Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1 is published by DC Comics under their Black Label imprint. It is written and illustrated by Sean Murphy with colors by Matt Hollingsworth.
It was just under two years ago that Batman: White Knight #1 came out and a little over a year since the final issue, yet it feels like we’ve been waiting forever for Sean Murphy’s story to return. Even so, this issue doesn’t miss a beat bringing us back into the world of Jack Napier’s Gotham.
A Gotham that was finally making necessary strides in fixing corruption, only for Napier to revert back to his Joker persona and possibly ruin everything. Bruce Wayne is coming to terms with Alfred’s death but he’s in for another internal struggle as he wonders if it’s finally time to out himself as Batman. As Dick points out though, there would be consequences to his actions. Nightwing wants Batman to join the GTO alongside him and Batgirl, but Bruce seems to think it’s time for Batman’s era to come to an end.
Meanwhile, Joker is taking steps to begin his “Final Act,” as he calls it, “a performance Batman and Napier will never see coming”. Apparently one of the first steps to his plan is to influence an already unstable Jean-Paul Valley a.k.a. Azrael to take down Bruce Wayne. Somehow, the Wayne and Arkham lineages are involved. It’s something that goes way back and has been buried way deep, but what could an ancestor from 1685 have to do with now? Probably a lot, if I had to guess.
Edmond Wayne seems like he’s probably going to be the key to unlocking a trove of secrets, but I’m more interested in what Lafayette Arkham is going to bring to the table. I mean, he has a creepy children’s rhyme written about him, that’s how you know he was a real monster. Babs gives us the poem, which I’m not going to recite because it’s better if you read it yourself in the comic as intended, but I can’t help but think she should have been jumping rope and staring at someone ominously as she recited it.
I know it’s the same designs as before, but I want to express how much I really love Murphy’s designs for the Bat Family. For instance, I love the cowl, but there’s something so cute about Bab’s Batgirl points sticking up through her hair like little horns, and Batman’s eternally popped cape collar is somehow to appropriate. I love that Azrael is older and kind of insane from PTSD and medical issues but he’s still huge and clearly will be a force to be reckoned with. Probably my favorite outfit is Joker’s, strutting around in his classic purple pinstripe pants and suspenders but with a Batman t-shirt. I don’t know why it makes me happy, it just does. Hollingsworth again provides us with amazing colors and shading – the scene with the sword on fire? Absolutely stunning.
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
We’re definitely off to a good start and I can’t wait to read more.
Make sure you pick up Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1 from your local comic shop!
Happy reading!
