Does the world need Batman? That’s the question at the core of Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora’s Knightfight #4 as Bruce Wayne is faced not with a trial of wits or brawn, but of pure will. A challenge that asks him to leave behind a dream come true.
Knightfight #4 picks up after the cliffhanger of the previous issue. A world where he’s grown old, where Damian Wayne, as the new Batman, has healed Gotham City in a way Bruce had only ever dreamt of. The Batfamily is whole and happy; Damian even has a son of his own that he has named “Alfred.” It’s a paradise, especially for someone like Bruce who has been fighting a constant war against crime, but he and Damian both know it’s false. Even as he hugs his grandson, Bruce hears the voice of the Heart of Apokolips in his head telling him that he must fight not just Damian, but this world.
Yet, this is the first time his family knows what’s going on. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake get together to challenge Bruce in every way conceivable. Acrobatics, boxing, wits, chess, tech: Bruce goes through a gauntlet of challenges, but the hardest is hearing that everyone ended up happy. Bruce is faced with a world where his pain isn’t needed, where his family has succeeded him in every way possible. He doesn’t want to leave, but it’s through the words of his grandson that Bruce finds the power to do what needs to be done.
Why Knightfight #4 is the Ultimate Batfamily Tribute
Joshua Williamson does some fantastic work with this final issue of the mini. He serves a strong dosage of emotional punch that shows the perfect epilogue to Gotham and to Bruce’s entire life, but where this issue really shines is that question that was posed at the start of issue 1: Does the world even need Batman? Williamson makes the smart choice, and the answer he gives subverts the very premise. The world may not need a Batman, but his family does.
It’s a sentiment that calls to the most central part of Batman’s identity: family. Batman as a character has always been about family, about losing family, the damage of isolation, and the fear of building that love and connection again. Time and time again in this series, we’re presented with a thousand ways that Bruce has either gone rogue or been killed, and each time we’re presented with a successor who has struggled in his absence. This final reality, the one without blemishes, is one where Bruce passes on the mantle in old age and supports his family’s endeavors in and out. It shows a world that has been made whole not by fighting as Batman, but by the love and support a father gave his children.
So even though this series is in the middle of a huge DC K.O. event and is bookended by it, the emotional core of it reads like a love letter to the Robins and the power and impact Bruce has had on each one. The biggest weakness of this issue is how much it leaves open. There’s a number of hanging plot threads in each of the realities that are unaddressed, the most pressing of which is Bruce’s modified Mother Box so aptly named a “Bat-Box.” It points to these characters returning in either the final issues of the main event or something afterwards, and though it’s a fun cliffhanger, it does leave a bit to be desired in the final moments.
Dan Mora’s Art: Designing the Future of Gotham
Dan Mora, meanwhile, is firing on all cylinders for this final issue. Recovering from the lackluster design for Tim’s Batman, Damian’s serves as maybe the best yet. A tasteful combination of his black/red/grey Robin outfit and the Batman 666 suit that has most commonly been used. Beyond that, his facial expressions are nothing short of flawless, with the young Alfred being a particular standout with the expressive anime-esque eyes always pulling at the heartstrings.
The fight between Damian and Bruce was of course another standout, even with a bit too much of an over-reliance on gradient backdrops and motion lines. The colors by Tríona Farrell know exactly how to best compliment Mora’s art, full of dimension and bold vibrant colors. Tom Napolitano on letters does an equally solid job, especially when the dialogue bubbles change intensity and font to match the emotion of a scene.
Is Knightfight the Best DC K.O. Tie-In?
Though DC K.O. at large has been hit or miss, Knightfight shows the character-focused brilliance that can emerge from its premise. It is a brilliant exercise in subversion. It lures you in with promises of big exciting fights and powerscaling but delivers a heart-wrenching meditation on family and the power of a strong and loving parental figure. Though this is the end of this series, there are more than a couple heavy-handed hints that we are not done with these iterations of these characters, which is not something I will be complaining about, because much like Bruce, I don’t want to go. Not yet.
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‘DC K.O.: Knightfight’ #4 | Does the World Still Need Bruce Wayne?
Though DC K.O. at large has been hit or miss, Knightfight shows the character-focused brilliance that can emerge from its premise. It is a brilliant exercise in subversion. It lures you in with promises of big exciting fights and powerscaling but delivers a heart-wrenching meditation on family and the power of a strong and loving parental figure.
