I thought I was being a bit harsh and unfair towards the first installment of Knight Terrors: Batman. Sure, it has shaky writing compared to the other Knight Terrors titles, and as a full event tie-in it suffers from a curse that is deeply familiar to readers of 2016 comic book events. But the art was strong, and it did present some fascinating themes and concepts that if applied right could add to the twisted world of the Dark Knight and his unraveling mythology and psychological journey.
The problem is, I thought I was being too unfair. That is, of course, until I read Knight Terrors: Batman #2.
Minor SPOILERS AHEAD for Knight Terrors: Batman #2!
Many of the problems come less from the action and intrigue in the script and more from the script’s usages of Bruce’s mythos and how he looks at himself. Williamson introduces the idea of Bruce Wayne looking back at himself and his past, most specifically the events of Crime Alley and how his younger self would look towards his older self. He plays with the idea that Bruce’s mental image is almost manifesting itself as a scared little kid, which plays into his original Knight Terror form (designed by the charming Dan Mora) appearing as a small boy with a gun/bat demon inside of him.
DC Comics
Bruce asks himself many questions, the most important one being the idea of letting himself down in the past. While the general idea that Williamson is presenting in the story is fascinating, especially at an academic level, the writing falls short as we’re reminded that this is a full tie-in for Knight Terrors and not its own individual nightmare. Bruce Wayne should ask himself these questions, he should feel like he’s trying to discover himself while trapped within his dreams, and ultimately, he should try to become better even after the nightmare is over. Unfortunately, that ends with a teaser for another issue of Knight Terrors and a backup story following Black Canary and Red Arrow that flows better than the main bulk of the comic book.
I can see the creativity of Knight Terrors – the idea of heroes dealing with their worst nightmares is a fascinating concept and otherwise a great way to show the future for our favorite heroes. But Williamson has trapped himself a little bit with Batman’s storyline and how it ties into the larger event as a whole. The reason stories like Knight Terrors: Action Comics and Knight Terrors: Superman work is because even though it’s still tied to an event, the story focuses on their nightmares only. Even Knight Terrors: Detective Comics uses it to its best abilities as Watters writes the nightmares of James Gordon.
DC Comics
This isn’t to say that Williamson hasn’t been doing a good job. His Superman work is phenomenal thus far and others keep getting better and better, but his Batman unfortunately just doesn’t rope the readers in as well as it should. Thankfully, what does grab the reader’s attention is the beautiful art from Guillem March and Trevor Hairsine, as the two artists show the darkness hidden within the world of Knight Terrors and the horrors of Bruce Wayne’s mind.
The coloring provided by Tomeu Morey and Antonio Fabela adds to both the main story and side story as we enter into the final and dark stages of Knight Terrors and the all around twisted horrors the event has to offer. The art and colors carry a lot of the story, though Williamson’s teaser story for Knight Terrors: Night’s End was interesting and proved to hopefully cap off the event in a good way.
All around, Knight Terrors: Batman #2 is a shaky but visually interesting end to the two-parter. I can only hope Williamson improves with the upcoming Batman and Robin series.
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