Batman: Knightfall
| "Knightfall" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cover to Batman #497: The breaking of the Bat. Art by Kelley Jones. | |||
| Publisher | DC Comics | ||
| Publication date | April 1993 – August 1994 | ||
| Genre | |||
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| Main character(s) | Batman, Bane, Azrael | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Dixon, Jo Duffy, Alan Grant, Dennis O'Neil, Doug Moench | ||
| Penciller(s) | Jim Aparo, Jim Balent, Eduardo Barreto, Bret Blevins, Norm Breyfogle, Vincent Giarrano, Tom Grummett, Klaus Janson, Barry Kitson, Mike Manley, Graham Nolan, Sal Velluto, Mike Vosburg, Ron Wagner | ||
| Inker(s) | Jeff Albrecht, Jim Aparo, Terry Austin, Eduardo Barreto, John Beatty, Bret Blevins, Norm Breyfogle, Rick Burchett, Steve George, Vince Giarrano, Dick Giordano, Scott Hanna, Klaus Janson, Ray Kryssing, Tom Mandrake, Mike Manley, Ron McCain, Frank McLaughlin, Josef Rubinstein, Bob Smith, Bob Wiacek | ||
Batman: Knightfall is the title given to a major Batman story arc published by DC Comics that dominated Batman-related serial comic books in the spring and summer of 1993. Knightfall is also the umbrella title to the trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994. They consisted of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd"[1].
The story takes place over approximately six months. Bruce Wayne (Batman) suffers burnout and is systematically assaulted and crippled by a "super steroid"-enhanced genius named Bane. Wayne is replaced as Batman by an apprentice named Jean-Paul Valley, who becomes increasingly violent and unstable, tarnishing Batman's reputation. Eventually, Wayne is healed through paranormal means, and reclaims his role as Batman.
Knightfall resulted in long-term ramifications for the Batman mythos, as Batman's trust from the police, public, and fellow superheroes had to be rebuilt. Additionally, Wayne realizes the peril and burden of attempting to work in solitude, leading to the eventual creation of the modern incarnation of the Batman family. The events of Knightfall also led to the resignation of Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
The entire Knightfall storyline took over a year to complete in the comic book serials, and in later years, the comics were compressed into a series of trade paperbacks, although these paperbacks do not include the Knightquest portion of the story with the exception of Robin: Flying Solo, which contains Robin #1, a part of Knightquest.
Storyline
Prelude
The prelude to Knightfall began with the introduction of two new characters key to its storyline in issues prior to the release of Knightfall:
- Azrael, aka Jean-Paul Valley, (introduced in Batman: The Sword of Azrael (October 1992 to January 1993) by Dennis O'Neil and Joe Quesada) a graduate student at Gotham University who discovers he has been unconsciously trained since birth as an assassin for an ancient religious order.
- Bane, introduced in Batman: Vengeance of Bane (January 1993) by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, an orphan born and raised in a Central American island prison, self-taught and ruthless, who underwent an involuntary experimental operation to become a new type of supersoldier, before breaking free and deciding to take Gotham City from its "king", Batman.
The two characters were quickly added to the cast in the monthly Batman titles, with Azrael being a superhero-in-training who fights alongside Batman, while Bane was introduced as a villain.
Within the regular series, the buildup to Knightfall begins with a five-issue run in Batman #484-488 (September 1992 - January 1993), in which Batman (at the onset of a personal psychological mid-life crisis) is forced to deal, in rapid succession, with the returning villain Black Mask and his gang (who target Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox), a crazed killer called Metalhead, and a sharpshooter assassin hired by Vincent Morelli to murder Commissioner Gordon. Batman begins to feel he has lost his edge, especially after his failure to capture Black Mask. He finds himself unable to meditate or even focus. As Bruce Wayne, he contacts holistic therapist Shondra Kinsolving for treatment. He also assigns Robin (Tim Drake) to train Jean-Paul Valley in detective work to aid them as an ally, hoping to guide his brainwashing away from making him a villainous threat. Despite the advice of everyone in his life, including Dr. Kinsolving, Bruce refuses to rest, and continues to pursue his self-imposed duty despite his worsening condition. (Although not explicitly noted as a cause, these events take place immediately after the death of Superman, Batman's peer, elsewhere in the DC Universe.)
The next storyline, in Detective Comics #657-658 (December 1992 - February 1993), involves a young military student usurping power in Gotham's underworld and assaulting a police station, with Bruce's fatigue continuing to worsen. At the conclusion of this story, Bane and his henchman are shown monitoring Batman's performance.
Bane begins a series of encounters letting Batman know of his presence and his intentions. In the following issues, Bane interferes with encounters pitting villains Killer Croc and Riddler against Batman, and, to test Batman's limits, goes so far as to inject Riddler with the Venom drug. This escalation culminates in an assault on Arkham Asylum in Batman #491 (April 1993), where Bane breaks the inmates free and supplies them with numerous weapons to escape. Meanwhile, Robin finds it difficult to work with Jean-Paul, due to the man's violent subconscious training and lack of social skills, and also finds himself being shut out from working alongside Batman.
Knightfall
The plot of Knightfall begins[2] with the master criminal Bane freeing all of the maximum-security inmates of Arkham Asylum, a notorious psychiatric facility in Gotham City. Aware that he would lose in a direct assault against Batman, Bane's plan consists of weakening Batman by forcing him to deal with the deadly villains simultaneously. Among the freed inmates, there are numerous high-profile villains, such as the Joker, who trapped Arkham's administrator Jeremiah Arkham, and the Scarecrow, as well as many less known villains, such as the Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, Firefly, Cavalier, and Victor Zsasz. The scenario creates a rift in the relationship between Robin and Batman, as Batman irrationally seeks to face the outbreak alone -- in later issues, Robin asks Batman if he is even needed as his sidekick anymore. A later flashback to this time period (Showcase '93 #7-8) shows Batman pursuing Two-Face alone, being trapped and kidnapped to stand a mock trial; he is saved only by a rescue attempt from Robin.
Over the next few issues, Batman becomes weaker and weaker as each criminal is put away. The rescue of Mayor Krol from the combination of the Joker and Scarecrow takes Batman to his mental and physical limits: a dose of Scarecrow's fear gas makes him relive the murder of Jason Todd, which he considers to be his greatest failure. After this encounter, Bane makes his move and attacks Batman at Wayne Manor, where he is most vulnerable as his alter-ego. By this time, Bane had deduced the secret identity of Batman. The fight between Bruce Wayne and Bane is detailed in Batman #497, and ends in Bane breaking Wayne's back over his knee;[3] Bane takes his body downtown to Gotham Square and throws it from a rooftop to demonstrate his superiority to the populace. With Batman incapacitated, Bane assumes control of Gotham City's underworld and takes over several illegal operations within it.
After his defeat, Bruce Wayne enlists the aid of Dr. Shondra Kinsolving to rehabilitate him and asks Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) to take up the mantle of Batman so that Gotham has a protector. Tim Drake argues with Bruce to allow Dick Grayson (the former Robin) to become Batman, as he is more experienced and mentally competent. However, Bruce says that Dick is his own man now, with his own responsibilities and would only do so reluctantly; Dick later expressed resentment at not being asked to stand in as Batman. Bruce's rationale for this decision is revealed in later issues - secretly, he doesn't want Dick to have to face Bane, as he knows Dick's character will compel him to try. Bruce gives Jean-Paul strict orders never to engage Bane in combat; indeed, when Jean-Paul faces Bane, only his modified gloves save him from being thrown to his death.
Soon after, Kinsolving and Tim's father Jack Drake are kidnapped and Bruce and Alfred leave the country to find them - their story is continued in Knightquest: The Search, whilst the happenings in Gotham are recorded in Knightquest: The Crusade. Paul is shown as a different but not dangerous Batman until an encounter with the Scarecrow, which culminates in Jean-Paul being infected by Scarecrow's fear gas and the "System" - his programming as Azrael - taking over, in order to combat Jean-Paul's fear. Following this, Jean-Paul is unable to shake the influence of the System, giving into it completely after his first defeat at Bane's hands, and being increasingly influenced by it during the rest of his tenure as Batman. Gradually, Jean-Paul alienates Robin with his paranoia and arrogance.
In Batman #500, Jean-Paul, in his new mechanical Batsuit, confronts Bane in a vicious battle and prevails, although many innocent citizens were put at risk. Jean-Paul leaves Bane broken mentally and physically, although he struggles with the choice of whether to simply kill Bane or hand him over to the police. Stating that he will let Bane go to Blackgate Prison, Jean-Paul continues to watch over Gotham after the fight, but grows increasingly unstable.
The massive story was quickly collected into two volumes of trade paperbacks. Volume one was subtitled Broken Bat and the second was Who Rules the Night.
Knightquest
"Knightfall" was immediately followed by "Knightquest" in the monthly serials. "Knightquest" is divided into two storylines, one following Bruce Wayne (Knightquest: The Search) and the other on the new Batman (Knightquest: The Crusade). The stories were not treated as crossovers and the Batman titles continued as they had before Knightfall where the creative teams each pursued their own storylines. This however leads to some contradictions within the story between the different comic titles.
The issues that make up the Knightquest saga are highly sought after by comic completists[citation needed] as they were never collected into trade paperback format; "KnightsEnd" was released as a trade paperback directly after the two "Knightfall" collections.
The Crusade
Knightquest: The Crusade follows the story of Jean-Paul Valley as he becomes increasingly violent and mentally unbalanced as he replaces Bruce Wayne as Batman in Gotham. During this time, he drives Robin away because he believes Gotham post-Bane to be so tough that only violence could answer its criminals. Indeed, in several issues Robin is left horrified as Jean-Paul ferociously attacks common criminals, often with a weapon and sometimes nearly to death. This surge of violence from Gotham's defender put pressure on Batman's relationship with Police Commissioner Gordon, who begins to distrust and even fear the new Batman and eventually comes to realize he is not the original.
All of Jean-Paul's actions are compelled by "The System"; on numerous occasions, he experiences the ghosts of his father and the legendary St. Dumas giving him guidance and he is driven to near insanity by the time the saga ends. He repeatedly redesigns his Batman costume, adding more gadgets and lethal weapons, including metal claws, a laser, razor-sharp Batarangs and a flame-thrower. Eventually, he also adds a Bat-symbol, matching the one used for the series' logo. Valley becomes compelled by a desire to be a better Batman than Bruce Wayne, especially when he discovers his lack of interest in detective work caused him to make false assumptions about Catwoman (he thought she would sell a powerful nerve gas to terrorists when she merely wanted to dispose of it so it couldn't be used to hurt anyone).
His questionable behavior climaxes when he encounters the serial killer Abattoir, who is keeping an innocent prisoner in a secret torture chamber: Jean-Paul purposely lets Abattoir die, thereby condemning the prisoner to death as well. Other notable villains Jean-Paul faces include Mr. Freeze, Joker, and Clayface. Of these villains, the most notable encounters are with Catwoman and the Joker, both of whom could tell Valley wasn't the original Batman (Catwoman noticed he didn't give out Bruce's pheromones; Joker possesses a psychotic bond with Batman but also witnesses his less-graceful movements).
The Search
Knightquest: The Search follows Bruce Wayne and Alfred's search for Jack Drake and Shondra Kinsolving, with whom Bruce Wayne falls in love in the midst of his rehabilitation sessions. Their investigation leads them to the Caribbean and then Great Britain. Kinsolving's brother-by-adoption Benedict Asp kidnapped her to use her special powers to kill people at a distance. Asp demonstrates this new form of mass murder on a small English village. When Bruce Wayne finds Kinsolving, he finds himself caught in the middle of a telekinetic tug-of-war between Asp and Kinsolving. The battle climaxes with her refocusing her energy to defeat Asp, with a side effect of the battle being that Bruce's broken spine becomes healed. However, the drugs forced onto her by Asp, combined with the effects of the fight with Asp, reduce her mind to that of a child, and Wayne reluctantly puts her into a mental institution.
Bruce eventually leaves England to return home to a civilian life in Gotham, but Alfred remains in England, not wanting to see Bruce Wayne damage his body further. He does not return to Gotham until a while later, when Dick Grayson persuades him to do so in later issues.
KnightsEnd
Although previous parts of KnightSaga had taken considerable time to run their course, the entirety of KnightsEnd was published within two months, as the Batman books had to prepare themselves for DC's impending company-wide crossover Zero Hour, which would immediately follow the KnightSaga. As a result, nothing was truncated and the Batman series made use of all of the Batman-related titles at their disposal, such as Catwoman, Robin and the (usually set in Year One) Legends of the Dark Knight that led the story to its conclusion.
Jean-Paul Valley sees visions of his dead father, who had programmed him at birth to be a deadly weapon. These visions tell Jean-Paul to avenge his father's death, and Jean-Paul searches Gotham for his father's killer. Though the killer, Carlton LeHah, had already been encountered and defeated (in Sword of Azrael), Jean Paul's conditioning had warped his mind to the extent that he no longer remembered the incident. He eventually comes to believe that Penn Selkirk, a Gotham mobster turned weapons dealer who has taken over the remnants of LeHah's organization, is his father's murderer.
Returning to Gotham, Bruce meets with Tim. Bruce is impressed enough with Jean-Paul's results to let him remain as Batman but when Robin tells him of Abattoir's death, Bruce sneaks into the Batcave and demands that Jean-Paul step down. Jean-Paul refuses and threatens to kill Bruce if he ever returns.
To rehabilitate his skills, Bruce asks the famed assassin Lady Shiva to retrain him. Instead, Shiva pits Bruce against several vengeful expert martial artists.[3] Shiva's caveat is that these attacks will continue indefinitely until Bruce Wayne breaks his vow to never kill. Finally, in the midst of another attack, Bruce feigns using the fatal Leopard Blow Shiva had taught him, leaving his would-be assailant apparently dead. Shiva finally declares him worthy of fighting her at some point in the future. **Note** Only six masters appear in the storyline. Seven Masters are mentioned. LP
Now back in fighting shape, Bruce returns to the Batcave and dons a new Batsuit. Along with Robin and Nightwing, he tracks Valley down to Selkirk's penthouse. Coincidentally, Catwoman is chasing the same man because he owns a neural enabler which might allow her paraplegic friend to walk again. Selkirk already wants to kill Jean-Paul for destroying a valuable weapons cache in Gotham Harbor.
When they eventually all meet, mass fighting and gunfire ensue. The battle ends with Selkirk's helicopter crashing into the Gotham Narrows Bridge; Jean-Paul falls aflame into the Gotham River. Bruce and Catwoman save Selkirk and his aides just before the helicopter explodes from the leaking fuel. When Bruce tries to find Jean-Paul using the Batmobile, it explodes. Nightwing fears Bruce dead and takes his vengeance out on Jean-Paul on a party boat. The police arrive in time to prevent Nightwing from murder, but Jean-Paul escapes. However, to his shock, Jean-Paul finds Bruce waiting at Wayne Manor.
The final battle of the Knightfall saga takes place between Jean-Paul Valley and Bruce Wayne in the caverns surrounding the Batcave: rather than beating Jean-Paul at hand-to-hand combat, Bruce outwits him by escaping into a passage too narrow for Jean-Paul to go through in his armor, thus forcing him to remove most of it. Bruce then opens a hatch to the outside, which covered the very hole he fell into as a child[4], allowing sunlight to enter the night lenses in Jean-Paul's helmet. After being momentarily blinded, Jean-Paul removes his cowl, sees Bruce standing over him in the original Batman costume and concedes defeat, saying "You are Batman...and I am nothing." Bruce comforts Jean-Paul, who leaves to wander the streets of Gotham, homeless and destitute. Bruce decides not to take Jean-Paul to the police because it was his decision to make Jean-Paul the Batman.[3]
KnightsEnd was collected into a trade paperback about a year later. Originally released as Batman: KnightsEnd, recent editions retitled it as volume three of the Knightfall saga.
Aftermath
Prodigal
Bruce reaffirms his partnership with Tim, resolving the tension caused by Bruce's unwillingness to accept help during the Arkham prison break. Bruce passes the mantle of Batman to Nightwing so he can re-evaluate what it will take to restore his aura of invincibility. This begins the Prodigal storyline, a reference to Dick Grayson essentially being Bruce's prodigal son; Bruce had adopted Dick after his parents were murdered.
Because of the events of KnightSaga and Prodigal, considerable time passes before Commissioner Gordon restores his trust in the idea of a Batman working for good. Gordon can tell that he is not looking at the original Batman (based on Jean-Paul's costume and Dick's height, and the fact that Jean-Paul was more than ready to kill people), and he refuses to place blind trust in people. The Prodigal storyline was utilized as a way of tying up the numerous loose ends that Knightfall left, with Killer Croc, Two-Face, and many other released inmates being returned to prison. In doing so, Dick avenges his worst mistake from his days as Robin, one that caused a man to die and nearly killed Bruce. He also comes to appreciate the incredible physical and mental burden Bruce places on himself in donning the Batsuit. During the story, a firm bond arises between Dick and Tim as they share Wayne Manor together in Bruce's and Alfred's absence.
It's revealed in the later No Man's Land storyline that Bruce also used this time to set up contingency bases throughout Gotham.
Troika
When Bruce finally returns for good, he wears a sturdier (made of Kevlar), darker costume (quite similar to the costume of the Tim Burton Batman movies), and drives a new, state-of-the-art Batmobile. He again fights Colonel Vega (who teamed with Asp in Knightquest: The Search), KG Beast, and Dark Rider, in order to foil a plot to nuke Gotham City with a device the size and shape of a baseball. Troika comes from the Russian word for Triad. The saga also shows how Batman makes changes to his life as Bruce Wayne, his relationships with his 'family', plans to live without Alfred, and copes with the decision of making Jean-Paul his replacement.
Nightwing: Alfred's Return
A One-Shot that features the return of Alfred after his resignation during KnightQuest: The Search. It has Nightwing going to England in order to track Alfred down.
Azrael
A new series following Jean-Paul Valley was begun in April 1995, titled Azrael. In it, he is found on the street by Bruce Wayne, and given money to leave Gotham to travel the world and find his purpose as had Bruce. His journeys take him to Europe, where he uncovers conspiracies within the Brotherhood of St. Dumas which had brainwashed him. Later, he returns to Gotham to aid Batman, and the series was retitled Azrael: Agent of the Bat. The series ended after one hundred issues, with Valley's apparent death. Each issue was written by Dennis O'Neil.
Batman: Legacy
This crossover event involves a rematch between Batman and Bane, who is now allied with Ra's al Ghul. It is followed by the one-shot graphic novel Batman: Bane.
"Angel and the Bane"
In Azrael issues #36-40, a final thread of the Knightfall plot is resolved in the four-part storyline "Angel and the Bane" and its following issue, "Hour of the Quake".
After the events of Batman: Bane, Azrael is tasked by Batman to track down the recently-resurfaced Bane. After meeting, the two men struggle, and Bane gets the upper hand with the aid of a small band of Santa Priscan soldiers and his old henchman Bird. He restrains Azrael and injects him with Venom, with the plan of using him as a super soldier to take over Santa Prisca. Azrael is able to resist addiction to the drug and eventually conquers Bane and flies him back to Gotham City. They arrive just as the massive earthquake occurs. Bane attempts escape but is unable; as a last-ditch effort he unsuccessfully tries to convince Azrael to form a partnership. Instead, Azrael reaffirms his dedication to Bruce Wayne.
The cover of issue 37 depicts Bane breaking Azrael over his knee in a recreation of the famous cover of Batman #497, Knightfall part 11.
Reading order and release dates
Each story arc of the Knightfall saga ran across a number of Gotham City-related comics. This created a fairly complex reading order, which is summarized below.
| Knightfall | Knightquest | KnightsEnd | Aftermath | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Broken Bat" (Apr-Late July 1993) |
"The Crusade" (Oct 1993-June 1994) |
"The Search" (Oct 1993-June 1994) |
(July-Aug 1994) | (Aug 1994-Feb 1995) |
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| "Prodigal" (Nov 1994-Jan 1995) | ||||
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| "Who Rules the Night" (Late July-Oct 1993) |
"Troika" (Feb 1995) | |||
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- The following Annuals, special issues and guest appearances take place during KnightQuest with Jean-Paul Valley as Batman, but are not vital to the plot:
- Batman Annual #17
- Detective Comics Annual #6
- Showcase '93 #10
- Superman vol. 2 #83
- Chain Gang War #6-7, 10-12
- Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #3
- Catwoman #5
- Showcase '94 #5-7
- Outsiders #7-9
- Bloodlines: Bloodbath #1-2
- Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire (This has a direct sequel, Batman/Punisher: Deadly Knights)
- Batman: Turning Points #4
- During his incapatitation, Bruce Wayne appears in:
- Catwoman #4
- Justice League Task Force #4
- Bane and his henchmen appear in Catwoman #1-4, in the leadup to and aftermath of his capture by the new Batman.
Influence and legacy
DC Comics published Knightfall around the same time as the "The Death of Superman" storyline. Knightfall started almost immediately after "The Funeral For a Friend" storyline in the Superman books. It can be seen that during the break out at Arkham Asylum, Batman was wearing a black arm band with the S-shield engraved on it as well as Robin whilst cutting Jean-Paul Valley's hair. The two stories involved DC Comics' most prominent characters in what some regarded as bold, daring stories and others as stunts designed to sell extra comics through sensationalism (although then-President Jenette Kahn denied this on the Superman: Doomsday feature.). Similar stories followed for Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow.
Knightfall was, in terms of number of titles and issues it encompassed and the duration of the storyline, the most ambitious Batman story ever at the time it was published. Its success paved the way for other year-or-longer crossovers, such as "No Man's Land".
In an interview with Dennis O'Neill, the writer stated that part of the reason Knightfall was written was due to the recent popularity of more 'ruthless' heroes such as the Terminator and James Bond in films, as producers were starting to wonder if readers would prefer a Batman who was willing to kill his opponents; the subsequent response to Jean Paul Valley's Batman proved this not to be the case.
Reception
IGN Comics ranked Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat #24 on a list of the 25 greatest Batman graphic novels, saying: "What makes Knightfall, Part One so memorable is not the actually snapping of Batman's back. It's the quick fall into despair that proves most shocking. The ending is a foregone conclusion as Batman is worn down both physically and mentally. The Batman's spirit is broken before his vertebrae and that's a feat you'll never see accomplished anywhere else."[6]
Continuity
The bulk of the events in the Knightfall saga are estimated to take place in the tenth or eleventh year of Batman's career by most reckonings, including official DC timelines. It begins within a few months of Tim Drake assuming the role of the third Robin. Dick Grayson's wedding to Starfire occurs very shortly after Bruce Wayne's injury. It is an election year, and Armand Krol is campaigning for re-election as mayor both before and after the story arc.
The initial scenes of the prelude Sword of Azrael mini-series take place during the Gotham City "Founders Day" parade.
A meeting between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne on his airplane is explicitly described as the first Post-Crisis out-of-costume interaction between the two. This renders some stories such as The Long Halloween incompatible with the mainstream canon.
As the contemporary Batmobile was destroyed in KnightsEnd, the original Batmobile (with the large hood ornament) was used by Batman and Robin for several issues following. Knightquest also introduces Batman's rocket railcar linking the Batcave to the Gotham subway system; it was designed and completed by Harold after his discovery of the cavern passages in Detective Comics #650 ("The Dragon").
A note of interest is that in KnightsEnd, Jean-Paul Valley references his defeat of Marvel Comics' Jigsaw during the Batman/Punisher crossover Lake of Fire. This is a very rare mention of a character from another company in a non-intercompany capacity, made possible by the insanity of Jean-Paul.
Adaptations
Novels
Dennis O'Neil adapted the entire storyline trilogy into a 1994 novel which was released by Warner Books in hardcover form and then in mass paperback later on (Hardcover ISBN 0-553-09673-7, Paperback ISBN 0-553-57260-1). A young adults book version was also released, this one written by Alan Grant and titled Batman: Knightfall and Beyond (ISBN 0-553-48187-8).
Animation
The character Bane was quickly added to the roster of villains in Batman: The Animated Series. He appeared in the episode "Bane" as a muscular thug rather than the mastermind as he was in the comics. He was hired by the mobster Rupert Thorne to eliminate Batman, and in turn by Thorne's mole to eliminate Thorne afterwards. Bane eventually fought Batman onboard a boat (where Robin had been kidnapped and tied up), but before he could break his back as he did in the comics, Batman thrusts a crumpled batarang into the controls that inject Bane with Venom. This action caused a rapid and uncontrollable feed into Bane's body before Batman pulls out the tube, stopping a fatal overdose of the drug.
Radio
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
In 1994, there was also a radio-play adaptation transmitted on BBC Radio 1, later also released on audio-tape (ISBN 0-563-39520-6) and CD by BBC Audiobooks on March 5, 2007). It was adapted, produced and directed by Dirk Maggs - with music composed by Mark Russell - who had recently made Superman: Doomsday & Beyond on BBC Radio 5. This show, however was not commissioned of its own, but rather to be three minute episodes on the Mark Goodier Show. This meant it was written with a sense of immediacy; having to make an instant effect and each three minute segment contains a major plot development or sound effect stunt and end on a cliffhanger. DC acknowledged the effort in an issue Shadow of The Bat by having villains jump past a sign that read Dirk Maggs Radio. The radio-play itself contained similar minor allusions to Batman - the host of a TV show called Chuck Dixon and Dennis O'Neil an author of a book.
Its performers are:
- Bob Sessions as Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
- Daniel Marinker as Tim Drake/Robin
- Peter Marinker as Bane
- Kerry Shale as Jean Paul Valley/Azrael and The Joker
- William Roberts as Commissioner James Gordon
- Lorelei King as Officer Renee Montoya
- Eric Meyers as Sergeant Harvey Bullock
- Michael Roberts as the Arnold Wesker/Ventriloquist/Scarface
- Alibe Parsons as Dr. Shondra Kinsolving
- James Goode as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow and Dick Grayson/Nightwing
- Stuart Milligan as Edward Nigma/Riddler
- Chris Emmett as Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter
- Vincent Marzello as Mayor Armand Krol.
Collected editions
Part of the storyline has been collected into a few trade paperbacks:
References
- ^ Note: on the comic book covers, only the third part had its title written in CamelCase, perhaps to keep it from being read as Knight-Send
- ^ a b Although included in the Knightfall trade paperbacks, Batman #491 is not marked as a part of Knightfall in the monthly comic book format.
- ^ a b c Beatty, Scott (2008), "Batman", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 40–44, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5
- ^ depicted in Batman: The Man Who Falls, et al.
- ^ Incorrectly labeled as part of The Search.
- ^ The 25 Greatest Batman Graphic Novels, Hilary Goldstein, IGN, June 13, 2005
