Next week, the last issue of Flashpoint’s BATMAN DARK KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE goes on sale and I found this quick review from a post in NEWSARAMA, by The Best Shot Team, Your Host DAVID PEPOSE. Here’s the LINK.
Flashpoint – Batman: Knight of Vengeance #3 (Published by DC Comics; Review by Aaron Duran): After the multiple bombshells dropped in issue #2, Batman: Knight of Vengeance #3 has a daunting task: wrapping the whole thing up and maintaining the emotional tension of the previous issues. Not only do writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso succeed in the task, they excel. Delving deeper into the tragic history of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Azzarello deftly weaves a story of loss, regret, love, and hate that has more in common with a classic Greek tragedy than modern superhero comics. This isn’t some simple DC event tie-in, this is Azzarello telling one of the best Batman stories ever. Without giving any spoilers, when Thomas Wayne says he can help bring about a world in which Bruce doesn’t die, it hurts. Eduardo Russo continues his heavy use of shadows to pencil a world where regret and pain are the dominant force. The multiple flashbacks within the issue follow the same black, white, and red color style as The Killing Joke. Whether this was by design or not, the color choice helps the reader make a quick connection to the world of Flashpoint. This is a world we know, but it’s a world that shouldn’t be. Batman Knight of Vengeance does what so very few event tie-in books are able to do. It rises to and wholly outshines the very event it’s meant to support. In 3 short issues, Azzarello and Risso create one of the best Batman stories ever. Not a bad way to say goodbye to the old DC Universe.
Another Amazing Review of this week’s Batman Knight of Vengeance #3 by Dough Zawisa can be read at CBR. Here is an excerpt:
“Flashpoint” might not be everyone’s cup of tea. With that in mind and the looming relaunch of the entire DC Universe coming up less than thirty days from now, many fans have avoided reading the “Flashpoint” stories.
There’s the problem though. “Flashpoint” is changing the world — nay, the Universe — as DC Universe readers know it. “Flashpoint” is also a larger story that has some worthwhile tales nestled inside. Some of those stories just seem like misplaced or recently rediscovered “Elseworlds” tales, but that doesn’t make them any less enjoyable.
Such is the case with Brian Azzarello’s and Eduardo Risso’s Batman Knight of Vengeance.” This single issue, taken all by itself, out of context of “Flashpoint” or even forsaking the pair of issues that preceded this, is a solid and rewarding read all by itself.
It’s a different spin on the legacy of Batman, with Thomas Wayne wearing the cowl in his quest to stomp out the scum that claimed the life of his beloved son, Bruce. Naturally, wherever there’s a Batman, there has to be a Joker. Put the two of them together in the final issue of a story that can truly be finalized and someone’s not walking out of it….
I have to say, so far the story has managed to surprise me at every turn ( I mean, Martha Wayne as the Joker? Come on…it can’t get any better than that!), and I expect no less of the last chapter. The whole concept was totally unexpected and well handed, and the writing has been strong and enticing from issue one. I might even miss this Joker story after Flaspoint is history. I can’t wait to read my copy….
