TITLE: Batman: Knight of Vengeance
AUTHOR: Brian Azzarello
PENCILLER: Eduardo Risso
COLLECTS: Flashpoint - Batman: Knight of Vengeance #1
PUBLISHERS: DC Comics
GRAPHIC NOVEL RELEASE DATE: Late 2011/Early 2012

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

In the long run, nobody’s going to remember that Batman: Knight of Vengeance was a spin-off of Flashpoint, because this story blew Flashpoint, and the various other spinoffs out of the water (I say that with full knowledge that Flashpoint hasn’t ended yet). If we don’t have a classic on our hands with this one, it’s pretty damn close.

In the world of Flashpoint, that fateful night on Park Row ended very differently for the Waynes. In the main DC Universe, Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed, and their young son Bruce went on to become Batman. But in this story Thomas attacks the gunman, and he misfires and hits young Bruce. Thomas Wayne goes on to become Batman, found Wayne Casinos, and help privatize the Gotham City Police Force. But when Judge Harvey Dent’s twins are kidnapped by The Joker, Batman starts down a path that will end very, very messily.

Somehow, this story runs alongside the events of the main Flashpoint story. I’m not sure how that works, logistically speaking. But it’s integral to the absolutely beautiful ending this story has. Seriously folks, I’m a stickler for a good ending, and I’ve never seen an ending to a comic book story that’s as absolutely perfect as this. Every little plot thread from these three issues is perfectly tied together to create a masterful piece of storytelling, and a haunting one at that! The Joker is extremely creepy in this story. The character takes Harvey Dent’s kids into this big room and says all sorts of weird, creepy things to them, and that’s only the beginning! All the more interesting is this isn’t the Joker we’re used to seeing in the regular DCU. It’s somebody different, yet someone we know. It’s hard to do this book justice in a review, because The Joker’s identity ties into half the stuff that makes this story great. Hopefully you’ll take my word for it.

The one thing that threw me a bit about this book was how Thomas Wayne looked. We’re used to seeing him as a well-groomed man with a fairly average body type. The Thomas Wayne we meet in Knight of Vengeance is very reminiscent of the Bruce Wayne we got in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. The character is more built, yet worn and gray, and his face is a bit more ravaged. It makes sense it retrospect, but at the time it was mildly off-putting.

Under Azzarello’s pen, Gotham always seems like more of a grim and grimy place. Whether that’s appropriate or not is a fan’s opinion, but in a story like Knight of Vengeance it’s harmless, and readers can simply enjoy it. I’m interested to see what kind of legacy (if any) this story will have. One thing’s for certain: Azzarello and Risso stole the Flashpoint show with this one. And to prove my point, this story gets only the second perfect score I’ve ever given on this web site!

RATING: 10/10

Front page image from dailydcu.com. Page from Batman: Knight of Vengeance #1 from dccomics.com.
For more Brian Azzarello, check out Lex Luthor: Man of Steel.