History ComicBook / DarkVictory

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dark_victory_9341.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"So... We're both orphans..."]]

''Batman: Dark Victory'' is a 13-part comic book series written by Creator/JephLoeb and drawn by Tim Sale. The series is a sequel to ''Batman: ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'' and was originally published from 1999 to 2000 by DC Comics. The series takes place primarily during the third/fourth year of Batman's career. The plot centers on a series of murders involving Gotham City police officers by a mysterious serial killer only known as The Hangman. Central to the storyline is a territory war between Two-Face and the remnants of the Falcone mob, led by Sofia Falcone. The story brings closure to many characters introduced in Frank Miller's ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', and also re-tells of the origins of [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]], the first ComicBook/{{Robin}}, and his adoption by Bruce Wayne.

In 2004, Loeb and Sale produced a follow-up titled ''ComicBook/CatwomanWhenInRome'', focusing on Comicbook/{{Catwoman}}'s movements in Italy. The story takes place during the events of Dark Victory, between Valentine's Day (when Catwoman leaves Gotham) and Thanksgiving.

Not to be confused with the 1939 film ''Film/DarkVictory'' starring Creator/BetteDavis.

----
!!Tropes:

%%* ActionGirl: Detective Julia Lopez
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: [[spoiler:Two-Face and crew stumble into the Batcave entirely by accident while escaping their own demolished sewer lair. Batman and a debuting Robin stop them from capitalizing though.]]
* AscendedExtra: In ''The Long Halloween'' the Penguin only appeared briefly in the last issue as one of the criminals Two-Face gathered to confront Carmine Falcone. Here, while he still doesn't have as big of a role as some of the other members of Batman's Rogues Gallery, he gets to be the spotlight villain of the sixth issue and even gets dialogue.
* AssholeVictim: The second to fifth victims were the {{Dirty Cop}}s from ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'':
** Gillian Loeb, who was part of the BigBadDuumvirate in ''Year One'', whose crimes including be league with Falcone and Maroni, ordering a firebombing on an abandoned building (which killed some homeless people), attempting to use Gordon's affair with Sarah Essen to blackmail him, and being an accessory to the kidnapping of Gordon's son. His brief appearance in ''DV'' had him rub Gordon's face in Harvey's transformation into Two-Face and the [[spoiler:death of Chief O'Hara]] and not-subtly imply he's going to use what happened to try to get his job back from Gordon, which is halted by his death shortly thereafter.
** Arnold John Flass, Gordon's former partner, was a big jerk and corrupted, prone to abusing his authority and taking part in Falcone's operations, including being among those who beat Gordon in the parking lot. He's found being the alley of a strip club where he'd working as a bouncer.
** Branden, the corrupt and overzealous SWAT commander, who partook in said fire bombing and blackmail attempt. Nonetheless, Gordon specifically notes despite that he was a "zealot", he didn't deserve being murdered by The Hangman.
** Frank Pratt, who was one of Branden's subordinates and tried to shoot a cat, which got him punched through a wall by Batman. As with Loeb, he gets one more dick moment in as he's killed shortly after he tried to shoot Batman in retaliation for being punched through the wall.
* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:Far more {{JustForFun/egregious}} than the deaths of the various gangsters in ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' and Maroni, but many of the various cops from ''Year One'' return only to die by the Hangman. A modern version of Chief O'Hara is also introduced for the same purpose.]]
* BadCopIncompetentCop: The Gotham City Police Department is still a cesspool of corruption and greed, but Gordon is working to clean it up and has already made significant progress since ''Year One'' and ''The Long Halloween''. Many characters discuss the different stages of the GCPD, remembering the distant past when it was full of proud and honest cops, the immediate past when it was filled with nothing but disgust, and the present, when people on both sides of the line are hoping to direct the future to one or the other.
* BaldOfEvil: Both Calendar Man and Sofia Falcone.
%%* BatDeduction
%%* BatmanGambit: A given.
* BatSignal: The traditional signal makes several appearances.
* BigBadEnsemble: The main antagonist's of the comic are Two-Face, Sofia Falcone and the mysterious Hangman Killer.[[spoiler:Then the Hangman Killer actually turns out to be Sofia, who is then killed by Two-Face near the end of the story. And then the Joker starts getting froggy towards the end]].
* BreakTheCutie: Mario Falcone honestly believes that he can make the Falcone family a legitimate and respected part of Gotham City's upper crust, much like the Wayne's, [[spoiler:and even helps the DA's office take down the remainder of his family's criminal organization]]. It does not end well.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Sofia Falcone and her brother Alberto]].
%%* CircusBrat: Dick Grayson
* TheCommissionerGordon: This series sees Gordon's actual promotion to Commissioner (though it happened between this and ''TLH'') and the continued evolution of his relationship with Batman.
* ContinuitySnarl: [[spoiler:Arnold Flass is among the Hangman's victims--despite ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2'' showing him alive when Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen marry.]]
* CopKiller: Outside of [[spoiler:Alberto and the attempts on Batman and Two-Face]], all of the Hangman's victims were cops.
* CurbStompBattle: Two-Face delivers one to no less than the goddamn JOKER when the clown attempts to shoot him and take over. This serves not only to reassert Harvey's authority, but also as payback for Joker's beatdown of Dent in front of Dent's wife in "The Long Halloween".
* DatingCatwoman: Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are already in a steady relationship as their doubles become attracted to one another, and they actually break up as the series progresses.
* DeathByOriginStory: The Flying Graysons.
* DramaticIrony: During the climax, Batman muses that [[spoiler:Sofia Gigante was determined to destroy Harvey Dent and all the good he accomplished. The irony is that all the good that Harvey represented and accomplished had ''already'' been destroyed by Two-Face.]]
* EarlyBirdCameo: The Major Crimes Unit is an established part of the Batman mythos and is a division of the Gotham City Police Department founded by Commissioner Gordon and tasked with dealing with the supervillains and major crimes in Gotham. The seeds of the MCU are planted when Gordon selects seven honest cops from the GCPD to report directly to him and help him deal with opponents that the rest of the department is too corrupt or unprepared to deal with.
* EndOfAnAge: The whole series, and ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'' before it, deal largely with the (very, very, violent) death of organized crime in Gotham and the refocusing of power towards the familiar Rogues and freaks. Dent's plan, as [[NobleDemon weirdly noble]] as plans go, to wipe out the Falcone family is [[GoneHorriblyRight so successful]] that by the end of the story it's the [[RoguesGallery freaks and mental cases]] like him and the Joker who are left with the real criminal power in Gotham.
* EvilMatriarch: Sofia Falcone Gigante has taken over her father's place. Lucia Viti, Sofia's cousin and daughter of the late Carla Viti, appears as a potential rival for Sofia.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Poison Ivy calls out Two-Face when he allows Grundy to sacrifice himself in ripping off a high-voltage gate, after Grundy had been so loyal to him. Of course, Two-Face reminds her that, as an immortal zombie, to Grundy DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist.
* EvilerThanThou: The Joker gives this to [[spoiler:Two-Face]].
* ExactWords: Comes up when [[spoiler:Two-Face saves Gordon from a hanging during April Fools' Day. He says that Harvey Dent isn't the Hangman before escaping. Gordon and Batman both discuss the wording and given Harvey's multiple personality disorder, wonder if Harvey was trying to say ''he'' was innocent...but that ''Two-Face'' is guilty.]]
* {{Expy}}:
** The series continues to do this for the Falcone family being ones for the [[Film/TheGodfather Corleone family]], as in addition to Alberto being one for Fredo and Sofia being a {{Gender Flip}}ped Sonny, Mario is one of Michael.
** Detective Julia Lopez, a Hispanic woman that is one of the few honest Gotham cops that Commissioner Gordon selects to serve in his elite investigative taskforce, is a re-imagining of recurring Batman supporting character Renee Montoya, a character created for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and [[CanonImmigrant adapted into the comics]],
** This series continues to portray Calendar Man ala Hannibal Lecter, as was previously done in ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween''.
%%* FatBastard: Tony Zucco.
* FingerInTheMail: Someone steals the body of previous untouchable crime lord BigBad Carmine Falcone (who was killed by Two Face in an attempt to "do what is necessary" to take down organized crime) and, later, sends his daughter, who has taken over the crime family, his ''finger'', which her aide recognizes as an "old style message," meaning that someone means to take everything from her, "piece by piece." At the end, the person who stole the body is revealed to be Two Face who, throughout the story, was acting leading nearly all of Batman's rogues gallery to take down the Falcone family and its associates.
* {{Gaslighting}}: What [[spoiler:The Calender Man]] tries to do to Alberto Falcone. He nearly succeeds, too.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** "You're all wet. And now I'm all wet, too..." says Porter to her lover.
** Catwoman mentions that Batman gets "rigid" when she's around.
* HappilyMarried: Harvey Dent draws on this to overcome Poison Ivy's seduction powers and states that "Harvey" is a married man. Of course, Harvey's status does not impact what ''Two-Face'' is allowed to do with a woman...
* {{Homage}}: Lots to ''Film/TheGodfather'', often lampshaded by {{beat}} panels of the other characters staring dumbfounded at the person who just quoted it.
* JokerJury: In this case, a Two-Face one.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Tony Zucco, the FatBastard who murdered Dick Grayson's parents, has a coronary and dies while Batman and Robin pursue him.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** Former commissioner Gillian Loeb reappears in issue 2 to rub Gordon's face in the Hangman murders and Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face, and to not-subtly implies he intends to use what's going on to get his job back from Gordon. [[spoiler:The issue literally ends with the reveal of Loeb's corpse, a victim of the Hangman.]]
** Pratt, Branden's second-in-command and fellow corrupt cop, tries to shoot Batman as revenge for Bats punching him through a wall during the events of ''Year One''[[note]]itself a response for Pratt trying to shoot a cat while searching for Batman through the wreckage of a building that was bombed on Loeb's orders[[/note]]. Not only is Batman wearing body armor, but when Batman comes to, he finds that the Hangman got to Pratt in the meantime.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler:Selina Kyle has reason to believe she is Carmine Falcone's illegitimate daughter.]]
%%* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:''The Calendar Man'']] of all people.
* MeaningfulName: Mario Falcone claims that, with his majority control of the legitimate Falcone businesses, Sofia Falcone is no longer allowed to use the Falcone name. She now uses "Sofia ''Gigante''," which had previous been used as her married name. "Gigante" is the Italian word for "Giant", and Sofia clearly is TheBigGirl of the Falcone siblings.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:District Attorney Janice Porter is sleeping with and feeding information to Two-Face, Mario is feeding Porter information on the Falcone Crime Family, and Detective Laureen Wilcox is working for the Falcone Crime Family]]
* MurderByCremation: Almost happens to Comicbook/{{Catwoman}}.
* MythologyGag: One of the crimefighter names Dick Grayson considers is Comicbook/BatMite
* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler:Sofia Falcone, to hide that she's really the Hangman]].
* OfficerOHara : A version of Chief O'Hara from the '60s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' series briefly appears [[spoiler:before becoming the first victim of the Hangman]], but his personality is a far cry from [[Series/{{Batman}} the old 60s show]]'s version.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Mr. Freeze doesn't give a damn what Two-Face's plans are, he just wants his payment. (Obviously to work on curing Nora, though that's not mentioned directly)
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Alberto Falcone really is cured of his homicidal tendencies, and this is what results in Sofia strangling him.]]
* TheReveal: Hangman turns out to be [[spoiler:Sofia Gigante, faking her condition all along.]]
%%* RunTheGauntlet: Again.
%%** Gets a nod in Nightwing: Year One except this time Bruce says "Do it ''better''."
* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:the Hangman is really Sofia Gigante]].
* SeductionProofMarriage: Played with by Two-Face. Harvey Dent still regards himself as married to Gilda, but his Two-Face identity ''isn't'', so he invokes and ignores this trope whenever it's convenient. For example, he fights off Poison Ivy's pheromones by remembering his love for Gilda. He also has an affair with another woman, [[spoiler:the new DA, Janice Porter]], but when he decides he no longer needs her:
-->'''[[spoiler:Porter]]:''' Tell them, Harvey! ''Tell them that I love you and you love--''\\
''[gunshot]''\\
'''Two-Face:''' Harvey Dent is a married man, [[spoiler:Porter]]. Don't ever forget that.
* ShoutOut:
** During the Joker's drive-by-shooting on Mother's Day, the Clown quotes (and misquotes) lines from ''Film/WhiteHeat'', ''Taxi!'' and ''Chinatown''.
** In keeping with this incarnation of Chief O'Hara being inspired by Jim Malone from ''Film/TheUntouchables'', we first meet him walking on a bridge and meeting with Commissioner Gordon, much like Malone's introductory scene had him patrolling a bridge when he first meets Eliot Ness.
** The Columbus Day Massacre (where Two-Face [[spoiler:murders all of the remaining mafiosi in Gotham]]) is reminiscent of the end of ''Film/TheGodfather''.
* TheStarscream: Joker constantly tries to undermine Two-Face's authority though Dent keeps him forcibly in check. [[spoiler:Joker eventually just shoots him at the end.]]
* TakeUpMySword: Detective Lopez is considering leaving the force at the end of the series, but Gordon convinces her to stay when he explains that Chief O'Hara wanted to make the Gotham Police a respectable and honorable organization again. [[spoiler:Now that O'Hara is dead Gordon will need a new Chief of Police, and Lopez decides to continue where O'Hara left off]].
%%* ToTheBatNoun
* VorpalPillow: [[spoiler:Sofia kills her brother Alberto with a pillow.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: What the Joker implies [[spoiler:Harvey Dent]] still is.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fate of Carmine Falcone's body. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope It is revealed that Two Face has]] [[NotSoDifferent kept it as a trophy using Mister Freeze's technology.]]]]
** Played straight with the Riddler during the original publication. After having a minor supporting role in the early chapters, he vanishes after Two-Face's mock trial on April Fools' Day. Averted in the long run as ''Catwoman: When in Rome'' addresses Edward Nygma's whereabouts after April Fools' Day.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Harvey Dent does this to Janice Porter]]
* WhamLine: [[spoiler:Nine of you are safe]].
----

Not to be confused with the 1939 film ''Dark Victory'' starring Creator/BetteDavis.

* ActionGirl: Detective Julia Lopez

** Gillian Loeb, who was part of the BigBadDuumvirate in ''Year One'', whose crimes including be league with Falcone and Maroni, ordering a firebombing on an abandoned building (which killed some homeless people), attempting to use Gordon's affair with Sarah Essen to blackmail him, and being an accessory to the kidnapping of Gordon's son. His brief appearance in ''DV'' had him rub Gordon's face in Harvey's transformation into Two-Face and the [[spoiler: death of Chief O'Hara]] and not-subtly imply he's going to use what happened to try to get his job back from Gordon, which is halted by his death shortly thereafter.

* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler: Far more {{JustForFun/egregious}} than the deaths of the various gangsters in ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' and Maroni, but many of the various cops from ''Year One'' return only to die by the Hangman. A modern version of Chief O'Hara is also introduced for the same purpose.]]

* BatDeduction
* BatmanGambit: A given.

* BigBadEnsemble: The main antagonist's of the comic are Two-Face, Sofia Falcone and the mysterious Hangman Killer.[[spoiler: Then the Hangman Killer actually turns out to be Sofia, who is then killed by Two-Face near the end of the story. And then the Joker starts getting froggy towards the end]].
* BreakTheCutie: Mario Falcone honestly believes that he can make the Falcone family a legitimate and respected part of Gotham City's upper crust, much like the Wayne's, [[spoiler: and even helps the DA's office take down the remainder of his family's criminal organization]]. It does not end well.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Sofia Falcone and her brother Alberto]].
* CircusBrat: Dick Grayson

* ContinuitySnarl: [[spoiler: Arnold Flass is among the Hangman's victims--despite ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2'' showing him alive when Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen marry.]]
* CopKiller: Outside of [[spoiler: Alberto and the attempts on Batman and Two-Face]], all of the Hangman's victims were cops.

* DramaticIrony: During the climax, Batman muses that [[spoiler: Sofia Gigante was determined to destroy Harvey Dent and all the good he accomplished. The irony is that all the good that Harvey represented and accomplished had ''already'' been destroyed by Two-Face.]]

* EvilerThanThou: The Joker gives this to [[spoiler: Two-Face]].
* ExactWords: Comes up when [[spoiler: Two-Face saves Gordon from a hanging during April Fools' Day. He says that Harvey Dent isn't the Hangman before escaping. Gordon and Batman both discuss the wording and given Harvey's multiple personality disorder, wonder if Harvey was trying to say ''he'' was innocent...but that ''Two-Face'' is guilty.]]

* FatBastard: Tony Zucco.

* {{Gaslighting}}: What [[spoiler: The Calender Man]] tries to do to Alberto Falcone. He nearly succeeds, too.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Tony Zucco, the FatBastard who murdered Dick Grayson's parents, has a coronary and dies while Batman and Robin pursue him.]]

** Former commissioner Gillian Loeb reappears in issue 2 to rub Gordon's face in the Hangman murders and Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face, and to not-subtly implies he intends to use what's going on to get his job back from Gordon. [[spoiler: The issue literally ends with the reveal of Loeb's corpse, a victim of the Hangman.]]

* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler: Selina Kyle has reason to believe she is Carmine Falcone's illegitimate daughter.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: ''The Calender Man'']] of all people.

* TheMole: [[spoiler: District Attorney Janice Porter is sleeping with and feeding information to Two-Face, Mario is feeding Porter information on the Falcone Crime Family, and Detective Laureen Wilcox is working for the Falcone Crime Family]]

* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler: Sofia Falcone, to hide that she's really the Hangman]].
* OfficerOHara : A version of Chief O'Hara from the '60s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' series briefly appears [[spoiler: before becoming the first victim of the Hangman]], but his personality is a far cry from [[Series/{{Batman}} the old 60s show]]'s version.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Alberto Falcone really is cured of his homicidal tendencies, and this is what results in Sofia strangling him.]]
* TheReveal: Hangman turns out to be [[spoiler: Sofia Gigante, faking her condition all along.]]
* RunTheGauntlet: Again.
** Gets a nod in Nightwing: Year One except this time Bruce says "Do it ''better''."
* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler: the Hangman is really Sofia Gigante]].

''(gunshot)''\\

** The Columbus Day Massacre (where Two-Face [[spoiler: murders all of the remaining mafiosi in Gotham]]) is reminiscent of the end of ''Film/TheGodfather''.
* TheStarscream: Joker constantly tries to undermine Two-Face's authority though Dent keeps him forcibly in check. [[spoiler: Joker eventually just shoots him at the end.]]
* TakeUpMySword: Detective Lopez is considering leaving the force at the end of the series, but Gordon convinces her to stay when he explains that Chief O'Hara wanted to make the Gotham Police a respectable and honorable organization again. [[spoiler: Now that O'Hara is dead Gordon will need a new Chief of Police, and Lopez decides to continue where O'Hara left off]].
* ToTheBatNoun
* VorpalPillow: [[spoiler: Sofia kills her brother Alberto with a pillow.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: What the Joker implies [[spoiler: Harvey Dent]] still is.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Harvey Dent does this to Janice Porter]]

* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler: Far more {{egregious}} than the deaths of the various gangsters in ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' and Maroni, but many of the various cops from ''Year One'' return only to die by the Hangman. A modern version of Chief O'Hara is also introduced for the same purpose.]]

* ContinuitySnarl: [[spoiler: Arnold Flass is among the Hangman's victim--despite ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2'' showing him alive when Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen marry. Also Merkel is killed halfway through despite theoretically living until the days of ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'']]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "You're all wet. And now I'm all wet, too..." says Porter to her lover.

* CurbStompBattle: Two-Face delivers one to no less than the goddamn JOKER when the clown attempts to shoot him and take over. This serves to reassert Harvey's authority, but also as payback for Joker's beatdown of Dent in front of Dent's wife in "The Long Halloween".

* CurbStompBattle: Two-Face delivers one to no less than the goddamn JOKER when the clown attempts to shoot him and take over. This serves as not only Harvey asserting control, but also as payback for Joker's beatdown of Dent in front of Dent's wife in "The Long Halloween".

* Curbstompbattle: Two-Face delivers one to no less than the goddamn JOKER when the clown attempts to shoot him and take over. This serves as not only Harvey asserting control, but also as payback for Joker's beatdown of Dent in front of Dent's wife in "The Long Halloween".

* MeaningfulName: Mario Falcone claims that, with his majority control of the legitimate Falcone businesses, Sofia Falcone is no longer allowed to use the Falcone name. She now uses "Sofia ''Gigante''," which had previous been used as her middle/nickname. "Gigante" is the Italian word for "Giant", and Sofia clearly is TheBigGirl of the Falcone siblings.

* OfficerOHara : A version of Chief O'Hara from the '80s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' series briefly appears [[spoiler: before becoming the first victim of the Hangman]], but his personality is a far cry from [[Series/{{Batman}} the old 60s show]]'s version.

* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler: the Hangman]].

* OfficerOHara : He briefly appears [[spoiler: before becoming the first victim of the Hangman]], but his personality is a far cry from [[Series/{{Batman}} the old 60s show]]'s version.

* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler: Sofia Falcone]].

** Branden, the corrupt and overzealous SWAT commander, who partook in said fire bombing and blackmail attempt.

* BigBadEnsemble: The main antagonist's of the comic are Two-Face, Sofia Falcone and the mysterious Hangman Killer.[[spoiler: Then the Hangman Killer actually turns out to be Sofia, who is then killed by Two-Face near the end of the story]].

* ContinuitySnarl: [[spoiler: Arnold Flass is among the Hangman's victim--despite ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2'' showing him alive when Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen marry.]]

** [[OfficerOHara Chief O'Hara]] is inspired by [[Film/TheUntouchables Jim Malone]] to the extent that Tim Sale drew the normally clean-shaven O'Hara with a mustache ala Sean Connery as Malone. Similarly, like Malone he gives his superior a list of honest cops to be included in a new taskforce, and this group is explicitly referred to as "untouchable". About the only thing this O'Hara's lacking is [[NobleBigotWithABadge Malone's very prevalent racism towards Italians and people of Italian descent]].

* [[OfficerOHara Chief O'Hara]]: He briefly appears [[spoiler: before becoming the first victim of the Hangman]], but his personality is a far cry from [[Series/{{Batman}} the old 60s show]]'s version.

* FiveBadBand: The "Freaks"
** BigBad: Two Face
** CoDragons: Scarecrow and TheJoker ([[spoiler:who doubles as TheStarscream]]). Of course Two-Face would have ''two'' [[TheDragon dragons]].
** EvilGenius: Mr. Freeze
** TheBrute: Solomon Grundy
** DarkChick: Poison Ivy

** Gets a CallBack in Nightwing: Year One except this time Bruce says "Do it ''better''."

* [[TakeUpMySword Take Up His Sword]]: Detective Lopez is considering leaving the force at the end of the series, but Gordon convinces her to stay when he explains that Chief O'Hara wanted to make the Gotham Police a respectable and honorable organization again. [[spoiler: Now that O'Hara is dead Gordon will need a new Chief of Police, and Lopez decides to continue where O'Hara left off]].

* ContinuitySnarl: [[spoiler: Arnold Flass is among the Hangman's victim--despite ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2'' showing him alive when Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen marry..]]

* ContinuitySnarl: [[spoiler: Arnold Flass is among the Hangman's victim--despite ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2'' showing him alive when Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen marry. Likewise, Merkel, one of the cops Frank Miller had in ''Year One'', is alive and assisting both Gordon and Yindel in ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' yet dies halfway through this story.]]

** The Labor Day Massacre (where Two-Face [[spoiler: murders all of the remaining mafiosi in Gotham]]) is reminiscent of the end of ''Film/TheGodfather''.

** During the Joker's drive-by-shooting on Mother's Day, the Clown quotes (and misquotes) lines from ''Taxi!'' and ''Chinatown''.