[Audio Drama] Batman: the Complete Knightfall Saga

All I can say is, “wow,” when it comes to this BBC audio drama of the Batman “Knightfall” arc. “Knightfall” is the title given to the story arc that introduced the villain Bane and his plan to finally kill The Batman by staging a gauntlet of Batman’s greatest foes.

A sample:

Chapter 1

From wiki:

“Knightfall” is the title given to a major Batman story arc published by DC Comics that dominated Batman-related serial comic books in the spring and summer of 1993. Knightfall is also the umbrella title to the trilogy of story lines that ran from 1993 to 1994. They consisted of “Knightfall”, “Knightquest”, and “KnightsEnd”.

The story takes place over approximately six months. Bruce Wayne (Batman) suffers burnout and is systematically assaulted and crippled by a “super steroid”-enhanced genius named Bane. Wayne is replaced as Batman by an apprentice named Jean-Paul Valley, who becomes increasingly violent and unstable, tarnishing Batman’s reputation. Eventually, Wayne is healed through paranormal means, and reclaims his role as Batman.

Knightfall resulted in long-term ramifications for the Batman mythos, as Batman’s trust from the police, public, and fellow superheroes had to be rebuilt. Additionally, Wayne realizes the peril and burden of attempting to work in solitude, leading to the eventual creation of the modern incarnation of the Batman family…

The audio drama picks up the major arcs from the various titles that made up “Knightfall” – including some much needed back-story. The quality of the production is outstanding as with most BBC radio dramas. Bob Sessions voices Bruce Wayne and Batman and does a nice job with the character. It seems familiar as it sounds a bit like Kevin Conroy’s incarnation in The Animated Series. The rest of the voice acting is mostly top notch (no villain that rivals Mark Hamil’s Joker, of course).

I am a bit new to Batman comics and when reading the majority of the “Knightfall” arc years ago on a recommendation I was pretty lost. Before getting into my next round with The Bat, I did a lot more homework and tried to plan out a reading schedule that gave me a consistent timeline and would be familiar to me and my mostly pop awareness of Batman. The “Knightfall” cycle in that regard is absolutely essential for it incorporates many of the modern elements into the Batman mythos. I am pleased to say with my increased familiarity with the mythos, I found the audio drama of “Knightfall” to be mostly easy to follow.

The drama is fast paced and launches forward expecting the listener to get used to the pace and catch up. I enjoy that it is not spelled out for it keeps the dialogue from being dragged down by over-simplifying elements.

The sound effects and production are quite good. When listening through headphones there are many 360 degree effects. Some of the quieter or more mundane scenes actually highlight the sound presentation more than the battle scenes.

“Batman: the Complete Knightfall Saga” is one of the best non-comic Batman presentations I have ever come across. It fits somewhere around the enjoyment level of “The Animated Series” and is a certain must for Batman enthusiasts.

Side note: BBC and Audio Dramas in general have a long history of excellence. The 1968 version of The Hobbit, for example, is a very entertaining and faithful adaptation of the book. However, the most impressive thing I have ever heard is the National Public Radio presentation of Star Wars: A New Hope. This radio drama incorporated a substantial amount of additional Lucas story line and back-story for the characters and features Mark Hamil reprising his role as Luke Skywalker. Its runtime is well over five hours and every second is pure “Star Wars” nerd orgasm. As far as rank goes, I would rank it in entertainment quality ahead of “Return of the Jedi”, in front of all the prequels, and right up there with the very best of the expanded universe novels. It’s brilliant and something every “Star Wars” fan should own and love.

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