Batman Knightfall 1

A must read for any Batman or comic book fan in general. A very essential story in the Batman mythos. So do yourself a favor and buy it!

It came in great condition and was very cautiously protected and secured. It’s gonna look great with the rest of my Marvel and DC Comics collection!

As the new Batman movie rises to fame in the theaters, fans from all over, new and old, are interested in reading, or re-reading, the story that inspired the movie itself. Spanning Batman 491-500 and Detective Comics 659-666, Knightfall follows Batman in his quest to stop Bane, and Batman's subsequent defeat and approval of his replacement. This new version of the Knightfall TPB starts off with the Vengeance of Bane Special #1 in which you learn of Bane's past at the Santa Prisca prison and his hatred for a caped crusader he's never met and the desire to rule a town he's never been to. Fast-forward to Batman #491 and Detective Comics #659 and we bounce around between those two series as Batman and Robin are forced to deal with Bane's prison escape, and Bane's hand at letting everyone in Arkham Asylum out loose in Gotham. As chaos ensues, Batman (already in bad shape , is forced to mop up and take everyone he can in as quickly as possible before the kill count rises any more. However, it all leads to Batman #497 where Bane's evil plan to break the bat comes to its peak. The evil mastermind of crime takes advantage of Batman's sheer lack of strength and energy and uses it to break him and show the people of Gotham that Batman is no more. As Bane finally gets a hold on Batman, Gotham goes into a frenzy as crime shoots through the roof and the police are unable to handle it.We learn in Showcase '93 #7-8 of Batman's attempt at bringing Harvey Dent back into the Asylum prior to his encounter with Bane, and in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #16-18, we learns of Scarecrow's origins and his grand scheme that puts the new Batman, formerly Azrael, in charge of cleaning up the mess that Bane has created. However, Jean-Paul's Batman doesn't have time for sidekicks and he surely doesn't have time to hold back on the murderers and thugs of Gotham.One of Batman's greatest stories ever told is reprinted here in a more complete volume that spans over 600 pages! Although you get a whole mess of content to read through, you're still left wondering who in the world this Azrael guy is and why Bruce is messed up already as you're barely into the first issue. Also, you get no introduction to Azrael's partners nor an origin to Bane's venom toxin. However, you do get a lot of content that makes the story fairly easy to follow despite the few missing links. The art's consistently nice aside from perhaps the Two-Face and Scarecrow story arcs. The writing is superb with every page making you want to keep it turning and the eventual breaking of the Batman as powerful an image as ever. This is definitely a story to read even if you just jumped into the New 52 era of Batman. Seeing Jean-Paul become Batman makes you start to hate him as he turns more and more into a villain instead of a Batman-clone. His desire to take over what Bruce has becomes a scary reality to what Tim Drake has to face while Bruce is confined to a wheelchair. However, the entire book really makes you think about what Gotham would be if Batman were to suddenly cease to exist and how easily a maniac like Bane could take over.The book comes with all the comic covers as well as the Batman #500 variant and the Knightfall TPB covers as well. So, there isn't a whole lot of extras but they're there. Overall, definitely a book to get for a classic story!

The '90's were not kind to comic books. Aside from a few exceptions, that decade was characterized by mediocre storytelling, sensationalized, gimicky, over-the-top plots, and flashy art. In Batman Knightfall, you get two of the three: the writing is okay but not great, and the plot leads up to Batman getting his spine broken by a new and more vicious supervillain. The art is more serviceable than flashy -- mostly handled by the likes of Jim Aparo, Norm Breyfogle, and Graham Nolan, and it all flows very sequentially and creates an easy-to-follow story, but none of the panels really stands out in a way that would make you want to pause and take a second glance. The storyline also has a lot of plot holes. To name a few:[SPOILER ALERT]The villain Bane has a very superficial reason for wanting to take over Gotham and hurt Batman, and once Batman's rogues gallery is released from Arkham, they all immediately assemble criminal gangs and begin committing crimes, with no other motivation given except that they're all crazy and that's just what they do. Bane always has a henchman who just happens to know the location where the next villain will strike, so that he's able to relay info on Batman back to villain HQ, and Bane figures out Batman's secret identity just by watching Bruce Wayne from afar and recognizing that he must be Batman.[END SPOILERS]If there's a strength to this volume, it's in the incredible length of the storyline, which stretches over a full 24 issues (one of which is a 63-page special), and that just sets up part 2 of the story in Knightquest. A sustained plotline that stretches that long is pretty impressive, even if the motivations of the villains are pretty poorly defined. This is fun, fun, fun to read, and it does cover a pretty pivotal and devastating event in the life of the Dark Knight. Also, even though the interior art is nothing to marvel at, the cover art looks fantastic, and it is all reprinted here as well. Most of the covers are done by Kelly Jones, and they all have an eerie, spooky, stylistic look to them. You also get 2 characteristically weird-looking covers by Sam Kieth, an alternative wraparound cover to Batman 500 by Joe Quesada, and the Mike Deodato covers to the original 2 trade paperbacks that are included in this one single volume, and they all look great.The 3 storylines that I have always thought best exemplified the depths to which 1990's comics sunk to, were Spider-Man's Clone Saga, the Death of Superman, and Batman Knightfall. But now that I've actually read through it, I have to admit that Knightfall is an enjoyable read, as long as you know what to expect. There are no clever villain schemes or key insights into Batman's character, but you do get a fast-moving and epic-length (600+ pages!) account of one of the most traumatic events in the Batman's crimefighting career. Recommended, because even if you know where the story is going (with Batman breaking his back, renouncing the mantle of the Bat, and eventually taking it back again), the journey there is a good one.

I think I read an abridged version in the 90s that was the better for omitting some of the "filler" chapters (the two-face and scarecrow six issue diversion) but the front half of this collection is strong with the grind and slog almost meta palpable as Batman deals with wave after wave of challenges becoming weaker and weaker. It makes the confrontation with Bane and the result feel justified and earned.What doesn't feel as earned is Jean Paul Valley and still don't buy why he was Wayne's first choice when so many better options were available. But it allows them to pursue the 90s obsession with grim and gritty.The artwork is firmly of its time but there is some classic art by Jim Aparo. It's a shame Kelley Jones doesn't do any interior work as his covers are iconic.Interested to see how the story develops but wary of the fact it's already feeling dragged out.

KNIGHTFALL - Vol 1.Volume one represents the first part of the Knightfall trilogy and is followed by Knightquest and Knightsend, all averaging over 600 pages making for an 1,800 page epic storyline. Volume one was originally published as two separate volumes, 'Broken Bat' and who 'Rules the Night', what these editions didn't have was the 61 page 'Vengeance of Bane' origin story which is included here and really kick-starts the saga by explaining Bane's motive and ambition. Thereafter, the content is identical to the previous editions, charting Batman's infamous first battle with Bane, Batman's subsequent reinvention and the resulting rematch. Bane's scheme of using the full arsenal of Batman's enemies against him brings all the big names into the frame. The sub-stories are still great and all contribute to the overall story arc. The primary story arc is terrific and a genuine touchstone in comic history. Considering this is part one of a trilogy, however, the ending doesn't leave many loose ends other than how the new Batman will cope with the responsibility of the mantle of the bat.The paper and print quality are both excellent. All three volumes are well bound. The only issue here being that all the real drama of the Knightfall saga is effectively captured within this one volume. Purists will probably be unable to resist collecting all three volumes but in truth there Vols 2 and 3 are a little padded out, particularly Vol. 2, and Bane isn't seen again.

Nearly 700 pages long...I read it on a day! I opened it up for the first time, wanting to give it a quick initial read. 4 hours later I was still reading! Amazing! 😍😍😍

Simply this book is one of the greatest reads out there, it's the beginning of an amazing arc for batman, one that challenges him to his core and alters pre-52 bruce permanently. Bane is at his all time best (at least depending on how city of bane pans out) and offers the ectreme of a bone breaking challenge, without getting too deep you need to read it yourself. Not just this one though, the whole set of volumes.

I have started collecting Batman in collected editions weather it was trade paperbacks or hardcovers in the last 3 years picking and choosing which stories to pick up. Chose this because of its notoriety as it makes many top Batman stories lists and recommendations. Just need to pick up the other 2 parts Knightsend and Knightquest so the event is complete.