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james_desantis 's review for:
Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1
by Various
In all my years of comics I can't believe I never read Knightfall.
I mean most people know of Bane. The one who broke Batman's back. If you didn't pre-2010's you for sure did after Christopher Nolan's Batman Dark Knight Rises (Fuck this movie though, so bad, so boring, so many what the fuck illogical moments) but Bane is a big deal. He was the center piece main villain in Tom King's Batman's run recently and has always been up there with names like "The Joker, Scarecrow, Riddler" and more.
But man oh man, this is the best Bane has ever been IMO.
So this huge collection of over 600 pages is a bit exhausting to read. Not in the sense they're bad stories. No, the storyline is Bane using every villain of Batman to wear the guy down. The Prelude of Batman already showed a tired bruce. Here though, we see Bruce go through the ringer like never before. Villain after villain, dire situation after another, until the guy can barely walk and keeps making stupid mistakes.
Even more so you get Bane in a light I've never really seen him. Destructive, cunning, a man with a mission. To watch Bane go from a little boy with a terrible life to a man hellbent on getting anything he wants by using both his brawn and brain, makes him one of Bruce's toughest opponents yet. A really solid origin helps make Bane almost relatable, if not understandable, despite is disgusting actions.
Now this isn't to say we have a perfect story. With a book this big we do have some padding here and there. The weakest links being Alan Grants Shadow Batman story which is all about Jean Paul as Batman. A more unhinged version of the Batman using whatever means necessary to win the fight. While I did enjoy some Jean Paul stories this 3 part scarecrow one was long and boring IMO. I also thought some of Catwoman storylines didn't go anywhere either and odd placement.
But the main story of Bruce losing himself to the fight to save Gotham is pretty great. Both mentally and physically he is pushed to his limits and Bane behind it all is wonderful. The contrast between them even better. By the 2/3rd mark we have the famous breaking the bat moment and it is brutal as hell. Even more so is the last fight between Bane and Azrael (Now with his hip new 90's suit) and man oh man, he is brutal against Bane.
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. Sure some 90's corniness slips in, and each writer's style is different, but the end result is both solid and impactful. I just hope the other two volumes hold up. A 4 out of 5.
I mean most people know of Bane. The one who broke Batman's back. If you didn't pre-2010's you for sure did after Christopher Nolan's Batman Dark Knight Rises (Fuck this movie though, so bad, so boring, so many what the fuck illogical moments) but Bane is a big deal. He was the center piece main villain in Tom King's Batman's run recently and has always been up there with names like "The Joker, Scarecrow, Riddler" and more.
But man oh man, this is the best Bane has ever been IMO.
So this huge collection of over 600 pages is a bit exhausting to read. Not in the sense they're bad stories. No, the storyline is Bane using every villain of Batman to wear the guy down. The Prelude of Batman already showed a tired bruce. Here though, we see Bruce go through the ringer like never before. Villain after villain, dire situation after another, until the guy can barely walk and keeps making stupid mistakes.
Even more so you get Bane in a light I've never really seen him. Destructive, cunning, a man with a mission. To watch Bane go from a little boy with a terrible life to a man hellbent on getting anything he wants by using both his brawn and brain, makes him one of Bruce's toughest opponents yet. A really solid origin helps make Bane almost relatable, if not understandable, despite is disgusting actions.
Now this isn't to say we have a perfect story. With a book this big we do have some padding here and there. The weakest links being Alan Grants Shadow Batman story which is all about Jean Paul as Batman. A more unhinged version of the Batman using whatever means necessary to win the fight. While I did enjoy some Jean Paul stories this 3 part scarecrow one was long and boring IMO. I also thought some of Catwoman storylines didn't go anywhere either and odd placement.
But the main story of Bruce losing himself to the fight to save Gotham is pretty great. Both mentally and physically he is pushed to his limits and Bane behind it all is wonderful. The contrast between them even better. By the 2/3rd mark we have the famous breaking the bat moment and it is brutal as hell. Even more so is the last fight between Bane and Azrael (Now with his hip new 90's suit) and man oh man, he is brutal against Bane.
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. Sure some 90's corniness slips in, and each writer's style is different, but the end result is both solid and impactful. I just hope the other two volumes hold up. A 4 out of 5.