Review: Batman: Black Label's "Batman: White Knight"

“The Joker Goes Sane!”

...reads the tag line on the back cover of Sean Murphy’s written and pencilled “Batman: White Knight, an initial offering of Detective Comics’ ne Black Label imprint designated for stand-alone stories not intended to fit in continuity and written for grown-ups.  Without any “Batman’s junk” junk, Murphy manages to create a Batman tale with depth, and the Black Label imprint allows him to change the Batman world in a way that 80 years of serial hasn’t allowed. While there is no story that hasn’t been told about Batman, like syndicated television, each story arc must end up back at the status quo so next month we can see more Batman. But the Black label imprint is specifically designed to quarantine stories from mainstream continuity, so, here we go.

One year ago, the Joker accuses Batman of being the worst of the supervillains in Gotham and swears to prove it through the use of a psychosis suppressant drug that will allow him to revert to his original self, Jack Napier.  As Napier, he pursues a campaign to incorporate Batman’s gear and technology into the Gotham constabulary and to eliminate the vigilante elements of the Batman clan’s crimefighting. Only Batman remains absolutely sure the Joker is still a danger while his allies, Jim Gordon, Nightwing, Batwoman, and Batgirl turn against him. Just remember, this is Batman.

Batman created many of his own villains and over nearly a thousand monthly issues, has not managed to deliver Gotham from its ills, and this is what Sean Murphy explores.  He even manages to make Joker plausibly sympathetic without sacrificing internal logic or mainstream continuity. Handling both pencils and writing allows him a creative freedom that allows one to doubt Batman but lead to a satisfying and iconoclastic finish.  Each character’s journey seems natural and logical as they allies and fans begin to doubt Batman and embrace Napier, and Murphy addresses Harley Quinn as two different women more directly and sensibly than readers have seen so far.

While Murphy’s pencils and inks give voice to his specific vision, Matt Hollingsworth’s colors subtly reinforce the more somber tone of this tale and maintain the expression of Murphy’s extensively dry-brush technique, resulting in an eminently worthy addition to the the caped crusader’s ouvre.

Good comics!