Oh how the mighty fall.
If you read my review of Knightfall part one, you would know that I loved it. The story which focuses on an over worked, exhausted Batman haunted by the death of a comrade (the former Robin) refusing help in his one man war against the cunning villan Bane, goes a bit wacky in its sequel, but its worth pursuing …
So Batman is out of action after events in the first Knightfall, Robin can’t save the city alone, who will take on the mantle? Its Jean Paul. The former subconsciously brainwashed assassin Azrael. And he sucks.
Batman no longer cares about the feelings of his foes, he beats them into submission, he uses their families as leverage to get at other criminals. Robin is reduced to sulking as the new Dark avenging Knight refuses his help to take down Scarecrow. He makes new enemies; Anarchy, a vigilante hero in a red cape who weilds a ridiculous cross bow which shoots “A” shaped arrows, pursues him, accusing Batman of being the cause rather than the cure for Gotham’s problems.
Bane, while becoming the new head of the Gotham Underworld, is rather Ban-al in this installment ( he even refuses to get a better haircut) . While he was cunning in the first chapter of Knightfall, much of his work in this title is left to stomping around on the roof yelling “I broke the Batman!” and sitting in his hide out watching as Jean Paul the new Batman takes out his henchmen one by one. For a villian who showed such promise in part one, he looks a bit like a washed up child actor in this one.
So Batman might act like a bit of a jerk, and Bane is all washed up, who salvages this comic? It’s Crippled Bruce Wayne, who really kicks some ass in his wheel chair. And, Scarecrow. Now no longer in kahoots with Joker, Doctor Craine makes a mischevious swing at Gotham domination which results in some great art work. The pages where he projects his image upon the Gotham skyline are especially impressive.
Sadly I come to my biggest gripe with this part of the Knightfall saga. The look of the newly enhanced Batman suit. Designed in subconcious fashion by Jean Paul, the suit melds Azrael’s gauntlet armor with the batman shape, to create this weird high shouldered rocket man costume with this ridiculous batrang shooting disk launcher. The art looks lazy, there is less detail, less expression, the batrangs look like they’ve been doodled on by a previous reader. I understand it’s supposed to look intimidating, that Batman no longer has emotion, he is a killing machine, but Batman looked meaner as he was.
At least it makes me want to see Bruce reinstated as the dark knight. And hopefully he does in part three.
The wait for the movie is getting shorter,
So while you wait, and hastily repair your shattered bat signal.
Read this.
Paperback and Leatherbound 