Batman: White Knight Presents – Generation Joker #1 is written by Katana Collins & Clay McCormack based on a story from Sean Murphy. The book is published by DC Comics. Artwork is by Mirka Andolfo, colours by Alejandro Sánchez and letters by Andworld Design. Main cover art (left) is by Sean Murphy.
Batman: White Knight Presents – Generation Joker #1 is available now, in print and on digital, where all good comic books are sold.
Synopsis
Youth in revolt!
Spinning out of the runaway hit Batman: Beyond the White Knight comes an unforgettable coming-of-age super villain tale starring the children of Harley Quinn and The Joker!
When the rebellious twins run away in a stolen Batmobile, only Joker Jack Napier’s quickly fading hologram has any hope of getting them home safely and keeping them out of the family business. But a life of crime isn’t the only temptation young Bryce and Jackie are facing: the kids uncover a dark secret that could bring their dad back to life for good! With a wild array of Batman’s former enemies and allies on their tails, will the kids succeed in reviving the Dark Knight’s greatest foe? Find out as Jackie and Bryce take center stage in the White Knight Universe!
Review
Sean Murphy’s excellent White Knight universe returns this week with the first of a brand new mini-series. The latest in the White Knight Presents series sets up a six-issue series which will focus on Jackie and Bryce, the twin-children of Jack Napier (aka Joker) and Harley Quinn. But whilst Murphy has story and cover credits, here he hands over the reigns to writers Katana Collins & Clay McCormack and artists Mirka Andolfo and Alejandro Sánchez.
Collins and McCormack have worked on previous Presents books. Collins was the mastermind behind the Harley Quinn book whilst McCormack worked on Red Hood. Together they make a formidable team. Generation Joker fits seamlessly in to the White Knight world, picking up pretty much right where Beyond the White Knight left off. There’s a healthy mix of exposition and setup. If you’re new to this universe you’ll quickly learn all you need to know to grasp this story. But if you’re already up to date then Generation Joker pretty much hits the ground running.
The series has some work to do to flesh out the character of Bryce. Jackie played a much more central role in Beyond the White Knight and as such we come in to Generation Joker knowing far more of her history. Thankfully it seems the writers are aware and so we do get nuggets of information littered throughout this first issue. Collins and McCormack make it clear that these two characters balance each other out and that gives a somewhat twisted buddy-cop approach to having both of Joker’s children in lead roles.
So much of the White Knight universe has hinged on the relationship between Batman and Joker. But, of course, it has always been presented to us as a Batman book with Bruce front and centre. These Presents issues given the storytellers the opportunity to step away from the shadow of the Bat and do something different. Whilst he is still a presence here, he’s quickly removed from the board to actually allow Jack, Jackie and Bryce to take the spotlight.
It looks like the story will diver deeper in to Jack Napier’s past as Joker as he attempts to impart some wisdom on his kids. Given just who he is that’s probably not going to happen without incident and certainly as Generation Joker wraps up that seems to be the case. As first issues go this was suitably gripping and I’m excited to see where the story goes from here.
Andolfo and Sánchez also do a wonderful job with Murphy’s blueprint. This isn’t a million miles away from a core White Knight book. But both artist and colourist inject the world with enough flare to make it their own. There are a couple of familiar locations from Beyond the White Knight like Harley’s house. But much of the book takes place in new settings which give both a chance to put more of their stamp on this version of Gotham.
Verdict
The debut of Generation Joker lives up to the White Knight hype. A worthy continuation of Sean Murphy’s brilliantly engineered Elseworld’s take on Batman. The first issue offers up the perfect mix of excitement and intrigue as we finally learn more about this take on Jack Napier/Joker.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
