Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Monday, September 7, 2026
I SAW BATMAN: KNIGHTFALL, PART 1
Jeff Wamester's Batman: Knightfall, Part 1, adapted by Jeremy Adams, is the first animated feature in an overlap of famous, Batman comics, which depict one of the most significant, pop-cultural stretches in the Dark Knight's legacy. (Back in the day, it was second only to The Death & Return of Superman, and that's saying a lot, considering how consuming the latter was and still remains.)
In the case of Knightfall's R-rated intro, we get the essential groundwork for the intense, Bane-breaks-Batman's-back storyline, which intersects with other DC passages, including Bane's prison-based upbringing, his venom-fueled alteration and his unleashing of Arkham's madmen to wear Bruce Wayne down, accompanied by the advent of Azrael, aka Jean-Paul Valley, a regal but relentless, Dark Knight proxy.
The juxtaposing of the saga's established chapters could have been confusing, but at least with Part 1, the combination stays coherent. (One needn't have experienced the comic saga to get the gist of where one portion ends and another begins.)
For flavor, the setup draws from a number of Batman's iconic compatriots, including Timothy Drake's Robin, Jason Todd's Robin (via flashback), Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya and Jim Gordon, in addition to some of the Caped Crusader's top, fiendish foes: the Riddler, Victor Zsasz, the Mad Hatter, the Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Firefly, Catman, Two-Face, Franco Bertinelli and the Ventriloquist and Scarface.
This cameo novelty is a fun additive, but it's secondary to the segments that expand upon Bane and Azrael (in the former, with early, foreboding tenderness; and in the latter, a surreal, anguished metamorphosis), but make no mistake: Knightfall is Batman's story.
As with any such story, this one emphasizes the character's strength and endurance, his need to thrive on principle (in particular when it comes to his no-kill policy). At the same time, he does requires help, which surfaces in his behavioral sessions with Dr. Shondra Kinsolving. We see a hero who's put upon to a suffocating cut-upon-cut extent, a crusader who's criticized for his overabundant efforts, and yet he finds the mettle, the fortitude, to overcome, to survive, to make a difference, despite the incomprehensible disdain aimed at him. That, my friends, is what Batman is all about, and Knightfall (in whole) captures it to the respectable, vigilante tee.
Knightfall, Part 1 can be viewed on a number of streaming platforms; it can also be purchased on disc. No matter the preference, Batman fans are assured to get more than their money's worth.
LARRY JOHNSON'S EXPERIMENTAL FANTASY
Larry Johnson's creations possess an inventive edge, but with his latest compilation, Experimental Fantasy, admirers receive a full-blown gallery that shoots straight from his picturesque subconscious.
Johnson's familiar themes (i.e. his persistent patterns) permeate this 99-page hardback volume and include his favored pigments of pink, blue, purple, yellow and green, which he drives into directions that lure and mesmerize, all rendered through stencils, markers, felt-tip and glitter pens. The culminations are surreal, but then the evident, varied tools ensure his eclectic outcomes.
Though I have tended to favor Johnson's hand imagery in the past, in this case, it's his horse homages that hook me, though perhaps that's due to my continued enthrallment with his popular, Horseman character (who, by the way, appears in this volume). Nonetheless, I appreciate the adventurous sense of freedom his horses imply.
In truth, freedom is the common motif of this exploratory triumph, for it thrives in the artist's silhouetted humans, fish, birds, bats, blooming flowers, reaching branches and cosmic spheres. In other words, there's always an insinuated sweep toward salvation in Experimental Fantasy, met by an insistence that one must be true to oneself and evolve however one wishes in life. I appreciate that optimism.
I believe you will, too. Experimental Fantasy is an artistic investment you won't regret.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HBCLFH6X?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
Sunday, September 6, 2026
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