthday - Carla Viti (Falcone's sister and Johnny Viti's mother)
- Labor Day - Salvatore Maroni
- Halloween - Carmine Falcone, Vernon Fields (corrupt assistant to Harvey Dent)
[edit] The main suspects
There are several theories as to who Holiday was (or were, as there are theories of multiple killers):
[edit] Alberto Falcone
Although the youngest Falcone appears to meet his end on New Year's, Alberto Falcone turns up alive and well in September. After the murder of Sal Maroni, Falcone is captured by Batman and Jim Gordon and is sentenced to death for all the Holiday murders.
It becomes clear that Alberto faked his own death on New Year's Eve. A number of the killings after this point are to cover up that fact. Carmine Falcone's daughter Sofia tracks down the Gunsmith with intentions of finding out who Holiday is, but finds him dead. Dolan, the Coroner, is killed because he knows that Alberto is still alive. Carla Viti is killed as she searches through the police files on Holiday, possibly because of some clue to Alberto being alive is held within. Although the lack of a body cast early suspicion on Alberto, unused Tim Sale-drawn panels cut in early drafts showed Carmine Falcone weeping over a badly-decomposed corpse after New Year's. These pages were published, in pencilled form only, in The Long Halloween's hardcover edition.
Alberto's identity as Holiday becomes problematic when the first three attacks are considered. Johnny Viti was a cousin to Alberto, albeit a traitorous one. The Irish were on Falcone's payroll, and Milos Grapa was Carmine Falcone's trusted bodyguard. There are many theories as to how or why Alberto committed these attacks, but since he has now expired, the truth may never be known. From Gilda Dent's confession, it can instead be taken that she committed all murders until New Year's.
Alberto's reasons for becoming Holiday are also the subject of debate. In the final issue, he claimed to have been lashing out against his father for never taking Alberto seriously or including him in the family business. Alberto also seemed to be addicted to the dubious fame of being a wanted serial killer, as he appeared proud of his actions. Also, one of the running themes of the story seemed to be the change in Gotham City from one plagued by mobsters to one ridden with "freaks" such as The Joker, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face. Falcone's own son becoming one of them is symbolic of that theme.
During the follow-up, Dark Victory, a free Alberto was tormented by the voice of his father, which was actually the voice of the Calendar Man distorted by fear toxin, under the orders of Two-Face. During this torment Calendar Man attempted to coerce Alberto into murdering his sister, Sofia Gigante, and toppling the Falcone crime organization. Alberto rejected the voices before he would shooting Sofia in the manner of a Holiday killing. Two-Face then attempted to use the voices and the corpse of Janice Porter to convince Alberto to commit suicide, which backfired and allowed Alberto to discover the deception. Alberto was shot by Calendar Man during the subsequent fight, becoming unable to prevent Sofia from smothering him to death.
[edit] Gilda Dent
Gilda Dent, the wife of Two-Face, admitted (in a private monologue) that she was the first Holiday. While burning the evidence of her crime, she claimed that she began the murders because Harvey could not settle down and raise a family with her until the Falcone crime family was finally destroyed. In Gilda's confession, she mentioned that on New Year's Eve, she had heard of Alberto's murder at sea. Afterwards, Harvey had returned home with wet hair. She took this as a sign that Harvey himself had taken up killing Falcone family members. As a result, she stopped killing and took a passive role, waiting for Harvey to finish the job.
Whether or not Gilda's claims were truthful were never verified, as she left Gotham and was never brought to justice.
In Dark Victory, the Calendar Man and Two-Face have an exchange where the former is about to reveal who he thought/knew Holiday was before Two-Face purposely cut him off. It appears that both Dent and the Calendar Man knew that Gilda was the original Holiday but that Dent wished the information to be kept secret. How Calendar Man knew that Gilda was Holiday (if this was the case) was never explained.
[edit] Harvey Dent/Two-Face
Technically, Two-Face was a Holiday killer for the final two murders of Carmine Falcone and Vernon Fields. Both murders took place on Halloween, and while there was no 'marker' for the holiday, Two-Face left behind his trademark double-sided coin at the final murder.
Dent (before becoming Two-Face) was an early suspect of the Holiday murders. In the first issue, Batman provided Dent and Gordon with a ledger from Falcone's safe. This ledger had a list of members of the family and would provide Dent with the info he needed to track down and kill them. Although this was a crucial piece of evidence, he couldn't use it in court against the Roman, because he would have to reveal that Batman had stolen it. There was also a .22 pistol that Gilda found in their basement, which Dent maintained was evidence in the investigation. In addition, the murder of the Irish gang would seem to be an act of revenge, as they blew up Dent's house and injured his wife. After Dent was scarred by the acid and fled into the sewers, both the ledger and a Holiday-style .22 were found in his briefcase in his basement. This led Batman and Gordon to conclude that Dent was Holiday since the beginning, but the sudden reappearance of Alberto seemed to put an end to the theory.
Dent is seen as a main suspect for a large portion of the story, notably for a number of enigmatic comments he makes (example: on the subject of Johnny Vitti's murder "Two shots to the head. If you ask me, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." He says the same thing after killing Falcone, as Two-Face). As with many of the theories surrounding Holiday, the specific details will remain a mystery.
[edit] Other Suspects
Although Alberto, Gilda, and Dent were considered the big three suspects by the story's end, several other theories point to other background characters in the story. Their activities and strange reasoning would seem to point towards them being Holiday. Despite the fact that Alberto was arrested, Harvey briefly became Holiday as Two-Face, and Gilda "confessed" to some of the crimes (at least in her mind), these four were briefly hinted at being the possible killer:
[edit] Salvatore Maroni
Always Falcone's biggest rival in the criminal underworld up until the end of the story, Sal Maroni had been under heavy investigation early on as a suspect in the search for Holiday. He was always determined to outdo Falcone and come out on top, and the killings of Johnny Vitti, Milos, and the Irish were all affliated with Falcone in some form; thus implying that the murders benefitted Vitti and his mob. It seemed that he was behind this to bring down Falcone's empire himself and take control of the mafia in Gotham. However, when a number of his men are murdered at his Italian restaurant, he yells out "I'll give you war," that quickly disproves the theory of Maroni being Holiday. The fact that he is not Holiday whatsoever is also proven when he mourns over his father Luigi's murder on Father's Day.
[edit] The Joker
In the third and fourth chapters of the Long Halloween, The Joker is preparing to hijack an aircraft and crash it into Gotham Plaza where the New Year's Eve Party is taking place, until Batman shows up and stops him. Gordon thinks that the Joker, like the imprisoned Calender Man, is tired of being forgotten, as it has been about six months since his debut in Batman: The Man Who Laughs, and he is determined to take control of Gotham himself. However, in the Joker's dialogue, he expresses his disgust that Holiday is taking all the publicity and hopes by blowing up Gotham Plaza, Holiday will be destroyed. After he is stopped, Batman realizes that the Clown Prince of Crime is not Holiday at all.
[edit] Selina Kyle/Catwoman
The Riddler theorizes that Catwoman could be Holiday because the .22 pistols that Holiday uses are lightweight, easy to handle, and "Perfect for a woman." Since the break-in at Falcone's penthouse early on in the story, she got access to Falcone's safe and all the information on everyone in his criminal empire. With the million dollar bounty for her dead-or-alive placed on her head, her best defense would be justified as a good offense, as Falcone and his mob are after her and Batman. In addition, her unknown interests in Falcone and his business and her stalking Batman during his patrols also seemed to make her a suspect. However, Batman realizes that she is not Holiday; albeit she is merely interested in bringing him down. Another reason as to why she was intrigued with "The Roman" was the mysterious biological father she never could find: her efforts to prove Falcone was her real father are detailed in Catwoman: When in Rome.
[edit] Carla Vitti
From the early pages of the story, it is revealed that Johnny Vitti was briefly shunned by the Falcone family after threatening to testify against his uncle. It was briefly considered by Batman that Carla Vitti, his mother, killed her son after he nearly betrayed them all. Also, she was always driven by the goal to expand her outfit in Chicago and outgrow her brother's empire. All the killings were directed at Falcone, and this would seem to benefit her and gain more advantage. After that, she would be able to attack anyone she pleased, since nobody would suspect a grieving mother mourning her son's death. The only thing that supports this theory is that since Carla Vitti is known by the Falcones, she can actually gain access to the mobsters and also can have the knowledge of where they are; including the fact that they would not react to her presence, since they know her. Her motive would be Carmine Falcone's usage of "freaks" to gain his end, and his inaction towards various problems of the family as well as the death of Johnny Vitti.
Carla would also be able to sneak up on Alberto and shoot him from behind without him reacting in shock or alarm. She and him were the only ones out on the deck of Falcone's yacht, where the New Year's Party was taking place, and it would seem that she was Holiday, until she was murdered in the Gotham City Coroner's office by the real Holiday. Coupled with the fact that Alberto faked his own death, it is a possibility that Carla Vitti simply retreated and ceased being Holiday, while wondering if Alberto could have been Holiday.
[edit] Who Was Holiday?
Some accept that Alberto Falcone was Holiday, from the beginning, and that it was all under the orders of his father. The most crucial piece of evidence is who was not killed. On April Fools Day, the Riddler is brought in by Falcone for questioning to figure out who Holiday was. The Riddler says, "Question: why does the killer shoot Alberto Falcone anyway? Answer: Because he can." Then after noticing the look of rage on The Roman's face, he quickly clarifies "I... um... only meant that Alberto wasn't in the family business." While this may appear as an innocent comment, it could also be taken to imply that Alberto is now in the family business.
The Riddler's final guess as to the identity of Holiday is Carmine Falcone himself. Falcone laughs it off and has Sofia throw Riddler out. Once the door closes, Riddler comes face to face with Holiday, who shoots an outline around him. This can be taken two ways: first, as The Calendar Man suggests at one point, perhaps the killer was taking the date seriously; more likely, as Batman later theorizes, is that Riddler was left alive so that people would know that he had been looking for Holiday. If the Riddler had been killed, no one would have been able to vouch that Falcone wasn't Holiday. But with the Riddler alive, he could tell people that Falcone was actively looking for Holiday, eliminating himself as a suspect. Since Falcone was looking for the killer himself, he could not be the guilty one.
Of course, one other possibility would be the idea that all three (Alberto, Gilda, & Dent) committed the murders without any of them knowing that the other was claiming victims as well, which would explain the Calendar Man's genderless statements about the killer's identity, such as "He's making quite a name for herself". Regardless, the greatest irony of the story was that The Roman's plan was to move power back to the crime families and away from the freaks, but the Holiday murders only served to strengthen their hold on Gotham City. The killings resulted in the death of Falcone and the birth of Two-Face.
| Batman | |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Bob Kane and Bill Finger • Other writers and artists |
| Supporting Characters: | Robin (Tim Drake) • Nightwing (Dick Grayson) • Batgirl • Batwoman • Alfred Pennyworth • Lucius Fox • Barbara Gordon • Commissioner Gordon • Harvey Bullock |
| Villains: | Bane • Catwoman • Clayface • Harley Quinn • Joker • Killer Croc • Mr. Freeze • Penguin • Poison Ivy • Ra's al Ghul • Red Hood (Jason Todd) • Riddler • Scarecrow • Two-Face • Other villains |
| Locations: | Arkham Asylum • Batcave • Gotham City • Wayne Enterprises • Wayne Manor |
| Miscellanea: | Batarang • Batmobile • Batsuit • Popular media • Publications • Storylines • Alternate versions of Batman |
