30 in 30 - Day 7: Cover Story: A Knight Breaks Down

[Brandon Shepherd]

Cover Story: my journal series examining some of my favorite covers. The covers in this series are the covers I remember from my childhood, or covers that lead to my discovery of a new series or particular storyline. Either way, these are the covers that captured my imagination, the covers I feel a connection with, regardless of whether I have read the issue or not.

 

I came across a copy of Batman #496 (July 1993) in a dollar bin at a small comic store at the mall, probably when I was 12. This issue is a part 9 of Knightfall, a pivotal story line in '90s Batman books. I was late to Knightfall party, I caught a few Knightquest books with Azrael (or AzBats as some called him) and even a few Knightsend books, with Bruce Wayne reclaiming the mantel of the Bat. I knew of Bane, I had a couple of Knightfall books as well, but the cover of Batman #496 made me want to complete the Knightfall set.

 

As a kid, I liked how the Knightfall issued were numbered at the top, I also liked how the Bat logo changed to emphasized the turning of events, and someone else in the Bat suite. As for the Batman #496, I liked seeing classic villain, archenemies Joker on the cover. Even more interesting, the ghostly image of Robin. At this point in time, I had heard of Robin (Jason Todd) dying at the hands of the Joker. I was curious about the Death in the Family storyline and this cover provided a link to that tale. I also knew Bane would break Batman in #497, I did not have that issue yet, so seeing issues prior to Batman #497 was cool, especially since I knew what was coming.

 

Cover artist Kelley Jones like to exaggerate, he gives Batman long ears and a longer cape, he also pumps Batman up quite a bit. I enjoyed his Knightfall covers, but they are a sharp contrast to the interior artwork of Jim Aparo. Inside Batman #496, Scarecrow douses Batman with a fear toxin, which has an effect on Batman. The toxin taps into one of Batman's biggest ghost, the death of Jason Todd. Instead of paralyzing Batman with fear, the toxin brings out a rage in Batman, who then takes it out on the Joker for killing Jason.

 

The cover of Batman #496 still gets to me, especially the crazed smile on Joker's face. The Jokers is getting the you know what pounded out of him and he's just smiling away. Seeing Batman in a trance, sweating it out with a fist full of Joker's blood is hard to forget. When Kelley Jones became a regular artist on Batman a few years after Knightfall, I had a hard time with his interior artwork, not that it was bad but because it was so different from the Batman style I was used to. I still enjoy his Knightfall covers and I have been tempted to try and put together a set of his covers from Batman #492 through 500, maybe someday.

 

Thanks

 

See more journals by Brandon Shepherd

[SW3D]

Kelley Jones rendered some fantastic covers for Batman. His style is part phantasmagorical and part German-Expressionist. In other words... it's dark and creepy.

 

Two other artists who share these traits are Mike Mignola and Sam Keith.

 

I am sure there are others, probably from the Golden Age of comics and the independents, but I can't remember them at this moment.

 

What was Knightfall all about? Was it simply the effects of the Scarecrow nerve toxics on Batsy or was there more to this?

 

SW3D

[Garlanda]

Hmm, Knightfall was the big crisis event for Batman that corresponded to the Death and Return of Superman and Emerald Twilight. Since this storyline is more than 20 years old, let's just assume there may be spoilers below.

 

In short, Bruce began to feel burned out from the cumulative weight of saving Gotham for so long, and began to be a little erratic. Bane emerged as a full-fledged Bat villain, and releases everyone from Arkham Asylum, forcing Batman to run a gauntlet of all of his rogues before finally meeting Bane face to face. Batman accepts Jean-Paul Valley, the first Azrael, as another trainee alongside Robin. Eventually, Batman is defeated by Bane and Jean-Paul Valley assumes the mantle of Batman. JPV escalates the war on crime, both in terms of violence and superheroicness, eventually ending up with a blue and gold armored bat super suit.

 

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne easily accomplishes something that had eluded Barbara Gordon and heals his damaged spinal cord somehow. Unhappy with what JPV had done, Bruce fights JPV and returns as Batman. JPV goes back to being Azrael, and is an ancillary Batfamily character for a few years until being forgotton.

 

PS, almost every issue had an awesome Kelley Jones cover, and some of the precursor issues had exceptional cover art by Travis Charest.

 

Batman getting medieval...

[SW3D]

Very cool summation!

 

Knightfall occurred during a period where I essentially viewed comics as a gimmick and didn't much care for them anymore. But your synopsis of that particular storyline will force me to explore it.

 

BTW: Loved your MiracleMan collection, and thanks for putting me on to Hellspawn 6 & 7.

 

All the best,

 

SW3D

[Brandon Shepherd]

Kelley Jones rendered some fantastic covers for Batman. His style is part phantasmagorical and part German-Expressionist. In other words... it's dark and creepy.

 

Dear SW3D,

 

Thanks to your description, I now feel I must step up and think "outside the box" so to say (or write).

 

Brandon

[Brandon Shepherd]

Hmm, Knightfall was the big crisis event for Batman that corresponded to the Death and Return of Superman and Emerald Twilight. Since this storyline is more than 20 years old, let's just assume there may be spoilers below.

 

In short, Bruce began to feel burned out from the cumulative weight of saving Gotham for so long, and began to be a little erratic. Bane emerged as a full-fledged Bat villain, and releases everyone from Arkham Asylum, forcing Batman to run a gauntlet of all of his rogues before finally meeting Bane face to face. Batman accepts Jean-Paul Valley, the first Azrael, as another trainee alongside Robin. Eventually, Batman is defeated by Bane and Jean-Paul Valley assumes the mantle of Batman. JPV escalates the war on crime, both in terms of violence and superheroicness, eventually ending up with a blue and gold armored bat super suit.

 

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne easily accomplishes something that had eluded Barbara Gordon and heals his damaged spinal cord somehow. Unhappy with what JPV had done, Bruce fights JPV and returns as Batman. JPV goes back to being Azrael, and is an ancillary Batfamily character for a few years until being forgotton.

 

PS, almost every issue had an awesome Kelley Jones cover, and some of the precursor issues had exceptional cover art by Travis Charest.

 

Batman getting medieval...

 

Dear Garlanda,

 

Thank you for this summary, I took for granted that many would know what I was talking about, forgetting those who are not familiar with this.

 

Brandon

[Brandon Shepherd]

Garlada mentioned the precursor covers by Travis Charest, Batman #490 is a good one.

 

[Garlanda]

Travis Charest's take on the Huntress...

 

I get more of an impression of Psylocke and Wolverine, honestly.

 

I always thought of his art as halfway between Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. Generally good anatomy (short on necks, though) and lots of little detail squiggles (individual hairs flowing). I remember he was a top 5 artist when he started on Darkstars, but the late 90s collapse really hurt the glamour-shots artists. I don't remember if he was good at sequential art or just pin-up style covers back then.

[Garlanda]

Dear Garlanda,

 

Thank you for this summary, I took for granted that many would know what I was talking about, forgetting those who are not familiar with this.

 

Brandon

 

Happy to help out, sharing knowledge and experience with comics is what we're all here for, right? Maybe someone will now pick up some of those issues and read them and say, "hey, it's not just a gimmick! This is actually pretty good!"

 

Except the crossover into Justice League Task Force, that was terrible.

 

While we're at it, don't miss the Knightfall issues in Showcase 93, featuring Two-Face and a rockin Bill Sienkiewicz cover on part one...

 

and an impressive Glenn Fabry cover on part two...

[Garlanda]

Very cool summation!

 

Knightfall occurred during a period where I essentially viewed comics as a gimmick and didn't much care for them anymore. But your synopsis of that particular storyline will force me to explore it.

 

BTW: Loved your MiracleMan collection, and thanks for putting me on to Hellspawn 6 & 7.

 

All the best,

 

SW3D

 

SW3D,

 

I thoroughly recommend taking a look at the Knightfall storyline. Will it change your life? Probably not, but it will entertain you as well as any major superhero crossover.

 

You're welcome on the Hellspawn 6 & 7, thanks for the info on Man of Miracles!

[Brandon Shepherd]

I think I will pull out my Knightfall Volume One collection and re-read it, this time around I think I'll keep it simple and only read the basic story. The Showcase covers posted by Garlanda (Knightfall pts 13 & 14) are good but more of an interlude and can be separated from the main storyline, the same goes for the three part "The God of Fear" storyline include in Knightfall Vol. 1.