Knightfall is the Batman story arc that introduces Bane. Given that the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, is nearly here and also introduces Bane it comes as little surprise that DC and partners are putting this collection back on the shelves again.
Batman: Knightfall (volume one) is a large collectors collection. It’s over 800, full colour pages, of Batman goodness. At this point, it’s assumed that most people know one key fact about the Batman versus Bane conflict – Bane wins. That’s shown clearly on the cover of this collection (although some retailers are showing the wrong cover on their site).
Bane wins? Yes, well, the story is not finished. Actually, even with over 800 pages of Batman action this fat paperback does not contain the full saga. You’d need another 1,000 or so pages to reach the end. That’s not to say this collection is skimping – far from it, in fact, it reaches back to include Bane’s origin story.
I think Batman Knightfall is worth reading before The Dark Knight Rises for two reasons. You’ll want to know about Bane. You’ll want to know how Batman turns the situation around. That said, and without any insider knowledge, I very much down the movie follows the plotlines in Knightfall … not unless we’re getting a Robin, a Nightwing and a ‘Dark Angel’.
In fact, “plotline” is an interesting word choice for Knightfall. This is an action comic. This is all about conflict and confrontation. This is a melee story – with hints at the smarts coming later.
As good as Knightfall is – it’s not Killing Joke.
It’s hard not to recommend Knightfall. It strikes me that this edition makes for a fantastic gift as well as geek guide. It’s a good book for any comic library.
Note; my copy of Knightfall was provided by Titan Books.
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I do love Knightfall. Even though it was conceived as a shameless attempt to replicate the Death of Superman event, eighteen years later I feel it holds up much better. Bane’s plan is so simple I don’t know why no-one though of it before: use Batman’s indomitable will against him. Sadly after Knightfall, Bane spent the next 14 years mostly being used as a thug until Gail Simone got her hands on him in in the 2008 Secret Six series. From what I’ve seen of the new Batman movie, it looks like Christopher Nolan and Tom Hardy have the right… Read more »