Scan barcode
A review by buer
Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 2: Knightquest by Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant
4.0
Knightquest is a fun read. The description of Jean-Paul Valley's inner-life paints him in a much more sympathetic light than we saw in the first book. Although he continues to be overly brash in his reactions to criminals and deviate from the moral structure that Bruce Wayne put in place for Batman, we also finally get to see what inner demons (or angels) drive him to act as he does.
One of my favorite aspects of the storyline is that Valley seems to develop an affinity for Wayne's style of vigilantism. Although he weaponizes the batsuit more than Wayne ever had(which makes for some really great art) he also realizes the importance of doing the detective work that he despises and chooses to save the lives of bystanders before capturing criminals with increasing regularity.
Criticizing storytelling is always a little difficult with comic books turned into a larger tome. Robin was the most common manifestation of this. He would pop up every third comic book or so and remind us that he's not around because Valley would strangle him if he was. One kind of cool element was that there were villains who Avery hadn't encountered and were, therefore, just as fresh to him as they would be to the novice reader. He underestimated the Joker, misinterpreted Cat Woman's motives, and was unnecessarily violent with Mr. Freeze. The novelty of a novice Batman interacting with classic villains made for great moments.
It was also interesting to see Bruce Wayne musing about retirement and Tim Drake realizing that a better home life for him might damage his life as a super hero. How far down the rabbit hole of superherohood does Drake have to be for a better home life to seem like a curse instead of a blessing?
One of my favorite aspects of the storyline is that Valley seems to develop an affinity for Wayne's style of vigilantism. Although he weaponizes the batsuit more than Wayne ever had(which makes for some really great art) he also realizes the importance of doing the detective work that he despises and chooses to save the lives of bystanders before capturing criminals with increasing regularity.
Spoiler
Of course, much of this character development is eradicated in the moment that he faces off with Abattoir and allows him to die. This in itself was a fascinating moment because in a lot of ways not making a decision was the only way that he could be sure that he wasn't following his programming. He was not true to the mantle of the bat, but he avoided making a pre-ordained decision, which is an extraodinary moment of strength of Valley even as it is an awful moment of immorality for the Batman.Criticizing storytelling is always a little difficult with comic books turned into a larger tome. Robin was the most common manifestation of this. He would pop up every third comic book or so and remind us that he's not around because Valley would strangle him if he was. One kind of cool element was that there were villains who Avery hadn't encountered and were, therefore, just as fresh to him as they would be to the novice reader. He underestimated the Joker, misinterpreted Cat Woman's motives, and was unnecessarily violent with Mr. Freeze. The novelty of a novice Batman interacting with classic villains made for great moments.
Spoiler
I would also argue that there was a definite lack of punch in the storytelling surrounding Abattoir. The fact that Valley let him die was deplorable, but understandable. It did not make sense that Abattoir's cousin was still left to die. Neither Valley nor Robin (who happened to be on site as well and had researched Abattoir and his hide-out more thoroughly) found or saved Abbatoir's victim. It made for an interesting plot point since Valley also reacted with an eerie nonchalance upon hearing that the man he had been trying to save had died, but the fact that no one looked for him in what I believe was the exact same building made very little sense. It was a poor storytelling moment.It was also interesting to see Bruce Wayne musing about retirement and Tim Drake realizing that a better home life for him might damage his life as a super hero. How far down the rabbit hole of superherohood does Drake have to be for a better home life to seem like a curse instead of a blessing?