Role reversal for Batman and Joker ? This is the story here and I loved it. We get to see Joker as a “normal “ man and Batman the villain of Gotham. The art in this book is ASTOUNDING! Throw in Harley for good measure and you have a brilliant , fresh , exciting story

Not terrible. There's the germ of a good idea here, but Murphy just isn't able to bring it to fruition. Basically, the Joker takes some pills that turn him into Jack Napier, a normal guy who is soon pointing out the corruption within the GCPD and the higher ranks of Gotham City, most of it revolving around Batman (there's a "Batman Devastation Fund" that is hidden in the city's books, and used to pay for the damage caused by fighting supervillains, etc.). Through a pretty contrived sequence of events, Napier becomes the city's hero and a councilman and turns everyone against Batman--even Commissioner Gordon and Nightwing. But when a new group of villains makes an appearance, it might be that Napier/Joker and Batman will have to team up to save the city. As I said, some good ideas. But they depend on so many coincidences. And on long-time friends and allies of Batman suddenly turning their backs on him, on the say-so of a former murderous villain. This could perhaps have been developed into a more believable story, but Murphy doesn't have the chops to do it. That said, his artwork throughout is just beautiful. He draws a mean Batmobile, essentially including every car that's ever made an appearance in a Bat-movie or TV series. His dynamic action scenes aren't always easy to follow, but they're undeniably detailed great to look at. This volume is the first of the "DC Black Label" line, intended for mature readers (shades of Marvel Max), but other than a few four-letter words, there's really very little here that should offend anyone. A sex scene between Jack and Hareley Quinn features very creative use of word balloons, etc., to hide all the good stuff. And the violence is pretty much on-par with any Bat-related title.

Lapsed comic book nut here thought Tom King's run on Batman was startlingly fresh--and now comes White Knight and Sean Murphy's original take on all the Bat-tropes to get my finger flying across my iPad screen to see where he's taking me. I may have said this about King's Batman, but why the DC Comics movie universe powers that be don't enlist Murphy to guide a big-screen Bat-venture is beyond me.

Always great to see Batman in a more Gothic and intense role. We'll be getting this for our graphic novel section.

I very much enjoyed the unique take on an old feud; I thought that the idea was refreshing and fun to read. I was unable to get on board with this completely due to some faults in the characterization, chronology of events and poorly executed plot points. First of all, it is my understanding that Batgirl at this point in her career should've already been disabled due to the Joker striking her in the spine and rendering her a paraplegic. That event took place before the Joker "killed" Jason Todd, which during this story has already happened. So, if we're keeping up with the chronological order of events, during the time White Knight takes place Barbara should have been in a wheel chair or she should've been using her brainpower to help Batman as the Oracle. Secondly, the characterization of Batman, Batgirl, Night Wing, and Harleen Quinzel are so far off from the characters that we have come to know and love. Batman, Batgirl and Night Wing seemed to have lost all their detective skills and fell easily into Jack Napier's plan. All three of these characters seemed to be watered down versions of the characters we have seen in previous comics. Harleen Quinzel takes such a huge role in this, that it makes me doubt whether she would be capable of being the perpetrator of all these plans. I mostly take issue with the fact that she made the medicine that cures the Joker. She is a psychologist; not a chemist, not a pharmacist and not a mastermind. I don't doubt that she is smart and capable of making a cunning plan, I just doubt that she should be able to execute the plan that takes place in this book. My last gripe with this book is the lack luster execution of some the major plot points. Mainly, Jack Napier's undertaking in Backport. I find it unbelievable that a town of mostly minorities who have been wronged by white politicians and the local police force would be so eager to believe the lies of yet another white politician. I understand that Jack was able to endear himself to the community by building a library there and had the backing of a prominent member of that community, however, this plot point could have been developed more. At no point in this book did I see a single panel dedicated to actually depicting the police brutality that the people of Backport experience or really anything that would really tie this plot point into the rest of the story. I think that this whole plot point was washed out and done very poorly. I am not a fan of how this was done, at all. Another plot point that was very frustrating was the fact that Batman let himself be played by Jack Napier. In my opinion, Batman's skills of deduction would have been enough for him to glean that Jack Napier was purposely trying to make him look bad so that Gotham would turn against him. Batman has solved more difficult mysteries than this, and it's not like Jack Napier's goading was secretive. Jack was very clear in that he wanted Gotham to feel bad for the way Batman and GCPD has treated him and he also wanted to make Batman look like a jerk. Anybody could have seen this coming.

What I really enjoyed about the book was the art. There was much attention to detail, especially in the scenes showing Joker's obsession with Batman. The art style of the entire thing was skillfully and beautifully done. The overall basic plot was very interesting and unique. If the execution and some of the smaller detail had been done better I would've loved it. The cons just outweighed the pros and I can't fully get behind a book that doesn't take the important details into account. Even if this story takes place in an alternate universe and this whole story is not canon, I still can't get behind it. It's too many flaws for it to be a fully accomplished story.

Interesting take on the Batman/Joker dynamic. Excellent art and an engaging storyline, plus character development that makes a whole lot of sense in this AU. I just wish there had been more dissection of mental illness, especially with Harley being such a major character. However, the lines between hero and anti-hero, and anti-hero and villain are worth exploring in a storyline of their own, and Murphy does it well.

This was an interesting elseworlds-like story exploring the relationship between Batman and his greatest adversary, Joker. The story is compelling, as it revolves around a reformed Joker, who becomes sane and holds Batman and the GCPD responsible for making him a super-villain. Exploiting the discontent from the poorer neighborhoods of Gotham, who disproportionately suffer from collateral damage in Batman's fights against supervillians, Jack Napier runs for Gotham city counselman. Napier has uncovered proof that Gotham's richest have been profiteering from Batman-related destruction, and his populist appeals to battle police corruption strikes a cord with Gotham's poorest. Murphy's story is a great comic book tale that touches on current racial tensions, echoing the Black Lives Movement's distrust of police brutality and the effects of gentrification.

This is an incredible new take on the Joker. The art is simply amazing! Highly recommend. I have never seen a more beautifully detailed version of Gotham City.

An interesting but ultimately uneven Batman book. The first half was great and there were a lot of lovely and surprising tweaks to the mythology, but the story started to drag in the middle. The finale was also a bit underwhelming. The portions of this book focused on character worked really well, but the plot and action sequences left me wanting.

An incredible adventure that challenges the comfortable ideas of who is a hero and villain while providing a memorable adventure in the DC Universe.