Synopsis for ”Strange Deadfellows”
Batman allows Firefly to escape in order to save both their lives, wrapping his Batrope around the villain’s leg, and letting Firefly’s glider pull him out of the fire. Firefly realizes that he’s towing his enemy, and cuts the wire, sending Batman hurtling toward the ground. Batman survives by gripping onto a fire escape as he falls.
At the same time, Jean-Paul Valley decides to go out on the streets in costume, hoping to have a trial-by-fire after training for weeks since he was humiliated by his encounter with Killer Croc. He doesn’t tell Batman or Robin.
Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred reminds Bruce Wayne that he ought to attend a Wayne Foundation dinner, lest people realize that he is Batman. Bruce agrees, knowing that the dinner will likely be a target for mayhem, and he will need to be there in one mask or another.
That night, Poison Ivy prepares her plan to disrupt the dinner while Bane and his men stakeout the dinner’s location, hoping to see what happens with Ivy’s plan. Meanwhile, Joker and Scarecrow force Mayor Krol to send the Gotham City Police Department on a wild goose-chase.
At the dinner, Bruce realizes that the police guards are nowhere to be found, and grows suspicious. Bane, watching from above, realizes that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one and the same, after witnessing him in public. Suddenly, Bruce senses that some kind of plant toxin is being pumped into the room, and he struggles to get a nose-filter in to protect himself.
Poison Ivy appears, and instructs all the men in the room to leave for Neo Eden. Bruce pretends to be in her thrall, in order not to give himself away, and files into the back of a truck. Bane instructs his man Bird to follow it.
Once the truck arrives at its destination, Ivy instructs the men to form a line so she can relieve them of their valuables and money. Bruce takes the opportunity to sneak off and get into his costume. As Ivy prepares to kiss (and thereby infect) her victims, Batman tosses a Batarang into her face. In response, she summons some previously infected goons to attack him. Batman becomes increasingly exhausted with each foe that he takes down, much to Bane’s pleasure. Even so, he manages to subdue Poison Ivy, and call ambulances for her victims.
Meanwhile, much of the Gotham Police Department is at an amusement park, believing that Mayor Krol is being held captive by the Joker and Scarecrow there (though he is actually being held captive in his own home). The Mayor’s voice leads them to a bomb, which goes off moments later, killing many officers.
Back at his hideout, Bane hopes that Batman can withstand the threat of the Joker, in order that he can face Bane, finally.
Appearing in ”Strange Deadfellows”
Featured Characters:
* Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Supporting Characters:
* Alfred Pennyworth
* Harvey Bullock
* James Gordon
* Jean-Paul Valley
Antagonists:
* Bane
* Bird
* Talon
* Trogg
* Zombie
* Firefly
* Joker
* Poison Ivy
* Scarecrow
Other Characters:
* Gotham City SWAT team
* Armand Krol
* Leslie Thompkins
* Lucius Fox
* Shondra Kinsolving
* Mikey (Single appearance)
Locations:
* Gotham City
* Gotham City Police Headquarters
* Gotham Civic Center
* Mayor’s Mansion
* Neo-Eden
* Seagate Amusement Park
* Wayne Foundation (Mentioned only)
* Wayne Manor
Items:
* Batarang
* Batrope
* Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin
* Utility Belt
Notes
* This issue is Chapter Seven of the ”Knightfall” saga, which continues in Detective Comics #662.
* This issue is reprinted in Batman: Knightfall Part One - Broken Bat, the 2012 Batman: Knightfall Volume One and the 2018 Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_Vol_1_495

Jun 1993

DC Comics

070992304301

495

June

1993

-

1

United States

$1.25

(Chrome Age, from 1992 to 1999) and (Modern Age, 2000 to present)

Modern Age

English

Trade Paperback

Batman Vol. 1

Knightfall*Part 7

Official Name
Knightfall
Event Aliases
The Broken Bat, Who Rules the Night?, Knightquest, The Crusade, The Search, KnightsEnd
Universe
New Earth
Locations
Gotham City; Arkham Asylum; Wayne Manor; Batcave
Heroes
Batman (Bruce Wayne); Batman (Jean-Paul Valley); Robin
Villains
Bane; Bird; Trogg; Zombie; Catwoman; Joker; Killer Croc; Riddler, Scarecrow, Firefly, The Ventriloquist, Lady Shiva, Penn Selkirk, the Arkham Asylum inmates
Others
Alfred Pennyworth; Harvey Bullock; James Gordon; Shondra Kinsolving
Titles
Batman; Detective Comics; Showcase ’93; Batman: Shadow of the Bat
Collected
Batman: Knightfall Part One: Broken Bat; Batman: Knightfall Part Two: Who Rules the Night; Batman: Knightfall Part Three: KnightsEnd; Batman: Knightfall Volume One, Batman: Knightfall Volume Two: Knightquest, Batman: Knightfall Volume Three: KnightsEnd
Creators
Doug Moench · Jim Aparo
First Appearance Last Appearance
Batman #492
(May, 1993) Showcase ’94 #10
(September, 1994)
Knightfall is a Batman Family crossover published in 1993. It’s a trilogy consisting of three storylines, Knightfall, Knightquest, and KnightsEnd. It was written by Alan Grant, Chuck Dixon, Dennis O’Neil, Doug Moench, and Jo Duffy, with illustrations by Barry Kitson, Bret Blevins, Graham Nolan, Jim Aparo, Jim Balent, Mike Manley, Norm Breyfogle and Ron Wagner. The story was originally published in Batman, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Justice League Task Force, Legends of the Dark Knight, Robin, Shadow of the Bat, Showcase ’93 and Showcase ’94.

Bane, the primary villain of the storyline, is introduced in Vengeance of Bane, and the vigilante Azrael is introduced in Sword of Azrael. Knightfall is divided into two parts. In The Broken Bat, Bane defeats Batman by breaking his spine. This requires Azrael to become the new Batman, and defeat Bane in Who Rules the Night?. Knightquest is also divided into two parts. In The Crusade, Azrael’s Batman grows more violent and crazy, while in The Search, Bruce Wayne seeks a cure for his paralysis. In KnightsEnd, Bruce Wayne returns and takes his mantle as Batman back from the usurper Azrael.



Contents

1 History
*
Knightfall
*
The Crusade The Search KnightsEnd Issues Notes
History
Knightfall
The plot of Knightfall began with the master criminal Bane freeing all of the maximum-security inmates of Arkham Asylum. Bane’s plan consisted of weakening Batman by forcing him to deal with the deadly villains one at a time. Among the freed inmates, there were numerous high profile villains, such as the Joker, who trapped Arkham’s administrator Jeremiah Arkham, and Scarecrow, as well as many less known villains, such as the Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, Firefly, Cavalier, and Victor Zsasz. The storyline of Knightfall drove a large rift in the relationship between Robin and Batman, as Batman sought to face the outbreak alone. Indeed, in later issues, Tim Drake, the current Robin, asks Batman if he is even needed as his sidekick anymore.

Breaking the Bat

VIEW IMAGE
Over the next few issues, Batman became weaker and weaker as each criminal was put away. The combination of the Joker and Scarecrow took Batman to his mental and physical limits. After this encounter, Bane made his move and attacked Batman (by this time, Bane had deduced the identity of Batman to be Bruce Wayne) at Wayne Manor, where he was most vulnerable as his alter-ego. The fight between Bruce Wayne and Bane was detailed in Batman #497, and ended in Bane breaking Wayne’s back over his knee. With Batman supposedly out of the way, Bane assumes control of Gotham City and begins to take over a number of illegal operations within it.
After his defeat, Bruce Wayne enlists the aid of Dr. Shondra Kinsolving to rehabilitate him and asks Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) to take up the mantle of Batman so that Gotham has a protector. Tim Drake argues with Bruce to allow Dick Grayson (the former Robin) to become Batman, as he is more experienced and mentally competent. However, Bruce says that Dick is his own man now, with his own responsibilities and would only do so reluctantly; Dick later expressed resentment at not being asked to stand in as Batman. Bruce’s rationale for this decision is revealed in later issues -- secretly, he doesn’t want Dick to have to face Bane, as he knows Dick’s character will compel him to try. Bruce gives Jean-Paul strict orders never to engage Bane in combat; indeed, when Jean-Paul faces Bane, only his modified gloves save him from being thrown to his death.
Soon after, Kinsolving and Tim’s father Jack Drake are kidnapped and Bruce with Alfred leave the country to find them - their story is continued in Knightquest: The Search, whilst the happenings in Gotham are recorded in Knightquest: The Crusade. Jean-Paul is shown as a different but not dangerous Batman until an encounter with the Scarecrow, which culminates in Jean-Paul being infected by Scarecrow’s fear gas and the ”System” - his programming as Azrael - taking over, in order to combat Jean-Paul’s fear. Following this, Jean-Paul was unable to shake the influence of the System, giving into it completely after his first defeat at Bane’s hands, and being increasingly influenced by it during the rest of his tenure as Batman. Over the next few issues he is portrayed in, Jean-Paul alienates Robin and becomes paranoid and arrogant, the opposite of what Bruce had chosen him for. In Batman #500, Jean-Paul in his new mechanical Batsuit confronts Bane in a vicious battle and eventually prevails. Jean-Paul leaves Bane broken mentally and physically, although he struggles with the choice of whether to simply kill Bane or hand him over to the police. Stating that he will let Bane go to Blackgate Prison, Jean-Paul continues to watch over Gotham after the fight but grows increasingly unstable.
The massive story was quickly collected into two volumes of trade paperbacks. Volume one was subtitled Broken Bat and the second was Who Rules the Night. In late 2011, the story was recollected in one massive volume together with The Vengeance of Bane as Knightfall Vol. 1: Knightfall.
Knightquest
”Knightfall” was immediately followed by ”Knightquest” in the monthly serials. ”Knightquest” is divided into two storylines, one following Bruce Wayne (Knightquest: The Search) and the other on the new Batman (Knightquest: The Crusade). The stories were not treated as crossovers and the Batman titles continued as they had before Knightfall where the creative teams each pursued their own storylines. This, however, leads to some contradictions within the story between the different comic titles.
The issues that make up the Knightquest saga were highly sought after by comic completists as they were never collected into trade paperback format; ”KnightsEnd” was released as a trade paperback directly after the two ”Knightfall” collections. However, in 2012, DC released the books that made up ”The Crusade” as part of their Knightfall re-releases, titled Knightfall Vol 2: Knightquest. It is said that Danny O’Neil never liked ”The Search” and is most likely instrumental for that part of the storyline not being released in a trade.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman:_Knightfall

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2025-06-07

2018-07-02 21:51:16