Amazon.com: Who Rules the Night is the second of two volumes collecting Knightfall, the Batman storyline in which Batman meets defeat. The aftermath of the devastating battle between Batman and Bane leaves Gotham City without a hero; that is until a new "Dark Knight" named Azrael appears. Azrael is a meaner, more violent version of Batman.
Product Description: Who Rules the Night is the second of two volumes collecting Knightfall, the Batman storyline in which Batman meets defeat. The aftermath of the devastating battle between Batman and Bane leaves Gotham City without a hero; that is until a new "Dark Knight" named Azrael appears. Azrael is a meaner, more violent version of Batman.
It's pretty bad The writing is terrible and hokey. The art is generic. Not to be placed among the more literary Batman books such as Dark Knight Returns, Year One, Arkham Asylum, Long Halloween, etc. Good story, just done poorly.
Off to a good start PART 1
I had heard mixed things about this trilogy. It's hard to ignore, because its one of Batman's most intense trials and it was also a pretty big stunt to undertake. However, you can't deny the importance of such a story and the impact that Bane had on the Bat mythology. Now it's hard to judge the story overall with just part 1 of 3, but I'll stick to the highlights.
Bane has a master plan and it involves pushing Batman to his ultimate limit. He starts by releasing all of the worst prisoners from Gotham and suppling them with weapons. From there its just a matter of Batman doing his best to save the city and fighting exhaustion with little to no sleep. He takes on the Hatter, Zsasz, Film Freak, Amygdala, Firefly, Poison Ivy, the Riddler and a few other minor characters in here and manages to put them away. Before he can catch his breath he has to face Bane in a showdown which leads us into part 2.
Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon are both excellent Bat writers and they do a good job keeping things moving along at a good pace. I recognized Jim Aparo and Norm Breyfogle's artwork, and the guest artists include Graham Nolan and Jim Balent, who are both adequate. The stand out moments in here are when the Ventriloquist and Scarface are reunited, when Joker gets beat down for 2 pages by Bats in retaliation for killing Jason, and of course the final confrontation between Batman and Bane.
Looking very forward to part 2 as I want to see what the other villains are up to as well as Nightwing and Catwoman who have yet to play a role but I know are a part of this. I'm excited to see what they have planned for Scarface since Alan Grant is being added for part 2 and he always writes the best Scarface stories. Other than that, this is only the beginning.
PART 2
Part 1 of Knightfall ended on an exciting cliffhanger that left the reader feeling anything could happen next. Bane broke the Batman, and things might never be the same again. So Part 2 picks up right where we left off, with Bane dropping Batman's shattered body from a building and declaring himself Gotham's new ruler.
So now Bruce needs to recover, but in the meantime Gotham still needs a Batman. Jean Paul Valley, or Azrael as you might know him, takes up the mantle of the Bat upon Bruce's request. Things are going pretty good until Jean Paul goes crazy with power, dishing out his own brand of brutal justice.
Scarecrow returns to wreak havoc on some university students (and we are given a brief back story of him for the dozenth time.) I was disappointed that Scarface and the Ventriloquist weren't as featured here, but that's just me. Bruce is confined to a wheelchair with Alfred at his side and tries to save his doctor and Tim Drake's father who have been abducted by Bane's men. Most of the action revolves around the new Batman and his decline into madness. Jean Paul is haunted by visions of St. Dumas and his failings as Azrael. He also makes Robin feel completely alienated by his wreak less behavior and complete lack of concern for human life.
This is definitely Act II. A necessary midway point to lead us into the final act, but I was pretty anxious to hurry up and get to Part 3. I also felt that Jean Paul took a turn for the worse a little too abruptly and it was hard to believe that Robin put up with it for so long without getting help sooner. My least favorite part, but if you're reading Knightfall, its necessary to get you from the beginning to the conclusion.
Bane Begins "Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat" is great buy for any Batman fan. It chronicles the emergence of Bane, a beast of a brute with the drug "venom" running through his veins and also the genius of diabolical plan to destroy the Dark Knight.
In this great work, Bane and his goons create a breakout in the Arkham Asylum and in so doing flood the streets with Batman's greatest foes for him to capture one by one (Joker, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Croc, Firefly, and the Ventriloquist).
As Bane watches Batman push himself physically as well as mentally trying to find Gotham's lunatics all by himself (refusing Robin's help in many instances), the master of the "venom" drug soon discovers Batman's true identity which puts Bane in the same league mentally as Batman himself. And before the Dark Knight knows it, he comes face to face with this monster in his own palace of security: Wayne Manor.
This graphic novel is worth the buy, alone, for the inclusion of all of Batman's well-known villains. Plus, there is a great Joker story in which he teams up with the Scarecrow in a plot where they join forces to hold the mayor of Gotham hostage in an attempt to defeat Batman once and for all.
the breaking of the bat (a review of all three volumes) Some years ago, two men came up with a great storyline for Batman. They created Bane, whose creation was really only for this storyline. He breaks the Batman, something countless villians and events (even the death of Jason Todd) couldn't do. ANd it is brilliant. Bane releases the captives of Arkham Asylum. A brilliant move, both for villany and for story. All of Batman's greatest enemies (and I mean all of them) wreck havoc on Gotham, wearing Batman out before Bane finally takes him down. It's a great story, one that could have went on for much longer.
Volume two has had Batman broken by Bane, but who will protect Gotham now? Will it be Robin? He's still there, but sort of out of the picture as Batman's partner (the new Batman anyway). Dick Grayson, Nightwing? YOu'd think Batman would have tapped him to take his place. Instead, we have Azrael. He's got some mental issues. He's meaner, more violent and takes no prisoners. He's no Batman, but he plays the part. This is the bat without Alfred.
Volume three is the weakest (I'd only give it four stars) and basically, Bruce Wayne is healed and has to defeat Azrael to take back Gotham and the mantle of the bat.
Overall this is a very important storyline, one of the most important in the Batman saga, very important in the DC Universe, and just as important in comic books as any other storyline.
knightfall a good graphic novel. not quite as good as the first in the series.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
