Batman: Knightfall, Part Three: KnightsEnd

In a story nearly too complex to summarize for an Amazon review, Bruce/Bats goes from being Batman to being disabled to being whole again ... but it isn't without consequence, namely having to face Jean Paul Valley, the man he passed the job of Batman to after being broken down by a series of catastrophic events all orchestrated to end his career. The road back to mental and physical prowess is long and not without ethical consequences as Bruce submits to training by Lady Shiva, a long-time mortal foe who believes that killing is the only true measure of physical fitness. However, the world's greatest detective finds a means to even outwit her in the process.

Building to a hair-raising climax worthy of being filmed for the big screen, Knightsend features not one daring showdown with the Batman/Azrael Jean Paul Valley but several bare-knuckle brawls involved a fully-healed Bruce Wayne as well as his long-time protege, Dick Grayson ... aka the original Robin and aka Nightwing, a vigilante hero in his own might who's now back in Gotham to help Bruce take by the night. Catwoman, always a favorite from the Rogues Gallery, is along for the wild ride, and she joins forces with the side of justice in order to see the rightful Batman restored to his throne.

This isn't to say that Knightsend isn't without a few missteps ... a perhaps overly-obsessive Jean Paul suffering visions from the System (a kind of brainwashing to give his mind and body the abilities to serve its own brand of justice) almost becomes comical at one point when the visions try to enter into their own subplot ... an all-to-convenient escape from the clutches of death for Bruce Wayne not drawn or plotted very well given the pace of the frenetic conclusion ... and a few other repeated scenes due to the fact that this tale was originally serialized over the course of many issues of comics within the Batman continuity. Still, they are small missteps, as the grand story is almost operatic at times.

The greatest strength of Knightsend is the fact that, at its core, it doesn't deal so much with Batman as it does with identity: in the final confrontation, Bruce Wayne thinks himself out of a corner with Jean Paul bent on fisticuffs-to-the-death, and the one true Batman realizes that brain -- regardless of whose body it resides in -- will always triumph over brawn.

Welcome back, Batman!