If You Read Any Tie-In, It Should Be This One
With this final issue, Batman: Knight of Vengeance stands as the Flashpoint tie-in most worth reading. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso tell a story that could have stood on its own as a very interesting Elseworlds tale but is made even better by its connection to Flashpoint. This, honestly, should have been the template for every tie-in.
This tells the story of Bruce Wayne's death as a child in that infamous alley and the deterioration of both his parents as a result. At first glance, Thomas becoming Batman and Martha becoming the Joker may seem just a little too clever and contrived, but it is a forgivable contrivance for how good of a story it is.
As I have said in other Flashpoint reviews, Thomas Wayne as Batman is the true star of the event. It is a very interesting twist where the father actually becomes the son and is made all the more interesting see how Thomas' Batman is different and similar to Bruce's. As dark as Bruce can be, there is a strange sense of hope to him as Batman. There is that sense that in all that darkness he is still at least building something for the future. A family, a legacy, a better Gotham City. With Thomas' Batman, there is none of that. All hope has been replaced by nihilism. He is a man who has lost his only child. There is no future that Thomas is striving for, and this is highlighted powerfully by how what his ultimate goal now is in Flashpoint is to change the past.
The emotionally charged confrontation between Thomas and Martha is not just the highlight of this issue but of the whole limited series. Azzarello really sells them as two people horribly twisted by a shared tragedy who also still remember what they once were to each other. Thomas' need for Martha's approval is matched by the emotional shifts seen in Martha as she learns of the possibility of Bruce surviving and then of what he will end up becoming.
While this tie-in is not terribly relevant to the main story of Flashpoint, it is exactly the kind of story that is most worth reading in an event like this. It is a well done and powerful exploration of an alternate reality character in three issues. Is that not exactly what we want to see out of Flashpoint? This is what alternate reality stories are for, and Batman: Knight of Vengeance delivers.
