Spilling the Beans!
Writer: Sean MurphyArt Team: Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth, AndWorld Design
DC Black Label
Release Date: January 22, 2020
Cover Price: $4.99
Curse of the White Knight thus far has been a decent follow up to the original White Knight series mostly picking up where the first one left off. We've bounced back and forth from the past to the present, to see how it all ties into Batman's current day predicament, with it all coming to a head this issue. So with all that said let's discuss where that gets us as we near the conclusion of this series.
Last issues cliffhanger setup Azriel in his new (slightly classic) BatArmor suit which had me amped up coming into this issue. I'll say off the bat I'm slightly disappointed by the shine that suit, and Batman vs Azriel fight for that matter receives in this issue because besides a few fight panels it seems that cliffhanger is the best shot of the suit we're going to be getting here in this series possibly, with Azriel kind of just slinking off at one point. Aside from my personal gripe above, the story moves at a pretty brisk pace, filled with a few twists and reveals, that depending on your investment in those aspects of the story will hit accordingly. For as much as I enjoy these issues final setup and reveals, there are a couple aspects that also miss completely, making me wonder how this series sustains two more issues in a run.
So whats all revealed here in the pre-penultimate issue? Well, we discover who really the big bad back in the day ends up being, who really knew the whole story all the way through here, and how it all ties into most of what's occurring here in the current day, Gotham. So most of what we've spent issue learning about or suspecting is turned on its head in a few different ways and I think it will take me another good, slow, read through to fully digest the weight of some of these reveals. There are also two pretty big 'wow moments' at the tail end of this story, separate from the Batman/Azriel things occurring, that readers may find their mileage may vary on ... personally, I enjoyed the gutsy type of taking the direction could lead this story down the last few issues so I'm curious enough, for now, to see how it all plays out.
The art continues to be my favorite part of this series with all the characters, settings, and vehicles really holding my attention at the moment. The look and feel of this series from start to finish give everything its own unique Elseworlds feel, setting it firmly apart from other Batman-related series, which I appreciate.
Bits and Pieces:
Overall, Batman: Curse of the White Knight is a little bit more of a mixed bag this month. As a whole it comes out more on the positive side of things than the negative however, it leaves one wondering what is really left to explore for another two issues at points. Sean Murphy's art is still incredible each and every issue which almost makes the series worth it to me personally right there. I just can't shake the feeling this sequel is missing a bit of the magic that made the first iteration so gripping.
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