Preview: Sean Gordon Murphy's "Batman: White Knight"

It seems that with Batman stories, there's a little bit of everything these days. In addition to investigating the Dark Multiverse in Metal and recounting his early career in Batman, Batman will also be the focus of some exciting upcoming miniseries. One of the most intriguing (and possibly craziest) is October's Batman: White Knight, the highly anticipated project from writer and artist Sean Gordon Murphy. Besides the basic concept of the miniseries, which sees a sane Joker going after the Batman and painting the hero as Gotham's biggest threat, Murphy has been sharing various teases that show he is pulling references and ideas from any and all aspects of Batman lore.

Now, DC Comics has released a preview of the first issue, which comes out October 4th. Check it out here, but be warned: it's pretty brutal. When the series was announced, I thought it was hyperbole when Murphy said Batman was going to be a villain, but... now I'm not sure. Read it for yourself and let us know what you think.

6 comments

Kerk Lastnameless

September 8, 2017

Holy crap, that's ugly!..

Troll_Post_Sorry

September 8, 2017

This actually reads to me like it won't be very black-and-white. Batman's pretty brutal, but Joker is planning to manipulate public opinion to his side. It'll be interesting to see a more cerebral showdown between the two.

Guy Incognito

September 9, 2017

Batman wouldn't act that aggressive though, so I'm confused by the argument. Victimizing the Joker? Batman is a very good man. He would want Joker to turn his life around.

JaymusYawsley
September 9, 2017
Agreed. It's not in continuity, so I can buy it a little easier because of that, but I'm still not totally on board with the idea.
senglord
September 12, 2017
When? If we look at the 1950s-1985 that argument would not hold up.
If we look at the 1990s you would have a point...but every other superhero in DC killed a supervillain in cold blood to pre-empt future killing.
The 2000s were mostly based around returning Batman and the rest of DC to what they were like before the late 1980s.
Post Flashpoint is a tonally incoherent mess, with the exception of Batman comics.
1. senglord
  September 12, 2017
  O'Niell was the source of many of the Batman stories that became adapted into the animated series. That silver and Bronze age storytelling was also responsible for Shaman; Dark Knight ,Dark City; Joker's Five Way Revenge; Rise of the Demon and Venom. His influence is also felt in the Detective Comics runs of Paul Dini and Scott Snyder more than Miller.
  Dini and Snyder had no problem with bringing darkness to the world of Gotham, they refused to have the darkness come from Bruce.
  PS. TDKR was the most radical and innovative Batman story of its time: the timeframe of the story gives it a full narrative and structural arc; Bruce literally flatlines as Batman in a mech/iron lung after a year. No other comic gives such a compressed expression of attrition effacing the body and morals of someone in a personal crusade.
  As an isolated story on its own...

Kerk Lastnameless
September 8, 2017
Holy crap, that's ugly!..
Troll_Post_Sorry
September 8, 2017
This actually reads to me like it won't be very black-and-white. Batman's pretty brutal, but Joker is planning to manipulate public opinion to his side. It'll be interesting to see a more cerebral showdown between the two.
Guy Incognito
September 9, 2017
Batman wouldn't act that aggressive though, so I'm confused by the argument. Victimizing the Joker? Batman is a very good man. He would want Joker to turn his life around.
1. JaymusYawsley
  September 9, 2017
  Agreed. It's not in continuity, so I can buy it a little easier because of that, but I'm still not totally on board with the idea.
2. senglord
  September 12, 2017
  When? If we look at the 1950s-1985 that argument would not hold up.
  If we look at the 1990s you would have a point...but every other superhero in DC killed a supervillain in cold blood to pre-empt future killing.
  The 2000s were mostly based around returning Batman and the rest of DC to what they were like before the late 1980s.
  Post Flashpoint is a tonally incoherent mess, with the exception of Batman comics.
  1. senglord
    September 12, 2017
    O'Niell was the source of many of the Batman stories that became adapted into the animated series. That silver and Bronze age storytelling was also responsible for Shaman; Dark Knight ,Dark City; Joker's Five Way Revenge; Rise of the Demon and Venom. His influence is also felt in the Detective Comics runs of Paul Dini and Scott Snyder more than Miller.
    Dini and Snyder had no problem with bringing darkness to the world of Gotham, they refused to have the darkness come from Bruce.
    PS. TDKR was the most radical and innovative Batman story of its time: the timeframe of the story gives it a full narrative and structural arc; Bruce literally flatlines as Batman in a mech/iron lung after a year. No other comic gives such a compressed expression of attrition effacing the body and morals of someone in a personal crusade.
    As an isolated story on its own...

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Preview: Sean Gordon Murphy's "Batman: White Knight"

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