Batman: White Knight is Gotham's Liberal Wish Fulfillment

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman: White Knight #1 by Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth, on sale now.

We've seen it countless times on the news and on social media – a bystander captures a pivotal moment on video when those serving on the right side of the law inflict questionable and violent actions upon those who aren't. In that moment, public perception of both sides is upended, as criminals become sympathetic victims and those pursuing them now find themselves vilified.

Such is the premise of Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth's Batman: White Knight #1, where Batman and The Joker find themselves caught up in the very same kind of role reversal, and when years of reputation, good or bad, suddenly mean nothing when a few atypical but game-changing seconds of video go viral.

The Joker: Hero For The Criminally Oppressed?

In the real world, such incidents generate headlines, discourse, and demonstrations for a time, but often fade into the background as fresher news captures the public's attention – or until another such incident takes place. In White Knight, though, timing and circumstance enable The Joker to seize the moment – a moment where his beating and seeming poisoning at the hands of an adrenalized Batman turn public opinion against the Dark Knight – and transform it into a potential movement, proclaiming his victimized self as Gotham's co-called White Knight. There are no larger-than-life figures in real life, but the beginning of The Joker's transformation from criminal to hero heralds a kind of galvanization of such a figurehead in Gotham – one who can take a high-profile stand against so-called good guys who abuse others.

Video of a perpetrator with a criminal record, who's pursued by police and suffers a beatdown after breaking into a pharmaceutical warehouse, might make the evening news for a few nights here on Earth Prime – maybe. But if that perp is The Joker, and that beatdown is committed by Batman, and the perp is force fed a lucky concoction of pills that cures his condition, well – that's sure to make the Channel 52 News. In our world, crooks who are victimized thusly aren't cured of their criminality, but in the world of comics, happy coincidences abound, and a villain who ends up getting cured by the actions of the very arch-nemesis many believe is trying to kill him is the stuff of fairytales. Born out of such tragedy, The Joker stands to become the kind of White Knight that the real world could never possibly deliver.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='When%20A%20Joker%20Falls%2C%20a%20White%20Knight%20Shall%20Rise']

Well, The Joker Isn't THAT Bad...

One such happy coincidence in White Knight is that The Joker of this world apparently isn't quite the psychopath like his counterparts across the multiverse, having only been convicted of the relatively tame crime of armed robbery – tame by Joker standards, anyway. This certainly makes his road to redemption a much shorter and easier one to travel – a Joker who killed Jason Todd or crippled and sexually assaulted Barbara Gordon would hardly make for much of a figurehead against brutality and violence, no matter the circumstances. Coupled with that is a decidedly darker and more driven Batman, one whose over-the-top, endangering methods of chasing The Joker certainly make him into a character that the public is all too willing to turn against.

The story is kind of microcosm of today's blurring of hardline attitudes towards both the police and criminals – a Batman who appears to be venturing down a darker path aligns with society's perceptions of police seemingly using more violent tactics against criminals. Likewise, The Joker's treatment at Batman's hands evokes public sympathy making an armed robbery conviction seem kind of irrelevant – not unlike a ten-second video communicating that someone at the wrong end of a baton is nothing but a victim, regardless of whatever criminal acts they might have committed. Good guys who have gone too far, and bad guys who don't seem so bad, make the turning of public opinion a little more plausible – both in real life, and in the comics.

The White Knight: A Wish Fulfillment Fantasy?

Those who have been ill-treated by the establishment would naturally welcome anyone to come forth in their defense. Such heroes do exist, of course – many have protested on the behalf of such victims, lending their singular voices as part of a much larger organized movement. Lawmakers have stepped forward to try and curtail such unlawful treatment. Those uncorrupted within the establishment often work from inside, trying to improve a system that allows for such transgressions to take place.

Such heroic actions, though, are but baby steps in a journey of untold miles. Long term solutions are of little comfort to those needing short term, or immediate, aid, assistance or relief. Legislation, social movements and positive thoughts are all wonderful, but are of little use to someone being illegally battered around at any given moment. No, given the chance and the opportunity to wish for deliverance, victims of such wrongdoings would be more than happy to see a costumed hero sweep in and save their hides, especially when no other immediate options are available.

Superheroes have long had their origins rooted in wish fulfillment fantasies, going back to the very inception of the genre. Superman, Captain America, and many other colorful heroes were invented by their creators as outlets for triumph over oppression – to step in and do to our enemies what we ourselves could not, and do so in a glorious and magnificent manner. Laws and protests are great, but nothing delivers that immediate, air-punching gratification like watching a flashy hero arrive on the scene and dispatch oppressors in short order.

Can A Bad Guy Really Turn Good?

Is The Joker really suited for that role, though? Can a tried and true villain overcome their history to stand up as a role model against the forces that deemed them a villain in the first place? It's a question that parallels society's questions about victimized criminals – how can someone like that be trusted? Why were they running from police in the first place? Didn't they deserve what happened to them?

Such questions are often countered with other questions – why was such excessive force used? Why aren't the upholders of the law held accountable? Why are the police allowed to hold such power? There are lots of questions, but little in the way of answers – a societal scenario that White Knight is perfectly poised to address.

The Joker's transition, however it shapes up, continues in Batman: White Knight #2, on sale November 1.