Dark, gritty, and shocking...
Batman Knight of Vengeance #1 was one of my favorite Flashpoint tie-in books and issue #2 only amps up what made the first book so good. And if there's another Flashpoint book with this many "Oh My Gosh" moments, I have yet to see it.
If you've been following Flashpoint at all you know that Thomas Wayne is Batman. Brian Azzarello immerses us into Flashpoint Batman's dark world by way of his search for two children kidnapped by the Joker. It only takes Azzarello four pages to deliver his first Flashpoint jolt but it's minor compared to the twisted surprise ending. Azzarello takes familiar Batman characters and shrouds them in loneliness and despondency. It's an even darker than usual take on Batman and I found it very effective.
In some ways Eduardo Risso's art works to convey Azzarello's dark vision but it's almost to dark. That said, it's hard to gripe about art that accurately sets the intended tone. I wasn't a fan of the overall style nor did I care for the layout of the panels. Still Risso's work does add to the storytelling and is certainly above average.
This is a fantastic story that is strongly constructed and offers far more than simple shock value. It moves at a near perfect pace and delivers a stunning ending. It's hard to really be blown away by the surprise knowing that all of this is short lived but I still found myself thoroughly enjoying it
