spinning out of batman: knightfall, jean-paul valley is a new breed of batman. knowing the streets of gotham wouldn&;t be safe without a dark knight, an injured bruce wayne handed jean-paul his cowl. with this cowl comes the responsibility of taking care of an entire city. this is a burden not all are fit to bear.
unlike bruce wayne, jean-paul&;s brutality towards the denizens of gotham&;s criminal underbelly knows no bounds. dead set upon both proving himself as the new dark knight and seeking revenge against bruce wayne&;s enemies, this new batman begins a campaign to clean up gotham&;s streets once and for all. when an epic battle with clayface begins, jean-paul is pushed to his breaking point. will jean-paul&;s brutal methods work, or will he his new power drive him to madness?
writer alan grant (detective comics) continues his celebrated run on batman: shadow of the bat, joined by bret blevins (new mutants), bob smith (catwoman) and others in these stories about the men and women in the shadow&;the shadow of the bat collects batman: shadow of the bat #24-31, #0, and annual #2.