Countdown to The Dark Knight Rises - Prelude to Knightfall

Welcome back to another edition of Deciphering DC. With the Dark Knight Rises all the rage all over the media, I think it’s high time I gave the whole saga a comprehensive look. DC thought the same, and that is why we saw a collection called Batman vs Bane, that collected for the first time ever, Batman: Vengeance of Bane 1 and the miniseries Batman: Bane of the Demon.

Among other collections released were a reprint of Batman: Venom (see review here), with the first appearance of the drug of the same name, which the antagonist Bane uses and Batman: Birth of the Demon (see review here), featuring the trilogy of graphic novels featuring Ra’s Al Ghul, probably a major player in this enterprise as well. And finally, an expanded collection featuring the Knightfall saga and tie ins.

 Today, however, I choose to focus on this integral part of Batman history, part of which DC choose not to collect, and part not to reprint. Batman: Sword of Azrael features the first appearance of Jean Paul Valley, the man who would eventually don the mantle of the Batman for a time.

 Batman: Sword of Azrael

Writer: Dennis O’Neil

Artists: Joe Quesada, Kevin Nowlan

Collects: Batman: Sword of Azrael issues 1-4

Azrael is an avenging assassin of a shadowy organization called The Order of St. Dumas. After a battle with a man called LeHah, a mortally wounded Azrael makes his way to his son, Jean Paul Valley and gives him a suitcase, telling him that it has everything he needs to take up the mantle of Azrael before dying. 

Meanwhile, Batman investigates the wounded Azrael, recovering his sword that has the insignia of the order of St Dumas. He then learns of an arms deal by LeHah scheduled to take place in Switzerland. The documents in the briefcase lead Jean Paul Valley separately to Switzerland, where he encounters a dwarf Nomoz and a giant Heinrich, who complete his schooling in the ways of Azrael. 

On their arrival in Switzerland, LeHah shoots the helicopter carrying Bruce and Alfred as part of a weapons test. The helicopter crashes and the resulting avalanche buries LeHah. He goes insane, hallucinating the demon Biis, talking to him and obeying his gestures. Azrael (Jean Paul Valley) has a fight with Batman and is defeated, causing him and Nomoz to retreat. Nomoz tells Jean that the order of St Dumas has established many charities to support it’s members, unless they turn against the order. LeHah was a member once, until he used the charities to finance his arms business. Now, LeHah wants to kill all the remaining members of the order and take all the wealth for himself.

Dennis O’Neil spins a memorable tale here, as complicated and fast paced as possible. Joe Quesada’s art is elegant, however Kevin Nowlan’s inks steal the show here, as they do everywhere. He is one of the persons whose inks I find it easier to identify than the pencils they cover. Other luminaries including Mike Mignola, Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Probably the fact that Joe Quesada is currently EIC at Marvel Comics has a role to play in DC not reprinting this part of the story, which is an integral part. Well worth your while, it was reprinted as single issues in a silver edition printing as well. Read it, you’ll thank me you did.

Sword of Azrael then continues into Batman 488. While the Knightfall saga per se begins in Batman 491, Doug Moench has been seeding the story right since the beginning of his run which began in Batman 481. While good, not all of it is essential reading for Knightfall. It mainly explains why Bruce Wayne is so tired at the beginning of Knightfall, when he hasn’t even run Bane’s gauntlet yet. Batman 488-490 though, feature Bane, Killer Croc, the Riddler and Jean Paul Valley as Batman. As all of these characters appear in Knightfall, reading these issues actually helps to understand where and how they came into the state they are in Knightfall. Plus, it’s good art. Jim Aparo interiors, Travis Charest on a few covers.

Rating: 9 on 10. O’Neil still has it, and I’d say the same for Moench.

Next up: Knightfall Part 1: The Broken Bat

[And for those interested in the expertly reviewed for your pleasure, Batman-Bane articles Aalok has compiled for you before you hit the ground running for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, check out Batman Vs Bane and Countdown to The Dark Knight Rises - Batman: Venom. - Editor]