Great Story! This is one of my favourite Batman G/N
The Batman has returned. Stronger then ever!
A must!
Maybe I missed something.. Firstly, I should say that the Knightfall collections are great. Watching Bane wear down Bruce Wayne systematically in the first volume or seeing Bruce Wayne's slow return to recovery in the second were well done. Then we come to volume 3. My biggest gripe with the third volume is how disjointed it is from the second. Plot lines started in the second volume are never picked up again. The transition from the first volume to the second is very clean. It's almost as though you're turning a page. The end of the second volume sees Bruce Wayne in South America attempting to rescue two people close to him who have been kidnapped. Jean Paul Valley is spiraling out of control but volume 2 still ends on a high note wherein he refuses to kill Bane. One opens volume 3 to discover that Bruce is walking again, training with lady Shiva, and Jean Paul Valley has gone completely insane and has, at some point, become murderous. It seems like the series would have been better served by having a volume 2.5. Now, none of this is to say that this volume is a poor book. As it is, it satisfyingly completes the storyline as Bruce attempts to reclaim the mantle of the bat.
Excellent Story Other reviewers are correct: you do need to purchase some of the original comics of Knightquest to find out what happens in between the end of Knightfall and this story. Alternatively, there are novelizations by Dennis O'Neill and Alan Grant you could read. In short, Bruce's back heals and intends to retire to his civilian life, but Robin informs him of Azrael's violence as Batman. Bruce then vows to reclaim the mantle of the Bat, apparently scaring Alfred (his longtime butler) away because he fears Bruce will be seriously injured again. In our real-time, Alfred doesn't return for over a year. Azrael 'shoves' Bruce away when he returns to the Batcave, and Bruce realizes that he must go into training if he is to have any chance of defeating Azrael.
The story itself picks up at the beginning of Bruce's training to restore his physical strength and instincts. The writing is psychologically intense, and the fight scenes are mostly fun entertainment that would not be out of place on the 1960s TV series.
In the end, we see all that makes the Batman great and everlasting. A fitting close to arguably the biggest Bat-story ever done to that point.
I Love This Character Batman is easily one of the greatest and most well known and easily recognized icons of the world of comic books. The creative team in this story line tried to successfully return Batman to his roots as a dark and gothic superhero. When Bruce Wayne as Batman gets crippled by a new villain imn Bane, Batman's protege Azrael and Nightwing and Robin fight over who is the real Batman. Azrael is the victor, and from what I've seen is very gothic. This is the third book of collected comics in book form chronicling Batman's fall from grace, Azrael's ascention as the new Batman and then ruce Wayne sucessfully reclaiming the mantle as Gotham City's number one crime fighter. Azrael's costume, in particular, is a 90s industrial age improvement on the more familiar spandex of Bruce Wayne. With his demmonic body armor, it gives him a tougher, more evil and even more intlligent fell than the traditional Batman. Azrael was later chronicled in his own DC comic line, further explaining the mysterious origins of an assasin from a secret orderl, wearing an angel's costume. I still remembered this from my heyday of comics collecting when I was a teenager and even a renewed interest today. They don't seem as geeky to a man in his 20s, more of a cool, violent twist on familar icons of pop culture, letting go of a clean cut role model into violence and depravity.
HE IS BACK The return of the Bat is one of the best comics issued ever. Forget about Superman coming back from life. The comic shows why the Bat is the best Superhero ever in DC existence. Two thumbs up for the DC team. I would never forget how they took Bruce Wayne step by step in order to achieve his real confidence.
You should ask: How great is this "vigilante"? He is the best, that is my answer.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
