DC K.O. Knightfight #2
Author : Joshua Williamson
Artist : Dan Mora
Colourist : Triona Farrell
Knightfight #2 literally and figuratively picks up from right where issue #1 left us; Bruce and Dick locked in battle, and beginning with a bang the size of the dinosaur in the Batcave. I totally enjoyed this second issue of four because the action was unrelenting, yet the story of Batman’s ability to be a father figure was at the forefront of the narrative. Williamson focuses on Bruce’s capacity to know his own son, Dick, in this issue, asking the age-old parental question—how well do you know your child?
Looks like we’re chronologically going through the Dark Knight’s squires, as we move from Dick, the first Robin, to Jason, the lost Robin. Polar opposites as people and as Bat-sidekicks. This sets up a different sort of showdown than Bruce vs Dick, and provides one hell of a twist that shifts the shape of this story, and trust me, you’ll be thinking the third issue can’t come out quick enough.
Batman’s Blood & Guts : Issue #2 Review
WARNING SPOILERS!
Heart of the Matter
Williamson helps us kick this issue off with an intensity that sets the tone for the whole of this issue. And I love it! This emotion encapsulates the deeper meaning of this mini-series, in my opinion; yes, we want to see a throw down between the Dark Bat and his Birds. But this is about a father understanding what it’s like to be replaced by his son. The struggle that the proverbial alpha lion has when giving up the keys to his kingdom.
Is Williamson indicating that Bruce has killed Jason, Tim, and Damian because, unlike with Dick, Bruce isn’t setting them free to become themselves, as Dick did with Nightwing. I totally dig this type of writing, where it drums up discussion amongst DC and Batman fans alike.
Batman realises that this isn’t real and that the Heart (of Apokolips) is testing him because he cheated, and escaped, after being killed by Joker in the Darkseid tournament (checkout our reviews of DC KO #1 & #2!). Staying with the theme of the Heart, I really like the way Williamson tied that topic into how Batman deduced the world he’s in is a lie. It was by listening to Dick’s Heart and recognising that it wasn’t his son’s heartbeat.
My Robins Can Beat Your Robins
Did you forget there’s A LOT of fighting involved? Father vs Son, Student vs Teacher, Batman vs Batman; pages 6 and 7 are brilliantly brutal with their Bat-fighting. Bruce dismantles Dick’s squad of Robins with ease and challenges this world’s Batman; both to a fight and how he’s trained his Robins.
Over a 2-page spread Dan Mora does what Dan Mora does! Beats down the page with his awesome artistry, making you as the reader feel every punch, kick and combo. I’ve been a big fan of Mora’s for a while now, so this may be biased, but his art appropriately punches the reader in the mouth and makes your jaw drop in awe of how much action this man can sketch onto one page.
As I mentioned above, I believe, on top of the great fighting that Williamson is constructing, I also see Williamson challenging Batman with his writing… did he do enough to let ALL of his Robins fly? There’s a quiet conscious theme in the first half of this issue and the whole of the first issue—Batman let Robin free, Bruce helped Dick grow. Batman reaffirms this in the first few pages, “And here I see he not only became Batman… he’s a better Batman.”
Is the Heart of Apokolips challenging the Heart of Batman? The most difficult questions you ask are the ones you ask of yourself. In my opinion, Williamson has done a great job of insinuating that since Dick Grayson, has Batman helped any of this Robins reach their highest levels? I love this type of writing, is it for everyone, no. Is it for Bat-nerds (like ME!), yes! You can sit around talking about this side of Batman for hours; wouldn’t the world be a better place if we sat around talking about comic book characters.
ANOTHER shout out to Dan Mora and Triona Farrell for a beautiful one-page splash that captures the motion of this fight. The non-use of panels makes this fight feel fast, hectic and like poetry in motion; we do have two of the best pound for pound fighters (non-meta) in the DC universe slugging it out.
Batman 3:16 – Don’t Trust Anybody
This final phase of the father-son fight is excellently written and completely fits the characteristics of Bruce and Dick. Batman admitting that Dick became something he could never become, someone who trusts.
Batman by nature is paranoid, and that helps him plan for every single outcome; by not trusting people he’s always prepared for the worst. And the last scene between Bruce and Dick really prepares him for the worst—Batman’s actualisation that he understands what the Heart of Apokolips wants from him. The same thing he told Clark before he was eliminated from the Darkseid tournament, “Don’t hold back!”
Attempting the unthinkable and complying with the Heart’s desires—following the example of Darkseid; Batman attempts to end Dick Grayson. Only to be struck by what seems to be a bolt of energy, removing Bruce from Dick’s city, and inserting him into Jason’s asylum.
Call Me Batman
This next phase of issue #2 is superb! It really feels like a different world, the writing and the art mould to suit the personality of the Rebel Robin, as opposed to the Boy Wonder. As Batman continues to face his Robins, he now finds himself in a cell where he’s told he’s already tried to escape before; instantly Williamson has me hooked AGAIN! We were just finding about the Bat who fell in Dick’s Gotham, and now we’re back to investigating what’s happened to Bruce in Jason’s world.
I was so into the Jason element of the story because Williamson absolutely turned everything on its head. From Dick not knowing anything about the tournament, Jason knows, and actually accuses of Bruce using that as an excuse before. Along with a few examples of Bruce’s ‘lies’ such as, when he was, “buff and carried a big axe”, great little easter egg and wink wink from Williamson here.
Remember at the start of this review where I said that Joshua Williamson provides one hell of a twist that shifts the shape of this story, well I meant it, literally, because Jason alleges that our Batman is… Clayface?!
Shut Up & Fight Me
After an incredible accusatory revelation from Jason that he thinks Batman is Clayface, Williamson takes this story into overdrive and makes the reader feel the exasperation from Bruce—he’s had enough of these games.
This sets up an amazing dynamic between Bruce and Jason throughout this scene, they both think the other is delirious. Bruce is trying to convince Jason he’s really escaped from a universe saving tournament, and Jason thinking that Bruce is Basil Karlo aka Clayface.
And we’re off! Williamson help us dive fist first into another feastful fight, but this fight feels different. Whereas the Bruce vs Dick bout was based on respect, this feels deeply personal—for Batman. Jason Todd will forever be remembered as the Robin that Joker brutally murdered; that’s OUR memory of him. For Bruce, he’s the Lost Robin, the one he couldn’t save and that comes through the remorse and guilt that Williamson creates with his writing.
Can I speak about the artwork again? The colour scheme for this section of the story is brilliantly basic, red, black and grey. The colour work from Farrell is fantastic because the contrast of reds versus the blacks and greys brings out the Red Hood theme of course, but heightens the bloodiness of this intimate confrontation.
Contemplation in Combat
I really liked the ending scenes in this issue as Williamson brought out the archaic questions—what if Batman killed? And there’s no better living embodiment of that than Jason Todd aka Red Hood himself. Yes, this is a familiar trope for the Dark Knight but I liked how and why Williamson brings up during the chaos of this fight.
It brings this whole story arc back to its roots; the Heart of Apokolips—what it’s doing to Bruce, is crafting worlds around his biggest fears. And the biggest fear or doubt that Bruce has of himself is if he embraced his anger and crossed the line that cannot be taken back—kill. Would he be able to rid the world of its Joker’s, Hush’s, crime families and more, if he dealt with them how they deal with others; but he doesn’t, and that’s why we love Batman. He does it his way and his follows his moral compass.
Batman manages to fight off Jason and escape only to find nowhere to run; this whole time Bruce thought he was in Arkham, when Arkham is this world’s Gotham. Williamson lets us in on what we’ve all been trying to figure out—what’s this Gotham City all about? Joker exposed the City to Joker Gas and it was evacuated, leaving Jason to poetically fight people to stay out of Gotham, as opposed to Bruce fighting to keep people inside Arkham.
The final page of this issue is another banger from Williamson, Mora and Farrell as Bruce gives into the Heart of Apokolips—and Red Hood’s allegation… giving into the belief that Batman is Clayface!
Red Hot Art
I’ve already spoken a couple of times about how impressive and immersive the artwork has been in this issue, truly impeccable! Dan Mora gets a lot of credit, as he should, but we need to give Triona Farrell her flowers in this issue.
The colouring completely teleports the reader from Dick’s neon, vibrant, and trusting Gotham City, into Jason’s dark, brutal, and solitary Gotham. The prominent use of red was of course a great nod to Red Hood, but also gave this world a more ruthless vibe, which is totally in line with Jason’s character.
What really puts the very red cherry on top of the Bat-cake is this piece of scrumptious art from Mora and Farrell. The imagery of Gotham being put into a dome to protect the outside world from Joker Gas, is a direct nod to Red Hood; Joker’s original gimmick and the mantle Jason took on out of hate.
Conclusion & Rating
I’ve been a fan of this series since its announcement, and I have not been let down in the first two issues. It started off with a Bat-plosion and carried on with a Bat-blast by Williamson, weaving a great underlying story, with great fight scenes on top.
This issue delivered what it was supposed to; it explained elements from the Dick Grayson arc, and left us with a juicy Clayface-sized cliff-hanger at the end of this second issue. I wrote at length on how much I’m digging what Joshua Williamson is doing with Batman and Bruce Wayne as characters, questioning what we like about them—the hubris of Batman to go without anyone else surpassing him. Or, the negligence of Bruce to not help grow any of his Robins to the stature that Dick has reached as Nightwing.
Comics are supposed to be fun to read but create intrigue and cause discussion, and at face value, this is just a big fight thriller—but read between the lines, linger on its pages, and you begin to identify hidden narratives that the Heart of Apokolips is bringing to the surface.