Warning: contains spoilers for Batman Beyond the White Knight #1!
In an alternate future, Azrael, Batman’s one-time replacement, gets the following he deserves. In Batman: Curse of the White Knight, writer/artist Sean Murphy introduced fans to a new version of Azrael who feels Batman usurped his birthright. The struggle between the two formed the basis of the mini-series, and now Murphy has followed up with Batman Beyond the White Knight. Readers learn that Azrael’s legacy lives on, in the form of a brutal cult. The first issue is on sale now in print and digital.
For the last five years, Sean Murphy’s White Knight universe ranks as one of the most unique takes on the Dark Knight and his mythos. This iconoclastic view of Batman has put a new spin on not only Batman’s war on crime but members of his supporting cast as well. In the sequel, Curse of the White Knight, Azrael came to Gotham City, claiming that Bruce Wayne had stolen his ancestral birthright. The series ended with Batman saving Azrael’s life; Batman also decided to turn himself in and instead fight crime by donating his vast fortune to social betterment programs. However, as seen in Batman Beyond the White Knight, it did not go as planned; before Batman can do anything about it, he must face Azrael’s legacy. The issue is written and illustrated by Sean Murphy, colored by Dave Stewart, and lettered by Andworld Designs.
Azrael’s cult, calling itself the Sons of Azrael, has staged a riot in Stonegate Prison, and having taking Police Captain Jason Todd hostage. The guards ask Bruce Wayne, also interred at Stonegate, to intervene. Bruce confronts the cult’s leader, telling them he saved Azrael’s life. Some of the cult members doubt Bruce, but another member, who witnessed Bruce save Azrael, vouches for Bruce, ending the stand-off.
Given Azrael’s tendencies towards religious fanaticism, it is no surprise that he has inspired a cult. Azrael was once a member of the Order of Saint Dumas, a fanatical offshoot of the Catholic Church; he was conditioned from birth to be the Order’s ultimate assassin, both physically and mentally. In keeping with the White Knight’s skewered take on the Batman mythos, Sean Murphy gave Azrael new motivations in Curse of the White Knight, making Azrael’s mission of vengeance personal. As a charismatic and intense presence on his own, Azrael was no doubt able to sell his brand of righteous fury to many disaffected young men. Batman Beyond the White Knight does not delve into the origins of the Sons of Azrael, leaving readers to fill in the details.
Bruce breaks out of prison at the end of the issue, thus leaving the Sons of Azrael behind, but has he truly encountered them for the last time? After he diffused the hostage situation, the Sons’ leader told Bruce the debt was “repaid;” if Bruce does indeed encounter the Sons of Azrael again, it may go a lot different.
In the grim future depicted in Batman Beyond the White Knight, Azrael, Batman’s one-time replacement, has developed a literal cult following, one that keeps his violent mission alive.
