Filed under: Comic Reviews, DC Comics | Tags: Azzarello, Batman, Flashpoint, Risso
As we head towards the launch of DC’s new 52 (which our blog will talk a lot about!) I thought it would be good to kick start things and talk a little about the prelude to the new 52 – Flashpoint, specifically one of the better tie-ins to DC’s event story line.
DC have done their usual and promised that “Everything you know will change in a flash!”, turning the whole DC Universe on it’s head as a result of The Flash’s arch nemesis Professor Zoom messing about with the important timelines of our much loved characters. As a result, we’re left with a world with names we recognise, but not quite the way we remember it. While The Flash tries to get things back to the way they were in the main event comic, several tie-in series’ have been created to run alongside.
Having now read all of them (some 60 odd issues!) I can confidently say that the best of the bunch is the Batman tie in: Knight of Vengeance, written by Brian Azzarello with art by Eduardo Risso. Yes, of course, I may be biased by being a Batman fan anyway, but there’s a lot of good things going for this, regardless of your stance on the Caped Crusader! Unfortunately, for this post, the best part is the plot and it’s twists – I’ll refrain from spoiling anything here – but what I will say is that, like Empire Strikes Back, the second part (of three) holds a fantastic reveal that’ll make you want to come back for the final part.
Azzarello & Risso are a perfect match for this story – as a result of Flashpoint, Gotham has become seedier (if that’s possible?) and the team that brought us 100 Bullets do a fantastic job of bring this new city to life. The pair have skills when it comes to stories of the dark underbelly of society, and these are used here to provide us with an excellent tale about an alternative Dark Knight.
Unlike a lot of the other tie-ins, this one holds a stand alone story, with very little to do with the events of Flashpoint other than the characters. In some ways I expected to get more stories like this from DC, using this as an opportunity to tell tales about their characters that they couldn’t normally do. They’ve done this many times in the past with the other 51 earths out there, but this time round seemed to be hampered by trying to make so many of the tie-ins tie in – crazy, I know! There are a few others worth mentioning – Abin Sur, Deathstroke, Deadman & the Flying Grasons and Project Superman, but most of these try a little too hard to make the main storyline fit in with what’s going on.
Batman: Knight of Vengeance is a must read for Bat-fans, as well as those familiar with Azzarello/Risso’s past work. It’s also started to make me consider reading the New 52’s Wonder Woman (written by Azzarello) – something I’ve never done! I’m sure you’ll find out my reactions on this very site…
Craig @hastiecraig
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[…] made to build them, as well as one of my highlights from the Flashpoint – the incredible Knight of Vengeance, constructed by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. On top of that, the currently running […]
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