| Title | : | Batman: Knightfall, Part Three: Knightsend |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1563891913 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781563891915 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published August 1, 1994 |
Collects Batman #509-510; Batman: Shadow of the Bat #29-30; Detective Comics #676-677; Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #62-63; Robin #8-9; Catwoman #12-13.
Batman: Knightfall, Part Three: Knightsend Reviews
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In the final part of the Knightfall saga, Bruce must become Batman once again and take Gotham from the hands of the power-crazed Jean-Paul Valley aka Robo-Batman! But to do so he must retrain with the help of Lady Shiva - for there can be only one!
Phew - thank god THAT’S over with! Knightfall is one of the worst Batman books ever and it’s spread over three ghastly books. It’s not a very complicated story - Bane beats Batman, Jean-Paul Valley beats Bane, Bruce beats Jean-Paul Valley - and that’s why it’s so boring to read when it’s stretched over so many pages. It doesn't help that the various writers - Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Jo Duffy - all produce terrible work too.
Valley’s character motivations are bizarre - something about avenging his father all the while receiving visions from St Dumas - and being Batman is so important to him for some reason. HE WON’T SHARE ‘COS HE’S A BABY! It’s amazing it took so long for someone like Grant Morrison to come along and say “Batman Inc - a Batman in every country!” thus avoiding the ridiculous battle for the title that’s at the heart of this saga’s finale. But oh well, it’s gotta happen here because it’s the terrible ‘90s!
I appreciate that Bruce’s struggle to get back to full health is him going through the gauntlet of Shiva’s goons - his rising mirroring his downfall, because that’s what led him to being vulnerable to Bane. And I actually liked how Bruce finally defeats Jean-Paul, not through dumb punching (though there’s plenty of that too) but in a clever visual metaphor. It still didn’t make reading the 350+ pages worth it or any less excruciatingly dull.
It’s just so repetitive seeing Bruce exercising, then fighting Shiva’s latest assassin, then looking over the edge of a skyscraper, willing himself to jump like he used to, and then walking away. This sequence happens several times in the book. Jean-Paul is charging around Gotham pointlessly while Dick and Tim are following along, doing nothing of consequence. Catwoman’s looking for some device that was probably explained in her solo title but because she got stupidly shoe-horned into this event it makes no sense.
Also at one point during one of Bruce and Jean-Paul’s fights, Jean-Paul’s armour gets a paintjob out of nowhere, going from blue and gold to red and gold! It’s such a stupid outfit too, way too jagged with too much stuff - a badly designed wreck.
Knightsend was the overlong, far too drawn-out finale to the overlong, far too drawn-out event series that was Knightfall. As a Batman fan, I’m glad I can say I read it, but I will never re-read this godawful comic ever again nor can I recommend it to anyone! -
3.5 stars
In the stories collected in KnightsEnd, the third and final volume in the epic Knightfall saga, Bruce Wayne is still recovering after his crushing defeat at the hands of Bane, and Jean-Paul Valley rules Gotham as the new Batman. Though Valley has defeated Bane and crime in Gotham has plummeted, all is not as well as it seems.
Valley lacks the restraint Wayne had while he wore the cowl; he's violent and unrestrained, and eventually is involved in people's deaths. In KnightsEnd, the situation has come to a head; Bruce Wayne must put a stop to Valley's reign of terror, recovering his strength and fighting to regain his title as Batman, which the seemingly invincible Valley has no intention of giving up.
This is overall an enjoyable collection, but the ridiculousness of the story became more apparent the longer the story arc went on, and it's a very long story arc. Between the three volumes it must be 800+ pages long. The part of the story involving Shiva and Bruce's recovery I found particularly silly. I was also a bit disappointed with the constant, tormenting visions of Saint Dumas experienced by Valley. The entire volume he kept asking the saint in the visions, "Why are you tormenting me?!", and unless I missed something that question was never really answered.
At the end of it all, did I enjoy the Knightfall saga? Absolutely. It's silly at times, and way too long, but some of the most iconic events in the history of the Batman universe take place within these pages, and that's beyond debate. For that reason alone, if nothing else, Batman fans should check it out. -
I was really letdown by how this series finished up. Don't get me wrong, where they went with this story made a lot of sense as it was the most logical conclusion. Of course Batman was going to return to prominence and confront Azrael, it was what they had been setting up all along. It just felt flat and uninspired.
Bruce's training in the beginning was interesting to say the least, not sure why he would train under the guidance of someone who is a known assassin and murderer but in the end, he did it in his own way. The further involvment of Nightwing was a welcomed addition (despite the gross mullet), I've always liked the character and I'm interested in reading some of his stand alone stuff.
The thing that really bothered me was the ending.
All in all, a pretty average arc. A strong beginning with a steady middle and an "ok" ending. Pretty sure Christopher Nolan brought us the definitive Bane story with The Dark Knight Rises, which was of course, inspired by this series. He took the awesome parts from the first volume and I think, improved upon the story overall. -
As badass as Azrael's costume seemed, it wasn't enough to compensate for the highly repetitive storyline. I did laugh at some scenes (especially at scenes with Nightwing), but the conclusion still remained weak. It was intelligent in some ways to go that route in the rise of Batman, but in the end, Azrael was pretty... lame. Maybe he should be seen as a vulnerable individual with schizophrenia or something. That would explain his demented behavior.
At least it brings an end to the Knightfall trilogy! I think the era after Knightfall should bring in some really interesting changes in storytelling.
P.S. A full review to come
Yours truly,
Lashaan
Lashaan & Trang | Bloggers and Book Reviewers
Official blog:
http://bookidote.wordpress.com -
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
After the excellence of the first two parts of the original collected Knightfall story, this final book just feels less impressive and less cohesive than the others. It also doesn't help that there are two entire story arcs that didn't make it into the nineties collected editions - without Knightquest: The Crusade explaining Jean-Paul Valley's descent and Knightquest: The Search explaining how Bruce gets (most of) his mojo back, this final part of the arc leaves you with way more questions than it answers.
If you're going to read Knightfall, then I would seriously recommend getting the newer editions, including the lead-in story, Prelude to Knightfall, and the epilogue chapters, Prodigal and Troika. It may be a lot more to take in, but you end up getting a much better story for your efforts. -
Finally the whole bloody mess of Jean Paul Valley is over. And who's to blame but Bruce Wayne?
Anyway.. It was good to feel here reminiscences of both "Year One" and "The Dark Knight Returns".
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Bruce Wayne, retraining with a hot Chinese martial artist/killer, must prove his worth in combat by battling the seven students of the most skilled assassin in the world who the Chinese babe has murdered. Azrael/Batman lords over Gotham, shunning Robin and killing baddies (a no-no for Bruce when he was Batman) and alienating everyone as he descends into hallucinatory insanity. But Robin and Nightwing fill Bruce in and the newly reborn Dark Knight returns to whale on Azrael/Batman's ass across the rooftops, riverside, and steel girder bridges of Gotham City. This is an amazing story. There is a lot of introspection on Bruce Wayne's part as he rebuilds not only his body but his mind to re-learn how to become Batman. Even better, he battles this one assassin dude in the middle of freeway traffic and on top of speeding cars, people. An excellent end to the fall and rise of Batman.
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I was so grateful when this chapter of the book series ended.
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I don't care what anyone else thinks -- I loved the very final scene. For some reason (ie. I was stupid), I skipped KnightQuest and went straight to KnightsEnd and it was still pretty enjoyable, albeit inconsistent. Unfortunately, I guess that's what you get with a constant change of writers.
But what really took away the gravitas of the final scene (which was great on its own) was the lack of a strong build-up.
We're sent careening on a roller-coaster ride of perspectives and subplots, that it's a wonder how the story even manages to gel together. But it does for the most part. I was happy that out of all the inconsistent characterisations, Bruce Wayne was the most consistent. This is obviously good, considering the fact that, well, he's the bloody hero.
The ultimate climax itself made sense on its own. As much as I thought Azrael was an insufferable jerkwad who should pay for his crazy antics, I wanted Batman to help him. Plus, we finally see that Azrael was only consumed by the Batman persona, which again, makes sense. With a mind that damaged, taking on the Bat mantle would not have gone down well -- removing the mask was its only solution.
In spite of its faults, KnightsEnd is really more or less on the same level as Knightfall.
Side note: I glanced through some of the other reviews on Goodreads and people seemed to think that Catwoman was terrible, but I thought her little part was fine. The issues themselves had... issues, but her characterisation mostly clicked.
Side, side note: Doug Moench's writing was the best. -
And so this over-long convoluted tale comes to its necessary end. There's so much about the whole Knightfall arc that doesn't work for me even beyond the usual comic-book absurdities. But I had to give it three stars for the final chapter: the writers and editors understood that after all the overkill it couldn't support ending on a bang, so it went out with a whimper instead.
That probably sounds like a contradiction.
But I think the big fight between Nightwing and Azrael (I refuse to call him Batman) was the "action" heart of this story and that a confrontation between Bruce Wayne and Jean Paul Valley had to take a different tact. And there was just something awesome about seeing the two face off in the hallway in Wayne manor: sleek subtle Bats in his straight cape against the bloated absurdity of that mechanical nightmare Azrael had become. It's an image that leaves no doubt in the reader's mind of who and what the Batman really is.
And Azrael gets that too, which is brilliant.
It was a long hard read (and a lot of stuff I wouldn't bother to revisit), but I am glad I followed through and finished. The finale was worth it. -
I have to say, after three (too) long volumes, the final scene delivers. That's for goddamn sure. Two Batmans, one old school force and the other new wave technology, beat the shit out of each other while being towed by a crashing helicopter? Yes, please.
However, for as earnest as the writing is (almost akin to fan fiction), the final volume, as well as the whole series, doesn't quite work. Everything's so confusing, there are too many unnecessary variables, not enough resolutions and conversations work as a stifling narrative.
The whole thing reads as if Batman was just being created and figured out as a character, but I think this just got stuck in the rush of Batman that came when everyone was trying to decide between crusader Batman or vigilante Batman. One was gut and one was grit. When you aren't sure, it comes off as fractured or frantic.
Still, it was exciting stuff when it brought the ruckus. It was just everything else that made everything kind of screwy. It gets a ton of points for ambition and obvious love for the heroic Batman character. -
Of the three graphic novels that comprise the Knightfall story arc, this is easily my least favorite. The story ends up dovetailing into the Prodogal story arc, likely in an attempt to fatten out the book and while I’m sure it’s interesting reading I just wasn’t in the mood and it made the book feel like a chore to finish. I think the main interest in this is in seeing Bruce Wayne recovering from his catastrophic injury, both physically and mentally to reclaim the mantle of Batman from Jean Paul Valley. But this is quickly dealt with and at that point, the collection seems to collapse into a bunch of tangential storylines and D-list villains.
The struggle between Bruce and Valley is wrapped up in somewhat satisfying fashion but despite the novelty of Bruce going to Lady Shiva to train to be Batman again, even this part of the book was a slog for me. All the scenes with crazy cakes Jean Paul got incredibly tedious and I was pretty much at my tolerance limit for scenes involving him hallucinating his dead relatives and monologuing to Saint Dumas.
I will concede the irony in that Bruce Wayne, the one who is constantly parodied for his gadgets and his infamous utility belt is portrayed here as the one striving for a sort of purity of spirit while Jean Paul battles behind a massively mechanized suit.
I also appreciated the dynamic between Dick Grayson and Tim as we got to see two Robins teaming up for a while. And the pent up hostility between Dick and Bruce was a nice touch. And I appreciated seeing Commissioner Gordon dealing with a sort of existential crisis as he struggles to adapt his role to three distinct people showing up at his doorstep as the Batman. None of this proved to rise to the level of saving this book, though.
The artwork also feels pretty dated in some parts as Nightwing is firmly in the midst of his mullet phase. In all, my verdict on the Knightfall story arc would be that they probably could have made some better editing choices and fit this into two volumes. I was happy to be able to put this book behind me. -
The Return of the king.
Quizá la 3era entrega sea la más floja de la serie o al menos la que ha envejecido menos graciosamente. Aún así, el viaje nostálgico siempre se agradece.
Es gracioso el experimento de leer estas historias con ojo editorial actual (tanto de lector como de escritor) y ver el tipo de puntos argumentales que pudieron haberse explotado mucho mejor de otra manera. En el caso de esta entrega, un gran ejemplo es el "conflicto" final entre bruce y Jean Paul. Entiendo la intención psicológica detrás, pero la ejecución es simplemente anti climática.
Aún así, qué feliz me tiene este rerun de los cómics de mi adolescencia.
Long live the bat. -
There's a couple good scenes, some navel-gazing about what being Batman means, and a solid ending with a resolution that isn't just about beating people up, but on the whole there isn't all too much to this.
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The arrangement of the scenes has great contrast and the author can not have done a better job I recommend it and the storyline combine with the plot and the characters work and study. Great book to read and I highly recommend it to you. I chose this book because the title and an extract from the book really hooked me and I was recommended this book by a friend. My favourite character is batman because he shows no mercy in forcing the law and defending his own. He is such a raw character and he adds such depth to the novel. I really enjoyed reading this because I'm in to all the super heroes and powers ect.
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There's a big gap between Parts 2 and 3 of this series. I think it's called KnightQuest. Not cool.
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Güzel bir kelime oyunlu bu uzun maceranın 20 sayıdan oluşan son cildi. Kapak resmi çok kötü bence ama neyse ki içerik dolu dolu ve renkli. Bruce Wayne'in Bane' e yenilip belini kırdırmasının ardından iyileşme sürecine girişi ve bu sürede Batman'liği Azrael-Jean Paul Valley'e devredişinin ardından yaşananların son kısmını içeriyor bu cilt. Valley dengesiz kişiliği ve şiddete meyli ile Batman'ın yapmamaya yemin ettiği şeyi yapıp can alır. Gördüğü halüsinasyonlar da iyice zıvanadan çıkmasına sebep olur. Valley'i çok vahşi, saldırgan görünümlü bir Batman kostümü içinde görüyoruz. Metal zırhlı bir başlık, keskin metal pençeler ve kollarına monte edilmiş , bir makineli tüfek gibi batarang atan iki silahla donanmış bir giysi içinde bu ölümcül Batman. Wayne'in yokluğunda işleri toparlamak da eski Robin , sonraların Nightwing'i olan ve Batman kostümünü giymek durumunda kalan Dick Grayson ve yeni- acemi Robin Tim'e kalır. Catwoman da kendi usulünce yardım eder tabii. Sonlarda da Wayne - Grayson arasında adeta bir baba-oğul çatışmasına tanık oluruz.
Bu ciltte daha önce görmediğim iki kötü adam The Ventriloquist ve Tally Man ile tanıştım. Batman'in kötü adamları gerçekten de bir başka oluyor :) Bu cillte bir de Gotham demiryollarını kullanan bir Bat lokomotifi gördüm ilk kez. Albert'in yokluğunu da konuşma ve postür bozukluğu olan dahi mühendis Harold Allnut dolduruyor. -
The final part of the Knightfall trilogy, the earlier parts of which are oft credited with providing the template for Christian Bale's last outing as Batman in The Dark Knight Rises.
In this, Bruce Wayne - mentally and physically scarred by his encounter with and defeat by Bane - finally gets back to full capacity and returns to Gotham to reclaim the mantle of the Bat from Jean-Paul Valley (aka Azrael): a mantle, however, that Jean-Paul is extremely reluctant to give up.
And after Bruce manages to win it back, he promptly passes it on (in a temporary nature) to his former Robin Dick Grayson, now Nightwing. Cue about 2/3rds of this collection really following how that 'new' Batman copes with the costume and responsibility ...
Definitely a very 90s comic, I personally feel that this rides a lot on the fame of the first part of the trilogy - that is, the one in which Bane 'breaks the bat' - more so that it is able to stand on its own 2 feet. -
The epic Bane-breaks-Batman comes (near) to an end in this volume. Bruce Wayne, magically healed, must relearn and rediscover what he knew almost by instinct, before being critically injured.
And once he's done that -- if he can -- he must reclaim the mantle of The Bat from the unhinged Jean-Paul Valley, deep under the influence of The System.
It's well written and nicely illustrated and has all the action and drama you could wish for. Poor old James Gordon is left wondering what's up and what's down at the end of it all.
And I say it comes (near) to an end because even when Bruce has reclaimed The Bat -- it's ambiguous whether he'll stay. And what follows is the Batman: Prodigal story arc, where Dick Grayson assumes the mantle of The Bat while Bruce ponders what he wants to do. And that's a great story in itself. -
It's interesting how this series started of campy and fun and ended up as a edgy mess. I still enjoyed it for the most part, but man, Azrael's costume is just peak 90s. Not to mention that Cable lookalike goon with his hundred pouches. And Nightwing's costume and mullet !! What I enjoyed the most: the whole Bruce Wayne story line, where he fights martial arts masters to learn to be Batman again. Azrael's psyche was a nice touch, with his visions and everything, especially how they tied it together at the end. Nightwing and Robin shenanigans were fun. I just kind of lost interest in Azrael's whole deal the further it went. I'm glad I finally read it though !
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Better than the second act, not as good as the third. The first half is incredible, with Bruce coming back to challenge Azrael and take back the name of Batman. It's an epic, explosive half. Unfortunately, the second half is less stellar. Without giving anything away, it didn't go the direction I thought it would, and lets out a lot of steam that it lost in the first half. However, the second half is still mostly enjoyable, and the comic as a whole is definitely worth reading.
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Volumes 2 and 3 were a definite improvement after Volume 1. But I think the story-arc suffers early on from serious pacing issues and a drawn out plot. This particular volume feels smoother to read, however it still suffers from a heck of a lot of repetition in storytelling. My personal highlights from Knightsend were the inclusion of Nightwing, and the teaser of Batman breaking his one rule (which seriously had me going for a moment!)
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Mes de Batman 04/23
La parte más floja de Knightfall y el desgaste de Moench es notorio. Esta es la tercera vez que cuenta la misma historia (Bane > Batman / Azrael > Bane / Batman > Azrael) ya con poca convicción.
No hay mucho que decir de este volumen salvo que "ah mira, ya regresó el señor wayne".
2.6/5 -
A satisfying conclusion to the Knightfall saga!
Note to other readers: This dropped a few story beats that irritated me at first. It doesn't explain what happened Dr. Shondra, and Bruce's back is suddenly okay again. I went looking for answers and wished I hadn't; it's bad. Ignorance is bliss on those two points. -
I had a hard time trying to decide if I should give this 4 or 5 stars. It was fun to see Bruce trying get his mojo back but how he defeated JPV was anti-climactic. For me, the writers could have done better. In the end, I still had fun reading this so I'm going to give it a 5.
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The overlong, meandering saga that peaked with the "broken bat" incident in the first part and the debut of his broken minded successor in the second part draws to a surprisingly poignant conclusion for the battle between Bruce and Jean.
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I quite like the previous two offerings of this saga, but this third one was a letdown.
There is something missing that connects book #2 to book #3 and after the high drama in previous books this is too much whining. -
It's not quite the best end to the tale that I was hoping for, but everything is neatly tied up. The entire storyline underlines just what Batman stands for, even in his darker and more violent moments.
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Finally found the final volume to read in this series. It was great to read the story used in the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, which I absolutely love! This was pretty cool. The artwork was great and the story was good. I recommend this series.
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I liked it. A very long series, but pretty cool seeing the different variations of Batman. Very much 90-'s comic style haha.
