Batman. Vol. 2: Curse of the White Knight

Already reeling from the events of the previous volume in Murphy’s (Batman: Curse of the White Knight. Vol. 1) ongoing out-of-continuity reimagining of the Batman universe, this sequel finds the Dark Knight pushed to his breaking point by old enemies and savage new foes. After breaking out of Arkham Asylum, the Joker teams with a sword-wielding maniac called Azrael to launch a series of savage attacks that quickly throw Gotham City into chaos. As allies like Nightwing, Batgirl, and Commissioner Gordon start to doubt Batman’s methods—and sanity—he’s forced to turn to a rehabilitated Harley Quinn for help, especially after Azrael and Joker reveal centuries-old secrets about the Wayne family that force him to reconsider his role as Gotham City’s defender. Murphy evinces a deep love and understanding of his cast, even as he pushes these iconic characters in surprising new directions and enlivens a somewhat complicated plot with plenty of twists and some of the most thrilling action sequences, exquisitely rendered by Janson (Batman: Curse of the White Knight, Vol. 1), to appear in recent memory.