Chapter By Chapter (usually) features me reading one chapter of the selected book at a time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

PART 2: KNIGHTQUEST FINALE

Here we are, the last chapter of part two of the novel. Last time Jean Paul moved against a serial killer while Bruce began his final gambit against Benedict Asp.

One thing I noticed recently is that Jean Paul is barely part of the novelization. I know he had more adventures. For example an issue of Showcase ’93 had Valley as his Batman trying to take Huntress’ case as if only he should be fighting crime. I feel like part two focused more on Bruce than it did Jean Paul, to Jean Paul’s detriment, especially in the latter chapters of this part. Remember, the point of the Knightfall storyline and it’s various subtitles is to show that Jean Paul is the Batman some people in the 1990s said they wanted and to show why they didn’t understand who Batman is or why having a violent Batman doesn’t work. (A lesson that’s fallen on the deaf ears as some writers continue to lean into Bruce’s supposed anger issues and willingness to punch his way to solve a problem.) We only get hints of how more violent Jean Paul is since most of the focus has been on Bruce tracking down his doctor and solving her and Jack Drake’s kidnapping. It’s still a Bruce Wayne story more than it is about comparing and contrasting the two takes on Batman.

Perhaps we’ll see more of that in part 3 but for now let’s see how the Knightquest ends.

Short segment to start off. Just the cab driver being a jerk until he gets killed by his “replacement”. Not sure there was a need for that unless O’Neil wanted us to hate the guy before killing him off. It might have worked better in the comic but in the novel they could have just had…I’m betting it’s Abattoir…taking the cab and mentioning he was killed.

The next segment is the opposite. Graham Etchison, Abattoir’s next target, is loading kids onto a bus to bring them to the mountains for a trip. We see he really wants to show these kids a world outside of Gotham and the city in general. We’re supposed to root for his survival. Meanwhile, BatValley does some investigation to find out where he works and figures out he might have missed the message that Abattoir is coming for him. We also learn how little Jean Paul understands Bruce. I don’t believe that Bruce would wait until nightfall when time is of the essence. Over the decades we’ve seen Batman operate in the light when he has to, even apart from the Justice League. As far as not labeling the windshield wipers on the Batmobile, or if he just has a random Maserati then his car, I could see Bruce not doing that. He probably remembered what buttons did what from memory since it’s a custom job. Makes it more difficult on someone trying to steal it. Jean Paul really does hate research, but Bruce told him that’s one of the most important parts of the investigation.

Back with Bruce he figured out Asp bugged the room but it was a risk he was willing to take. There’s still no connection to Bruce being Batman, just that he isn’t Sir Hemingford Grey. As he and his assistant Fritz prepare to drug him, Bruce manages to beat the daylights out of Fritz even in his condition. Meanwhile, Shondra manages to stop Asp from using the drug, but a gun will do as well, until Bruce finds the needle he dropped–which is the only flaw in the fight scene. If Shondra grabbed Asp’s calves how did she reach his thumb as fast and the narration indicates to pull the needle from his hand? It all ends with Fritz out cold, Shondra accidentally killing Asp like she did their father, and then using her powers to heal Bruce. I’m not sure if the effort killed her or not because we don’t really learn what happened to her next. Just that Bruce is now healed, Fritz died escaping the boat, and Asp’s body disappeared. A fitting end to his kind.

Overall, part 2 ends well enough. What I’ll be curious to see in part 3 is whether or not we’ll see Bruce on a new training pilgrimage to regain his status as Batman, since one of those stories, as part of the subline “Knightquest: The Crusade” will show up here. It’s a good story but I guess we’ll find out if it’s here. We’ve had the fall. We’ve had the quest. Now comes the finale.

Next time: Knight’s End