DC Comics is going all out on the hype for Sean Gordon Murphy’s Batman: White Knight. They go even so far as to allude this comic will “reinterpret the Batman mythos in compelling new ways.” They compare it to The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Earth One, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Batman: The Long Halloween.
And if these seven preview pages are anything like the rest of the first issue, they have reason to compare it to some of the best Batman works of all time.
Batman: White Knight aims to flip the script on Batman and the Joker. Sean Gordon Murphy asks who is the real villain in Gotham City – Batman or the Joker. But it’s not your typical Joker in this story. No, the Joker has been cured of his insanity and homicidal tendencies. He’s on the straight and narrow and trying to right the wrongs and improve the city he used to terrorize. And the best way he sees to do that is to rid Gotham of the Dark Knight.
Murphy described his Joker to Wired:
We know Joker’s a genius, we know he’s relentless, and we know he can play the crowd, so why not make him a politician? Why not strip away the psychosis (the thing that’s holding him back) and let him challenge Batman unimpeded? And to make it even scarier, what if he did it legally and without breaking any rules, so that Batman couldn’t stop him?
Batman: White Knight asks is Batman a villain? Is Joker really altruistic?
Take a look at the first seven pages:
Batman: White Knight #1 hits comic book shelves on October 4, 2017. Matt Hollingsworth provides the colors on Murphy’s art!