knightfall: knightquest review

batman but with MORE edge

i read the first knightfall about ~2 years ago now and loved it. batman who at that point in time was established with a solid gallery of rogues that threw him into new situations of danger, zest, and pure comic book action. then the introduction of bane occurs.

now, introducing new characters (villains specifically) is not a groundbreaking concept by any means and neither is their continuity. however if said character can have a profound impact on the story that’s completely warranted then it works. when i mean warranted I mean do YOU as the reader say “yeah that checks” or do you say “they’re only getting away with this because the plot demands it” - usually a plot driven character can work so long as the timing and fit of the character are justified.

now, a character that upsets the status quo through the sheer force of their character alone creates lasting impact in readers - leaving them asking for more. Bane in knightfall does exactly that, his motivations are fair, he’s established in his archetypes, and the build up of his eventual confrontation with batman connects and once the bat falls - we agree, bro had it coming.

then you get azrael. azrael which if you don’t know just think of someone who I’d say is stronger than batman but not as intelligent and is guided by his fervor to a religious order of crusades from times past, oh and his dad kinda lives in his head along with the founder of said religious order. the problem is that azrael is EXTREMELY compleling as a character - it’s cool seeing how somebody else takes the mantle of the bat and turns it into their own thing while trying to live up to the original. this is not something novel as we’ve seen this done many times before.

the problem is azrael is edgy, he’s plagued by innate human desires that are silenced by his need to perform a duty as not just batman, but as a knight of the order of st dumas, and guided by his internal sleeper agent dad spy system that gives him hacks and the ability to lock in. all he really does is do the same batman things while exploring his own motivations and getting more extreme by the day.

after that there isn’t anything TOO special with knightquest, the art is great - it reads great, ambience and tone setting are extremely well done - opting for less words to get action and exposition across. it’s a good read, azrael is badass, and I can’t wait to see how it all closes in the 3rd installment.

thanks for reading!