The Dark Knight Rises - KnightQuest: The Search

DECIPHERING DC

Welcome to yet another edition of Deciphering DC. We continue our look at Knightfall, now focusing on KnightQuest: The Search. It follows Bruce Wayne and Alfred in their quest for Jack Drake and Shondra Kinsolving. This phase of the Dark Knight has never been collected, and chances are, it still won’t be.

The storyline crosses over three titles –

- Justice League Task Force issues 5 & 6 written by Dennis O’Neil (incorrectly solicited as David Michelinie on one cover) and art and covers by Sal Velluto

- Batman: Shadow of the Bat issues 21-23 written by Alan Grant, art by Bret Blevins and covers by Brian Stelfreeze

- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight issues 59-61 written by Dennis O’Neil, art by Ron Wagner and covers by Norm Breyfogle

When we last saw Bruce and Alfred in Knightfall, they were on the trail of Jack Drake’s kidnappers and had deduced that the kidnappers had made their way to Santa Prisca. In Santa Prisca, they are met by the Bronze Tiger, Green Arrow and Gypsy who help them in their quest. Though Santa Priscan terrorists have kidnapped Jack Drake and Shondra, they are acting under the orders of someone else. Before they could be rescued however, they were shunted away to another location.

Bruce and Alfred follow their trail to England on the hunch that in contrast to things believed previously, Jack Drake wasn’t the target, Shondra Kinsolving was. All research into Shondra Kinsolving’s past revealed a brother, Benedict Asp, whose trail stops cold at files kept secret by MI-5. Bruce, donning Batman’s costume (for a very short while) asks The Hood, an English vigilante for help in obtaining the files from MI-5. Meanwhile, Benedict Asp has kidnapped Shondra Kinsolving and is keeping her captive, using Jack Drake to make her co-operate.

Bruce spies an invitation to a ball at Monkleigh hall, and decides to attend under the guise of English aristocrat, Sir Ernest Hemmingford Gray. The Hood is also keeping an eye on Monkleigh hall in his civilian guise. Shondra Kinsolving has always had psionic powers, which enable her to heal and take the pain away from someone. But when Benedict Asp, her adopted brother amplifies those powers, they are capable of causing pain, or even death. Benedict Asp intends to demonstrate their powers to a military official, causing the death of an entire village. 

When Shondra comes face to face with Bruce, she denies knowing him, to protect him from Benedict. When Bruce finds out about the death of the whole village from the Hood, he is convinced that Shondra is to blame as well. After saving Jack Drake, Bruce vows to bring Shondra and Benedict Asp to justice.

On examination by a physician, Bruce learns that his chances of recovery are very dim. He starts tracking Shondra back to her childhood and learns from her mother about her torture at the hands of her abusive father. Her father adopted her just so that he’d have someone to torture. When Benedict tried to save her, he got beaten as well. One day, the psionic backlash of their combined powers killed their father. Just as she finishes telling Bruce and Alfred about Shondra, her mother falls dead. Benedict Asp is using their combined powers again, and the next target is Sir Ernest Hemmingford Gray.

Nearly escaping an attempt on his life, Bruce feels the pain getting worse, while Shondra finds herself regressing back to her early childhood. Bruce and Alfred clash when Alfred believes that Bruce risks his life entirely while trying to stop Benedict and Shondra. A concerned Alfred walks out and asks Jean Paul Valley to keep an eye on Bruce. Meanwhile, Bruce causes a ruckus to be identified as Sir Gray, still alive, so that Benedict and his cronies can come looking for him.

Benedict Asp now threatens the life of the President and also has captured Bruce Wayne, keeping both on Santa Prisca. Shondra, still regressing and alternating between her present and past understands that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Bruce confesses his feelings for her when Benedict Asp comes forward to deliver the killing blow. In a surge of power, Shondra kills Benedict and uses whatever is remaining of her powers to heal Bruce’s back. Now completely regressed back to a child, Bruce sees that Shondra gets the best of care.

Robin #7 is the conclusion to KnightQuest. In this story written by Chuck Dixon with art and cover by Tom Grummett, both The Search and The Crusade converge when Bruce, completely healed, returns to Gotham. He feels that he should consider the chance to another life, now that Jean Paul and Tim have Gotham under control. However, Tim had not spoken to Bruce about Jean Paul’s… issues because he did not want to burden him further. One entering the Batcave and confronting Jean Paul, both of them prove inadequate when Jean Paul assaults them and announces himself as the true Batman. Bruce is healed, but his reflexes are shot. He needs a good teacher to help him overcome his fears and face Jean Paul Valley.

Storywise, I felt The Search was thematically superior to The Crusade. Dennis O’Neil and Alan Grant both weave a very poignant tale about a broken man searching for his lost love. The three part tale from Legends of the Dark Knight, “Quarry” is the best of the lot. I had never seen Breyfogle’s painted art before so was blown away by his covers. Probably, the height of The Search is equaled by the Batman issues of The Crusade.

Collection Time. The new trade paperback Knightfall Vol 2: KnightQuest collects only The Crusade and the conclusion. For those keeping count, that’s Detective Comics issues #667-675, Batman #501-508, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #19-20 & #24-28, Robin #7 and Catwoman #6 & #7. Logic dictates that since Detective Comics #668 has a cliffhanger that continues into Robin #1, at least a few pages of Robin #1 ought to have made it. I didn’t buy the trade, so can’t help you with that one.
Still uncollected are Justice League Task Force #5-6, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #21-23 and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #59-61.
I say still, because the new edition of Knightfall Vol 3: Knightsend isn’t out as of this review being written (solicits so far don’t include it), so I guess it’s a wait and watch game or hunt-the-back-issue-bins game.

Rating: In it’s entirety, I’d give KnightQuest: The Crusade 9 on 10 and KnightQuest: The Search 10 on 10.
Go and get them before they become hard to find.

Next Week: KinghtQuest: Odds and ends. The parts that are a part of KnightQuest and still aren't...important enough to be collected. 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.