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Batman: Knightfall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quick Summery
"Knightfall" is the title given major Batman story arc published by DC Comics that dominated Batman-related serial comic books in the spring and summer of 1993. "Knightfall" is also the umbrella title to the trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994. They consisted of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd". Collectively, they are unofficially known as the KnightSaga.
The story takes place over approximately six months. Bruce Wayne (Batman) suffers burnout and is systematically assaulted and crippled by a "super steroid"-enhanced genius named Bane. Wayne is replaced as Batman by an apprentice named Jean-Paul Valley, who becomes increasingly violent and unstable, tarnishing Batman's reputation. Eventually, Wayne is healed through paranormal means, and reclaims his role as Batman.
Knightfall resulted in long-term ramifications for the Batman mythos, as Batman's trust from the police, public, and fellow superheroes had to be rebuilt. Additionally, Wayne realizes the peril and burden of attempting to work in solitude, leading to the eventual creation of the modern incarnation of the Batman family. The events of Knightfall also led to the resignation of Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
The entire Knightfall storyline took over a year to complete in the comic book serials, and in later years, the comics were compressed into a series of trade paperbacks, although these paperbacks do not include the Knightquest portion of the story.
Plot Summery
Prelude
The prelude to Knightfall began with the introduction of two new characters key to its storyline in issues prior to the release of "Knightfall":
* Azrael, aka Jean-Paul Valley, (introduced in Batman: The Sword of Azrael (October 1992 to January 1993) by Dennis O'Neil and Joe Quesada) a graduate student at Gotham University who discovers he has been unconsciously trained since birth as an assassin for an ancient religious order.
* Bane, introduced in Batman: Vengeance of Bane (January 1993) by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, an orphan born and raised in a Central American island prison, self-taught and ruthless, who underwent an involuntary experimental operation to become a new type of supersoldier, before breaking free and deciding to take Gotham City from its "king", Batman.
The two characters were quickly added to the cast in the monthly Batman titles, with Azrael being a superhero-in-training who fights alongside Batman, while Bane was introduced as a supervillain.
Within the regular series, the buildup to Knightfall begins with a six-issue run in Batman #484-489 (September 1992 - February 1993), in which Batman (at the onset of a personal psychological mid-life crisis) is forced to deal, in rapid succession, with the returning villain Black Mask and his gang (who target Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox), a crazed killer called Metalhead, and a sharpshooter assassin hired by an imprisoned mobster to murder Commissioner Gordon. Batman begins to feel he has lost his edge, especially after his failure to capture Black Mask. He finds himself unable to meditate or even focus. As Bruce Wayne, he contacts holistic therapist Shondra Kinsolving for treatment. He also assigns Robin (Tim Drake) to train Jean-Paul Valley in detective work to aid them as an ally, hoping to guide his brainwashing away from making him a villainous threat. Despite the advice of everyone in his life, including Dr. Kinsolving, Bruce refuses to rest, and continues to pursue his self-imposed duty despite his worsening condition. (Although not explicitly noted as a cause, these events take place immediately after the death of Superman, Batman's peer, elsewhere in the DC Universe.)
The next storyline, in Detective Comics #654-656 (December 1992 - February 1993), involves a young military student usurping power in Gotham's underworld and assaulting a police station, with Bruce's fatigue continuing to worsen. At the conclusion of this story, Bane and his henchman are shown monitoring Batman's performance.
Bane begins a series of encounters letting Batman know of his presence and his intentions. In the following issues, Bane interferes with encounters pitting villains Killer Croc and Riddler against Batman, and, to test Batman's limits, goes so far as to inject Riddler with the Venom drug. This escalation culminates in an assault on Arkham Asylum in Batman #491 (April 1993), where Bane breaks the inmates free and supplies them with numerous weapons to escape. Meanwhile, Robin finds it difficult to work with Jean-Paul, due to the man's violent subconscious training and lack of social skills, and also finds himself being shut out from working alongside Batman.
Aftermath
At the conclusion of Knightfall DC jumped into the Knightquest arc. At the onset of "Knightquest", Jean-Paul Valley has been established as Batman, and Bruce Wayne is out of the country. Instead of a crossover with a definite ending, the publishers treated the scenario as though it were the new status quo, leaving it open-ended.
(I will do a spotlight on the KnightQuest arc sometime down the road)
Bibliography
* Batman #491
* 1: Batman #492
* 2: Detective Comics #659
* 3: Batman #493
* 4: Detective Comics #660
* 5: Batman #494
* 6: Detective Comics #661
* 7: Batman #495
* 8: Detective Comics #662
* 9: Batman #496
* 10: Detective Comics #663
* 11: Batman #497
Justin's Thoughts
I've always felt this was a good arc, as it introduced us to Bane, and finally showed that the Batman could in fact be defeated, it's not to often that you see the hero get beaten and in this case not only beaten but broken, which apparently was an idea DC was in love with at the time as this took place shortly after the Death of Superman. I'll be honest as much as I liked this storyline I was never able to collect or even read every issue in it, I was only able to get certain issues as I was extremely tight on cash at the time, the only issue I really remember well was Batman #497, I loved that issue, I loved the big fight with Bane, I was shocked when I got to the splash page where all you see is Batman's back being broke over Banes knee, and in big black letters across the top of the page the words BREAK YOU!, a great page from a great issue, and a great storyline, one of which I need to find in trade paperback form, so that I can go back and relive and enjoy all over again
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Knightfall" is the title given major Batman story arc published by DC Comics that dominated Batman-related serial comic books in the spring and summer of 1993. "Knightfall" is also the umbrella title to the trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994. They consisted of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd". Collectively, they are unofficially known as the KnightSaga.
The story takes place over approximately six months. Bruce Wayne (Batman) suffers burnout and is systematically assaulted and crippled by a "super steroid"-enhanced genius named Bane. Wayne is replaced as Batman by an apprentice named Jean-Paul Valley, who becomes increasingly violent and unstable, tarnishing Batman's reputation. Eventually, Wayne is healed through paranormal means, and reclaims his role as Batman.
Knightfall resulted in long-term ramifications for the Batman mythos, as Batman's trust from the police, public, and fellow superheroes had to be rebuilt. Additionally, Wayne realizes the peril and burden of attempting to work in solitude, leading to the eventual creation of the modern incarnation of the Batman family. The events of Knightfall also led to the resignation of Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
The entire Knightfall storyline took over a year to complete in the comic book serials, and in later years, the comics were compressed into a series of trade paperbacks, although these paperbacks do not include the Knightquest portion of the story.
Plot Summery
Prelude
The prelude to Knightfall began with the introduction of two new characters key to its storyline in issues prior to the release of "Knightfall":
* Azrael, aka Jean-Paul Valley, (introduced in Batman: The Sword of Azrael (October 1992 to January 1993) by Dennis O'Neil and Joe Quesada) a graduate student at Gotham University who discovers he has been unconsciously trained since birth as an assassin for an ancient religious order.
* Bane, introduced in Batman: Vengeance of Bane (January 1993) by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, an orphan born and raised in a Central American island prison, self-taught and ruthless, who underwent an involuntary experimental operation to become a new type of supersoldier, before breaking free and deciding to take Gotham City from its "king", Batman.
The two characters were quickly added to the cast in the monthly Batman titles, with Azrael being a superhero-in-training who fights alongside Batman, while Bane was introduced as a supervillain.
Within the regular series, the buildup to Knightfall begins with a six-issue run in Batman #484-489 (September 1992 - February 1993), in which Batman (at the onset of a personal psychological mid-life crisis) is forced to deal, in rapid succession, with the returning villain Black Mask and his gang (who target Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox), a crazed killer called Metalhead, and a sharpshooter assassin hired by an imprisoned mobster to murder Commissioner Gordon. Batman begins to feel he has lost his edge, especially after his failure to capture Black Mask. He finds himself unable to meditate or even focus. As Bruce Wayne, he contacts holistic therapist Shondra Kinsolving for treatment. He also assigns Robin (Tim Drake) to train Jean-Paul Valley in detective work to aid them as an ally, hoping to guide his brainwashing away from making him a villainous threat. Despite the advice of everyone in his life, including Dr. Kinsolving, Bruce refuses to rest, and continues to pursue his self-imposed duty despite his worsening condition. (Although not explicitly noted as a cause, these events take place immediately after the death of Superman, Batman's peer, elsewhere in the DC Universe.)
The next storyline, in Detective Comics #654-656 (December 1992 - February 1993), involves a young military student usurping power in Gotham's underworld and assaulting a police station, with Bruce's fatigue continuing to worsen. At the conclusion of this story, Bane and his henchman are shown monitoring Batman's performance.
Bane begins a series of encounters letting Batman know of his presence and his intentions. In the following issues, Bane interferes with encounters pitting villains Killer Croc and Riddler against Batman, and, to test Batman's limits, goes so far as to inject Riddler with the Venom drug. This escalation culminates in an assault on Arkham Asylum in Batman #491 (April 1993), where Bane breaks the inmates free and supplies them with numerous weapons to escape. Meanwhile, Robin finds it difficult to work with Jean-Paul, due to the man's violent subconscious training and lack of social skills, and also finds himself being shut out from working alongside Batman.
"Knightfall"
The plot of "Knightfall" begins with the master criminal Bane freeing all of the maximum-security inmates of Arkham Asylum, a notorious psychiatric facility in Gotham City. Aware that he would lose in a direct assault against Batman, Bane's plan consists of weakening Batman by forcing him to deal with the deadly villains simultaneously. Among the freed inmates, there are numerous high-profile villains, such as the Joker (who trapped Arkham's administrator Jeremiah Arkham), and the Scarecrow, as well as many less known villains, such as the Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, Firefly, Cavalier, The Film Freak and Victor Zsasz. The scenario creates a rift in the relationship between Robin and Batman, as Batman irrationally seeks to face the outbreak alonein later issues, Robin asks Batman if he is even needed as his sidekick anymore. A later flashback to this time period (Showcase '93 #7-8) shows Batman pursuing Two-Face alone, being trapped and kidnapped to stand a mock trial; he is saved only by a rescue attempt from Robin.
Bane breaks Batman's back in a splash page from Batman #497 (July 1993). Art by Jim Aparo.
Over the next few issues, Batman becomes weaker and weaker as each criminal is put away. The rescue of Mayor Krol from the combination of the Joker and Scarecrow takes Batman to his mental and physical limits: a dose of Scarecrow's fear gas makes him relive the murder of Jason Todd, which he considers to be his greatest failure. After this encounter, Bane makes his move and attacks Batman at Wayne Manor, his home as his alter-egoby this time, Bane had deduced the secret identity of Batman. The fight between Bruce Wayne and Bane is detailed in Batman #497, and ends with Wayne's back being broken over Bane's knee inside the Batcave below the manor, "breaking" Batman and leaving Wayne a paraplegic. Bane takes the grievously-wounded Wayne (still costumed in the Batman outfit) downtown to Gotham Square and throws him from a rooftop to demonstrate his superiority to the populace. With Batman incapacitated, Bane assumes control of Gotham City's underworld and takes over several illegal operations within it.
After his defeat, Bruce Wayne enlists the aid of Dr. Shondra Kinsolving to rehabilitate him and asks Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) to take up the mantle of Batman so that Gotham has a protector. Tim Drake argues with Bruce to allow Dick Grayson (the former Robin and then-current Nightwing,) to become Batman, as he is more experienced and mentally competent. Bruce replies that Grayson has his own responsibilities and would only take up the mantle of the Bat reluctantly. (Dick later expressed resentment at not being asked to stand in as Batman.) Bruce's rationale for this decision is revealed in later issues - secretly, he does not want Dick to have to face Bane, as he knows Dick's character will compel him to try. Indeed, Bruce gives Jean-Paul strict orders never to engage Bane in combatand when Jean-Paul does face Bane, only his modified gloves save Jean-Paul from being thrown to his death.
Soon after, Kinsolving and Tim's father Jack Drake are kidnapped and Bruce and Alfred leave the country to find them - their story is continued in Knightquest: The Search, while the happenings in Gotham are recorded in Knightquest: The Crusade. Paul is shown to be a different, but not dangerous, Batman until an encounter with the Scarecrow, which results in Jean-Paul being infected by Scarecrow's fear gas and "The System"his programming as Azraeltaking over, in order to combat Jean-Paul's fear. Following this, Jean-Paul is unable to shake the influence of the System, giving into it completely after his first defeat at Bane's hands, and being increasingly influenced by it during the rest of his tenure as Batman. Gradually, Jean-Paul alienates Robin with his paranoia and arrogance.
In Batman #500, Jean-Paul, in his new mechanical Batsuit (which is an amalgam of the Azrael costume with the Batman's) confronts Bane in a arduous battle and prevails, although many bystanders are put at risk. Jean-Paul leaves Bane broken mentally and physically, though he struggles with the choice of whether to simply kill Bane or hand him over to the police. He decides that he will let Bane go to Blackgate Prison. Jean-Paul continues to watch over Gotham after the fight, but grows increasingly unstable.
The plot of "Knightfall" begins with the master criminal Bane freeing all of the maximum-security inmates of Arkham Asylum, a notorious psychiatric facility in Gotham City. Aware that he would lose in a direct assault against Batman, Bane's plan consists of weakening Batman by forcing him to deal with the deadly villains simultaneously. Among the freed inmates, there are numerous high-profile villains, such as the Joker (who trapped Arkham's administrator Jeremiah Arkham), and the Scarecrow, as well as many less known villains, such as the Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, Firefly, Cavalier, The Film Freak and Victor Zsasz. The scenario creates a rift in the relationship between Robin and Batman, as Batman irrationally seeks to face the outbreak alonein later issues, Robin asks Batman if he is even needed as his sidekick anymore. A later flashback to this time period (Showcase '93 #7-8) shows Batman pursuing Two-Face alone, being trapped and kidnapped to stand a mock trial; he is saved only by a rescue attempt from Robin.
Bane breaks Batman's back in a splash page from Batman #497 (July 1993). Art by Jim Aparo.
Over the next few issues, Batman becomes weaker and weaker as each criminal is put away. The rescue of Mayor Krol from the combination of the Joker and Scarecrow takes Batman to his mental and physical limits: a dose of Scarecrow's fear gas makes him relive the murder of Jason Todd, which he considers to be his greatest failure. After this encounter, Bane makes his move and attacks Batman at Wayne Manor, his home as his alter-egoby this time, Bane had deduced the secret identity of Batman. The fight between Bruce Wayne and Bane is detailed in Batman #497, and ends with Wayne's back being broken over Bane's knee inside the Batcave below the manor, "breaking" Batman and leaving Wayne a paraplegic. Bane takes the grievously-wounded Wayne (still costumed in the Batman outfit) downtown to Gotham Square and throws him from a rooftop to demonstrate his superiority to the populace. With Batman incapacitated, Bane assumes control of Gotham City's underworld and takes over several illegal operations within it.
After his defeat, Bruce Wayne enlists the aid of Dr. Shondra Kinsolving to rehabilitate him and asks Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) to take up the mantle of Batman so that Gotham has a protector. Tim Drake argues with Bruce to allow Dick Grayson (the former Robin and then-current Nightwing,) to become Batman, as he is more experienced and mentally competent. Bruce replies that Grayson has his own responsibilities and would only take up the mantle of the Bat reluctantly. (Dick later expressed resentment at not being asked to stand in as Batman.) Bruce's rationale for this decision is revealed in later issues - secretly, he does not want Dick to have to face Bane, as he knows Dick's character will compel him to try. Indeed, Bruce gives Jean-Paul strict orders never to engage Bane in combatand when Jean-Paul does face Bane, only his modified gloves save Jean-Paul from being thrown to his death.
Soon after, Kinsolving and Tim's father Jack Drake are kidnapped and Bruce and Alfred leave the country to find them - their story is continued in Knightquest: The Search, while the happenings in Gotham are recorded in Knightquest: The Crusade. Paul is shown to be a different, but not dangerous, Batman until an encounter with the Scarecrow, which results in Jean-Paul being infected by Scarecrow's fear gas and "The System"his programming as Azraeltaking over, in order to combat Jean-Paul's fear. Following this, Jean-Paul is unable to shake the influence of the System, giving into it completely after his first defeat at Bane's hands, and being increasingly influenced by it during the rest of his tenure as Batman. Gradually, Jean-Paul alienates Robin with his paranoia and arrogance.
In Batman #500, Jean-Paul, in his new mechanical Batsuit (which is an amalgam of the Azrael costume with the Batman's) confronts Bane in a arduous battle and prevails, although many bystanders are put at risk. Jean-Paul leaves Bane broken mentally and physically, though he struggles with the choice of whether to simply kill Bane or hand him over to the police. He decides that he will let Bane go to Blackgate Prison. Jean-Paul continues to watch over Gotham after the fight, but grows increasingly unstable.
Aftermath
At the conclusion of Knightfall DC jumped into the Knightquest arc. At the onset of "Knightquest", Jean-Paul Valley has been established as Batman, and Bruce Wayne is out of the country. Instead of a crossover with a definite ending, the publishers treated the scenario as though it were the new status quo, leaving it open-ended.
(I will do a spotlight on the KnightQuest arc sometime down the road)
Bibliography
* Batman #491
* 1: Batman #492
* 2: Detective Comics #659
* 3: Batman #493
* 4: Detective Comics #660
* 5: Batman #494
* 6: Detective Comics #661
* 7: Batman #495
* 8: Detective Comics #662
* 9: Batman #496
* 10: Detective Comics #663
* 11: Batman #497
Justin's Thoughts
I've always felt this was a good arc, as it introduced us to Bane, and finally showed that the Batman could in fact be defeated, it's not to often that you see the hero get beaten and in this case not only beaten but broken, which apparently was an idea DC was in love with at the time as this took place shortly after the Death of Superman. I'll be honest as much as I liked this storyline I was never able to collect or even read every issue in it, I was only able to get certain issues as I was extremely tight on cash at the time, the only issue I really remember well was Batman #497, I loved that issue, I loved the big fight with Bane, I was shocked when I got to the splash page where all you see is Batman's back being broke over Banes knee, and in big black letters across the top of the page the words BREAK YOU!, a great page from a great issue, and a great storyline, one of which I need to find in trade paperback form, so that I can go back and relive and enjoy all over again