This was so much fun! I'm a big fan of alternate reality/parallel universe plots lines, and while this isn't QUITE a full version of that it's in the same vein. Joker isn't quite a hero, but he's very much full antihero level. And then a twist! A twist I had some suspicions about, because clearly it's the best explanation, but still a bit of a twist. I know the series continues after this, and I'm curious where it goes since the Joker is now back at his usual level of crazy again.

This is an awesome story. This is the best comic mini series I have read in a long time. The blurb said that this was
"Unlike anything we've seen before".. For once this is not just hype. This is truly unlike any Batman story I have ever read. Every Batman fan has heard of the Joker and everyone has an option on him. Now I met Jack Napier, and he could be even more dangerous then the Joker. Removing the Joker' s insanity was one thing the made this comic great, the second ingredient was removing Batman's conscience and support system. This makes for a much darker, dangerous and reckless Batman. I loved this series, if I had one complaint about this book it would be that I would have liked more of Batman in the story, but the way the story is set out I know why it was done this way. Super awesome story.

This is a powerful story of Batman told and illustrated with the dark style and content many Batman fans love. The art is highly atmospheric and well done if a bit dark physically and psychologically for some. The story is equally dark and well told in dialogue.

This is a great story about the real impact of vigilantism and the 1% of America. While we all love Batman and the Joker, we can't deny that half of Gotham City's problems are with the wanton destruction that Batman and his foes carve into it. The city's scars are as much Batman's fault as any of his rogue's gallery.

The story is set in a Gotham City where the Joker, thanks to a seriously good dose of pills, is cured of his madness. He is still a serious genius, so he argues his own legal case to be released, and he gets released. Known now as Jack Napier, he wants to fix the corruption that ails the city and its real problem: Batman. Napier goes on a political crusade to discredit Batman that works so well even Batman's allies Nightwing and Batgirl wonder if they are on the right side or not.


I was very intrigued by this comic's premise. I've not read a good Batman comic, let alone a good DC one in a while. This was not perfect, but it was very good. The story's basic premise is good and intriguing; what if Joker's madness was cured? Most of the story is good overall, and it also touches on contemporary topics like police brutality, police and municipal corruption, activism, civil rights, and even a bit of World War II history. I thought the story plot of Mr. Freeze's father being a former Nazi criminal brought to the U.S., with Thomas Wayne's assistance, was an interesting angle. If you have never read about Operation Paperclip, go do so after reading this comic.


The relationship between Jack Napier and Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) was done well. Throughout the comics there are some moments between them that can be very touching. Harley Quinn does get a pretty good portrayal, coming across as pretty strong as well as passionately in love as well as willing to do right when it comes right down to it.


The story has good pacing. It is a bit of a long volume at about 230 pages, but the story keeps your attention. Author weaves plots and conspiracies to make you wonder if Jack Napier is really cured or not. Is Batman's skepticism really justified? One just keeps reading to find out. While I found the last act with the various batmobiles a bit much, the story as a whole is interesting and engaging.


For libraries that collect graphic novels, this is a must have, especially for Batman fans. It is one we eventually got for our library's collection. Overall, I really liked it. I learned there is a sequel, so I will be looking for it.

So I guess DC's Black Label is intended to be a mature version of Elseworlds. I'll start with saying Sean Murphy's art is amazing. It's got some Jock and Bill Sienkiewicz influences but with more definition and flare. Murphy's character and Batmobile designs are top notch. I love the look of his version of Batman's rogues gallery.

To enjoy the story though, requires a heavy suspension of disbelief. Characters are written severely out of the norm. Batman is a huge asshole who cares nothing about the property damage he causes the city. Batman is like Superman and General Zod destroying Metropolis at the end of <i>Man of Steel</i> all by himself. His Batmobile might as well be a huge wrecking ball careening through Gotham. Nightwing basically hates Batman. The basic premise is that the Joker is cured of his madness and decides to become Gotham's White Knight. The whole city just lays over and believes him, including Nightwing and Batgirl. That's what I found most frustrating. In the first few issues I was constantly saying to myself, "Come on, that would never happen!" Part way through the very many coincidences needed for the story to progress lessened and my enjoyment grew.

There are some cool elements here. I love how Murphy dealt with the duality of Harley Quinn and the major differences between the Paul Dini and Suicide Squad / Arkham Asylum versions of the character. Neo Joker also had a cool vibe. I also liked his take on Mr. Freeze and the ending is a blast.

I am amazed that after all these years of writing Batman stories, they keep coming up with new ideas, directions and adventures for this much loved character. This is a reverse role tale involving Batman and the |oker. This time the Joker is the good guy and the Batman is....well, I'll let you read the story and you decide what his character is in this story. One big question remains before you read this graphic novel to ponder: Is the Joker truly a 'good guy' now. Is that possible? Is he up to something?
Worth a read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fun Elseworld story of a Joker-turned-sane. The plot felt very much prescient for our time politically, and the artwork was excellent. I also appreciated the take on Harley Quinn, as it felt much more fleshed out than the character usually is.

The Joker has gone sane and Jack Napier is working on running Batman out of town. Has Jack really beat the Joker? Or is it all a scheme And then there is the Neo Joker who is working with the Mad Hatter to take over the criminals of Gotham and over run the city. And Batman is running wild. Batgirl and Nightwing are questioning his actions since Alfred died. So who will win out? A very interesting alternate take on Gotham, Batman, and the interplay with Joker and other criminals in Gotham.

Interesting story! I really enjoyed this because it gave me a lot of insight into the Joker's backstory as well as that of Harley Quinn (both incarnations of her). You have a lot of conflict to generate tension between Batman, Joker, Harvey Dent, Gordon, two Harley Quinns. The two Harley's especially start fighting against each other for the Joker's attention. It's a very elaborate story line.

I'm not totally into the artwork in this title. It's very dark, like literally dark where it can be hard to appreciate the details in the scenes. Perhaps this will be remedied in its final printing since I read a galley.

I highly enjoyed this title and I'm usually much more of a Marvel girl.

In a time of abuse of authority, police violence, and rising support for fascism, Batman becomes a increasingly complex hero. This book really delves into those issues and asks the question that's supposed to be the bedrock of our justice system, can criminals be reformed? A great use of iconic characters to test our assumptions about humanity and our society.

An homage to Batman's history - the cars, the gadgets, the movies, the comics - Murphy ties all of it together in a story that is just as exciting as any other Caped Crusader adventure. This is an instant Batman classic that is sure to be remembered for years to come.

Easily the best Batman Story I've ever read. Batman is darkly twisted in this alternate universe. The Joker is not so twisted and everything is.... amazing. This book felt much more grown up, more detailed and dover into darker places than the past Batman books i've read. The illustrations WOW, just fantastic, Matt Hollingsworth is a new favorite.
I am on board for this new series, sign me up for book 2.

Sean Murphy's Batman: White Knight presents a gritty, socially complex Gotham really only a hair's removed from our own. The "Murphyverse" moniker almost immediately applied to White Knight is more than just a clever turn of phrase. Murphy's book, with its deep internal history and plethora of plot threads, begs for a sequel, and I was so pleased to hear it's getting one. Its closest antecedent is probably Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween and its ilk; though Long Halloween purported to play more within the lines of continuity, it too built its own backstory, created its own characters with their own relationships to one another, and challenged the audience with a take on Batman that, in retrospect, feels so natural as to have been there all along. White Knight does the same.

In the dark and the shadows, the full figures against dusty backgrounds, Murphy's art reminds of David Mazzucchelli's in Batman: Year One; amidst the Animated Series and Tim Burton references, it's a wonder there's not more Year One shout-outs here. But the whole thing feels cut from Year One's cloth, Batman gone careless with Gordon at odds, and for as far as Year One gets, White Knight could as easily be Year One's sequel as the rest of modernity is. In the Joker's romantic fascination with the Batman, we see the modern take on the two with its roots in Scott Snyder's New 52 stories; that Batman comes to realize his reason for continued vigilantism is not his parents, but for his partners, seems the answer to a lot of the questions raised in the Rebirth Batman era.

This book is an instant classic. In its first trade paperback outing, DC Black Label has been a success.

This book did a great job of turning the Batman/Joker story on its head. Joker (Jack Napier) as a hero and reasoning character against a Batman who seems a bit unhinged and antisocial works really well. There is some development of Harley Quinn and her relationship to the Joker. In fact, this is more of a Joker story than a Batman story.

This was an excellent trip into Gotham where everything gets completely flipped around, while still staying true to what’s batman is all about. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down!

4+ stars
Wow! A completely different spin on the Joker and his relationship with Batman. Very refreshing.
This story has a much darker Batman than I am used to and the story is a definitely takes a couple turns that are completely unexpected – from questioning whether Batman is actually making Gotham a better place and whether a villain can’t be good in their innermost core.
The artwork is amazing.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, DC Entertainment, for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Sean Murphy’s Batman: White Knight isn’t going to be the Batman story you think it is. Where most stories present a Batman who is undoubtedly the hero and savior of Gotham, Murphy presents a much more complex characterization of Batman and his relationship to his city and his nemesis, The Joker.

The Batman of White Knight is long into his endless war against crime, and with often little proof that his war is making Gotham a better place, people question if having Batman around is really worth it. Stoking this unease is a, seemingly, cured Joker - now Jack Napier - who believes he can do a better job of saving Gotham than Batman, who seems to be becoming more brutal by the day, ever could.

Murphy does a fantastic job of playing with some of the often overlooked concepts inherent in the Batman mythos. His Joker, sorry, Jack Napier, allows Murphy to play with ideas of class, race, and politics that are often overshadowed for more action packed Batman stories. Even from his first issues, the image of a rich man in a bat costume saving other rich dudes was at the core of Batman, and Murphy updates that to fit in with a more contemporary Gotham and Bat family. How does Batman save Gotham if he can’t punch economic inequality or systemic racism in the face? Which Murphy’s Bruce Wayne literally tries at one point.

But don’t think this book is all politics and talking heads. While Murphy handles these issues well without them becoming a story telling cudgel, he balances all of it perfectly when he lets action Batman out to play.

Murphy’s art work, with fantastic colors by Matt Hollingsworth, has the perfect roughness around the edges. His style really brings home the concept of a dark Gotham street and action wise, he gives us some classic Murphy moments. I don’t think I would have been happy with a Murphy drawn and written Batman book without some amazing Batmobile action ripping up the streets and highways of Gotham. Not only does Murphy give us that in spades, he gives us a garage full of Batmobiles assaulting a hidden Nazi scientist island. It is frenetic, bracing, and drags the reader from page to page, panel to panel. I realize digital is the way to go for many people these days, but this is a book worth getting in physical just for those double page spreads. It is Murphy at the top of his game.

If I have any criticism, it would be a couple of moments where the narrative seemed to fast forward a bit on me and it took a moment to reorient myself to how much time had passed.

All together, this is an amazing book and I’m glad to hear that this won’t be Murphy’s only book in this version of Gotham. All of the characters have room to shine and Murphy treats them all artistically and narratively superbly. I was especially blown away with his treatment of Harley Quinn and Neo Joker. A really smart concept that delivers on the idea.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Batman: White Knight by Sean Murphy is a graphic novel which follows Jack Napier, The Joker, as he sets out on a new crusade. Mr. Murphy is a comic book creator who worked on some major titles, along with smaller publications.

Jack Napier, The Joker, reconciles with Harley Quinn which forgives all his insane indiscretions, to carefully plot a campaign to discredit Batman. Along the way he exposes the corruption within the Gotham City Police Department, which has been entrenched for decades, and emerges a savior of the city.

There are a lot of stories which feature Batman and The Joker, their relationship which relies on one another. A hero which doesn’t want to kill the one person which probably “needs killin’” as they said in the Old West, and a villain that just “wants to see the world burns”.
Batman: White Knight by Sean Murphy is another one of those stories – and it’s a good one.

Along with exploring the complex relationship of Batman and The Joker, Mr. Murphy askes many good questions in this graphic novel. The big losers, it seems, are the citizens of Gotham City, but we have no idea who benefits from the long term fight between the hero and the villain.

In this graphic novel, The Joker rebrand himself as the White Knight of Gotham, the man who will shine a light on all the corruption which is dragging down the city to benefit the few. The question one has to ask themselves is if he is truly Jack Napier, or is he The Joker in a mask.

The story has a lot of depth, and the artwork is excellent fitting the mood of the narrative. The writer tests the relationship between Batman and his city creating a real conflict which is engrossing and engaging.

Two and a half stars. For a long time now we've had our superhero comics peppered with pretensions of psychological insight, and allegations that the good guys need the bad and vice versa. This starts off as one of those, and while it goes further, it soon digs a hole so awkward for itself it has to loop back to the beginning. These books are supposed to be self-contained, and while this one is, it also suffers from the sitcom syndrome, where a whole episode can have its own plot of whatever depth, but it has to leave everything and everyone right back at point A ready for the next episode. I liked the conviction it had of the way it was going – making a dutiful, 'honest' councillor and anti-Batman campaigner out of The Joker, but it really didn't offer a heck of a lot. Harley stays on the good side, and gets replaced by a hybrid of Harley and The Joker anyway. While the artwork can be really good, faces and noses and suchlike are too angular, and even the better visuals will soon join the rest in being forgotten.