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Title: Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon ISBN: 1-56389-142-5 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 03 September, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (29 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Not bad
Comment: I am having mixed reactions as to whether the Knightfall saga really needed to tell its story this long. For instance, this volume obviously could have done away with some chapters that really didn't need to be there but as a mere extension of the storyline to keep its length at par with Knightfall vol. 1. Anyhow, this story sets us up for the most interesting year in the life of Batman. After Bane broke Bruce Wayne's back we get to see a more human character of Bruce Wayne. We finally see he him going into a direction that doesn't make him a cold fish to people around him. We also see what the next Batman, Azrael, would be like when he will be donning the mask for the next whole year. This book is a major event in the life of Batman and has got us looking into what happens in the Batman books because a lot of things will be a first time for the new Batman.
Rating: 4
Summary: Knightfall: Broken Bat--a grand design but weak execution
Comment: 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."
Rating: 5
Summary: Man
Comment: Simply put, one of the greatest and most complex Batman stories ever told. This is one of the most logical and brutal Batman storyarcs ever told. Ultimately, it poses the big question: Can the Batman be defeated? He can and this story tells us how and why. Just a note for all the wrestling fans out there, this would've been a perfect storyline for the WWE with Brock Lesnar as Bane, Kurt Angle or the Rock as Batman, and Edge as Azrael.
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Title: Batman: Knightsend by DC Comics ISBN: 1563891913 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Batman: Death in the Family by Jim Starlin ISBN: 0930289447 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Batman: Sword of Azrael by Dennis O'Neil ISBN: 156389100X Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 10 June, 1993 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore ISBN: 0930289455 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller ISBN: 1563893428 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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