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A review by thecommonswings
Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 2: Knightquest by Chuck Dixon
3.0
A proper slog, but kind of fascinating for that: it’s indicative of the nineties comics mentality that has created things like Comicsgate and that modern comics constantly feel like they’re reacting against either ironically or with full conviction. The main plot is Bruce Wayne is out of action because of Bane - from the third Nolan Batman film if you aren’t aware of him - and the mantle has been taken by Jean Paul Valley who appears to be a bit insane and driven by the ghosts of his dead dad and a Knight Templar. So far that could be almost any era of comics
But what we get is a character who’s a lot less self questioning than Wayne is, and who’s frankly a bit of a bastard. This means the best writers - Chuck Dixon mostly - can use this as a stealth way of looking at the state of mainstream nineties comics and add their despair into the characters themselves. The new Batman looks ridiculous, like they got drunk one night and tried to find the most absurd and daftly edgy outfit they could (he literally has no hands but weird curved spike things) to see if they could get away with it. The best writers and artists here definitely are sending up the grotesqueries of the genre, because what else can you do if you don’t want to embrace it?
The worst writers and artists here are... kind of more fascinating because they don’t spot the absurdity or irony, or in the case of Alan Grant - whose work on Dredd pretty much defined this trait in mainstream comics - just phones it in with deliberate schlock. The stories lurch about in tone. Villains have names and designs that a 13 year old high on felt tip fumes would have come up with. There’s no logic or sense of a real world that this is reacting against or embracing. It’s incredibly silly. And it’s only those who are in on the joke - surely boggling that others really are not also in on it - that makes this as fun as it does. Really and truly: very strange
But what we get is a character who’s a lot less self questioning than Wayne is, and who’s frankly a bit of a bastard. This means the best writers - Chuck Dixon mostly - can use this as a stealth way of looking at the state of mainstream nineties comics and add their despair into the characters themselves. The new Batman looks ridiculous, like they got drunk one night and tried to find the most absurd and daftly edgy outfit they could (he literally has no hands but weird curved spike things) to see if they could get away with it. The best writers and artists here definitely are sending up the grotesqueries of the genre, because what else can you do if you don’t want to embrace it?
The worst writers and artists here are... kind of more fascinating because they don’t spot the absurdity or irony, or in the case of Alan Grant - whose work on Dredd pretty much defined this trait in mainstream comics - just phones it in with deliberate schlock. The stories lurch about in tone. Villains have names and designs that a 13 year old high on felt tip fumes would have come up with. There’s no logic or sense of a real world that this is reacting against or embracing. It’s incredibly silly. And it’s only those who are in on the joke - surely boggling that others really are not also in on it - that makes this as fun as it does. Really and truly: very strange