Rebirth brought a relaunch of long-running series for major DC superheroes – Batman included. Along with the overall relaunch, the DC Black Label imprint was introduced to provide a wide array of writers & artists to team up and create stories in their own canonical corner of the greater DC multiverse, all separate from mainline continuity.
Batman seems to have benefited the most from it, spawning some great, inventive series with their own twists on the vast mythos of the Dark Knight. Sean Murphy's White Knight maxiseries is perhaps the most praised Black Label Batman series – and with good reason. The first entry and the second that wrapped this year, Curse of the White Knight, told excellent stories that made bold changes to conventional Bat-canon in compelling, tasteful fashion.
10 Giving Harley The Plotline Arkham City Almost Started
A big, and welcome, change the White Knight series overall and Curse of the White Knight brought was giving Harley Quinn the plotline that was teased in Rocksteady's revered Batman: Arkham series. There was an easter egg in Arkham City that could have launched a shocking plot/subplot in DLC or even Arkham Knight, suggesting that Harley Quinn was pregnant with Joker's child.
This was eventually backtracked and made a false alarm, but Curse brings this to the forefront. Jack Napier, the man Harley truly loved and who genuinely loved her, gave her twins; but the sociopathic, obsessive alter-ego Joker turned this into a tragic and complicated subplot that made for an even more compelling read.
9 The GTO
GCPD, initially, was extremely hostile towards Batman, which is made evident in comics like Year One that show the Caped Crusader as a threat to their corrupt lifestyles. It took the one good cop at the time, James Gordon, to come along and help incite a change with Batman in cleaning up the department.
White Knight and Curse introduced and established the officially-funded Gotham Terrorism Oppression Unit (GTO) to make official, superhero-cops. This was in response to the philosophical conflict surrounding this universe's Batman in White Knight, and Curse shows us a GTO that's been regularly operating for a while now without him officially and with Batgirl and Nightwing as the super-cops.
8 Harley Killing The Joker
This has been done in other corners of the vast DC multiverse, namely Rocksteady's aforementioned Arkhamverse, but is nonetheless a non-regular occurrence. Curse of the White Knight kills the Joker, but doesn't have Batman snap to do it.
Harley tries more than once to confront the maniacal sadist that is the Joker, presenting herself vulnerably by being around him while pregnant in order to fully bring back Jack, only to narrowly lose the second attempt. She – and Jack – made the hardest life-and-death choice by killing Joker, and by extension Jack, to save their soon-to-be-born children.
7 Bruce "Technically-Not-A-Wayne" Wayne
Jean-Paul Valley is psychologically traumatized by PTSD and believes himself to be the rightful heir to rule over Gotham & that it's his divine right to "reclaim it" from Bruce Wayne.
He's ultimately being manipulated Joker, but a shock twist reveals that Bruce is actually a blood descendant of Bakkar, an excommunicated member of the Order of St. Dumas who betrayed and murdered Edmond Wayne, making Bruce a Wayne in name only. It's a bold, fundamental change to tradition, pushing Bruce's character growth in new ways and heights, leading to him having to make the hardest, but heroic, choices.
6 Jean-Paul Valley Wayne
On the other side of the previous revelation is an even more shocking pill to swallow for Bruce. He discovered that Edmond Wayne had a child with a woman in the colonized, soon-to-be Gotham who begged to hide the baby to keep her safe and changed her last name to Valley to avoid the wrath of Bakkar.
It's an excellent twist that ups the stakes and makes Azrael even more dangerous, being a madman with a wildly warped mind thinking himself a messiah destined to take his rightful place on top of Gotham. By extension, Jean-Paul sees himself as the one true Batman by divine right.
5 The Death Of Commissioner Gordon
Given Black Label's offered creative liberties, Curse presents genuine, permanent consequences in true George R. R. Martin fashion. White Knight saw the tragic death of a terminally-ill Alfred and Curse killed the Joker, but it didn't stop there. One of Batman's closest friends and partners in crime saw a brutal death with Commissioner Gordon that seemed like a beautifully-haunting homage to Professor X's death in Logan by X-24.
Azrael – now a self-proclaimed Batman – murders Gordon in his crusade to purge the city of those he deems pretenders. It's a gut-wrenching loss for Bruce and more so for Barbara, but not once did this feel like needlessly-cruel shock value. The series so far has handled all its losses in ways that are emotionally impactful and resonant to the characters/story.
4 Batman Unmasked
Batman unmasking himself publicly is obviously not something done often or taken lightly. Main-series canon could only do it if they planned another reboot. Naturally, it's largely left to alternate-canon timelines, like the Arkhamverse's finale Arkham Knight.
That said, this series isn't done. Fans will be seeing the full extent of the aftermath of Batman's voluntary unmasking in Curse's sequel. A profoundly-humbled Bruce Wayne publicly asks Gotham to allow him to be Batman one more time for them and afterward turned himself in peacefully, donating everything he had left to the city.
3 Jason Todd's Fate
White Knight established and revealed to readers that not only did Jason exist in this universe and was previously Robin, he was the original. Jason also wasn't murdered by Joker and was instead spared after the former admitted he wished he'd never met Bruce Wayne.
Another change here is that he's finally back in the picture as of Curse's ending, but didn't become the vengeful Red Hood as a result of trauma/torture. This presents some exciting potential developments now that Bruce and Jason will have time to reconnect, with the latter voluntarily imprisoned and the two having very different mindsets from traditional canon.
2 Batman And Harley Are Genuine Friends
The whole maxiseries has been an enthralling, refreshing change of pace, and aside twists to Batman, Joker, etc., Harley has gotten some great service from the writing. She's a compelling, empathetic, and interesting character. Among the things that make her so is her relationship with Batman as close friends – at least.
Batman and Harley show they've genuinely come to deeply know and come to care for each other, often being mutual moral/emotional supports. The weight behind their relationship and what they've endured individually and together is genuinely emotional, and amazingly makes a potential, full-blown romance logical, and even heartwarming.
1 Direct Lead-In To Beyond
Success ensured Murphy's continuation, with more coming in 2021. Enticingly, the next entry is titled Beyond the White Knight. Thankfully, it's what it sounds like, taking place in the future with a Bruce Wayne coming into a world without a Batman and a GCPD that's way more technologically advanced than he ever was. Plus, a certain kid has gone out and stolen a Batsuit.
The "Beyond" corner of the Batman/DC multiverse hasn't typically been focused on too heavily outside the under-the-radar comic series and the acclaimed classic show. This'll be a change in convention in having a Bruce/Batman-focused universe in the comics visibly lead into Beyond.