Batman: The Dark Knight Rises - KnightsEnd

DECIPHERING DC

Writers: Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, Dennis O'Neil, Jo Duffy
Artists: Mike Manley, Graham Nolan, Bret Blevins, Tom Grummett, Ron Wagner, Jim Balent, Barry Kitson

Hello and Welcome to yet another edition of Deciphering DC. This time, we take a look at the conclusion of the Knights Saga, KnightsEnd. Of course, Bruce comes back to regain the mantle of the Bat. Subsequently, Dick Grayson takes up the Bat costume, albeit for a short time, in the next arc, Prodigal.

Bruce Wayne, after facing defeat at the hands of Jean Paul Valley who is now Batman, goes to Lady Shiva to regain the use of his body and make proper use of the years of muscle memory lost due to his recent injury. Lady Shiva wants Bruce to learn to kill, and that is a line Bruce has decided never to cross. So, Lady Shiva tries to put Bruce in such a situation that he has to kill, or die.

Lady Shiva goes to a sensei, who has lost both of his arms and bests him in combat, killing him while wearing the mask of the Bat. The sensei's attendant carries the news to his seven disciples, each highly skilled, that someone dressed in a Bat mask has killed their sensei. Shiva then passes on the Bat mask to Bruce. Bruce is suspected of murder and hunted by the seven masters, in ascending order of skill.

Meanwhile, Jean Paul Valley finds the medallion of the Order of St Dumas, which leads him to a weapon smuggling ring and he becomes obsessed with finding LeHah, the murderer of his father. The visions of St Dumas become more and more frequent, and Jean Paul teeters precariously on the edge of sanity. While Bruce fights the seven masters, one by one. Nightwing and Robin keep a sharp eye on Jean Paul, and one thing is clear : this won't be easy.

The weapons trail leads Jean Paul to Selkirk, where he meets Catwoman, who wants a neural enabler from him which would enable one of her disabled friends to walk again. Selkirk is using the neural enabler prototype to form an army of cyborgs.

 
Bruce has succeeded in beating the masters, without killing a single one of them. However, he tricks Lady Shiva momentarily into believing that he kills the last assassin. All paths converge at Selkirk's and it just might take everybody to bring Jean Paul Valley down.

Most of the book is a fight romp, which is probably why despite it being so long, it feels so short. The conclusion of the story works pretty well. Leave it to Dennis O'Neil to write a conclusion that hearkens back to when Bruce first fell down the hole and discovered the Batcave. It's brilliant and emotional as well. Of late, while Grant Morrison's Batman epic seems involving enough, one can't help but wonder... has the little boy crying over his parents' killing in Crime Alley been lost in favour of a know-it-all who conquers Gods and returns from the beginning of time itself?

The art shines at most places. I am already a fan of Mike Manley's work on Batman. Graham Nolan does an excellent job as well. The covers here aren't Kelley Jones' 100%... Kelley does all the Batman and Detective Covers, regular Robin and Catwoman artists Tom Grummett and Jim Balent provide their covers and Legends of the Dark Knight covers are by Mike Mignola and Barry Kitson, for the issue in which he renders the interiors as well.

While the story isn't plotted too tightly (if you count, Bruce overpowers only six assassins/masters instead of seven) and the Catwoman inclusion is an unnecessary hindrance, most of it works. My favourite sequences are of Bruce falling into the Abyss, his own personal test, and gaining a grapplehold and swinging confidently through (not much unlike the prison sequence in The Dark Knight Rises) thus mastering it.

Also, some of the more peripheral appearances of Jean Paul Valley have not been collected. Jean Paul Valley as Batman appears in Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire, two issues of Chain Gang War, three issues of The Outsiders and the annuals of Batman, Detective Comics and Legends of the Dark Knight.

The Annuals are part of the Bloodlines event running through all the Annuals of 1993 which feature the same plot - alien race uses humans as nourishment, awakens the metagene present in certain humans, they become superheroes and fight to bring down the aliens. The Chain Gang as well as The Outsiders are wanted by the police and Jean Paul tries to capture them (blatantly screams sales gimmick).

Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire is a good one though. The story is by Dennis O'Neil, and the art is by Barry Kitson. The Punisher comes to Gotham to stop Jigsaw, who intends to mix a chemical in the water that would make it flammable, rendering the city's population waterless. Usually, DC/Marvel crossovers are non canon, but in an issue of Batman contained in this trade, Jean Paul mentions stopping Jigsaw. The Batman/Punisher story is collected in DC/Marvel Crossover Classics II.

The old trade contains the entire storyline (no issues of Outsiders, Chain Gang War, annuals or Batman/Punisher in all three versions of trades) and a Robin issue which features the aftermath. The new printing contains an additional issue of Catwoman, again labeled as an 'Aftermath issue', but doesn't really do much for the main story. It's an account of how Selina gets the neural enabler again. Another addition is a short story that takes place after KnightsEnd, featuring Azrael, from Showcase magazine. This story bridges the gap between KnightsEnd and the Azrael monthly series.

Rating: 9 on 10. Good, if a bit padded out

Next Week: The new printing of KnightsEnd contains Prodigal as well, as we conclude our look at the story that inspired the blockbuster movie. Be there! 


And of course, don't forget the previous editions of this mammoth saga we've already covered if you're just jumping on:
Prelude to Knightfall
Knightfall Vol 1: The Broken Bat
Knightfall Vol 2: Who Rules the Night!
KnightQuest: The Crusade - Detective Comics and Robin
KnightQuest: The Crusade - Batman: Shadow of the Bat

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Aalok Joshi is a total fanboy and claims to read everything in the comics genre but American comics and Syndicated strips totally win him over. He has been reading comics since he was 5 and started off with Indrajal Comics. After his relatives started pestering him about changing his reading habits, he switched over to novels after junking his erstwhile collection. Gotham Comics, the Indian Authorized publisher of DC/Marvel brought him back in 2002 and he has stayed here ever since. 
Now concentrating largely on DC and slightly on Marvel and few selected independents, he is interested and taking steps towards writing for the genre. He also dabbles in illustration and his dream is one newspaper style cartoon per day.