Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 1

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!

Batman: knightfall is the first story that the villain Bane ever appeared in, and boy did he make an impression! he was so good in this story that he is a villain in 2 live action batman movies, there are a WHOLE lot of villains that batman fights in this story but none are ever as intimidating or as powerful as Bane. so in this book a drug junkie named Bane and his gang of crackheads break the most insane villains out of arkham asylum, and Batman spends half the book chasing them down, but we find out that batman is sick during this time and is pushing himself beyond his own limits. as the story progresses you see batman get more, and more, sluggish, he isn't sleeping, he's sick and not taking medicine, and he's getting beaten to a pulp every night. each battle (and there's like 20) you see batman just BARELY come out on top, and once Batman was the weakest he's ever been, bane shows up in his house and he BREAKS THE BAT. after that this book gets depressing, Batman is totally broken and done, robin is treated like crap by everyone, and jean Paul valley becomes the new Batman and while he DOES beat Bane he's not a good Batman and robin can tell, i'm guessing in vol 2 bruce takes the mantle of the bat back. anyways that was the story 4/5 its good anyways now lets talk about BANE. bane is the polar opposite of bruce wayne, but yet so similar, bruce grew up alone in a mansion, bane grew up alone in prison for the sins of his father. Bane was locked in the deepest hole in a prison that was basically hell where he spent ten years, in that time he became extremely spiritual and he trained every day and became huge. after the ten years he emerged from his hole and gained the respect of his prisonmates. but while he was down there he dreampt only of killing a Bat that haunts his dreams, and once he heard about batman he immediately broke out and headed towards gotham. the man was MADE to break the bat. and then he took a drug called venom that gave him superhuman strength. "You Will Know My Name One Day. And On That Day, You Will Beg For Mercy." -Bane 1993

With the hype of the Dark Knight Rises coming up, I figure that as a hardcore Batman fan and enthusiast, I should probably invest some time into reading into Bane's original comic book introduction. And after I did, I now get why Christopher Nolan chose him to be the villain of his final installment in his Batman series. Sure, he's not the infamous Joker, and yes, following Heath Ledger's performance is going to be tough, but reading this comic alone has put some faith into me for the next movie. Because Bane is the next logical choice for a solid, challenging villain. Now, again, I'm a hardcore Batman fan. But I'll blame it on my young age for having never read the original comics beyond whatever got compiled together into one neat package. Before this I think I've only read Scarecrow Tales, The Long Halloween, and the Killing Joke (all of which I highly recommend): I know a great deal on Batman in general thanks to a life time of research, but I never read the full stories with my own eyes, and I was never familiar with Bane outside of what I saw in the Batman video games and movies. Now knowing what I know thanks to Knightfall, I'm pretty disappointed that most media seems to depict Bane as less threatening or less intelligent than he really is, because, yeah, he's kind of a guy you don't want to cross paths with. I've included a succinct summary of why in the spoiler area below this review, based on just this volume alone. Trust me though: Just read Knightfall for yourself and get immersed into a very suspenseful story arc, both for Bane and for Bruce Wayne. Thanks to this, Bane got bumped up to my second favorite villain. And he's only in second place because my love of horror and psychology prevent me from downgrading The Scarecrow to anything less than number one. :) *****SPOILERS***** So, why is Bane awesome and threatening? He beat Film Freak to death with his bare hands, broke Killer Croc's arms like toothpicks TWICE, and he's the only villain to have ever completely defeat Batman. Granted, he only snapped his spine and could have rendered him paralyzed or killed him - sure no biggie, he's only the damn Batman - but he's the only villain to have put him out of commission for a period of time. And he's one of the very few villains, if not the only one, to have figured out that Batman is Bruce Wayne, by merely using his brain and paying freakin' attention. He's both a physical threat AND an intellectual one. *****SPOILER?*****

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 bought this on Amazon's mark down for $17.94. I do not think that I would pay the full retail price of $29.99 for it, but I grabbed it at this price as it is a great deal for this large a collection. It's a fairly sizable collection- unlike previous comic collections which mark themselves as the first "volume" and only have a couple hundred pages the most, this one clocks in at over 600 pages. I was worried at first that this was purely a case of quantity over quality, but the issues collected within are great, and even the filler is bearable. For the most part, a newcomer to the Batman series can pick up the beginning of Knightfall and understand the story quickly as it doesn't rely on previous story arcs all that much (just know Batman is still bummed out about the death of the previous Robin, Jason Todd). It also adds some interesting stories set within the world, including two that follow Scarecrow and Anarky. It also includes the origin story on Bane that was published afterwards, which I think is a good way to add some further depth to Bane. The art, like many comics, varies depending on which issue is read, so it might be jarring for some (especially in the Shadow of the Bat Scarecrow special). Overall the quality to me was good for all of the artists involved, and I think is a good highlight of how varied art can be in the American comics scene. The only complaint I would have about this collection, having read Knightfall for the first time in my life, is that the story references a prior confrontation with Bane by both Jean-Paul and Killer Croc. I found myself trying to flip around the volume looking for this, but I guess these were printed before the Knightfall arc was formally started. The paper quality leaves something to be desired, so be careful handling it. Highly recommended from me, especially if Amazon has it marked down in price.

Loved this story. Told great, and for an older comic still so violent and just visceral. Loved the artwork and again for the old school style even the dialogue wasn't as weak as some of the others of this time. Just filled with ups and downs, seeing batman be broken was just one of the most heartbreaking sequences of panels I've ever seen in comics. It was like seeing you should never see or have felt with batman and it shows how sometimes even the best sometimes meet their match and how will you come back after loosing for the 1st time so to speak. Banes sidekicks are hacky typical looser comic bad guy sidekicks and are wack but still funny to just laugh at. If your a batman fan you should definitely read this for many reasons.

One of the all-time best Batman titles. Knightfall is why Bane is so fondly remembered by Batman fans even after his terrible feature in the Batman and Robin disaster of a movie and his good, but meme-worthy role in divisive The Dark Knight Rises. Volume One of Knightfall focuses on Bane's brilliant manipulations of Batman who is already struggling with illness and sleep deprivation. Exhausted at the outset, Batman is worn down to the bone after Bane blows open Arkham Asylum. While Bane waits in the wings, Batman must face off against foes like Mr. Zsasz, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and the Joker. It all leads to the fateful battle between a worn-out Bats and the criminal mastermind that leaves Batman broken. From there Knightfall features the opening of the "Knightquest" story arc where a hobbled Bruce Wayne passes the cowl on to Jean Paul Valley (aka Azrael). Azrael takes to the role of Batman quickly but is far more brutal than Bruce ever was. While the second volume Knightquest is just okay (very influenced by the styles of the time) and the final volume Knightsend is frankly kind of an anti-climax in my opinion, Knightfall is nearly perfect. Just as much about the rise and fall of Bane as it is about the breaking of the Bat, the collection is a must-read for Batman fans and anyone interested in this classic villain. Also keep in mind the second and third volumes become more about Azrael's growing madness and time as the Batman than it is about Bane whose role pretty much ends with this volume. Also, it is a thick read so at under twenty bucks it is a solid deal.

Great graphic novel, great shipper. Item arrived in perfect condition and very quickly.

Harika bir kitap harika bir kalite.

The best of the best of the best🔥

Buen comic, una historia clasica de DC dividida en 3 tomos, cada uno es un pequeño ombibus de aproximandamente 600 páginas, por lo que si juntas la colección son 1800, es un buen tiempo para leer una gran historia. Para quien no los haya leído pero le interesa agregar alguno o todos los tomos a su colección, su principal trama es la siguiente: 1- Knightfall (Bane) 2- Knightquest (Azrael) 3- Knightsend (Batman y Azrael) Éste primer tomo trata principalmente de Bane, los tres forman una historia pero éste tomo es uno de los "puntos de infección" en DC cómics, un hecho que marcó un momento icónico que es y será recordado en la historia de Batman. Si sólo deseas este primer volúmen está bien, es una gran historia que no se siente incompleta si no compras las demás. Es de pasta blanda, el papel es como de los cómics antiguos, se siente poroso, un poco mejor que el papel de periódico, no es encerado y con acabado brilloso como la mayoría de los comics actuales, pero creo que ésto aun es común en Estados Unidos para los comics TPB, por mí no hay problema, ya que siento que es como si adquiriera una replica del cómic que salió en los 90's, tiene 630 páginas y sólo 3 hojas de extras con portadas de los cómics. La historia te muestra el origen de Bane y su llegada a ciudad gótica, para mí fue una gran oportunidad de tener un cómic donde Bane fuera protagonista ya que generalmente se le da un rol más de relleno en otras historias.

Het boek is met enige vertraging, maar zonder schade aangekomen. Het is een goed verhaal met Bane in de schijnwerpers. Het begint met Bane en de oorsprong van deze schurk. Het verhaal leest lekker soepel en is verder niet complex. In twee dagen helemaal uitgelezen.

Great read, print is amazing, easy to read and pages feel strong.