Jack Napier and Batman must put aside their issues as preparations are in place to battle Neo Joker and the villains of Gotham City. But will the Jokers re-emergence screw things up? The latest issue of Batman: White Knight puts all the major players in place for a grand finale.
Batman: White Knight 7
Written by Sean Murphy
Pencils and Inks by Sean Murphy
Colors by Matt Hollingsworth
Neo-Joker, the former second Harley Quinn (it’s all explained HERE), has Gotham City in her grips after commandeering a super freeze weapon created by Mister Freeze’s father and Thomas Wayne back during the war and the police are trying to figure a way to break through and take Neo-Joker down. But in order to do something she doesn’t expect, Jack Napier turns to an imprisoned Batman for a team-up to take the new Big Bad down.
Batman was already expecting this, having sussed out that the original Harley Quinn would have convinced Napier of the plan to bring Batman in. What Batman wasn’t expecting was Napier’s inability to keep control over the Joker part of his subconscious, which throws a little more tension onto an already tense situation. Since Neo-Joker wants the original back, this helps move the plan forward, but the Joker is unpredictable and likely won’t follow the script Napier and Batman have set out for everyone.
Murphy’s White Knight has been such a great story that flipped the usual tropes of Gotham City on its ear and created this whole world filled with political intrigue, family feuds and a detailed history that we usually don’t get in monthly comic books. The reveal in this issue that The Joker didn’t actually kill Jason Todd, that instead Jason faked his death after Joker captured him because Jason hated Batman so much, sets up more than I think we can ever get to in the final issue of the series. There’s been talk of a follow-up, and I’m really looking forward to it as much as I am the final issue of this series.
With The Joker emerging from Napier’s subconscious in the final panel of the issue, as Batman drives towards a confrontation with Neo-Joker, next month’s issue should be one to remember.