Customer Reviews

Batman: Knightfall, Part Two: Who Rules the Night

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Knightfall, and the subsequent Knightquest and Knightsend story arcs it spawned marks the first truly *epic* storyline in the Batman comic book titles. This ground-breaking and pivotal series follows Batman as he battles all of Arkham Asylum's inmates, who have been released by the drug-enhanced killer named Bane. Part one culminates with the actual breaking of the Batman, while part two has Batman passing the mantle to his new protege Jean Paul Valley.

The biggest problem with Knightfall is that the actual story begins here, but there are countless back-issues of comics and collected editions that you'll need to pick up to understand how everything got to this point. Who is Bane and what does he have against Batman? Go find 'Vengeance of Bane'. Where'd Jean Paul Valley come from? Read 'Sword of Azreal'. What's the drug called venom? Pick up 'Batman: Venom.' Why's Batman so exhausted? There's no direct answer to that one, but it starts with the death of the second Robin in 'Batman: A Death in the Family'. When did Bane beat up Killer Croc and pump the Riddler with venom? There are two individual back-issues you'll need to read to answer those questions. Even chapter 1 of this book, where Bane destroys Arkham, is not technically a part of the Knightfall saga - Knightfall actually begins with the Mad Hatter story. While it's still possible to enjoy Knightfall without reading all this supplemental history, it's not quite as satisfying without it.

Still, fans of Batman definitely need to read Knightfall. One of the interesting things DC Comics did was give fans the false impression that the changes happening were *permanant*; Batman would really be replaced for the rest of the series. It's interesting to read through this volume from that perspective - is this arc really worthy of being Batman's final adventure? Each chapter follows Batman as he recaptures an inmate, with occasional subplots to keep things interesting (Scarecrow and Joker take the mayor hostage). The writing is excellent, and so is the art (with a few chapters being done by Jim Aparo). Finally, if you haven't ever seen the actual panel where Batman is broken - stop reading. Get up. Buy this book now. Just go.

Batman: Knightfall is a good read, but if you want the full experience, track down all the extra reading I mentioned above. Otherwise you won't feel the impact of this historic Batman arc.

With "Knightfall" it is not so much the grand design as it is the execution. Obviously writers Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon were trying to come up with something comparable to the death of Superman for the Dark Night. I think the sacred status of "The Return of the Dark Knight" makes it impractical to try and use the Joker for Batman's primary foe in such an attempt, so Bane plays the antagonist for "Knightfall" the ways Doomsday did for Superman. From a storytelling perspective I really like the triggering event and climax of the first half of the story. The idea of emptying Arkham Asylum as the opening gambit in a deadly game against Batman is a masterstroke. After all, one man can only do so much, and each successive victory weakens Batman. Psychologically scarring a man who has already been traumatized by his parent's murder into becoming a vigilante of the night is going to be pretty difficult, so the idea of simply breaking Batman's back also seems like an appropriate obstacle (Superman already did the coming back from the dead routine). So the set up and the payoff for part one are pretty good.

But it is the execution that most readers seem to be quibbling about. The individual comic book stories in which Batman tracks down the escapees from Arkham are not especially memorable, whereas the goal would be almost for each episode to stand on its own as well as lend itself to a geometric progression of the Batman's troubles. The exception that proves the rule would be the climax of "Die Laughing," where Batman gets a does of the Scarecrow's fear-gas, which only dredges up the Joker's killing of Robin as his greatest fear. But when Bane finally attacks Batman, having worn him down through this long series of battles with other foes, even the flashback of the chain of events does not provide a glimpse of anything more than simply piling on the wounds until Batman has nothing left. The result is functional, but not the spectacular culmination you would hope for with such an epic.

Furthermore, the artwork by pencillers Jim Aparo, Norm Breyfogle, Graham Nolan, and Jim Balent is fairly pedestrian. In terms of providing some of the atmosphere that suits Batman best, the closest would be "Night Terrors," where Aparo's pencils are enhanced by inker Tom Mandrake to good effect. But ultimately the artwork suffers in comparison to the covers and promo pages drawn by Kelly Jones. The idea of Jones having done the entire "Knightfall" saga does induce salivary secretions, but it was not to be. So basically we have a very good idea that could have been great if the execution had been better.

"Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat" reprints the first half of the epic tale from "Batman" 491-497" and "Detective Comics" 659-663. The tale concludes in "Batman: Knightfall, Part Two: Who Rules the Night."

The character of Batman is displayed as obsessed and rightly so. Some books, like Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" portray his psychosis while others show his superhuman dedication. In "Knightfall" Batman is pushed to his absolute limits and beyond when a new villian calling himself Bane arrives in Gotham for the sole purpose of destroying Batman. Typically my response is "Get in line,pal" but this time Bane has a detailed plan that exploits Batman's weaknesses : his absolute belief that only he can save Gotham and his unwillingness to quit. Bane begins by observing the Batman in action and deciding to strip him of that which makes him the most powerful and then break him. He unleashes all the inmates of Arkham Asylum, the cage that contains all of Batmans worst foes, and watches as Batman faces challenge after challenge despite sickness or exhaustion. Then finally, when Batman is at his weakest, he confronts Bane's stoolies and then Bane himself. If you believe that Batman is just a nutcase in a mask and cape, "Knightfall" will prove you wrong.

Obsession. For years it served Bruce Wayne well in his role as Gotham's protector. But what happens when he faces a foe who not only matches him in that department, but is arguably his mental and physical superior? Knightfall presents us with the answers.

Powered by the Venom derivitave, the Spartan and immensely powerful Bane unleashes a torrent of madness on Gotham in the form of Arkham's inmates; the depths of The Dark Knight's obsession are plumbed as he attempts to save Gotham. All the while Bane watches, and measures the Detective.

Overall, a true turning point in the Batman mythos; with his body broken and battered past the point of exhaustion, we truly see Bruce Wayne driven with an almost fatalist determination, a determination that brings him face to face with a villanous perversion of his own discipline, and perhaps, the unthinkable: life without the Bat.

The Knightfall storyline and the comics that lead up to it are still affecting the comic industry and the characters in the books. There has not been a TBP printed that include the time between The Sword of Azrael and The Broken Bat but there should be. In this period of time Azrael begins training with Robin and Batman is becoming more and more fatigue. The artwork, covers, and storyline of these comics are almost as incredible as those of The Broken Bat. The only problem with The Broken Bat is that the Riddler is not in a prison hospital or in Arkham. Just before the Knightfall storyline Bane had pumped him up with vemon which is one of the most addictive drugs there is. In the Vemon storyline it take Batman over a month of isolation and mediation to overcome the addiction. The Riddle should been forming at the mouth in parts 6 and 8 instead of being on a talk show. The Broken Bat demonstrates why Batman is who he is. He has complete control over his body and mind. He knows when to stop but does not; he gives all of his attention to the public of Gotham and to himself which in the end is why he is finely broken. Unfortunately, Batman refuses the help of Robin and does not even consider asking Nightwing for any help. This results in pushing himself over the edge and making a mistake that he is still trying to recover from, asking former Azrael to take up the Mantle of the Bat. About the only good part of Batman being broken is this the readers of Batman comics during this time get to see more Bruce Wayne is action despite his handicap and how he does not need to hide behind a mask to solve crimes and help others.

The "Knightfall" saga came out when I thought I had left comic books behind. Part One collects 7 issues of Batman and 5 issues of Detective Comics from 1993. (Replicas of the original comics would have been nice.) It's a good thing Amazon's price is so good, because I can't imagine anyone can stop at the end of Part One. Well, maybe if you really like Evil.

The big theme here is seeing our hero pushed to the point of exhaustion and ultimately, ineffectiveness. A villain many may not know, Bane, busts everybody out of Arkham Asylum at once. He then spends most of the book watching Batman wear down physically and mentally. A new level of villainy--how delicious! For his part, Batman suffers by refusing to accept (much) help from Robin or who-is-he-and-why-is-he-here Azrael. (A page or two setting up the soap opera to this point would have been welcome and worth ANOTHER STAR.) Eventually, the reluctance to involve Tim Drake is seen as a response to Jason Todd's then-recent "death." (Explaining those quotation marks requires plunging into the DC Universe's current plotline quagmire...don't get me started.) I guess for purposes of this book, signalling the JLA is not an option. I would have called Green Lantern myself, but hey, I have my own city to protect.

I hope Bane's origin and his specific reason for targeting Batman are explained in Books Two and Three. An explanation of why Batman starts out all weak and pouty would have been helpful too.

The back cover is a bit misleading since the pictured Nightwing (Dick Grayson to the casual fan who hasn't kept in touch at all), Catwoman, and Two-Face are either totally absent or only seen in glimpses.

Finally, has Commissioner Gordon ever been more useless than he is here? He does nothing interesting except fuss with his glasses a la Clark Kent. Also, not enough Alfred. His sarcasm is welcome as always, but a bit prissier than usual here. One cute touch was one villain's use of a Chief O'Hara puppet; this is the only acknowledgment of the character outside the T.V. show that I can recall.

On to Part Two...must call in sick tomorrow...

Many reviewers of this book have noted that it is "stupid" and "lacks action". If I were you, I'd flip through it again... It was a few years back when DC caught the fever of killing off their greatest heros. The Superman thing got old real fast (I'm not even a fan and I got sick of hearing about it), but the Batman storyline remained fresh and realistic. Bruce Wayne is finally realizing his straneous workload, and refuses to rest as the inmates of Arkham Asylum escape. Meanwhile, a shadowy character called Bane has entered the picture, and is noting Batman's struggle by spying on him. Batman defeats all of the major criminals that escaped (barely) and finally confronts Bane. You can't help but feel sorry for the guy... Read "Who Rules the Knight" for another good book, and "Knightsend" for a GREAT conclusion...

"Batman: Knightfall: Who Rules the Night" picks up where "Batman: Knightfall: Broken Bat" left off, with Bane having added injury to insult by breaking Batman's back. This second half of the story has pretty much the same strengths and weaknesses of the first half. Writers Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon are clearly trying to come up with an epic Batman storyline. The two key ideas from the first part, the release of all the Arkham Asylum inmates to wear Batman down so he is no match for Bane and his simple but brutally affective tactic of shattering Batman's spine, are certainly worthy of such an epic story, but the individual stories were fairly pedestrian, albeit with a few choice exceptions. In "Who Rules the Night" they have another pretty good idea generating the continuing story. Having been weaned on hundreds if not thousands of comic books are expectations are at the end of this volume Batman is going to be healed and beat the living crap out of Bane. But that is not what happens.

Ultimately, "Who Rules the Night" is about Batman, but not really about Bruce Wayne. The argument is that Batman is too important to Gotham for the city to do without. With the rumors of Batman's death running rampant, Commissioner Gordon lights up the night sky with the Batsignal and Bruce and Tim decide that somebody should fill in and answer the call. The "logical" choice of Nightwing is immediately dismissed in favor of Azrael, who has been hanging around helping out anyway. However, this new Batman is a decidely darker version of the Dark Knight, tinkering with his costume to fit his own views of costumed vigilantism. Still, in the final confrontation with Bane, this Batman also has his own demons to conquer.

The result is that "Knightfall" is the opening act of a much larger story, continued in "Knightquest: The Crusade" and "Knightquest: The Curse" as Bruce Wayne begins the long road to recovery and reclaiming his mantle. Overall the artwork by pencillers Jim Aparo, Graham Nolan, Bret Blevins, Klaus Janson, and Mike Manley is better in "Who Rules the Night" than it was in "Broken Bat," but is still short of the providing the atmospheric resonance of the most stylish Batman art. This also might have something to do with the fact Kelly Jones only does the cover art on this collection and there are no longer all those promotional splash pages where Jones shows up the rest of the artists. The comics in "Batman: Knightfall: Who Rules the Night" were originally published in the comic books "Batman" #491-497 and "Detective Comics" #659-663. This is not a great Batman storyline, but it certainly tries to shoot for the stars. How disappointed you will be simply has to do with the level of your expectations. This is not "The Dark Night Returns" but it is not a sixties "Batman" comic book story either.

I believe that Batman is the most mature comics charecter out there. The Batman movies have done a great job at making Batman look like your friendly next door nighboor. This is not the real Batman. Batman is dark and gothic. Batman is innocent, yet strong and controversial. It's rather hard to know the real Batman from sources outside the comics. Perhaps the greatest Batman comic book that I have ever read is Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns." I have never seen anybody explore Batman's character as Frank Miller did in his title. One of few Batman graphic novels that displays Batman's world best is "Knightfall" in which Batman is defeated just like any ordinary man. Broken Bat exhausts Batman and breaks him in the first part of Knightfall. Who Rules the Night is the second part of Knightfall in which a new Batman is behind the mask. This new Batman has been handed the Caped Crusader's job by the defeated and broken Batman who was endangered of becoming a disabled man. Then the story progresses to show how Azrael, the new Batman, nandles the Bat duties. To my surprise, I found Who Rules the Night more interesting than Broken Bat. Perhaps this is caused by the seriousness of the enemies present, such as Two-Face and Scare Crow. But I think that what attracted me to Who Rules the Night was the lack of Bruce Wayen as "Batman." Please don't get me wrong, I believe that Bruce is the best man to play Batman. However, it was interesting to see how another man could be a better Batman than Bruce himself. Who Rules the Night is a great Batman novel, and is a great conclusion to it's first part "Knightfall: Broken Bat." I recommend this to any serious Batman reader, or to anyone who enjoys serious comics. If you enjoy reading dark Batman novels, then try "The Killing Joke" and "The Dark Knight Returns".

This is the classic 90's story of Batman's defeat at the hands of Bane. What I didn't realize was how many other villains also appear in this collection, and all as part of Bane's plan to destroy Batman without killing him. It shows its age a little, but it's a very fun read.

The Highlights: Bane breaks all of the prisoners out of Arkham Asylum in order to wear down an already sick Batman. It leads to the legendary moment of Bane breaking Batman's back. It features lots of villains, and Batman's determination to save Gotham City at all costs.

Things to Consider: It's a great story, but compared to the newer Batman stories, it does seem a little cheesy at times. The art is done in the classic 90's style, which I enjoy, but may not be for everyone.

This story does end on a downer: the defeat of Batman. That did leave me wanting to read the next book, though! This may not be essential Batman reading, but it's a classic and worth the read.