Batman: The Knight #1

If this is the bar set by the first issue I can only imagine where the following nine issues is going to take us. Read Full Review

It's a strong series that is definitely worth reading and revisiting for many years to come. Read Full Review

This first issue covers a lot of ground for the beginning of a twelve-part issue, and it's impressively ambitious. It has the potential to be one of the defining works on Bruce Wayne's character if the next eleven issues are as strong as this one. Read Full Review

However, this is the first real-time in recent months that Ive felt like that aspect of the character has been decoupled from the gritty, crime-fighting vigilante weve been missing for quite some time. BATMAN: THE KNIGHT #1 was real, raw, and opens up the table for some new adventures at a key moment in Bruces life thats ultimately been skimmed over. Carmine Di Giandomenico and Ivan Plascencia do a respectable job keeping this reviewer locked into the issue. However, there were certain character designs and shadowing that seemed a bit too sharp and wild at times that made it feel less like a BATMAN book and more like a horror comic, which its certainly not. Nevertheless, Im genuinely excited to see where this goes and I think BATMAN fans will definitely want to check this series out! Let me know what you think, have a great week, and God Bless! Read Full Review

Carmine Di Giandomenico delivers some great art on every page of the issue. There are great character moments throughout and you get a beautiful visual sense of both the character and the conflicts. Read Full Review

If this first installment is any indication, the ten-issue adventure of Batman: The Knight is one that is definitely worth taking. Read Full Review

I was very sceptical going into this mini-series, we've almost every minute of Batman's origin and all that was left was the toilet breaks it seemed. Zdarsky though takes a bit of a fresh look at the rich, broody kid and finally starts to answer some of Batman's harshest criticisms. How can a spoilt rich man exact justice on many whose only reasons for crimes are survival? This teenage Bruce make mistakes and acts petty sometimes and the steady, realistic tutelage by Alfred will take time to develop a more human Batman. Read Full Review

Book good. Buy book. Read Full Review

Batman the Knight #1 does feel vital because it goes beyond just seeing a young Bruce Wayne train to be Batman and deals with how he continues to cope with the death of his parents.  Thanks to Carmine Di Giandomenico's art, it also looks great and is an easy book to recommend, especially if you are a Chip Zdarsky fan. Read Full Review

Despite some familiar territory, Batman: The Knight #1 offers an intriguing opportunity to redefine the Dark Knights origins with a more sinister focus. Read Full Review

Batman: The Knight #1 takes a different angle to Bruce Wayne's early days, showing how the persona of Batman was built over time. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Hopefully, Batman fans or those growing tired of Batman will also enjoy it. Read Full Review

The first issue of Batman: The Knight is an insightful and explorative look at the life of young Bruce Wayne. Read Full Review

With 9 issues to go , "The Knight" is shaping up to be a cut above the rest of the many prequels contained in the Bat-mythos. Read Full Review

Maybe a lot" the art, the cover art, the script is very solid. And personally, I love it when Batman, even at this young age, sticks it to Dr. Hugo Strange! Invest in any and all Batman #1 issues, but have specific lenses on when you read it! Read Full Review

Batman: The Knight #1 isn't a bad start but it also doesn't excite. It's an interesting comic that doesn't quite yet make the case as to why it exists and also doesn't quite make a whole lot of sense character wise leaving out what has lead up to the current state. Zdarsky has show he can play the long game and pays off after a while, we just might need to wait a little bit more until we get to that moment.s Read Full Review

An intriguing revision of the rise of Bruce Wayne. Read Full Review

With 9 issues to go, I'm more than willing to give this series a chance. Read Full Review

This is just the first issue, but Batman: The Knight has yet to solidify why this origin redux is necessary or what it will contribute to the character. Unfortunately, there's too little new here for Bat-fans and not enough promise to recommend to new readers over other time-tested origins. Read Full Review

Psycamorean

Jan 18, 2022

I have gotten super sick of Batman titles at DC. It seems like they constantly put out more and more and more. But this one is actually fucking good and worth the money. Chip Zdarsky is a great writer and he manages to make one of the most played out things in comics interesting. I hope the rest of the series lives up to this stellar start.

cincyfan

Jan 23, 2022

When I heard chip zdarsky was writing a batman book I thought with the way he is writing daredevil I'll bet this is going to be a great Batman story. I was right this is a tremendous start to what is sure to be a great miniseries

Toonstrack

Jan 19, 2022

You know those times you read an issue and just know you're in for a great series? This was one of those times. I was unsure if I was going to follow this. We've seen this concept before. Bridging the gap from young Bruce to Bat Bruce. Introducing various OCs and occasionally younger versions of people we all know already. The TV show Gotham comes to mind(which I absolutely hated and didn't bother watching much). This is a lot more like what Gotham should have been. Its focused more on telling a story focused around Bruce, but a exploring his mind rather than his actions. You'll see him do stuff too of course, but this tale is a lot more cerebral of an examination of now hor Bruce became built like a knight but how he came to th ink like one. At least, that's what this first issue indicates. The narrative is pretty simple, with Bruce training his mind while in school, and already in the process of meting out his own personal justice system by tormenting bullies psychologically. Interspersed with this are scenes depicting Bruce being psychologically examined by one Hugo Strange, though we later find out theres more to him being there than that as the issue ends on a cool note. At one point Bruce entertains the idea of being a cop, which thank God, he is dissuaded from, but again, it gives a hint into the narrative the story is selling. This is an examination of how his mind gets to the point where he ultimately decides to become a consumed vigilante dressed as a bat and fight a one man war on crime. So while a step to consider, we can perceive as well as he does that being a cop isn't the answer for him, and while we know where he ends up, thankfully the book doesn't use that as an excuse to eschew developing his character naturally. The art is strong with solid face and figure work and vibrant colors. Softer scenes have cool tones and blue tints. The school he attends is rendered with earth tones and some warmer highlights, but ultimately the climax of the issue sees Bruce and his enemies awash in blazing reds as police sirens wail. Its a well presented book all around. I wasn't sure exactly how much I would like this going in. There are a LOT of Batman/Batman adjacent books running right now, and while it seems most of them are pretty good(I'm reading at least 4 of them) it still does get to be a little much when DC already is known for relying far too heavily on this character. Fortunately, this one makes a real effort to justify its existence and is a solid book in its own right. As for flaws, there truly aren't many. One I will say I noticed rather quickly is that its unfortunately unclear what exact age Bruce is supposed to be here, thought given the dialogue we can assume 16-17 ish. Ergo, I'm giving it a pretty high score. Zdarskys writing chops are well established at this point, so I'm hoping he can continue to keep this energy. more

The Brave and the Bald

Jan 18, 2022

An excellent start for a very promising series. The premise isn't the most original, but Zdarsky makes it work with sharp dialogue and strong character interactions. It's definitely one to keep an eye on, especially if you're not offended by Gotham Police being portrayed as corrupt (as was the case in Batman: Year One). People get outraged over the silliest things these days.

Julhin

Apr 08, 2022

This was awesome, can't believe i took so long to start this one after i had seen so many good things being said about it. Zdarsky again proves why he's one of the best in the business, he delivers sharp dialogue and great character interactions while telling a "origin story" about Batman in a fresh, interesting and new perspective, all of that illustrated by Carmine Di Giandomenico with some really stunning artwork, this left me excited not just for the rest of the series but for Zdarsky's and Jimenez run on Batman in July. I stopped reading Batman after the end of Tom Kings run(a run with a lot of ups and downs but that i mostly enjoyed) and nothing from Tynion's run(Joker War, Fear State) made me excited to read it, and i didn't wanna re ad what Williamson is doing because apparently is an extension to an event that he has been building up for a while in Robin and Deathstroke INC and i still haven't found the time to read those, but i will surely jump back in July with issue #125 to see what Zdarsky will do with the character. more

Stormwrath

Jan 18, 2022

Super solid story, at the same time this is not new, it feels fresh and interesting. I liked Zdarsky's voice for this book and Carmine's art fits well

daspidaboy

Jan 18, 2022

this series seems to take some inspiration from Matt Reeves Batman becoming Vengenance and honestly I'm pretty excited for this series.

Crimson Knight

Jan 19, 2022

I was enthralled by the quiet rage of Bruce Wayne. The story emphasis a period in Bruce's life we don't often see and Zdarsky's writing is SO good. I've love Di Giandomenico's art since Spider-man Noir and especially his tenure on The Flash but The Knight is easily his sharpest art yet. Definitely recommend!

Hydro-Man

Jan 22, 2022

My favorite book of the week. Derivative of Batman Begins? Obviously. Enjoyable? Absolutely. Bruce Wayne participates in Battle of the Tough Guys.

Skywolf

Jan 23, 2022

The origin story of Batman never gets outdated. Interesting for the beginning of a 10-issue story.

Jawsh

Feb 07, 2022

I wasn't going to read this because I couldn't bare another psych take on Batman's origins. At this point I'm getting PTSD watching his parents get shot over and over and over and over again. Chip Zdarsky finds new, interesting angels to tackle Bruce at his youth. And the art of Giandomenico is fantastic. Let's see where this road goes.

Afre

Jan 18, 2022

It's just fine. There is nothing wrong with this, but it's not entirely new concept, so it gave a little "been there done that" -feeling after reading this. Sure, there are new elements here, but Batman's origins have touched upon so many times, it's hard to make it interesting and compelling read. Thankfully the art is good and script solid. It's just not as good as I wanted it to be, but I never was that interested in this series to begin with. I hope this series can find a reason to exist and do something entirely new with the concept.

Merlyn

Jan 18, 2022

I loved it up until the half of it when Zdarsky started to put his usual rants about cops and rich people, I don't get why one would insist on beating us over the head with the same ideas over and over and over. At this point he should know his audience and stop with it, not continue propagandizing. Other than that, this was decent for a first issue if you get over Chip's usual problems.

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JBL Reviews - Jan 23, 2022

Perhaps he believes there should be a change and believes it is responsible to speak out until we see that change, whether people want to hear it or not.

Merlyn - Jan 23, 2022

Yeah, there is a term for that: propaganda. It is exactly that: hammer someone on the head with a message until it gets through their skulls that you're right. We don't need propaganda into comics. Nor do we need class discrimination which, I know, sounds super fun for Americans, but learn a little or two things about other places and you'll see it's not as fun as it seems.

TSMack - Jan 23, 2022

If Zdarsky is hating on cops, he's an idiot. Two cops were gunned down in NYC this week.

Merlyn - Jan 26, 2022

He is hating on cops, if you read his Daredevil or Devil's Reign it's filled with stupid shit about police, it doesn't work, cops are bad etc.

Brannon.44

Aug 10, 2022

Reads very fast

Simon DelMonte

Jul 26, 2022

What does this do that the last twenty retellings of Batman's origin didn't? It's not bad. But it's nothing we need at this point.

myconius

May 12, 2022

There were some bits in here that worked, but a LOT that just didn’t. Bruce being so closely tied to Hugo strange way before he’d even became Batman? Way too orchestrated! Bruce having the ability to torment a bully without getting caught as a child is just poor writing. It undermines all the years that Bruce Wayne had to train to be Batman, because Zdarsky would like you to think that Bruce was inherently Batman already. Plus the overused “darkness”. Bruce is such a dark and brooding kid. Ooooh he’s out for vengeance, and he’s taking it to the bullies. Gee! Would anyone really not think that this kid would NOT grow up to be Batman??? Especially now giving Bruce Wayne a history of being caught in underground fighting, FFS !!! Zdarsky has basically made Bruce Wayne the most likely candidate in a list of suspects of WHO would be Batman!! Zdarsky also relies on the crutch of giving us yet another insert disposable love interest. How many of these disposable early love interests has Bruce now had? Still, i cannot get passed Bruce seeing Hugo Strange of all people for treatment. Especially this early on in his life. Zdarsky has made Bruce smart enough to be able to torment bullies undetected, yet he makes it painfully obvious to everyone around him that he has anger issues and is vindictive. This version of Bruce just is not very smart at all. In fact, he’s an angry lunk head. The art was ok, but was not enough to to make up for this cliched, predictable and pretentious story. more