This particular issue spends a lot of time fleshing out the story of the Wayne ancestor that opened up Book One. We learn more about why this Wayne is important and the reason he was brought from Europe to a nascent Gotham. Since there isn’t too much that has been written about the Wayne family dating this far back, this could easily become something that makes the jump into regular continuity. This storyline of the past is juxtaposed with what is currently happening with Bruce as he is introduced to Azrael. I suspect we shall see this play through the entire series as the ‘A’ and ‘B’ storylines.

Sean Murphy really knows how to drop some bombs on the readers while building up more intrigue. Murphy smartly addresses some issues that readers and the audience at large have probably thought about over the years: clearly other people have to have figured out who Batman is, how is it that Batgirl’s identity hasn’t been deduced, and what would it mean if Bruce actually came out and said that he’s Batman?

I feel like Hollingsworth really enjoys when Azrael is involved on panel. The reds he uses are multilayered and pop off the page without overpowering either Murphy’s pencils or the color palette he is using throughout the rest of the issue. Both of these books have offered sneak peeks of the next issue using unfinished pages. This makes me just want a collected edition that is either all just pencils or a version where Hollingsworth just does inks. A black and white version of Curse of the White Knight would be gorgeous.