Curse of the White Knight picks up not too far from the end of Sean Murphy’s smash hit, Batman: White Knight. Murphy doesn’t waste any time at all in this issue. We have a Batman dealing with the fallout from his own failures, the triumphs of Jack Naiper, and the introduction of Azrael as an antagonist to Batman.

If the first White Knight is a template of what is to come, then we are in for a great Gotham historical / mystery ride. At multiple points, Murphy leverages the sins of the past coming to bear upon the here and now. We jump right into the thick of that with what appears to an original iteration of The Joker [ who may or may not be a vampire ] and a Wayne battling each other in mid-1600s Arkham. Murphy is well-versed in the canon of Batman and repurposes it effectively within his universe. Seeing how this may connect with the introduction of Jean-Paul Valley, aka Azrael, will be quite the fantastic spin, given what Murphy did with Mr. Freeze in White Knight.

Murphy and Hollingsworth are a great team. Murphy’s pencils just beg for grittiness. Hollingsworth knows how to color these panels to accentuate the dreariness, despair, and anger. The palette is on point for this atmosphere they are crafting, which makes the juxtaposition of Azrael’s flame sword feel even more epic when it makes its debut. I cannot wait to see Azrael fully in action with these two creators working so well together.