Title: Batman: White Knight
Date: October, 2018
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Sean Murphy
Artist: Sean Murphy
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Scott Nybakken, Maggie Howell
Cover: Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth
The basic idea here is that the Joker is "cured", and, as Jack Napier, embarks on a political and public opinion campaign to turn Gotham City against the Batman. Lots of complications happen, and Gotham's most deadly enemies end up having to work together to save the city.
I found the opening bit problematic to a certain extent, although some of that was the context in which I'm reading it, as opposed to when it was written. Jack Napier is portrayed as "white knighting" to exploit real problems of police brutality against minorities for his cause, but some of the dialogue, particularly Joker's use of "I can't breathe" felt uncomfortably like appropriation on the part of the story itself.
As the story moves away from those themes with the further development of the plot, it becomes a bit more of a traditional (if still alternate-universe) Batman story. The plot twists are great, involving two Harley Quinns, the disappearance of Jason Todd, the Wayne family's connections to Baron Von Fries, and just about every villain in the Batman's rogues gallery. The story also provides a lot of closure and resolution for this universe's version of Gotham City.
In some sense, the examination of the Batman's relationship with the Joker was the weakest part of this, covering little in the way of new ground, and with some of Joker's dialogue coming off as closer to the version of the Joker from The Lego Batman Movie than the author probably intended.
That being said, the handling of Harley Quinn was awesome, as was the relationship between Bruce, Barbara, Dick, and Alfred. Commissioner Gordon also had a great role, conflicted by the compromises he has made allowing the Batman to operate outside the law, but with unofficial police sanction.
The author's focus on the various Batmobiles was a nice bit of fanservice, and a light touch in a book that did a good job of being serious, but not to the point of excess.
After the shaky start, this won me over in the end with good storytelling.
Rating: 7.5/10
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