Comic Review: Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4

Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4

DC Comics

Writer: Sean Murphy

Artists: Sean Murphy & Matt Hollingsworth

Sean Murphy’s whirlwind of revelations continues in Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4 as the miniseries reaches its midpoint. The series’ main plot slows down a little from the preceding chapters, but Murphy compensates in this issue with longer examinations of his main characters that further help to build the world he established in the first White Knight miniseries.

Curse #4 picks up immediately after the end of issue 3 following Azrael’s ambush of Jim Gordon. From here, the focus shifts away for most of the issue from the physical conflict between Batman and the Order of St. Dumas in favor of exploring the impact of Gordon’s death on Batgirl, Batman, and Nightwing as well as providing more backstory for some of the major story threads from previous issues. Murphy places his protagonists in unfamiliar territory as Batgirl struggles to process her father’s murder while Batman is faced with the death of yet another of his closest allies following Alfred’s death in White Knight. In a reversal of his usual role, Nightwing finds himself stuck between Bruce and Barbara as his own disagreements with Batman clash with a desire to temper Barbara’s anger towards their mentor. These events all culminate in an explosive clash between Batgirl, Batman, the GCPD, and Azrael.

This issue is heavy on character development and world-building and it excels on those fronts. The death of Jim Gordon is a major event that isn’t often explored in other Batman stories. Murphy gives that death sufficient weight by going to great lengths to show the ways in which his protagonists and their motivations are affected by it, especially Barbara, who breaks from Batman’s code in a quest for revenge on her father’s killer. Bruce, meanwhile, becomes more vulnerable than ever and seeks the aid of Leslie Thompkins. This is a great moment for developing Bruce’s character in itself, given his reluctance to rely on Batgirl and Nightwing in White Knight, but also gives Murphy the opportunity to bring Alfred back into the story through a flashback that also explains his acquisition of Edmond Wayne’s journal from a certain demonic denizen of Gotham.

As always, Murphy’s pencil work is stellar. The world and characters of White Knight and Curse feel old and weathered, aged past their New Batman Adventures inspiration. That visual distinction remains consistent here. Murphy makes heavy use of shadow and fine facial details to bring out the widest possible range of expression and emotion from each of his characters. Also of note are his panel layouts, which are especially simple to follow without feeling repetitive. This issue’s standout moment comes early on as Batman holds the body of the deceased Jim Gordon (colorist Matt Hollingsworth also shines here).

Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4 impresses on all fronts, once again demonstrating Sean Murphy’s strength as both a writer and artist. The Murphy-Hollingsworth art team produces solid work yet again. Though slightly slower paced in terms of story progression, Murphy delivers emotional character-focused moments while also answering questions posed by previous issues and setting the stage for events to come.

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