Review of Batman Knightfall vol. 2 – Knightquest

***Contains Spoilers***

The second volume of the Batman Knightfall saga, Knightquest, is split into two core stories. The first story, The Crusade, follows the episodes of John Paul Valley as he begins to settle into the role of Batman. The second story, The Search, follows Bruce Wayne and Alfred as they look for Bruce’s girlfriend and Tim Drake’s father, who was kidnapped.

Diving into The Crusade, I wouldn’t say I liked this part of the story. It started excitingly when JPV kicked Robin out of the Batcave and sealed it off. From there, the story really goes south. I found most of the villains and situations for JPV not very interesting. I know this was a necessary setup for Act Three of Knightfall, but I was hoping for more of the classic Batman tone combined with the edge of Azreal. The one bright spot for me was watching “the system” take hold. It drove the evolution of the Bat armor and JPV’s brutality, which I found to be a refreshing take.

In The Search, Bruce and Alfred search for his girlfriend, Shondra Kinsolving, and Tim’s dad Jack Drake. This story, too, did not have many great moments. It seemed more to be a loose way to get Bruce out of Gotham for a time and to invent a way for him to be miraculously healed.

To close out, this was not one of the better portrayals when it comes to Batman but it sets up the final volume of the Knightfall saga so I give it 2-stars.

Feature image Batman Knightfall vol. 2 Cover art by Kelley Jones