It seems like just yesterday the ‘Flashpoint’ kicked off, and with many, MANY tie-ins, ‘Batman: Knight of Vengeance’ has far and away turned into my favorite. ‘Knight of Vengeance’ is not only a great tie-in, but a great Batman story.
In case you forgot, in the ‘Flashpoint’ Bruce Wayne was killed by Joe Chill. After losing their only son, Thomas and Martha Wayne were driven in two very different and extreme directions. Thomas became the Batman and Martha went crazy and became the Flashpoint’s joker.
In this third and finale installment to this amazing story, we finally get a flashback to the the night Bruce was killed. We see how Thomas tracked down and killed Joe Chill, only to see Martha Wayne slip off the deep end, scarring her face into a wicked smile; becoming Batman’s greatest foe.
The flashback is only a part of this story. Picking up where issue #2 ended, Thomas Wayne is desperately trying to save Harvey Dent’s children. This is no small task since Martha keeps beating him in the head with a hammer, blaming him for the death of Bruce.
Thomas finally gets a chance to explain what he has learned from Barry Allen, the Flash, about an alternate timeline where even though they are dead Bruce lived. Martha finally settles down enough to hear Bruce is in the alternative non-Flashpoint reality.
Thomas has a simple answer, “He follows in his father’s footsteps.” Martha then asks a question I’m guessing she already knows the answer to, “He’s a doctor?”. No, no poor sad, sick Martha. Your son is our world’s Batman. This heartbreaking news is just too much for a mother. Martha runs off and as luck (good or bad, after you read the issue you tell me) would have it, falls down a familiar hole on the Wayne Family Estate.
Brian Azzarello, has created a rich and wonderful story in the ‘Knight of Vengeance’. My only disappointment in this story is, it was only three issues long. I loved seeing Thomas Wayne as Batman, and the addition of Martha Wayne as the most sick and twisted Joker ever was just amazing. Azzarello really tapped into the loss both of these parents felt, and the extreme lengths they will go to in order to live with the world. If you are a comic book fan, or even just a fan of good writing, make sure to add Brian Azzarello to your short-list of must read authors.
The ‘Flashpoint’ is speeding to an end and towards a brand new DC Universe… are you ready? If this is the kind of storytelling we will be seeing from DC Comics then we are all in for one heck of a ride.
