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Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat

Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat

List Price: $17.95
Your Price: $12.21
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A new Batman!
Review: "Batman: Knightfall: Who Rules the Night" picks up where "Batman: Knightfall: Broken Bat" left off, with Bane having added injury to insult by breaking Batman's back. This second half of the story has pretty much the same strengths and weaknesses of the first half. Writers Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon are clearly trying to come up with an epic Batman storyline. The two key ideas from the first part, the release of all the Arkham Asylum inmates to wear Batman down so he is no match for Bane and his simple but brutally affective tactic of shattering Batman's spine, are certainly worthy of such an epic story, but the individual stories were fairly pedestrian, albeit with a few choice exceptions. In "Who Rules the Night" they have another pretty good idea generating the continuing story. Having been weaned on hundreds if not thousands of comic books are expectations are at the end of this volume Batman is going to be healed and beat the living crap out of Bane. But that is not what happens.

Ultimately, "Who Rules the Night" is about Batman, but not really about Bruce Wayne. The argument is that Batman is too important to Gotham for the city to do without. With the rumors of Batman's death running rampant, Commissioner Gordon lights up the night sky with the Batsignal and Bruce and Tim decide that somebody should fill in and answer the call. The "logical" choice of Nightwing is immediately dismissed in favor of Azrael, who has been hanging around helping out anyway. However, this new Batman is a decidely darker version of the Dark Knight, tinkering with his costume to fit his own views of costumed vigilantism. Still, in the final confrontation with Bane, this Batman also has his own demons to conquer.

The result is that "Knightfall" is the opening act of a much larger story, continued in "Knightquest: The Crusade" and "Knightquest: The Curse" as Bruce Wayne begins the long road to recovery and reclaiming his mantle. Overall the artwork by pencillers Jim Aparo, Graham Nolan, Bret Blevins, Klaus Janson, and Mike Manley is better in "Who Rules the Night" than it was in "Broken Bat," but is still short of the providing the atmospheric resonance of the most stylish Batman art. This also might have something to do with the fact Kelly Jones only does the cover art on this collection and there are no longer all those promotional splash pages where Jones shows up the rest of the artists. The comics in "Batman: Knightfall: Who Rules the Night" were originally published in the comic books "Batman" #491-497 and "Detective Comics" #659-663. This is not a great Batman storyline, but it certainly tries to shoot for the stars. How disappointed you will be simply has to do with the level of your expectations. This is not "The Dark Night Returns" but it is not a sixties "Batman" comic book story either.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A new Batman with a darker take on vigilante justice
Review: "Batman: Knightfall: Who Rules the Night" picks up where "Batman: Knightfall: Broken Bat" left off, with Bane having added injury to insult by breaking Batman's back. This second half of the story has pretty much the same strengths and weaknesses of the first half. Writers Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon are clearly trying to come up with an epic Batman storyline. The two key ideas from the first part, the release of all the Arkham Asylum inmates to wear Batman down so he is no match for Bane and his simple but brutally affective tactic of shattering Batman's spine, are certainly worthy of such an epic story, but the individual stories were fairly pedestrian, albeit with a few choice exceptions. In "Who Rules the Night" they have another pretty good idea generating the continuing story. Having been weaned on hundreds if not thousands of comic books are expectations are at the end of this volume Batman is going to be healed and beat the living crap out of Bane. But that is not what happens.

Ultimately, "Who Rules the Night" is about Batman, but not really about Bruce Wayne. The argument is that Batman is too important to Gotham for the city to do without. With the rumors of Batman's death running rampant, Commissioner Gordon lights up the night sky with the Batsignal and Bruce and Tim decide that somebody should fill in and answer the call. The "logical" choice of Nightwing is immediately dismissed in favor of Azrael, who has been hanging around helping out anyway. However, this new Batman is a decidely darker version of the Dark Knight, tinkering with his costume to fit his own views of costumed vigilantism. Still, in the final confrontation with Bane, this Batman also has his own demons to conquer.

The result is that "Knightfall" is the opening act of a much larger story, continued in "Knightquest: The Crusade" and "Knightquest: The Curse" as Bruce Wayne begins the long road to recovery and reclaiming his mantle. Overall the artwork by pencillers Jim Aparo, Graham Nolan, Bret Blevins, Klaus Janson, and Mike Manley is better in "Who Rules the Night" than it was in "Broken Bat," but is still short of the providing the atmospheric resonance of the most stylish Batman art. This also might have something to do with the fact Kelly Jones only does the cover art on this collection and there are no longer all those promotional splash pages where Jones shows up the rest of the artists. The comics in "Batman: Knightfall: Who Rules the Night" were originally published in the comic books "Batman" #491-497 and "Detective Comics" #659-663. This is not a great Batman storyline, but it certainly tries to shoot for the stars. How disappointed you will be simply has to do with the level of your expectations. This is not "The Dark Night Returns" but it is not a sixties "Batman" comic book story either.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You're different from Wayne-this Batman kills!
Review: After exausting himself fighting the escaped Arkam inmates, Batman was no match for Bane's assult on him at Wayne Manor. With his back broken, he passs he mantle to Jean Paul Valley (Azrael). But this new Batman has his own methods of vigilante justice and they are alot more brutal, agressive, and abnormaly violent. Where the real Batman would beat the criminal into surrending, this new Batman beats them into submission- and then clashes the criminal's head with another criminal. The real Batman found satisfaction in striking terror into the hearts of criminals, the new Batman wants to see it on their face-even if it means spilling some blood. This new Batman also has an even bigger score to settle with Bane than the real Batman himself. While Bruce is understandalby angry with Bane for breaking his back, the new Batman is angry at him for a darker reason. While he was Azrael, Bane thought he was Batman and proceded to attack him but once he discovered that he was not the real batman, he pushed him aside and called him a pretender! While the new Batman never kills anyone in this book, he puts the criminals in such bad shape they wish they were dead. The final fight between the new Batman and Bane is crisp and brutal one and is one of the greatest moments in the Batman Universe. In the mist of this fight Bane socres 5 blows on the new Batman and the new Batman scores 23 blows on Bane.

The only downside of this book is that there are two tiny sections that contain horrible artwork that looks like it was drawn during and earthquake but other than that this is one of my favorite graphic novels!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: part two is a little weak.
Review: after reading broken batpart one i couldn't wait to get my hands on part two and three.but i found that i was just let down by part two.it realy had no interesting story line other than you get to see the new batman's madness.i do how ever sugest reading it though,as it is part of three storys.may be one was so good that the writers couldn't match it.the hilight of this book is robin.they made his cariture strong and interesting.my advice is save money and buy it used.you need to read it to compleat the story of the nightfall storys.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A new Batman!
Review: After the events of Broken Bat Bruce Wayne is left crippled. There is no way he can be Batman any more. But Bane is still out there and someone needs to meet the challenge. Robin thinks it should be Nightwing(a.k.a. Dick Grayson the first Robin)but Bruce says no because Dick is his own man.So Jean Paul Valley (a.k.a Azrael)becomes the new Batman.

Good Guys: Batman, Robin, Azrael, Nightwing, &
Alfred

Bad Guys:Bane, Bird, Trogg, Zombie, Two-Face,
Catwoman, & Scarecrow

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buying this book is worth your money.
Review: Basically, I never stopped reading it, until I'm done with it

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My hero
Review: Batman has been my favorite superhero since "The Dark Knight Returns" came out a decade ago, and this story only carries on the fantastic story telling tradition that began with that story. "Knightfall" begins a story line that has richness, complexity, and depth, and I can't rate it high enough for those of you who are fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic entertainment
Review: Fancy some Batman-themed entertainment? You could go for one of the blockbuster movies, or you could check out this incredible comicbook saga. Absolutely chock-a-block with sinister supervillains and explosive action, Broken Bat is the first half of a gripping, epic bat-storyline that sees the caped crusader himself pushed to his very limits...and then beyond. A nightmare is unleashed in Gotham City as Arkham Asylum, home of a legion of the most dangerous criminals on the planet, is broken open, and it's down to Batman, Robin the police and the mysterious Jean-Paul Valley to protect the entire city. Even worse, Batman must find out who it was who staged the brakeout and why - unless they find him first. The artwork ranges from very good to very average, but the writing maintains a high quality right up to the shocking climax. Highlights include a savage confrontation with the Joker, Robin trapped between two supervillains in the sewers, and Batman's last-second rescue of the City Mayor. and then there's the amazing cliffhanger....overall, this is a fantastic read. Not too dark, fast-paced and full of great stuff.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not bad
Review: 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: 5 stars
Summary: A surprising hit. This is better than Knightfall: Broken Bat
Review: I believe that Batman is the most mature comics charecter out there. The Batman movies have done a great job at making Batman look like your friendly next door nighboor. This is not the real Batman. Batman is dark and gothic. Batman is innocent, yet strong and controversial. It's rather hard to know the real Batman from sources outside the comics. Perhaps the greatest Batman comic book that I have ever read is Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns." I have never seen anybody explore Batman's character as Frank Miller did in his title. One of few Batman graphic novels that displays Batman's world best is "Knightfall" in which Batman is defeated just like any ordinary man. Broken Bat exhausts Batman and breaks him in the first part of Knightfall. Who Rules the Night is the second part of Knightfall in which a new Batman is behind the mask. This new Batman has been handed the Caped Crusader's job by the defeated and broken Batman who was endangered of becoming a disabled man. Then the story progresses to show how Azrael, the new Batman, nandles the Bat duties. To my surprise, I found Who Rules the Night more interesting than Broken Bat. Perhaps this is caused by the seriousness of the enemies present, such as Two-Face and Scare Crow. But I think that what attracted me to Who Rules the Night was the lack of Bruce Wayen as "Batman." Please don't get me wrong, I believe that Bruce is the best man to play Batman. However, it was interesting to see how another man could be a better Batman than Bruce himself. Who Rules the Night is a great Batman novel, and is a great conclusion to it's first part "Knightfall: Broken Bat." I recommend this to any serious Batman reader, or to anyone who enjoys serious comics. If you enjoy reading dark Batman novels, then try "The Killing Joke" and "The Dark Knight Returns".


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