To catch up on the previous "White Knight" chapter, pick up a copy from your local comic book store, or you can read the summary in the article located here.
In the latest "White Knight" issue Jack Napier, formerly known as the Joker, is giving his plea in court to be released. His plea is being broadcast all around Gotham as he explains how he was set up to become a supervillain.
According to Napier, he was framed to become a supercriminal for the sake of Gotham’s tycoons. Due to his time in Arkham, he became the villain that they wanted him to be.
To the city of Gotham
Jack presents to the court that he is a man from the country who came to Gotham to make a life for himself. However, after he robbed a bank, Jack had to serve ten years in Arkham. He claims that he was kept there to become the Joker so that the city could make money off of him becoming a criminal. By keeping a system of fear established through supercriminals the people of Gotham could fund the prison which would eventually become Arkham Asylum.
In his final minutes, Jack pleads for the people of Gotham to release him for his crime as Jack Napier and not as the Joker. He claims that Joker is a product of the crooked system of Gotham and as the Jack, he will regain the city from those who have benefited from crime.
Without proper evidence, the court has no choice but to let Jack go. As a result of his speech, many citizens of Gotham are beginning to call Jack a hero, and trust in the GCPD drops drastically. Also, it seems Jack has gained fame in a neighborhood called Backport, a poorer part of Gotham, where many people are taking a stand against mistreatment of minorities.
The real Harley
After Jack is released, he arrives at a joke shop where Harley happily accepts him in. She tries to place his makeup back on and believes that everything he’s doing is all a part of a scam. Jack tries to sit Harley down to explain that he’s sorry about what he’s done to her in the past and that he’s accepted that it was because of his obsession with Batman.
He then gets on his knees and proposes to her. Harley believes this is a joke until Jack calls her “Puddin.”
Harley, angry, punches Jack in the stomach, causing the ring to drop on the floor, and demands that he stop taking the pills and return to his life of crime with her. Suddenly, another Harley Quinn, in her original outfit, arrives with her pet hyenas and kicks the first Harley down. She proceeds to pick up the ring and says that she accepts Jack’s apology. She picks up Jack from the floor and proceeds to take him and the hyenas “home."
Freeze and Wayne
In the previous issue, Alfred is shown with an undiagnosed disease that is killing him. Batman's reckless actions seem to derive from this affliction on Alfred, but to cure Alfred, Bruce is working with Mr.
Freeze, or Victor, to find a cure.
Presently, we see Victor, Bruce, and Barbara working with one another to find a cure for Victor and Nora’s cryogenic state. In the lab, they use two mice that have helmets on their heads, similar to Victor's. Mr. Freeze drowns the mice in a mysterious liquid that allows them to live without the assistance of their helmets. Impulsive, Victor uses the solution on himself, despite Bruce’s warning, and it ages him by fifty years, making him eighty years old. Barbara claims that the mice are dead due to the side effect of the liquid. Victor wants to use the liquid on Nora to unfreeze her, but Bruce reminds Victor that even if the fluid does work on Nora, they have no way of curing her MacGregor’s disease, an affliction that creates liquid in the lungs.
Saddened, the eighty-year-old man kneels in front of the tank that Nora is submerged in and hangs his head down.
Welcome Home
Jack and Harley arrive home where she offers Jack tea. Jack is surprised that Harley drinks, tea, but she tells him it’s because he never noticed anything about her because of his obsession with Batman. Harley reveals that her feelings for Jack as the Joker came from his free spirit and the excitement that he kept around him. However, as he became more obsessed with Batman, she realized she could never win Joker's love. It was because of this obsession that Harley was able to leave the Joker and a new Harley was able to replace her without him noticing. Then, there was the Jason Todd incident.
Harley discovered Robin, JasonTodd, tied to a chair in the basement of their home. Before the Joker slits Jason's throat, Harley takes the razor blade from the Joker’s hand and forces him to listen to the truth.She tells him that his only purpose for killing Jason was to get Batman’s attention because of the jealousy he felt towards Robin for being close to Batman.
Harley decided to ask Batman for help and makes a deal with him. She agrees to tell Batman where Robin is but only if Batman safely brought the Joker in and helped the Joker get real mental help. However, when Harley arrives in the basement with Batman, Jason is nowhere to be found, and Joker refuses to tell Jason's location. Enraged, Batman begins to beat the Joker until Harley stops him.
Harley explains that she was given a less severe punishment from the court as a thank you to Batman for not killing the Joker. Jack asked if he killed Robin, but Harley tells him that he is the only one who knows. Jack then tells Harley that he needs her help to take the city back from vigilantes and crooked politicians. She agrees to help them as they embrace one another under the moon.
Bat impact zone
Bruce arrives at a party where he is greeted by two people named Pierce and Veronica. Pierce, drunk, makes a joke about Alfred’s age after Veronica asks where he is. Bruce steps towards Pierce but is stopped by Pierce's bodyguard. Pierce reveals that the extra security is because of the death threats he has been receiving.
Apparently, he is one of the "gatekeepers" who Jack claims is making money off of Gotham's crime. Snobbishly, Pierce says that Jack is somewhat correct about his statements regarding certain upper-class citizens of Gotham.
He tells Bruce that areas designated as “Bat Impact Zones” drop the real estate value of the area. The areas are usually in poor neighborhoods, so people like Pierce would buy this property, let the taxpayers pay for repairs, and then sell the house back. Bruce, disgusted at Pierce’s claim, punches Pierce and his bodyguard and leaves the party.
Jack's army
In the final scene of the story, we see Jack and Harley having a drink with a group of supervillains. This includes Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, the Riddler, Two-Face, Bane, and more.
As everyone drinks, he explains to them that if they all pull their resources and abilities together, they could easily defeat Batman and the GCPD. However, they all refuse until Harley gives Jack the Mad Hatter’s hat.
Earlier, we see Jack and Harley taking the Hatter’s hat to use his mind control band on Clayface. Jack proceeds to use the hat to make Clayface turn to dust so that they could place a bit of dust into each drink that the supervillains would have. This allows Jack to control all of the supervillains around him as he and Harley embrace one another in the dark as the villains stare towards the readers with glowing green eyes.
What will Jack accomplish with his new army, will this mysterious disease be the end of Alfred, and how deep will Harley go for Jack/the Joker? Find the answers in the next issue on December 12, 2017.
