Title: Batman.
Story-Arc: Knight Out.
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon.
Penciller(s): Graham Nolan & Jim Aparo.
Inker(s): Bob McLeod, Bill Sienkiewicz, Scott Hanna, Tom Palmer, David Roach, Cam Smith, Eduardo Barreto & Stan Woch.
Colourist(s): Gloria Vasquez.
Letterer(s): John Costanza.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Format: Hardcover.
Release Date: September 29th, 2020.
Pages: 272.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781779506696.
My Overall Rating:
Life has a way of making us feel miserable. It will make us beg for miracles, for a hand to pierce through the dark sky and offer us mercy, beg for any sign of hope within this mad world. It is during these trying moments that some are driven to the limit of their sanity, abandoning any sense of justice, remorse, or guilt as they refuse to think twice when confronted with the law. Alas, life will have made them see that any means would justify the end. In Gotham City, not many are able to dig themselves out of the grave they find themselves in. Instead, they pursue a life of criminality and pray that the Caped Crusader doesn’t look their way. Diving into countless events during the dark nights of this city is the legendary Batman creative team of Chuck Dixon (Batman: Knightfall, Robin: Year One) and Graham Nolan (Hawkworld, Superman) as they present us with a collection of past adventures featuring Batman (Bruce Wayne), Robin (Tim Drake), and Alfred Pennyworth.
What is Batman: Knight Out about? Collecting Detective Comics issues #703-718, this graphic novel is an anthology of several adventures where Batman and Robin go up against new and old foes to take them down before they harm anyone in the process. From playing The Riddler’s games, teamed up with his two associates, Query and Echo, to discovering the pitiful saga of Al Gabone, to stopping a revenge-driven man-machine known as Gearhead, there’s no moment to rest as Batman fights crime, often pushed to the temptation of breaking his own rule, and finds himself confronting criminals who are either driven to lawlessness or dumped in a vast and cold sea of full-on villainy.
“Sometimes the future is even more certain than the past.”
— Chuck Dixon
Unlike other graphic novels, this reprint of past issues offers fans the chance to explore stories created by writer Chuck Dixon and penciller Graham Nolan centered around Batman and his rogues’ gallery. Read like a sequence of rarely connected episodes of crime-fighting, a lot of the narrative gravitates around typical action and adventure without ever diving into a complex or original story-arc. While a couple of villains presented here are well-known to fans, such as The Riddler, Deathstroke, and Firefly, this graphic novel also offers readers the chance to discover less notorious characters, from Gunhawk to Gearhead. Although they don’t leave any worthwhile impression on readers, it is the fun and borderline asinine story-telling that makes this collection somehow refreshing to pick up amidst more compelling stories.
The artwork by Graham Nolan and Jim Aparo offers a very traditional cartoon style that often feels very open and aerated, sticking to less but larger panels to display the characters in the middle of their crime-fighting sequences. Without overpopulating pages with dialogue either, the artwork simply flows from one sequence to another, allowing readers to gobble up the adventures without having too much time to think, thus stripped of those moments to realize the mundane stories that are being told. Colourist Gloria Vasquez also brilliantly contributes to this creative team’s comic book run by giving Gotham City the somber and sinister tone while also allowing the contrasting Bruce Wayne life to pop with life alongside Robin’s suit. While these stories aren’t that impressive, their derivative quality is sometimes exactly what you need every now and then.
Batman: Knight Out is an unfocused, episodic, and featureless collection of stories exploring the crime-fighting journey of Batman and Robin.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!
Roars and Echoes 
Good review brother
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Thank you! I appreciate it. 🙂
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Your welcome… have you read batman metal
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Yes, I have; I have a review for it on my blog! 🙂 I haven’t checked out the newer Death Metal series yet though. Waiting for it to be collected. 😀
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I been looking for it too. I heard crazy stuff is happening in the series. You totally read batman damned its really good book
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I definitely enjoyed Damned too. So dark and gritty! 😀
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Big facts. Especially bring the dark magic into play. Its crazy Bruce Wayne parents were having trouble marriage
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This seems like one of those what I would call when it comes to movies: popcorn kind of films, or a summer blockbuster. Obviously this is a comic, so let’s call it a popcorn comic then😀
You are so right though, sometimes that is all one needs at times. I do like complex stories, but every once in a while I just like to take a load of and watch/read something simple. This seems like it serves that purpose. Not in a real hurry to get this, but it also doesn’t sound half bad😊 Great post as always!
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Exactly. It also really very action-oriented. I couldn’t help feel like I was a kid watching a Batman cartoon. I would’ve gobbled this one up without any issues too as a kid hahah I would definitely qualify it as popcorn entertainment too! Thanks for reading, Michel! 😀
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This sounds tense and action packed collection. Great review, Lashaan!
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It’s a fun one, flawed if you look too closely. 😉 Thanks for reading, Yesha! 😀
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Are they over-doing the Knight puns in these titles? Big Knight Out? The Knight Before Christmas? I’ve got tonnes of them, but there seem to be plenty of others to choose from…
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Hahaha they often do that with Bats. Knightfall, Knightmare, etc. I definitely cringed that they went for Knight Out for this one though!
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I’m glad I’m not the only one cringing! Cheap Knight In, It Was a Dark and Stormy Knight, Let’s Call It a Knight, there must be other angles other than puns…
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Too bad it does not delve deep to have more than three stars becaise I love the art and Batman is my favorite!!!
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It was definitely still fun. 🙂 And yes! Batman is my favourite too, Sophie. 😉
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Ahhh a ‘lighter’ read…just one that you could just skim and get a gist of the story? I wouldn’t mind that, like you said specially during times like this 🙂 Brilliant review, Lashaan!
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Exactly! 😀 It was fun to blitz through this, not having to think about any second degree understanding. Thanks for reading, Jee!
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“Borderline asinine story-telling…” I love it! 🙂
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What can I say? It is what it is hahah! 😀
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The action is coming off the pages. Sometimes pure action is enough. Sometimes we just need something that will not make our brain do somersaults.
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Exactly! It feels very 90s for me and it was refreshing to go through these even if they aren’t as complex as I usually expect my stories to be. 😀
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Hm, interesting and well-thought out review my good man! I somehow missed this collection and will definitely have to pick it up as this was the era in which I started reading comics and I have a particular fondness for these types of comics. True, they may be episodic but that was a lot more common place than it is now where everything is geared towards the trade (and hence multi issue arcs).
Jim Aparo was one of the defining Batman artists for me, again art in comics today is quite different and a lot more stylised…and certainly superior in a lot of ways. But some of this older, more straight forward art has its merits and still looks a million times better than modern John Romita Jr (sorry John!)!
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Absolutely. I’m glad it was collected like this though. It’s a fun break from what you see nowadays and it’s the era of comics that I would have consumed without second guessing as a kid too.
Hahahah I can’t disagree there. John Romita Jr. has definitely lost his touch (or at least can’t compete with the rest of the competition today!). I definitely enjoyed this action-cartoon style though. I hope you get the chance to try it out in the near future, Chris! Thanks for reading! 😀
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