The beginning of the story about Batman’s fall took me by surprise. I expected a short story, but what I got was quite an exciting comic book about the Dark Knight’s both heroic and exhausting efforts to restore order in Gotham, which ended with Bane famously breaking his spine. The third installment, in turn, attracted me with its almost complete focus on the adventures of Jean-Paul Valley. Bruce only made a cameo appearance and was ultimately irrelevant to the plot. Unfortunately, Azbat is mostly contrasted with clichéd and unimportant opponents that the reader forgets about immediately after finishing reading.
Uaha, two Batmans
The end of the Dark Knights marks the great return of Bruce. And literally his, not the bat alter ego. For most of the issues, the reader follows the fate of Wayne, who investigates the kidnapping of his doctor and love interest, Dr. Shondra Kinsolving. This is quite an interesting starting point, because Bruce manages to get out of trouble time and time again, despite the terrible pain and other limitations associated with a broken spine. However, this story is not very exciting due to strangely placed accents. Bruce disguises himself as an English lord and tries to infiltrate a group of kidnappers – but it all goes wrong. The main villain, Asp, is extremely uninteresting and it’s surprising that so much time was devoted to him – especially since his superpower seems to be to constantly escape from Wayne, just to make the plot last even longer.
The second part of the comic is the return of the healed Bruce and his path to regaining the title of the Dark Knight. It’s better here, although there are still some unsuccessful plot solutions.
A bat out of the machine
So what is my problem? With a lazy script. It is enough to follow how the threads from the previous volumes are concluded. The relationship between Azbat and the people around the Dark Knight was great. Commissioner Gordon seemed to be the only one still under the illusion that this was just a temporary transformation of Gotham’s protector. So how was this solved? James gets a call from the real Batman telling him about the impostor. No investigation, no tension – just a phone conversation that takes place out of frame. What about a broken spine? This is a very serious injury, and the reader is constantly treated to scenes with a tortured Wayne. So how does Bruce get back into shape? Magically. It turns out that Shondra has a healing superpower and thus repairs damaged vertebrae. At the same time, he loses his identity, which makes it easier for the screenwriter to abandon the romantic thread. There are no consequences here, no creativity – and in their place there is a lot of deus ex machin .
Hong Kong Batman
The main character’s convalescence was also poorly presented. After healing his spine, Bruce Wayne also needed spiritual renewal and restoration of self-confidence. That’s how he ended up with a paid killer (!), a certain Shiva. It would still be unbearable if it weren’t for the methods she used. Impersonating Batman, she kills a martial arts master, thus motivating his students to take revenge. And so Wayne has to face more warriors. The problem is that the reader is not informed whether they are bad guys or passionate enthusiasts of Hong Kong action films. Bruce doesn’t even mind too much that Shiva happens to kill one of the students. Apparently the end justifies the means.
I have the impression that Bane also broke Batman’s moral spine, because the conclusion of the fourth volume is Valley’s forgiveness and release – although Bruce knows that he led to the death of at least two people and the maiming of many others. If only he had sent him to some therapy, but no – he is simply letting a man with a tendency to violence and clear psychotic disorders escape.
Quo Vadis Batmane?
The fourth volume is a parade of unnecessary and extended threads, lazy script solutions and characters who behave inconsistently with their characters. The inconvenience is slightly compensated by a duel between two Batmans, which has its moments, but is only a small part of the 616-page volume. There is only one volume left until the end of the Knightfall saga , and I hope it will make up for the shortcomings of End of the Dark Knights.
