Batman: White Knight

This is very (unintentionally) silly but it's also a fun ride, with pretty art.

The Best Joker Story

I know, I know, there are so many, but it's really that good.

Read it and witness the greatness.

Seriously.

Fascinating character study thrown away for an average action climax

There's a lot to like about this! Murphy's art is great and I like how it embraces being an Elseworlds story by incorporating lore from various bits of Batman media (a good way to win me over is to make a lot of references to Batman: The Animated Series tbh). The way it addresses the duality of Harley Quinn was interesting and unexpected, and there were some cool story beats along the way. I did feel that it was occasionally too wordy for its own good, which made the layout of some pages cluttered and kind of detracted from the cool art, and I reallllllly did not dig Batgirl's characterization. It's totally fine to make Babs happy and excitable - I mean, whomst among us would not find teeny mice in little helmets cute - but it felt like her whole personality was “squee about things and complain about the menfolk of the Bat Family” which didn't sit right with me.

Overall, though, I had a good time reading it, and even though he wasn't in it much at all, Alfred calling Bruce “my son” and the like will never not make me a bit emotional. I think other Batman stories have explored the Joker/Bats relationship better, but this wasn't a bad read at all. 3 rocks that almost hit Batman out of five (they were big rocks).

This is an excellent Batman story.

The story centres around what would happen if The Joker managed to get cured and how it would affect those around him.

It's very clever places and explores the deadly relationship between Batman and The Joker and gives it a new perspective. In addition to this there are some very prescient social comments.

All in all, I really enjoyed this one and is probably one of the best Batman stories in recent years.

Finally a book this year that hits top marks. Sean does a fantastic act with Jack and I say this it takes a lot to convince a Batman reader that even the joker can find redemption. This is a brilliant track which almost seems like an Elseworld but its not. Harley Quinn (both) are well constructed, Batman is conflicted and Gordon is bloody brilliant. Just cant wait for the next installment. Go get it!